I legitimately found the character growth system pretty novel and cool at first. This did not last the whole game, lol, most magic is basically useless unless you're a masochist grinder. Better attempt at a story than the first game, and impressive for its time but... again it has not aged well, a lot of it feels like a shitpost (especially Leon, what on earth)

Soul of Rebirth is a neat inoffensive addition, but not enough to improve my feelings on the game