Recent reviews by RubySnipa

Despite Sony's short-sighted, tactical blunder & some initial server instability issues, this game has everything you could possibly ask for.*

*Statement is based upon weighted voting under managed democracy.

Let's get the negative out of the way first.
- This is the 2nd worst launch of a game I have ever been a part of with Diablo 3 being the top of that list.
- The first weekend after launch has been a crapshoot as to whether you'd be able to play the game at all.
- Online-only games are a scourge in the industry with microtransactions being at the top of the list.
- Load times for launching a heist are sometimes unbearably long, especially if the end result is a message to the effect of "Failed to Connect to Matchmaking"
- Limited weapon choice & customization options that only unlock after playing a certain number of heists.
- The menu UIs are terrible & lacking core features like being able to Unready after going Ready, setting your active loadout, & customizing weapons.

The neither good or bad
- A lot of the skills & core systems have been simplified to the point where anyone who's never played a Payday game can easily figure out how to play.
- It's $40 instead of the prevalent $60 that is standard from AAA titles, but does not have the content currently to justify the cost of entry.

The positives
- It does not have microtransactions (at the moment)
- When the servers are not crapping themselves every couple of hours, this game is tremendously fun
- The story is a lot more grounded in reality than previous entries in the series
- The changes to how a lot of the core mechanics have been vastly improved & are a big step in the right direction for this series.
- Lockpicking is faster & is no longer just hold F to win.
- Improved hostage interaction & movement options
- New mechanics & ways to interact with the environment

Overall, this is a rocky start for a game launch and I don't fault anyone for refunding or posting bad reviews about the game, but I would still recommend revisiting & revising reviews when the 1st DLC hits the Steam Store.

Early Review: 7/10, possible to increase to 8 or 8.5/10 with QoL patches, improved UI, server stability improvements, & eliminating Online-Only requirements entirely.