The combat system has been tweaked too. I wish they'd been a bit more blatant about how the new system works, the first few combats were confusing the fuck out of me, but once I found the Journal in my Quest Magnus I figured it out. It's hard to say which system is better, but this new one does have a lot going for it. I like how it requires faster fingers and more forethought than the original. I do miss matching defense items against their attacks, though. Also, apparently there's only three playable characters total in this game, which sort of sucks. Oh well.
I'm obviously not really going to be able to judge the game until the plot gets underway, but from what I've seen so far it looks to be an adventure at least on par with the first one, and with better voice acting to boot.