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Liberate Sony HQ: Mission Success. Keep on diving brothers in arms!

It's just like the Sequel Trilogy! You get hyped just for a big cash grab.

Lots of people thought this game was going to be a meme - especially after the Day Before scare. My brother and I went into this game fully prepared to refund after 1 and a half hours. Blink one second and hours later and it's past 2 in the morning!

Really strong start for a true early-access game. There are bugs and few guides to help you solve them, but everything else about it feels very well polished with a clear vision in mind.

Play for an hour and see if you like the mechanics. Unlike most games, you'll be able to have a pretty good idea whether or not it's worth a refund after that time.

Current Consensus: I enjoyed the last game (Alicization Lycoris) more than this one currently. I'm about half-way through. The game isn't bad, but the open world feels much more constrained compared to before and the story-line almost intrusive to exploration.

If you're on the fence about the game, I'll update the review later so just follow around til I can finish and update the review. But IMO, the previous game was just better. At the very least, wait for a sale - these games tend to go very cheap during a Steam sale. Alternatively, (and unlike the last game), you can play for 2 hours and get a good concept of how the game will play. So if you don't like it within that time-frame, just refund on Steam... just know that in 2 hours you will still be in "tutorial-mode," but for the most part gameplay doesn't change.

This will be a very detailed review, read the bold print for the main points
1.) You do NOT need to have played the other games previous to this one to enjoy it. However, playing the previous game will help. Additionally, watching the anime series which covers the "War of Underworld" arc will also help explain what's happening - not 1 for 1 from the anime like all the other games.
2.) You DO have to like the Sword Art Series to enjoy the game. The game is extremely exposition heavy (more on this later); so, if you do not like the general premise of Sword Art Online, then you probably won't like the game just because you'll be constantly interacting with SAO characters. It'd be like expecting to enjoy an Michael Bay film if you don't like to see explosions and lots of actions - doesn't make sense.
3.) Online Co-op is actually there but you have to play through Chapter 2 of the story to unlock it. Unlike the last game, I'm unsure if you can play the main story together - and I would NOT recommend it anyways. Compared to the last game, there is even more 'story' which hampers the ability to play with friends if every 10 feet is a 'cut-scene'. I'll update this later, but it appears that the coop experience went backwards compared to the last game in favor of adding more cut-scenes and story.
4.) Difficulty scaling seems to have been improved from the last game. If you play on Hard after Chapter 2 (when you are given the ability to change difficulty and play online), you will be under-level or at-level for most encounters which then makes it a fair fight.
5.) Re-playability is pretty good, maybe more-so than the last game To start off your main character uses dual-wielded swords. But you can swap between over 10 weapon types (so like bows, warhammers, broadsword, daggers, rapiers, etc) to play and for the most part they're fairly different from one another. They all have their own unique play-style and timing to chain attacks together changes pretty drastically between the different styles. You also get magic abilities and buffs/debuffs from the get-go. And this doesn't even go into how you can customize each character's AI (how they will fight, react to situations, etc).

