According to Polygon, Level-5 is turning in its turned-based combat antics for real-time combat in place of it:

“The first Ni no Kuni was very much intended for a Japanese audience, and it’s kind of tendency or a trend there to play a game where you don’t focus too much on the action,” Hino said. “Right now we had a very international design in mind from the get-go, so we redesigned the combat system to be in line with that philosophy.”

By “international design,” Hino means an emphasis on real-time combat. No more turn-based fights in Ni no Kuni 2; instead, traversing the world map can lead to one of two kinds of quick-paced fights.

if you loved the original Ni no Kuni and found that the turned-based combat was one of its charm, how do you feel about this change to suit a wider audience?

"if you loved the original Ni no Kuni and found that the turned-based combat was one of its charm, how do you feel about this change to suit a wider audience?"

It sucks & and I dont even really believe it ll give it a wider audience.
Sadly its a "trend" that developers seem to think action-rpgs sell better or appeal to more, so everything seems to be going that route.

Yet look at DQ, its going to sell well because its turn based.
Ni no Kuni has enough charm, it doesnt need to try to be something it wasnt.

I still plan on buying it, but yeah its abit off putting.
Felt same way about FFXV.

Ah... turn based doesn't mean boring or niche... see: older FF games, Persona 5, and blah blah blah.

Wonder who's to blame for Japanese devs seeing the international market as an impatient kid.

I quite like that route, as it means I'll have more action RPG's to play, rather than having less and less. I don't see how it's "inferior" to turn based when it comes to profits. 

Ahhhh, and ignorance strikes again.The common misconception that turn based combat, or a slower based combat really(since Ni no Kuni wasnt actually turn based) cant be successful in the west.Dont get me wrong, , from what I saw, Ni ni Kuni combat system looks awesome, but this excuse is getting reeeeeally tiring, especially when the first Ni no Kuni found a good deal of success in the west.

Let's be honest, the combat in Ni No Kuni was bad, easily the worst part of the game.

It was basically capturing Dinoceros in the desert and auto-attacking 95% of the time.

In terms of taste, the same can be said the other way.I wished there was more turn based combat systems, because in my opinion there are not enough nowadays.

As for wether this change would bring in more profits, it really dosent mean either way.There are examples in which it made a game more popular, and there are examples in which it brought less money.

In the end of the day, I think the most important question to ask is: Is the change really necessary to the game?Will it make it in a better game without destroying what the game is about in the process?If the answer is yes, go for it.If the answer is no, have faith in your vision.Most of the time, thats the answer for a better game and as a consequence, a more successful one.

VERY fair point.  Let's take Persona for example.  It's always been turned-based, but the system has improved enough to keep the franchise a success while still catering to its fans.

IMO they made the right decision for this one.

I remember being forced to control familiars and thinking "why can't i just use my character?" It was very limited.

Now i can actually play as a mage and cast a bunch of spells, it looks awesome.

THe game has not release yet, so Ill reserve judgement.While I will admit this system seems better, I wont lie as to say I also didnt like the first game system alot.

Ugh, my english is broken today.Writing through a phone also doesnt help.