This is definitely an experience.
I probably have the same complaints about this one, as about the original game. It sometimes introduces mechanics that seem like one-offs, and potentially could be a cinematic instead, and some dialogues (mostly secondary ones) feel a bit rushed or shallow. But, boy, does it delivery on the narrative overall...
It's the little things here and there. Some small comments, small interactions, not necessarily from Alecia or Hugo, too. They make things feel... More real. There is proper character progression for most characters here. It's not always perfect, but it is there and it makes sense. Anger, desperation, abandon, relief and even fleeting happiness. They just work. We probably should have spent a bit more time with some characters (beside Sophia) for the connections to feel more solid, but objectively they were secondary to Alecia's and Hugo's relationship.
Gameplay wise this also seems like an overall improvement on what was provided in previous game. I would say there is no drastic changes, and additions are rather minor overall, but they all fit quite nicely and give you enough flexibility and challenge. There was also this "open-world-like" section, and it worked quite well, aside from the fact that you had to walk a lot. They also could have merged chapters 14 to 17 into 1, because individually they were much shorter than the rest, and it felt off to me.
Not sure if it's really worth it to replay it even with NG+ mode, unless you just want to try a higher difficulty, but its 16-20 hours are definitely worth the (full) price.
