Okay, naturally I played this one right after Ys I and I'm happy to say this was a stark improvement, bump was tweaked a bit, you have magic now and more places that count as a 'town' so your return magic and wings make you backtrack less.

Bosses are way better now though I think too many of them rely on the new magic mechanic so you're kinda just playing a glorified shoot-em-up with rpg elements in those. +1 point for letting you fucking heal during them this time though what the hell was that about before?

Areas are more varied this time and the music is amazing no matter which version you listen to. Though the final dungeon is full of backtracking (I counted having to return to the town outside like at least 7 times, and that's just for progressing the story, restoring health and MP there's even more.)

It's better than the first as you'd expect, but still got its issues. Gonna miss bumping into things though.