I played the hell out of Dead Rising. I remember letting almost all of the survivors die because it was such a hassle to save them. Likewise, I'm having trouble saving some survivors, but on the account of random psychopath encounters and a lack of a good waypoint system/shortcuts back to the safehouse. Dead Rising 2 still seems to be plagued by a good number of these issues, but I also feel there could have been steps taken to make Dead Rising 2, a less needlessly frustrating experience.
 
So below, I am going to highlight several mechanics and/or changes that may have helped the game be less frustrating overall: 
 

1. Removing The Watch Function / The watch function should not exist. It would have been beneficial to always have the time posted in one of the corners of the screen, so you always know exactly what time it is. This also would not intrude on the time management counter used by the cases/survivors/etc.
2. Improved Map Screen / In removing this function, the case system (where you can select cases to be active, when looking at your watch) should be relocated to the map screen as well. Here, you would be able to see the location of the selected case you are looking at, as well as having a waypoint system that would automatically plot out the best course to take to get to that objective, (this would also include shortcuts).
3.  Minimap / A minimap which located active cases you have selected as well as uber-important cases would be located as well. The function would also include the waypoints that would help guide you to get to your route faster, as well as using the big arrow.
4. Helping Survivors More / I think a mechanic that would drastically help out survivors is a QTE when survivors get attacked. it can be frustrating trying to help a survivor get unhinged from a zombie, because you may end up knocking a few of the zombies down as well as your survivor, as well as taking away a huge chunk of their life. This QTE would be similar to the one when zombies attack you. You have to hit a specific button when in close to the situation and Chuck would give a helpful hand without risking life loss to your survivor, as well as a follow up move that would help knock down a few zombies in the surrounding area.
5. Add Stores + Notes To Map / I always thought one mechanic that would be beneficial, was to be able to highlight and permanently add a store to the map, as well as a note function, that allowed you to mark something related to the store on there. Maybe you want to highlight that a sports store has, boxing gloves and baseball bats? Why not add this to your map, so you have this for the future if you want to make that combo weapon without wandering aimlessly and wasting time? There were plenty of times I forgot what store I got something from, and so I might not have seen a specific weapon again.
   
6. Psychopath Warning Areas / When looking on your map, there should be specific coloration of areas that show where a psychopath will show up. This will help to show you possible alternate routes if you happen to be carrying survivors with you. These would go away once a psychopath has been defeated, but this will help to show areas that you might want to stay away from until you can take them out on your own.
7. Improved Loadout Function / I always felt the inventory system was a little clunky, and I always thought it was beneficial to have some sort of inventory at the safehouse where you could store important items, as well as have some sort of quick select function in your active inventory, (maybe making a back up inventory to temporarily store items, a la Resident Evil?)

number 7 would definitely be on the top of my list, there should be a different inventory slot for your magazines and food. Having to change weapons on the fly and have to scroll through all the crap I don't use is a hassle.

For number 6 that would be a bit to gamey. In DR2 a lot of the situations Chuck is meant to be going there not really knowing what to expect. Not something I would like.

I would want them to make it more like case 0. So a bunch of individual self contained segments that are like 2 hours long or so that could be restarted at any time.

" For number 6 that would be a bit to gamey. In DR2 a lot of the situations Chuck is meant to be going there not really knowing what to expect. Not something I would like. "

" @Raineko:  So you want Chuck to retain information across playthroughs? That's one step closer to skynet... "

This game is perfect 10/10. 

I'd want the zombies to have more of a focus with the difficulty. Playing through DR1 has shown me just how much easier DR2 has been made. I don't want them to completely get rid of the time constraints, but with the zombies themselves actually forcing you into really tough situations. It didn't help that you always had access to some of the games best weapons, if the most plain, straight out of the safe house. 
 
I also strongly agree with replacing the watch with a timer on the corner, or better yet to give us an on screen minimap.