This game improves on its predecessor in many ways, and the prior game is one of my very favorite games - a title of exceptional quality.

The CE series are unique games. Though there are 'curious' things like sandworms, cultists, and dinos in this game, the uniqueness comes from its map-based resource management game play.

At core this is a route planning & risk management game. Route A will cost you fewer resources to travel than Route B, but there are higher dangers affected by the particular group of party members in your trek (think Darkest Dungeon RE: party members).

If one of your characters is a pyromaniac, then every time your group pauses he may set the forest on fire and you have to FLEE the flames! Did you prepare to clear his mind with a mushroom, or are you stuck possibly dismissing your dear pyro, weighing the risk of fiery death against whatever skills that character has?

This is not RNG, it's calculated risk; that character is a pyro - you knew it and you kept him in your group. You sprained your ankle because you DECIDED to climb up the tower even though you could clearly see the dice you had vs the roll you needed.

What this is NOT is a power fantasy. The graphics are bright, but the design is not meant to be a mollycoddling sandbox; this is a roguelike where if you make the wrong decision - if you repeatedly take a 35% chance-of-success dice roll and you LOSE - you can and will die. You have to PREPARE with a tactical approach that can create resilience to the small failures.

You are faced with a fight you can't handle; you must stock up on extra one-time-use combat items ahead of time, or use an item that can distract the enemy so you can sneak around them, or understand that you have to RUN AWAY.

IS THIS GAME BETTER THAN CE1?
Yes and no; this game is better in some ways and not in others. There is a lot more varied content here, including equipment and simply more of everything. This means the experience is quite a bit more varied than in CE1. The game does significantly more to explore the full potential of its EXCEPTIONAL map-based resource management game play, including some truly inspired features like caverns with fog-of-war and light management, and the extremely hazardous corrupted areas.
CE1 remains better in terms of overall framing and pacing, with the 6 expedition story arc a bit more clear-eyed in putting clear pressure on the player in terms of winning a race by a particular deadline. CE2, by contrast, has improved gameplay but muddled framing; the story arcs just don't have the clear call-to-action motivation that CE1 has.
The gameplay is a significant improvement over CE1, however, and this is what I'm playing now over CE1. I expect the brilliant developer will eventually fix the weak framing, and in the meantime simply making these islands and then not showing the island outline is a design master stroke that flips CE1 on its head.

This game improves on its predecessor in many ways, and the prior game is one of my very favorite games - a title of exceptional quality. The CE series are unique games. Though there are 'curious' things like sandworms, cultists, and dinos in this game, the uniqueness comes from its map-based resource management game play. At core this is a route planning & risk management game. Route A will cost you fewer resources to travel than Route B, but there are higher dangers affected by the particular group of party members in your trek (think Darkest Dungeon RE: party members). If one of your characters is a pyromaniac, then every time your group pauses he may set the forest on fire and you have to FLEE the flames! Did you prepare to clear his mind with a mushroom, or are you stuck possibly dismissing your dear pyro, weighing the risk of fiery death against whatever skills that character has? This is not RNG, it's calculated risk; that character is a pyro - you knew it and you kept him in your group. You sprained your ankle because you DECIDED to climb up the tower even though you could clearly see the dice you had vs the roll you needed. What this is NOT is a power fantasy. The graphics are bright, but the design is not meant to be a mollycoddling sandbox; this is a roguelike where if you make the wrong decision - if you repeatedly take a 35% chance-of-success dice roll and you LOSE - you can and will die. You have to PREPARE with a tactical approach that can create resilience to the small failures. You are faced with a fight you can't handle; you must stock up on extra one-time-use combat items ahead of time, or use an item that can distract the enemy so you can sneak around them, or understand that you have to RUN AWAY. IS THIS GAME BETTER THAN CE1? Yes and no; this game is better in some ways and not in others. There is a lot more varied content here, including equipment and simply more of everything. This means the experience is quite a bit more varied than in CE1. The game does significantly more to explore the full potential of its EXCEPTIONAL map-based resource management game play, including some truly inspired features like caverns with fog-of-war and light management, and the extremely hazardous corrupted areas. CE1 remains better in terms of overall framing and pacing, with the 6 expedition story arc a bit more clear-eyed in putting clear pressure on the player in terms of winning a race by a particular deadline. CE2, by contrast, has improved gameplay but muddled framing; the story arcs just don't have the clear call-to-action motivation that CE1 has. The gameplay is a significant improvement over CE1, however, and this is what I'm playing now over CE1. I expect the brilliant developer will eventually fix the weak framing, and in the meantime simply making these islands and then not showing the island outline is a design master stroke that flips CE1 on its head.