The writing is surprisingly pretty good by SN standards with how it feels like a geniunely fun adventure where you explore lots of places and learn interesting details about the world, and its strong ties to the lore of the series add more to the intrigue. And a lot of the supporting characters get a good amount of screentime and most of them have quite the likeable personalities.
Gameplay got more refined from the first game although it still retains some of its jank, it even kicks the challenge up a notch but the battles in general were still enjoyable.