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GAMEPLAY
As before, the game plays like a mix between "X-Men Legends II (2005)" and a light Souls-like experience.
-----A.) Truly, the best comparison to the game is X-Men Legends II (2005) if it were third-person instead of top-down. In X-Men Legends, you assemble a team of 4 characters, each with customizable abilities and different damage types. A balanced team plays best, but it can be fun to fully stack on offense. Your special abilities in X-Men Legends use a "mana-pool" so sometimes you have to use normal attacks or potions to start using your special abilities again. As you progress through the story/maps, you get loot to further customize your characters and give them a unique identity - tank/dps/melee/healer/etc.
-----B.) In SAO, you also get to assemble a squad of 4 characters that you can freely swap between in game. Each character uses a given weapon type and a given set of abilities based around that weapon type. You can have two 'hammer-style' characters on your team with entirely unique abilities, since each weapon type has a wide ability choice - all useful for different situations. Just like X-Men Legends, using these powerful abilities will deplete a 'mana-bar' which you will then have to charge via normal attacks to then gain access to your powerful abilities again. Outside of abilities and normal attacks, you can block/parry, sidestep/perfect-sidestep, use spells, buff allies, etc. Certain abilities are very crucial to use if the enemy takes a 'defensive' stance [for example], so a well-balanced team and ability choice during combat is essential.
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Story-line - Visual Novel - Exposition
As a visual novel, you have to expect a lot of reading (since it's not dubbed in English). So in Skyrim, you get a main quest to go clear out some bandits and the only other time you interact with the quest-giver is when you finished the quest... and you're like: I killed those bandits for you, now pay up. In SAO, you get a main quest to go clear a dungeon of beasts. Unlike Skyrim, you arrive at the entrance and then the characters of the story interact with each other (in the form of a visual novel most times). You then enter the dungeon and find the beast --> more dialogue/visual novel. You kill the beast --> more dialogue. You return to the quest-giver --> more dialogue. That's why I said earlier you have to at least like the premise of SAO or be an existing fan. You can skip these scenes, but the combat will then feel choppy and you'll feel like you're grinding (at least for the main quests).
-- I'm not going to rate the story-line since it is subjective, but it is bearable. More importantly, I would say that this game's characters are a bit more like-able compared to before.
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Open World
Yes the game is open-world. No, you can't explore it all at the start of the game if you wanted to. I mentioned it above, but the main quest is more restrictive this time around for exploring areas that you do have unlocked. I still do try to explore, but am sometimes told to turn the other way, only for said area to be unlocked not much later. I would recommend sticking with the main storyline and explore lightly as well.
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Character Customization
1.) Your Character: After Chapter 2, you can customize your character. You will still play as Kirito, but you can customize everything about him - and you unlock more options like 'skins' the later in the story you go.
2.) Allied AI: To my knowledge, and similar to the last game, the game sort of records how you play as each character. Maybe you are very defensive on a given character and only attack during a guaranteed opening - the game will record these set choices and your allied AI will start playing more like you once you swap off them. Unlike the last game, I don't think you can create a complex 'IF-This, DO-That' Ladder logic (which you don't need anyways). This game has simplified it quite a bit and it's actually doable for the average person. The most important thing to customize is what abilities you can 'command' your AI allies to perform. There is a 'remote access' commander-mode in game where you can remotely tell the AI to perform a given task in the next few moments so you and the AI can combo together. More importantly, the default commands are totally viable, so if you don't want to mess with it, then just don't.

Try finger, butt hole? In all seriousness though... This is one of the few games that I 'regret' not buying on release and waiting for a sale. It was my first Dark Souls game, so I was afraid I wouldn't like it nor have enough time to truly test it for Steam's 2 hour return policy. I came from the casual Skyrim, FPS, and League of Legends types of games so it was hard for me to gauge. At the time it was released, co-op sounded really limited and hard to learn. Sometimes people just want to play with friends and both players progress, you know? But wow, this is one of my all time favorite games out there in spite of all that. It really blew me away.

If you're new to Souls games and feel the way I explained above, I'd say 2 hours is enough time to give it a try. The combat doesn't really change and if you want a true Co-op experience, there are mods available to do so (but you will be missing out on the fun PVP). Dare I say, you might even enjoy the game better by yourself for at least the first half of the game and use the Co-op summon system as intended - kind of like: hey let's do this dungeon together and kill the boss in it tonight then part ways until 'X'.

The story is open to interpretation, and the gameplay rules are all laid out at the start of the game. What's great about the game is that the rules don't suddenly change - you simply become more skilled and learn how to overcome certain encounters. I wish I could forget about this game and play through it as if it was my first time again because it was such a good experience.

