Improves on VP1 in a lot of ways. As far as gameplay is concerned, Tri-Ace took VP1's combat, added a third dimension, and considerably refined it. It's way more balanced, it has a lot more depth and is a lot harder to break. In other words, its god-tier.

Compared to VP1, the game is also a lot more linear and the story structure is pretty standard now. Not a bad thing at all, but personally I preferred VP1's structure. The game focuses on the main group way more, but in exchange, einherjar recruitment is now reduced to selecting an option and then reading some optional flavor text.

All in all, it's one of the greatest JRPGs ever made, and I would highly recommend it. Just make sure you play VP1 first, you absolutely need to.

The aesthetic was really cool and the story was interesting. But holy god the gameplay is so bad. You can auto through pretty much every battle (including bosses) but the random encounter rate is ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that the map system is awful and figuring out where to go is a nightmare without a walkthrough. Its the equivalent of watching paint dry and banging your head on the wall at the same time. The time period is no excuse either, there are plenty of JRPGs released for the SNES with at least passable gameplay. Hoping for a remake that keeps everything else intact but saves the train wreck gameplay.