As a fan of the first game (I was surprised how much I loved it!) I was very excited for Sparks of Hope, I just beat it and had a mostly great time with it. I played on the highest difficulty the entire time and outside of a few optional challenges and one boss I found most of the fights to be a little on the easy side. This game is so different from the original, its really good but it makes it hard to compare them, as odd as it sounds I'd like sequels that swap between the old style and this new one as I don't think they'd mix together well but both are too good to be one offs.
I think the first game had more charming cutscenes and bosses for the most part, but I loved the final boss and the new characters.

Really excited to see what they do with the dlc here! If you loved the first game, love mario or rabbids, or want to get into the turn based strategy genre give this game a shot its one of the best on the switch.