This game is the quintessential sequel to dragon's dogma in every way. Whatever you liked about the first one is still present and arguably better here than it was before. Whatever you disliked about the first one is still present and arguably worse than before. For me, the first one was the perfect encapsulation of dozens of vague concepts that I have in my head for what would be a "good" and "fun" game. Things didn't always mesh very well together and it was clearly rushed in some places. That same concept applies perfectly to Dragon's Dogma 2. It takes out everything that I envision in my dream game and throws it all on the table, often with no disregard for conflicting desires.
Dragon's Dogma 1 was janky and rushed. It's also one of the most entertaining open world games I've ever played. Dragon's Dogma 2 was janky (arguably moreso) and rushed (arguably less so). It's also the most entertaining open world game that I've ever played. When I think about the parts of the game that maybe fell flat in some cases, those memories are juxtaposed with thoughts of climbing onto the back of a griffin as it takes flight, sending me on a journey across Vermund, only for that journey to end in a crash landing when I eventually make my way to it's head and land a solid blow on it.
In every way, DD2 is a worthy sequel to the first one. It doesn't reinvent the series. It takes the parts that made the first one unique and doubles down on them, for better or worse. And I wouldn't have it any other way.