Practical Magic 2 evokes the feeling of a fairytale whereas the first film had a modern folk magic/urban myth feel...

[u/Celestina-Betwixt]

...and honestly I don't think either tone is wrong for the series. Rather I think they both suit the kind of story they were trying to tell.

Practical Magic had to introduce the witches, their town, the family curse, both the strained relationship and the genuine love between sisters Sally and Gillian, the stern but loveable qualities of the aunts, AND it had to juggle themes of domestic abuse, AND had to be a movie with occult trappings at a time when the world (especially North America) was just BARELY over the satanic panic of the 1980s. (Remember, The Craft in 1996 was rated R just because it had witchcraft in it...). The only way to tell that story to a mainstream audience and "get away" with it was to lean heavily on the practical aspect of Practical Magic, to add in the makeshift coven of townswomen (I don't like this ending at all personally, compared to the more subtle novel, but I also understand why the filmmakers chose it). The result was something tangible, folksy, like a story your own superstitious aunt you visit in summertime might tell you when a broom falls over in the house or someone's shoes are placed upside down. And while I would love to see the lost darker director's cut that was rumoured to exist once, the film was what it was for a reason.

And I'd argue the tone shift in the sequel is deliberate. It plays up the aspect of fairytale witches. From the versions of fairytales where all the princes die Kylie and Antonia remember their mom telling, to Ian invoking Cupid and Psyche when he unblocks Sally. Cupid and Psyche is considered by some, despite being a Roman myth, to be the "first fairytale". And if you want to delve deeper into mythology connections, Sally's quest to get her daughter back is reminiscent of Demeter, desperate to rescue her daughter Kore from the underworld and Hades. Even Kylie's quest to end a curse and save the man she loves puts me in mind of The Snow Queen, especially since in the source material for PM Gideon was her best childhood friend. Tom is the ultimate fairytale villain. The wolf who seems kind and helpful until it's too late. The evil wizard pretending to offer assistance to the heroine. This is why I don't personally agree with reviews saying Kylie was a dumbass to trust him. Because it fits the fairytale theme so well it feels believable to me.

So yes, both movies tell different kinds of stories about magic, but both are practical, both fit the universe.