Curse of the Azure Bonds

The technical enhancements over PoR are welcome, and the encounter design has greatly improved; enemy casters are a frequent and credible threat now! Sadly, CotAB is worse than its predecessor in a number of areas: 1) The game likes to close off dungeon entrances, forbidding backtracking until the next boss is killed. Hate that. 2) World exploration is more plot driven, which means it's more linear. 3) The side content is quite feeble. On balance, I think this sequel is slightly worse than PoR.

A scooch easier to get into than its predecessor because of its focus on story rather than exploration. This is a great place to start if you haven't experienced western RPGs from this era, but the experience may feel a little shallow in comparison to other games in the series. The graphics were much improved over the first game, the great tactical combat is already a given at this point, and the writing was good (but, like...there is a faithful novelization you could find for cheap).