While many sequels fall short of the original, this is an excellent exception.
The fushions and graveyard has been edited quite a bit, but for the better. The battle system has been made better with new combo attacks and different ways to attack regularly (standard, knock down, high angle, etc.) and you have to figure out which regular attack causes the most damage per enemy. The sequel is about double the length of the first without dragging the plot on and on in a boring and dull fashion. It stays upbeat and active, keeping the same gothic feeling of the first. It, unfortunately, is easier than the previous game but due to the length, it shouldn't be much of an issue.
I do have two complaints however. Remember that place from the first one, when you were going to find Master Xifa? With the tunnels and "do I go left or right?" questions? Well, be prepared for a ton of those. They would have been ok if they were spread out more but there were so many of them, too close together (in my opinion) that they just became so tedious. Also, while the game tends to go on as being easy, the final boss felt like a slap in the face. It was quite difficult and I had to spend a lot of time leveling up and even then, I was barely able to beat it at some moments. Overall however, it is an excellent game and should not be passed up by any fan of the first.