Well it's been 8 or 9 years since I played the first so whatever difference that may make...
When it first came out people complained about it a lot. But I'd heard a lot of fixes have gone in, and I'm just now picking it up.
I like it. I feel like there's more random combat walking around which I hated at first but I'm getting the hang on dodging and blocking so I'm enjoying it now. There seems to be more random side quests.
The story seems more fleshed out, presumably because it's also been 20 years in game since the first.
Overall I feel like the game is more of the same once I got the hang of the combat part. I don't remember a lot of the intricacies of managing my inventory and crafting from the first game, so I don't know if it feels more complicated, or I've just forgotten how it was.
What I don't like, the story being more fleshed out actually. It felt more like a "cowboy" type of thing before, where everyone including NPCs was doing their own thing, including you. I liked the less structured feel of the environment and people if that makes sense.
I do also miss that the style of the game was new to me. Overall the first person parkour, running, combat, etc was something I’d never played.
Thanks for the detailed analysis. I'll probably give it a try when I can get it on sale. I liked the first one quite a bit so I was looking forward to the second one but heard lots of negative.