Continuing from 1st part this game delivers truly different experience from any other RPG on market
You start in new land , the "New World" witch is few times bigger then land in first game, filled with even more different kinds of landscape, which are even more fun to explore, filled with even more kinds of monsters, surprises & secrets. In other words if you liked surroundings in first game, you will definitely like it in this game even more.
The "New World" is filled with people, most of which live in one of 2 big towns and there are plenty of things to do. From a various people scattered around land you might learn things like how to be stronger, how to better fight with single handed weapons , how to skin animals, etc. etc. etc. Learning system is copied from 1st game and requires learning points which you gain by gaining levels, with experience gained from battles and quests. Only thing witch you can't "learn" anymore is acrobatics, which in first game gave you ability to jump further, run faster and if you fall down from greater hight, get less damage. Of course game itself isn't about it, but still it would be fun thing to do , or maybe it's just me...
The graphics are slightly improved in terms of textures, models and landscape details. In game console allows you to completely remove distance fog and change rendering a bit, but even without it game looks great and combined with dynamic music flow it creates atmosphere "sucking" you into the mood of adventure.
In conclusion, it is recommended for you to play 1st game before playing this one, but even without it you can make out story as characters seems to enjoy talking about "old times". Also I would recommend to have a console activation and console commands manual just in case you would stuck in some places ( stuck as in - can't move ) .. it's just saving your time and you from extra stress as in some places game seem to have some glitches.