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Fantasy Life i takes the original concept of a slow life jrpg and packs it with so many more progression systems and much better polishing than the first game. There's a time travel concept that results in 3 different areas-- the past, present, and ginormorsia. Each has their own progression systems and gameplay loop, yet they somehow blend three different feeling genres together in a way that doesn't feel jarring or complicated to switch between. The best way to talk about the game is to separate all three of these out.
The past: The past is fantasy life as you remember it, with basically all of the systems in tact and expanded upon. The story quests you get are primarily from this era, which results in a pretty stereotypical, but funny, jrpg story. If you played the original, this will feel right at home, with a world map similar in scale to the base 3ds game, and pacing (both story and progression) that feels almost identical. You get every Life (or job) here too, and a majority of the class quests are completed here. Basically, a majority of the JRPG elements are here! There's a lot of exploration to be done here, though less so than Ginormosia.
The present: Island sim! You get your own little island to terraform and decorate. Your whole 'guild' is here, made up of recruitable characters you get through story and exploration. This area has its own host of systems, and this is also where you can eventually do the primarily post-game roguelike dungeon mode (alone and with friends). *also, you can house up to 6 villagers, and they all have their own furniture and aesthetics!*
You're definitely not getting a whole animal crossing style experience here, but the decoration and terraforming is actually very good, and there are a lot of systems that tie into the other areas that make you want to spend lots of time in the present! This is also what multiplayer seems intended for.
Ginormosia: Big open world area with Breath of the Wild style shrines and tons of collectables scattered about! This is admittedly the place I spent the least time in, since it's not technically required for story. The map is HUGE though, and there seems to be a lot to do here! Each zone has it's own area rank progression, which you increase by killing enemies, finding collectables, doing shrines, and doing area quests, which randomly spawn while you're in an area. Area rank gives you rewards, and also permanently increases the level and loot you'll get from enemies, fish, etc., in that area! While not at all required for main story, you could easily spend hundreds of hours here.
It may sound like a jumbled mess, and I very well thought it might be when the game first introduced this all to me, but the polish in these areas are great, and the execution as a whole is very solid, so I never felt confused, overwhelmed, or lost going from mode to mode-- they're pretty seamlessly integrated.

In terms of JRPG style progression, the biggest selling point for the game is the Life system. There are 14 lives to choose from-- 4 combat, 5 gathering, and 5 crafting! A player can choose to be all of them, as they all progress at their own rates, or can complete the game with just a couple. If you decide to go through the game primarily as a crafter, you can buy basically all the materials you need in shops you find through progression, or in ginormosia. If you're primarily a gatherer, you can sell the resources you gain in order to buy armor, weapons, etc! If you love combat, you can ignore all of the other systems, and just play a pretty typical JRPG, stocking up on potions and gear in the main towns. Switching between lives you have is smooth-- clicking on any gathering spot will instantly swap you to that class, and clicking to fight swaps you back to combat without any delays. Speaking of gathering-- they didn't get lazy here! There's tons of resources to grab, but there is also 'boss' ore, fish, trees, etc., that require more time and actually playing the gathering minigame decently to get!

In terms of combat, I've only played mage-- if you're looking for a hardcore combat experience, you aren't getting it in this game. It's meant to be cozy, and defeating bosses well above your level isn't super difficult if you know what you're doing. That said, the combat, while not having the most depth, definitely is satisfying! Your roll cancels your basic attack animation and has its own attack out of it, and skills typically feel fun to use. Presentation on the numbers gives you dopamine as your gear gets stronger and you get to see bigger amounts too!
The ability to do quests you've accepted will be possible starting the 1.1.3 patch: https://www.fantasylife.jp/fli/patchnote/ver_1_1_3/
**This section will be long: Multiplayer is going to be the biggest controversial feature in this game**, since in some ways, it's a step down to the 3ds version. I would be careful with some other reviews, since there are people who hardly touched the feature and just gave first impressions. It is true that exploring the past has a set timer, and you can't do life or sidequests while with your friends. At the end of the timer, you get pulled back to the present, where you can restock items and level your skills. This hasn't really been a big issue for me-- I played with friends early on to kill a bunch of bosses for loot and to cut higher level trees (since multiple players can help hit the same gathering spots) to power level a bit, and it only takes a little to go back to the past when time runs low. Ginormosia's area quests still work, and the timer gets increased to an hour, which is more than I needed it for.
However, with all of that said, the multiplayer seems more designed for the present especially, as a way to farm in the post game with friends. There's a roguelike dungeon mode that you unlock in your island at a certain point in progression-- It has 10 descending floors, and a timer attached to it. Each floor gets progressively harder, and base dungeon difficulty can go up in general. You can clear these with friends, and reap all the rewards for it, resulting in faster clears, more fun, and unless you're fully maxed in every class (very time consuming), may be your only way to get all the rewards, since floors require certain Lives to get through them. If you've spent a lot of time fishing, but not much woodcutting, bringing your woodcutting friend along will significantly help you both get more rewards in certain dungeons. Overall, if you're looking for an early game multiplayer experience, or to progress through the entire game together, this isn't really the game for it. I do hope they add the ability to do life quests at the least-- I think it was done to potentially help alleviate powerleveling, but in a cozy game, I don't really think it matters much anyway. Multiplayer can still be fun, especially in the dungeon mode, but it's a side piece to the main experience-- you do it after main story, or just to supplement your fun.

I'm writing this review after playing this game for 29 hours of the 50 hours I had owned it for, so hopefully it was relatively informative about the overall experience! If you're a fan of the 3ds game, I think this game is a must purchase-- If you aren't a fan of the 3ds game, I think this game greatly appeals to any slow life/cozy game players, rune factory enjoyers, and any jrpg fans who want a less hardcore experience. The polish is great, the story isn't anything to write home about but is funny and enjoyable throughout the whole thing, and the music is lovely. There's hundreds upon hundreds of hours of content in the game, and the aesthetic is super cute.
TLDR: Very polished cozy JRPG experience. Big recommend this game!! Please read the multiplayer section if you are getting this game to play with friends, or if it's an important component to you, since it contains relative information that'll probably sway your purchase!