As others have noted, this book is more like the original in its style and stakes. It’s great to see how the characters flex their growing abilities and work together against the big bad. It is an entirely different style though, almost a different game. If before it was PvE then PvP; now it’s more like an RTS.
Further, some of the horrendous immersion breaking things are still present, like the authors complete lack of understanding in how game dev businesses work. There are still some points where you have to assume that the “real world” people live in more of a fantasy land than the game operates in. Judging by this and the hook for the next one, I’m not too interested in more books in the series.