As far as the story goes, I really wish it was more concrete. While there is a deep lore in Elden Ring, it's all sort of open to interpretation. Some people prefer this, but I find it more immersive when you don't need to make 'head-cannon.' Also, a more concrete story-line would help when the next time you progress the story line could take literally 40 hours... and you mostly forget what ambiguous clues you left off on. However, I guess the point of the game is that it is in fact a true open-world (go wherever you want, whenever you want) and the story is about you and your adventures - whatever you choose them to be.

You start the game... maiden-less and poor (try not to let the game remind you of your real self too much). But basically, you have your starter gear based on whichever class you chose and you start your story. Literally, go anywhere you want. If you're ever lost as to how to progress the main story-line then sites of grace will guide you in a general direction. Just don't let that steer you away from exploring the massive open world.

Combat in the game is sort of initiative based. It is up to you as the player to find openings to punish, and if you miss-time something or lose initiative you will likely get punished. I wouldn't say the game is incredibly hard though. There are always solutions to whatever problem you are having in game, and despite what the community will tell you, solo-ing every boss is extremely doable. If you're struggling, there's no shame calling help for a friend... just know it's not as hard as what you probably think it is. I was kind of disappointed the game wasn't as hard as what people say it is - I was mostly under-leveled or at-level for everything. I was sincerely afraid I would buy the game unable to progress and play, but it's not like that at all. I have no idea why the community seems to come across like this.

In short, don't be afraid that the game is too hard. It's really not, and if you are struggling, you can ask for help or power-level a little by exploring parts of the map you have yet to discover.

The game-play is rock solid. There are tons of different weapon types to choose from each with their own special move-sets. Within each weapon type are unique weapons which then can also have unique move-sets. You can dual-wield weapons of the same type or different types. If there isn't a weapon that fits your play-style, then you can use magic or magical enchantments. All of these things have to be earned outside of what your starting character has, so it adds to the reward you feel when you finally get to use something.

What this game does well that a lot of other games don't is making normal weapons use-able. You can upgrade your normal weapons to do a wide range of special abilities. That way, your normal weapons you find on your journey will always have some type of use if you're creative enough. A lot of times, the normal weapons can feel more unique because you customized them yourself and maybe found it to work better than, say, a boss weapon.

Like the story, a lot of the time quests are ambiguous. Sometimes they tell you exactly what to do, but again, you might not be able to do something until much later in the game. The game would benefit with a 'quests' page where you could at least see the recorded dialogue between the two of you. Otherwise, if you forget something, check the wiki and try not to spoil it for yourself.

The Open World in this game is truly massive. I remember exploring a few areas and seeing grayed out areas but the map just kept getting bigger and bigger. For a large portion of your first play through, it'll feel like the map is just growing and growing and you don't know when it'll stop. It's a lot of fun in that regard.

The open world also has lots of dungeons and side-bosses you can do along the way. So if you're stuck at a certain part of the game, you can go explore some of the dungeons and get some levels... which may have you shudder - but I assure you that every dungeon is unique in some way. It won't feel like Oblivion or Skyrim where every other cave is a copy-paste.

You can summon 2 extra players, which means you will leave yourself available to be invaded by at least 1 player at all times.

Multiplayer in the vanilla game is a little odd, but to clear any doubts you may have: it is entirely possible to play the game with a friend start to finish. However, progress only occurs on the host's world. This means you will essentially be doing certain areas and most bosses twice. On top of that, you will not be able to summon your horse. The consumable item to summon your friend is easy to get, but really co-op was designed as a means to play some areas together while both of you progress separately and help each other when stuck.

If the above is unacceptable for you, there is a mod called "Seamless Coop" which lets you play the game together and both of you progress the world together at the same rate. Since it's a mod, there are a few potential bugs, but for the most part, if you want a true coop experience with no kinks, this will work very good for you. Difficulty for summons is harder than the vanilla game, so each of you will have to pull your weight. It also works with up to 127 people, but let's be honest... you're lucky enough to have 1 friend. And yes, you can each summon your own horse. But I do seriously suggest trying to play the game solo at least for a little. You might find yourself surprised like I was and enjoy it a lot the way it was designed.

