I enjoyed the story. I wonder if I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't already read Ready Player One.

There were a few times where I thought the story was going one way, and then it didn't. There were a few non-starters, or ideas that got fleshed out way more than necessary for the story, with no payoff.

One example is that L0hengrin's character was explained in great detail in the first part, down to being designated male at birth, but identifying as female half the time. A few pages later the character essentially stops being relevant for the majority of the book. There are about 2 more interactions, total. Seems odd. Why create this group called the Low Five if you're just going to send them off on a quest for a sword, and never tell us about it?

I'm giving it 4 stars because I still enjoyed it. I do wish I could go back and read the first one for the first time again, though.