I feel like it's a definite step down from the first game in terms of combat, but the exploration is actually pretty fun despite the world being more linear.

The music and visuals are just as good if not better than the first game but it's just let down a little by the super easy boss fights and lack of ranged weapons. I had no idea what was going on in terms of the narrative though because I played half of this game at the start of January and half in the last few days.