Surprisingly I didn't like that they added black ralsei back and not because I'm racist, but it just feels like he's outgrown his ch1 design with him being as sick of this chapter and main antagonist as I was (I especially wanted to just kill flowery at the end, but at this point I'm questioning why FIGHTing is even an option with how much the game is built around not doing that). They didn't even really do anything with the japan aesthetic beyond some scenery and unimportant enemies.
Also this is probably just me, but it bugs me that that Susie understandably goes "woah, ralsei you can do that?" when Ralsei finally uses his firemagic, but not when he's suddenly flying around as part of his regular moveset.