My only two complaints with the game is that the story and quests aren't more concrete, but I understand why it works. Everything else in the game is pretty perfect. The game can be challenging, but it's also rewarding. As I said above, I really wish I bought the game as it released simply because it would've been neat to experience it first-hand alongside everyone else and see the world's community messages change over time as well as being able to invade anywhere without being at a "meta" level. But I won't make that mistake for the DLC, so that's a plus. 10/10 would buy again.

This game's story-line is like a classic 80's Kung-Fu movie mixed with Mission Impossible. Surprisingly, it works out. It's a fun light-hearted adventure with really good gameplay mechanics and a large enough skill-tree for multiple play-throughs. You could do guns only (of which there are 4), sword abilities only, exo-suit abilities only, etc. The skill trees are pretty expansive too for a variety of move sets - it's not like you just hack and slash with a sword.

Pros:
+ Lots of varied gameplay (from sneaking, to vehicle combat, to sword fighting and guns plus more)
+ Fluid combat
+ Feels like a movie at times
+ Lots of weapons and gameplay styles to choose from
+ Fun story (albeit cheesy)
+ Fun boss fights

Cons:
- Short - about 2 hours of gameplay per run
- Limited enemy pool
- Price
- Interactive cut scenes (never liked them)

Conclusion:
I really enjoy the game. I only did one play through where I focused on melee sword combat and almost entirely ignored my exo-suit and guns. It will be a fun game to come back to when I want something somewhat chill to play but still challenging enough. The story made me laugh at times because of how outlandish some circumstances are.
For some reason, during this apocalyptic event, airlines are just cruising on per usual so you grapple across them like Spiderman which is awesome but hilarious. And yes, of course the bad-guys are somehow on the same jet so you fight on the wings. Boss fights in the game are pretty enjoyable too and work well with the game's mechanics.

The pros definitely out-weight the cons. There is limited content and that's reflected in the retail price. I suggest buying the game on sale (which is what I did); although looking back, I wouldn't have been disappointed if I bought the game at full price. It's a fun game that has basically every gaming mechanic you can think of - which is why I wish there was more. Since there are so many game mechanics, it can sometimes feel like you're playing a very cohesive demo. Luckily, there is a level-select so you can play whatever you want over again. Overall, it's a buy from me.

