ive only played an itty bitty, like about 2 hours, but ive been enjoyin it so far. you dont needa play the previous one btw.
this game is a spiritual successor to "Alissa and the Have-nots Cavern", i was waiting for the translation for so long, i was kinda upset the alchemist game got translated first... anyways i booted up the old game to compare it a bit.
the combat is a lot more streamlined, it cuts out all that rpg maker stuff in favor of a super straightforward auto battle, fights go by in an instant now. there is a bigger focus on planning/preparation. idk if ive played the game long enough to see if thats better, but honestly i didnt really care for the combat in the first place, i enjoyed the simplistic roguelike nature of these games.
regardless of the combat, i mainly like this/the previous game for its art and scenes, im a big fan of the strange variety/quirky writing that they have. i also really enjoy the clothing options, some of the underwear gets reused but i think all of the unlockable gear is all newly designed, and i really enjoyed those in the last game so i cant wait to see em all. in terms of quantity, there seems to be a lot more scenes and clothing options compared to last time, so thats nice :3 i also quite like the designs of the npcs too.
one of the weird additions i really liked is that they added a "collector's curse" option in the settings, where it just makes you auto lose to things you need to lose to. its such a funny QoL, it makes us collectors feel seen lololol. its a lot more unique than the typical instant death item/skill, and you dont needa keep track of what to lose to either.
i'll come back to this review if i end up hating it, but afaik its more of the same, which is good nuff for me.