All around its better than the first game. There are a lot more towns, the variety in areas feels greater, and it tries a bit harder to be a cohesive narrative. However, at the same time Ys II fumbles with some of these new additions. The magic system has some cool features but making almost every boss designed to only be damaged through it is really tedious,. The final dungeon having so much back tracking and leaving and coming back despite its cool aesthetic took me out of the moment a lot. The music was great just like Ys I and there is definitely a charm that it has.