*Spoiler Free Review!* The combat plus the world in which you play was executed perfectly. Top it off with a good-enough story and good music track and this is a high quality game well-worth the play-through. Difficulty can be as hardcore as you want it as well!
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General Thoughts - TLDR
1.) The story and introduction to the world is done very well. Immersive and fun to explore. Background music is always good too and very fitting for the setting.
2.) Combat in the game is flawless. Never once did I think I died because of a game-breaking bug or unfair mechanic.
3.) The open-world is kind of linear which has pros and cons.
4.) What's the game like? Think a mixture of Zelda, Jak and Daxter, mixed with Elden Ring or other Souls-like game.
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Detailed Explanations
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The Combat
The combat plays extremely well. You have the choice between light and heavy attacks, ranged, and bombs plus parry/block/roll skills. As you level up, you also get special abilities to further your move pool and unlock special combos. Even though you wield a single staff, I was pretty surprised just how in-depth the combat was. One of the perks to a single weapon or move-set is the fact that the game can be properly balanced around this weapon - which eliminates a lot of 'cheesy' mechanics that are found in a lot of games with a larger pool of weapons. It also plays into the story perfectly, as you feel accomplished when unlocking a new skill.
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The Difficulty
I played on Masters (or whatever the highest difficulty is called). Starting out, I thought the game was going to be too easy; however, the first major boss was a rude awakening. You have your standard enemies that are easy to kill, but in mass can be difficult to deal with. Then you have more advanced enemies and even mini-boss enemies. I did not try 'normal' mode, but I'm sure there is a difficulty out there for anyone. On Masters difficulty, I would argue that the game is objectively harder than Elden Ring or any of the major souls game. You can't cheese ahead in levels, you can't summon, you have severely limited healing (with large downsides), parry is much harder to pull off on large foes with a greater risk, your 'mana' is lost on hit, etc. The first major boss encounter is akin to Malenia and Hoarah Loux combined, except the boss is harder to stun-lock cheese. While the first boss doesn't regen health, there are similar attacks like the waterfowl dance that will take practice to roll out of or instant death will occur. This boss ends the 'tutorial' phase of the game, and you are pretty much prepped for everything else to come your way.
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Open World
So the game is *Loosely* open-world. It's much like Jak and Daxter where you do technically have an open-world available to you at all times, but accessing different parts of the world requires you to progress the story. You must progress the story to see everything, but you are also encouraged to explore for little friends along the way to increase your level. You get levels by 'exploring' and finding creatures in the world, not by defeating enemies. This is nice because you can focus on the story-line without facing repercussions of not grinding enemies along the way. If you ever feel like you are behind, just go explore a little and maybe you'll find enough creatures to level you up and get you a crucial skill unlock for the next big fight. The downside to this: you're maybe too focused on finding these creatures that you're constantly looking everywhere and you miss out on the story a little bit.
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The Story
Unlike Elden Ring, the story is actually concrete. The nice part to this is that the ending doesn't leave you clueless as to what even happened. Also, there is never a moment in the story where you pick up a quest and its next mention is 60 hours later in gameplay. The downside is that there is little room to 'roleplay' as someone else other than the main character. However, the main character is very like-able, the story is pretty good, and if you focus solely on getting the story-line done, the game can feel like a movie.
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Player Customization
1.) You collect little creatures, and you can readily buy hats for them. Every little creature you find follows you around the entire game and it's kind of awesome having like an end-game amount of 100 creatures all herding behind you with hats that you bought for them.
2.) I wish the same could be said for your playable character. The playable character does have customization options; but on masters difficulty, it can be hard to obtain said customizations. To get your character different outfits, you have to first unlock a 'challenges arena' in which you replay various content that was unlocked for a given area - ie. re-fight the main boss again that you did 5 minutes ago but with special conditions. I agree that certain 'costumes' should be un-lockable in this way, but some should be easily attained as well. I don't really care much for customization personally, but it has to be said.
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The Skill Tree
- The skill tree is very cool. As mentioned previously, you get these skills by finding your little creature companions along the way as well as the limited XP you get from finding creatures, doing the story, etc. You can never 'farm' XP though. So be careful and wisely choose what skills you need. I would generally have a full level or two's worth of XP to pick between the various skill available to me to help with the upcoming boss-fights.
- On top of the skills, there are runestones that you can equip for special effects. If you want to increase your damage, but increase damage taken, there is a way to do so. These are minor for the most part, but they're awesome to have if you enjoy playing a certain way or want to optimize the way you tackle an encounter.
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Gameplay Length and Thoughts
This game kind of goes back to the old days where the game is completed in about 15 hours on masters. As a kid, that was my expectation for games - good for 15ish hours at the max difficulty (this includes me exploring quite a bit). This game does deliver on that, but does not compare anywhere close to Elden Ring which is easily 150 hours. Both games are good in their own ways though with entirely different goals. However, knowing that you'd get much more playtime out of Elden Ring, it's easier for me to say that if money is a concern and you want the most bang for your buck then you have to choose Elden Ring and wait for Kena Bridge of Spirits while it's on sale. That said, I bought the game during a sale, but the quality actually surpassed my expectations and I would not have been mad or disappointed if I spent the retail price.
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Replay-ability?
- The game has New Game Plus, which lets you keep your skills and fight new enemies. I can't speak from experience to confirm if these new enemies are in fact new, or just the enemies found in the late-game introduced much earlier in the game.
- The game also lets you replay any boss you've already done through the 'challenge arena' systems. It's also got neat trials courses and lets you fight mobs of enemies that you really don't do much of in the open world.
- One of the neat things for me was always going through and exploring a 'cleared' world like you could do in Jak and Daxter. Just fun to do sometimes, and you can definitely do it here too.

