Recent reviews by Coins

So far, so good. Hope there will be some randomization or map making in the future.

It's not everyone's cup of tea and I'm not sure about whether to expect more updates or not, but overall a quite unique and fun game. It also indirectly introduced me to Arkham Horror, which is a good board game as well.

It's bethesda, doing bethesda things. If you're patient, wait until they fixed some bugs/released modding tools and get it on sale.

The bad:
Story & most characters. Sometimes you can glimpse some nuance and "what could've been" parts, but in general it feels like a mismatched Frankenstein's monster sewn together from parts of a bigger, better narrative. I think the survivors were supposed to give off the whole desperate vibe, instead they seem like egoistic psychopaths. PK's just come off as hastily rewritten bad guys and renegades could be removed from the game entirely and it wouldn't lose much.

Map is boring. Samey interiors everywhere and generally no reason to explore most things. You've seen one quarantine zone, you've seen them all. Same goes for dark hollows. In the first game you at least had some variety and each zone felt unique.

Nighttime used to be something tense and scary, but you could overcome it with levels and gear in the first game. Here it was boring at launch and tedious after the update.

Tencent and the tacked on cash shop with the usual predatory practices, will probably have FOMO bs later down the line.

The meh:
Melee weapons are functional, but kind of meh. Mods feel like they barely do anything (especially bleed and toxin). Ranged weapons are ok, but feel like the damage drops off pretty quickly at higher levels.

Faction system is pointless for the main story and most of PK's rewards have very niche uses. Locking the crossbow behind their progression makes little sense too. Other than that the whole system is just "paint the map yellow or blue" with little else going for it.

Leveling is tedious and doesn't feel like your character is improving, but rather unlocking stuff that Aiden should know from the get-go. In the first game each "milestone" skill would reflect in gameplay (faster climbing, less awkward animations etc). Here things barely feel different.

The good:
Just running around is fun (especially after the parkour update).
Game looks pretty nice.
Some sidequests are pretty interesting.

There's probably more to add in every category, but this is already way too long.

Tl;dr: Buy the first one instead. If you already have, skip this one.

EDIT: Most if not all of the above still applies, but having played recently, I've noticed that they leaned into the sandbox part of the game more with the survivor missions etc, so now you can screw around in the map with some form of objective. I've yet to properly try tower raid, but it seems like this game actually bounced back somewhat. Here's hoping that "The Beast" will do for this game, what The Following did for the first.

Game beaten on: Armageddon

The good: Visuals, setting, audio, soundtrack, gameplay.

The bad: Glitches & bugs in all of the above. Achievments are bugged for now (not a big issue to me, but good to know nonetheless).

TL;DR: Worth it if you can handle it's jank and it doesn't get abandoned. Use russian VA (main menu options, not in-game options). Get and fully upgrade pashtet with a spinny blade asap. Polymer blobs & shock help immensely with the combat.

Despite not getting most of the Founder Edition bonuses, I still feel like this game was worth the money. Here's hoping we can get some of the early trailer vibes in the DLC's.

Good if you are looking for a relaxing timewaster. Works well with your own music in the background too.

So far, I feel like I've got my moneys worth out of this game.

I only just noticed I have 53 hours in this game.

Amazing visuals, great soundtrack and a fast-paced combat loop. One of the few games I was excited for and wasn't disappointed.

Cool game.