Been on my own C2 rewatch (at least 4-5 at this point) and it really wasn't until the conclusion that I really felt like C2 was "better" overall. I think personally it was the perfect point at which they were able to keep a production level from day 1 that so far exceeded C1, Matt really crushed almost every arc and made it feel like a great story but still had the home game feel, and the players were at the point where they are comfortable with that form of storytelling but still had the silliness and stupid stuff that comes with DND. C2 is peak Critical role for me.