The first game is one of my favorite games of all time and this one improves on every aspect from the first.

EDIT AFTER 40H:
Honestly just the best JRPG of all time. One aspect I don't see a lot of people commenting on is how the game feels like a 2D open-world RPG: It's very easy to get side tracked doing side quests or going off-road to look for treasure and secret dungeons.

EDIT AFTER EPILOGUE:
Just beat the game. Hard not to feel like I've just played one of the greatest games ever made. I already loved the experience prior to reaching the point where the 8 stories converge; even so, I wasn't expecting the final chapter to be as satisfying as it was. The game's final moments are so /so/ good.

Do yourself a favor and make sure you pick up Oboro's journal (which you can get as early as Hikari's chapter 1) found in Ku Castle. It's the first piece in an ultimately very satisfying puzzle. If you let yourself get attached to the characters, including the seeming minor characters, the whole game is a gut punch right up to the very end.

My GOTY for sure.

The first game is one of my favorite games of all time and this one improves on every aspect from the first. EDIT AFTER 40H: Honestly just the best JRPG of all time. One aspect I don't see a lot of people commenting on is how the game feels like a 2D open-world RPG: It's very easy to get side tracked doing side quests or going off-road to look for treasure and secret dungeons. EDIT AFTER EPILOGUE: Just beat the game. Hard not to feel like I've just played one of the greatest games ever made. I already loved the experience prior to reaching the point where the 8 stories converge; even so, I wasn't expecting the final chapter to be as satisfying as it was. The game's final moments are so /so/ good. Do yourself a favor and make sure you pick up Oboro's journal (which you can get as early as Hikari's chapter 1) found in Ku Castle. It's the first piece in an ultimately very satisfying puzzle. If you let yourself get attached to the characters, including the seeming minor characters, the whole game is a gut punch right up to the very end. My GOTY for sure.