I really loved the first game a lot but I do think it was both a bit more grindy than necessary and super long to get through. That can definitely appeal to some peopleand ill say I did a regular playthrough before radiant mode (speeds things up, a bit easier, less grindy) and 1 playthrough with radiant mode and i preferred radiant, even if it was technically easier.

Now dd2 on the other hand isn't very grindy at all. Like sure there is permanent progression and unlocks and shit you work towards, but I've done maybe 12 full runs now, beat act 4 (1 left) and I've never once felt like I'm grinding or just doing a run to unlock stuff. Like I've been trying to beat each act boss every time, that was the main goal, always.

They greatly improved the animations, the art, the atmosphere in some ways but most importantly I think they improved combat which is like the main appeal and mainly what you do in the game. They've made a lot of things less "rng" in a way, there is still is dice rolls, as there should be for this type of game, but they've made it much more coherent in what can happen and what you can prepare for. I like it a lot.

The game is still going to have content and shit added, but it's both a complete game right now and worth the $40 or $30 if you own dd1 already (you have to buy the bundle package on steam to get the discount, idk why.)

It's still a tough game, and it isn't for everybody but I think it can appeal to even more people now than dd1. An average run can last like 3 or 4 hours i think. I'm sure fitgirl will have a repack of it soon enough in case you don't want to buy it, or just wanna try it first, since she rarely ever updates her torrents to include new updates