Yeah the AI was terrible in the first game. It was one of the very few games that i had to switch to easy mode in order to appreciate the story,characters and its world without wanting to smash my controller. Even the combat felt more fun on easy mode.
Ni no kuni 2 looks like it has improved the only major flaw of the original and kept all of its strong points. Although to be honest NNK2 gives me slightly more anime vibes than the original but i could be wrong.