I like it loads better than PoE 1.
1. Character creation is amazing (the plot around it is really annoying-I can't wait for an easy char gen mod-sometimes you just want to play around with builds, not listen to the infodump again and again). Multiclassing was exactly what the first game was missing--and it is designed for maximum ease of play. I am playing what is effectively a Psion/Rogue, a combination I haven't been able to play since the Dark Sun games.
2. The world feels less restrained--I am ignoring the main plot, to sail and pirate. It reminds me of Skull and Shackles, the Pathfinder pirate adventure path, and variously encourages the comparison.
3. Random encounters--the first did it like BG did it--every area was scattered with little groups of enemies you'd kill and kill and kill until you were both really bored, and in the case of PoE, were no longer getting xp for killing.
Now, it is more like you land on a little island, because you thought to yourself--hey, that little island looks desolate and full of treasure--not because it is on the way to the next city or anything-- and have a set number of encounters you choose to have, they are all semi-scripted fights with opportunities to use your skills for ambush/advantage, and sometimes, afterwards, you get to name the island.