I didn't realize until I started watching that this isn't REALLY a direct sequel — it sort of takes place in an alternate universe where a lot of things are similar but not exactly the same, including the game that they played.

With that being said, I felt like the drama found itself in a really confusing position between being a standalone and a sequel. You can't really watch this one without watching the first season because you'd miss out on a lot of fun references and be way more confused about what exactly the backstory is, but if you HAD watched the first one already, this drama felt very repetitive and watered down.

I don't really care much about the switch from e-sports to robotics and I think it definitely did get more interesting, but I don't feel the stakes much, mostly because S1 focused more on the story element and S2 focuses more on the romantic element.

Still, the plot did grow on me over time; the first 10 or so episodes were really hard to get through because I didn't care for the characters (who all felt different) or the romance.

I really didn't like the romance in the beginning of the drama. While I always enjoy a little bit of one-sided pining from my male leads, it felt very random to start the story with him idolizing her to that extent without having interacted with her directly. It made a lot of the so-called romantic scenes feel unearned. At the start, feel similarly with the second lead couple — their beginning felt very out-of-the-blue and it was like they didn't know each other at all and the relationships somehow got serious.

The drama gets a little better after we get through those and the leads start interacting more, and I really do like how there were not many misunderstandings or annoying side characters.

There is, however, one scene that I just have to talk about. After the leads are already together, there's one moment where the ML becomes rough and drags the FL into a car out of insecurity and jealousy. It's played off like a misunderstanding because she didn't know what was happening, but NOTHING excuses how much force he used. It was a little out-of-character but regardless of that, it was terrifying and was probably the worst part of the show.

In terms of the characters, they also feel watered down compared to the original, especially because there were a lot of actor swaps. Some grew on me, like Wang Hao and Mi Shao Fei, but I really couldn't reconcile the Appledog in this with the one in the first season. She was mature and intimidating there, and with the new actress being shorter and more bubbly and smiley, Appledog felt like a completely different character. It really felt like the casting director and the writers didn't know how to write a romance drama with the original dynamic and instead reverted to the easy formula of quiet ML/bright FL.

In conclusion, I really think this drama got better and was a light-hearted low-stakes watch, though it's far longer than it has to be. It ends on a high note, and I personally enjoyed how the FL was shown as capable (and compared to the first one, very non-cringy) but I feel like most people who loved the first one would be disappointed.