Items marked on the map, quests being logged for you in Bethesda-esque fashion, and the direction that you're "supposed to go" always being clear. Making a sequel much less exploration and discovery focused than its predecessor isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the game really needed some other element to fill in those gaps. At first it seems like it sets up action to be that solution, but the game's combat falls painfully short once you realize there's absolutely zero consequence for any mistake you might make, and on top of that the customizable equipment hardly adds any complexity and instead pretty much only increases your stats in varying ways. What's left at this point is a sequel that's inferior to the original, but admittedly different enough so that they're both worth playing.

It's not all bad though. The visuals, music, and movement mechanics are still excellent as expected, albeit less impactful the second time around. The locations are much more interesting than they were in the first game, and there are some great little moments that are more present here than in The Blind Forest. For me, it was speaking to Kwolok for the first time, seeing the sun peek through the mountains in the background when arriving in Baur's Reach, and of course, everything that had to do with the Wellspring Glades.