tl;dr: If you liked the first game, you will like this one. If you didn't like the first game, you will not like this one. If you weren't a diehard fan, maybe wait for a sale or for a DLC to add endgame content. If you're curious but never played the first game, go play the first game-- the first game is basically the same game, for better and for worse but with more content since it has a huge endgame DLC. And it's cheaper. Complaints about microtransactions are valid but overblown.

Many people are mad about the DLC. While in principle it's indefensible to put microtransactions in a single player game and so it's fine to be upset about it, it's important to understand that you will never suffer or be put behind for not having the items purchasable via microtransactions. All purchasable items are extremely easy to acquire in-game.

Pros:
+ Excellent combat
+ Good soundtrack but not as iconic as the previous games (some songs make a re-appearance)
+ All classes are fun and viable, except maybe Trickster which is a lot of fun but mostly troll
+ Dialogue is good and thematic, same with voice acting
+ The Sphinx

Cons:
- Performance is laggy sometimes unless your PC is extremely top of the line, but nothing that ruins the experience. Performance issues are usually NPCs loading in slowly, or the occasional texture pop-in
- Story is still nonexistent. Despite the dialogue being well-written, somehow the story itself is awful and may as well not even exist. One of the biggest plot threads is dropped completely.
- Tons of assets are either flipped straight from the first game with better resolution, or the art team copied them as closely as possible.
- Not enough enemy variety.
- While all classes are viable, Thief and Magick Archer are head and shoulders above the rest and can trivialize the game.
- Related to the above point, while the game starts out difficult you'll eventually become unstoppable and there is no more challenge. Magick Archer can delete bosses, so can Thief.
- Lack of endgame content to challenge endgame builds
- Battahl can feel like a grind due to frequency of enemy encounters

tl;dr: If you liked the first game, you will like this one. If you didn't like the first game, you will not like this one. If you weren't a diehard fan, maybe wait for a sale or for a DLC to add endgame content. [b] If you're curious but never played the first game, go play the first game-- the first game is basically the same game, for better and for worse but with more content since it has a huge endgame DLC. [/b] And it's cheaper. Complaints about microtransactions are valid but overblown. Many people are mad about the DLC. While in principle it's indefensible to put microtransactions in a single player game and so it's fine to be upset about it, it's important to understand that you will never suffer or be put behind for not having the items purchasable via microtransactions. All purchasable items are extremely easy to acquire in-game. Pros: + Excellent combat + Good soundtrack but not as iconic as the previous games (some songs make a re-appearance) + All classes are fun and viable, except maybe Trickster which is a lot of fun but mostly troll + Dialogue is good and thematic, same with voice acting + The Sphinx Cons: - Performance is laggy sometimes unless your PC is extremely top of the line, but nothing that ruins the experience. Performance issues are usually NPCs loading in slowly, or the occasional texture pop-in - Story is still nonexistent. Despite the dialogue being well-written, somehow the story itself is awful and may as well not even exist. One of the biggest plot threads is dropped completely. - Tons of assets are either flipped straight from the first game with better resolution, or the art team copied them as closely as possible. - Not enough enemy variety. - While all classes are viable, Thief and Magick Archer are head and shoulders above the rest and can trivialize the game. - Related to the above point, while the game starts out difficult you'll eventually become unstoppable and there is no more challenge. Magick Archer can delete bosses, so can Thief. - Lack of endgame content to challenge endgame builds - Battahl can feel like a grind due to frequency of enemy encounters