From what I've remembered they've fixed so many issues that the previous game had just for the story to be weaker along with the characters, I dont mind it though as the pacing was now better than before and the combat was just as fun! The game offers you a ton of various areas to explore, tons of side content, and the best was the crystalium system improved a ton imo! However, the time travel mechanic was one of the issues I've kept seeing that bothered me a little. I would understand them a bit but I feel like most of them didn't truly play through XIII-1 lmao, time travel will always have holes in it, it can be confusing but it really isn't that hard to grasp if you just read.