General Thoughts - TLDR (from a co-op only perspective)
THE GOOD
1.) Good combat system that rewards good timing over button-mashing - which was sometimes boring in the previous games.
2.) Playable with friends - no tether. 2 player Co-op is pretty seamless and makes the game really fun.
3.) The crafting and skins are pretty cool! Also, this is the first game I NEVER felt super guilty spending crafting materials - you get enough to generally do whatever you want but you still need to make wise decisions. (except for like super high tier stuff which you should save for something you REALLY like)
4.) Character identity between the 4 heroes is different enough to break the repetitive loop that the previous games struggled with (IMO).
5.) Player progression is pretty solid. You have to unlock different abilities doing different things, but not too much of one thing where it gets grindy - should come naturally. And completing the tasks or focusing them feels rewarding because you get a new ability for said character.
THE NEUTRAL
6.) For those of us who were excited for a continuation of the series, it's more like a soft-reboot. It doesn't continue straight from Arkham Knight, but the lore up to that point is fairly similar. It's pretty easy to create your own head-canon to tie the two games together though. Like if the plot of Arkham Knight was slightly different at the end, then the two can be continuations.
7.) As an add-on to #6, the whole combat system has been reworked (for the better imo). You will get used to the new system, and it is very similar. However, for example, there is no more "auto-counter" button - instead you have to perfectly time a dodge and perfectly time an attack to do so.
THE BAD
8.) The game isn't super optimized - won't work well on lower tier builds but mid tier is fine. I run a 2070 and Ryzen 7 2700x with no problems with a mixture of mid-high settings.
9.) The game's enemies don't auto-scale for the main missions a lot of the times which means you can get over-leveled pretty easily. This was an issue in the previous series where if you let a villain go until the end, then you kinda mopped the floor until you caught back up. Same thing here.
10.) Bat-bike is kind of slow, which ends up having me use fast travel quite a bit.

Detailed Explanation
Character identity is pretty strong and adds a lot to the replay-ability of the game.
1.) Batgirl - She's kind of the 'tank' character who also plays most similarly to batman from the previous games. She's a hacker specialist, and is pretty awful at ranged attacks.
2.) Nightwing - He's got a lot of 'supportive' abilities for co-op but is a good mix of melee and ranged attacks with good acrobatic/dodging abilities. Kind of an all-rounder support.
3.) Robin - He's your 'assassin' as he's the only one with the ability to perform take-downs on larger foes and can even go invisible for 10 seconds. Also all-rounder for melee and ranged attacks.
4.) Red Hood - He's the 'attacker' character of the squad with very powerful ranged attacks. He is pretty weak it seems, as almost all of his abilities just stack damage on damage. Even though he's not bad up close, his lack of health makes ranged a much better option when available.

One huge issue I believe this game solved was the repetitive nature of the previous games, because you really only had 3 buttons in combat - punch/counter, dodge, and 'confuse'. Sure you had your gadgets, but they were mostly only featured for the first few encounters after you got the new ability. So after you stealth killed most enemies, all you had to do was mash attack and dodge. In this game, you have punch/heavy punch, dodge, range/heavy ranged attack on top of 8 different abilities (after unlocking them). Additionally all 4 characters are unique enough that they play pretty differently.

