Here we have another great Chinese romance+esport drama, China is really killing it lately in this genre. I had a great time from beginning to end, despite it being a very long series, sporting a whopping 38 episodes. Compared to Go Go Squid 1, they've fixed most of the problems. CTF might be a super interesting competition format, but in GGS1 the CTF fights were somewhat boring and out of place, also GGS1 had an incredible amount of flashback filler. GGS2 on the other hand addressed both of these problems. There were very few flashbacks in comparison & they changed CTF to robot combat. Naturally human controlled robots fights, at least as portrayed here don't make any sense. The laws of physics etc were not followed, but I gotta give it to them, at least it was entertaining & exciting to watch. (Kind of like Beyblade..)
Just like GGS1, GGS2 also has a 50/50 split between romance and esports, but It's hugely better in the sense that the fastforward button does not need to be used for full enjoyment. I already mentioned that there were much fewer flashback scenes, but they also dialed down on cringy interactions with foreigners. Perhaps even the Chinese patriotism/peptalk scenes were fewer in number, I felt those were overall more bearable. With that said they used a lot more China labels on clothing & the K&K uniform looked absolutely ridiculous, especially how the forearm part of those white long sleeves were often filled up with some ehm material to symbolize China's might more. Yi Tian is not Popeye, not even close, but it sure as hell looked like it in all those forearm closeup scenes featuring that huge red China logo.

The romance is very well written in this drama. The pacing is nice, the love triangle barely exists and the OTP's relationship is really wholesome overall. There weren't many missed opportunities. Maybe they could've revealed the K&K name's origins to the world, but there were more than enough gratifying reveals in this drama, really. Also it's nice how they officially get together at around episode 17 and then all the misunderstandings and problems that occur later get resolved quickly in a satisfying manner. The ending is really great too..

The reason why it's only a 9 is due to two reasons. Firstly just like GGS1 this one too has a really stupid scene, where XB forces AQ into the car in front of Wang Hao's house. I'm sure many western viewers agree with me about that scene being a huge black mark, however I know for a fact that Chinese romance webnovels have similar scenes all the time and the audience seems to love them, so it's not at all surprising that GGS2 would have something like that. (The scene that I similarly hated in GGS1 is how HSY promised TN's mom to forever leave TN)
The second reason is actor Hu Yi Tian and his lack of chemistry with Li Yi Tong. I'm not saying that they had no chemistry at all, but I've seen much better. The big problem with Hu Yi Tian is that more he talked the less convincing his acting felt to me. The OTP in GGS1 is just a hugely better fit. To me it feels like typecasting him to the exact same role what he held in "A Love So Beautiful" is a better choice for him..

As for making sense of the story continuity between GGS1 & GGS2, it's best not to think about it too much. Multiverse theory is the easiest explanation. Things are similar, but different. The story is the same & yet not the same. The chronology is kind of the same, but full of immersion breaking plot holes.

Despite GGS1 & GGS2 continuity being all over the place, I recommend everyone to watch GGS1 first(feel free to skip half of the flashbacks), it's gratifying to see Tong Nian & HSY appearing in GGS2 afterwards..

So yeah, GGS2 was a great show, I'm sure I'll eventually do a rewatch. In fact I'm ready for GGS3, I'm okay with the creators changing the featured Esport again too. They can put 97's sweet noona romance in focus, for all I care.. :-)