Just started a run of this yesterday. An interesting blend of new and familiar that I greatly appreciate, though it means I would really like a walkthrough or a wiki to see what I am missing. (For example, I'm still struggling to find the Wind and Devil shamans.) Adding additional characters and a skill tree for Ryu are really cool features, but I'm still trying to find the balance as Ryu rules the roost as a Ranger while everyone else dies before they get a chance to move (Rand is VERY hard to kill, but his offense sucks and healing magic is horribly inefficient). Money gain vs cost increase is also a problem, at very least until you get a grasp of how gear works.
Adding the conversations (banner messages between allies) is a WONDERFUL addition that adds so much to the party, but I would ask if there's a way to archive them (they always seem to happen as I'm entering a transition like a door or stairs). Seeing Rand and Sten debate combat philosophies, Lin school Rand on what it takes to battle efficiently, or Lin begging Nina even more about learning magic. I always thought this crew was exceptional, and you managed to expand on it perfectly.
One thing I do wish I knew ahead of time is the potential for romances. Apparently Ryu chose Lin before I even knew that was a feature, and there weren't any ways to graciously back out once that became apparent. I always considered Ryu/Katt's relationship to be more of a "Bash Bros" affair than an... "affair" affair, so I was caught off guard when the text cheerfully informed me that both of them made their way to Ryu's bedroll. Leaves me wondering what other additions were added to the equation that were never mentioned, or even the impact this one wrinkle could have on the remaining game. (Might be interesting to see Nixie trading advice on how to deal with their beaus.)
A few things I noticed that are worth noting for BoF2 vets trying to get into this:
1) Bleu/Deis is still in the game, but the recruitment features are different. Rather than visiting her home, you have to get a book from the library in the academy, then she predictably reveals herself and offers to join. This probably means you can get her much earlier, but it does require a boss fight.
2) The item customization drastically changes how gear works. The value of the new gear seems to be in passives rather than built in stats, so it's no longer a game of walking in and grabbing the latest wares in each town. Customizing gear has a much bigger effect on power than shelling out for new gear.
3) Ryu's transformations don't work as the same MP dumps they used to, throwing every last MP into a single attack. Now they use the CB pool to do their attacks and they remain in play until the battle's over or you choose to revert. This means that MP skill books aren't totally wasted on him, though his pitiful MP score means that he can't use them without MP-increasing gear or stat boost items.
4) Shamans now serve two separate purposes. You can equip them like an accessory for a stat boost AND fuse two of them into a character for a sprite shift (such as turning Jean into his badass knight form or Spar into a mushroom. These two are not exclusive: you can fuse Water into Jean to get his now named "Lagoon Knight" form AND equip her on Nina to give the bird girl extra magical oomph. Equipping them as gear does not result in physical differences, not even the palette swaps like Red Sten. Fusing and unfusing shamans from party members is done at the home base, but swapping them as accessories can be done anywhere. Fun addendum: this version actually explains the shamans as descendants of Karn (the ally from BoF1 that could fuse himself with allies to create powerful forms), which wonderfully explains who they are and what they do. Karn still shows up on the giant island, but he makes it clear that he and Bo are nonviolent undead of some sort rather than just being inexplicably alive centuries after their game.
The largest of the bugs I found that really stood out to me (beyond the recurring issues of missing "wounded" sprites for some enemies, inconsistent pathing, and ill-formatted skill tooltips) are regarding buffs/healing effects that don't work correctly. The light dragon's penultimate tier includes a healing spell that is supposed to heal and buff defense. It does the defense buff fine, but DEALS damage rather than recovers it. Several enemies also have buffs that do damage rather than help them, to the point that they damaged themselves more than I did. Lin during the Corsair duel is an example that sticks in my skull.
So the TLDR version of my review: A rich and rewarding retelling of the classic game with a lot of additions that expand the game in more ways than I can easily describe most of which are wholly to the game's benefit. It being an independent passion project, however, is evident as inconsistent and missing sprites, bad pathing, and errors with ability scripting are still prevalent. Not flawless, but forgiving these flaws can reward you with an engaging retelling of a legendary game.