Some consider it the best in the series. Some despise it. Definitely worth playing it to see for yourself. It's okay if it's not to your liking, but don't let anyone tell you their opinion isnworth more than your own.
Me personally, I think they did what a sequel is supposed to do, and jump off from the original with new ideas and mechanics, instead of just repeating everything the original did. Some of it worked, some didn't, but it's a success in my book just for being creative.
They took the genre and distilled it down to the purest gameplay-focused form that they could. And for an Early Access title, it could absolutely be a full release today. No bugs, no performance issues, nothing feels missing or incomplete, except maybe a few minor QoL bits. The success is deserved.