Then crafting. You know how other games will give you like 10 of a certain material and you hold onto it all game because it's a grind to get back? Not an issue with this game. While you can fall short on supply of a given material, as long as you're playing the game for fun you shouldn't have issues with crafting materials unless it's for higher tier gear. If you do find out you're missing a given material, it's easy enough to find a crime and see if it rewards you with what you need. Usually, a piece of gear will only need one 'side-activity' completed to get for you. Also, the game constantly rewards you gear for completing main missions, so crafting can be an after-thought most of the time (but usually crafted gear is much better than mission rewards so you get rewarded for extra effort). Finally a game I don't feel bad for using their crafting system. Also as a bonus, your crafted armor will likely give you a different customize-able skin. It's a nice touch. And if you absolutely hate the crafted skin, then just apply a non-customize-able transmog over top of it until you craft a new, better one.

All in all, solid game. I love playing this with my brother on co-op. I don't think we are even halfway done with the game, so lots of play time and we could always restart with different "main characters." My only complaint is since it's my brother and we're both on discord, just let him be a secondary 'host.' He can start some cut-scenes in game (in which his character will be featured), but anytime a new place needs loaded, or a host-only cutscene is there, it requires the host to start it. It's weird because some missions your co-op buddy can do most of the cutscenes, and then the next it's like it's host only. Just a minor complaint (that probably should be an toggle-on option), but sometimes you wanna see your co-op buddy interrogate or do whatever simply because it's fun to watch.

For everything the game does right, I really hope we see another added to the series. Sure, you may hate some aspects of the game, but it's the first of the series and overhauled/introduced a lot. Seems really promising as such.

Below is my review right as season 2 hit when nothing but high tier gear was buffed and now the game is getting sunset. Hate to say it, but I told you so hahaha

General Thoughts - TLDR
1.) From the recent balance changes: The net difference in power level between high and low tier gear is +70%. It's disgusting. The average player will not reach the end-game, so it simply caters to hardcore players.
2.) The game used to be casual but the constant buffs toward ONLY late-game content, has made it impossible for casual gamers to compete... this game was advertised as a casual 'Escape from Tarkov'.
3.) You will encounter the highest tier armor/weapon difference . It's not hard to get into high MMR lobbies since matchmaking only cares about your average extracted loot.
4.) Money comes easy, gear not so much. If you do the missions you will have an over-supply of wealth compared to armor (since armor must be crafted or looted). Doing missions generally means you can't carry or are constantly turning in your craftables that would otherwise be used for armor - a flaw imo.
5.) There is an endgame helmet that lets you see through walls. Yeah, you read that right. This is too much intel for a game like this.
6.) The truth is, there is no end-game. End game content means you camp the center of the noob-map or nest yourself on top of a giant mountain on another map and just wait for action. It's no longer an extraction based shooter at this stage of the game. If you rushed to this stage (day 1/2), you are invincible for quite some time since every other player will be in trash gear.
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Detailed Explanation
When the game first came out, I absolutely loved it. The game was advertised as a casual 'Escape from Tarkov' and it delivered - a more simple looter-shooter that accepted both casuals and hardcore players. The armor/weapon systems works just like Destiny 2 Light level - if you use 'higher level gear' you get both damage increase and a damage reduction in PVP and PVE. The gap from low to mid-tier armor and highest tier-armor/weapons has only increased since release... and it sadly no longer is a healthy atmosphere for casual gamers.
From the most recent balance change: The difference between the lowest tier armor and highest tier armor/weapons is +37% damage reduction AND damage amplification. That means if you play against a player with the highest tier gear with you at the lowest tier armor, there is an effective +70% difference in power level.
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Is that a realistic scenario? Well, yes. It doesn't take much to be placed against the highest level of players who [compared to you] have an infinite supply of the highest tier gear. Matchmaking only cares about what average loot you extracted with, and with the poor player population across all different queues (solo/duo/trio), you're pretty much guaranteed to reach the highest tier lobbies and you will stay there. Season 1 I played as a trio and we'd consistently queue into the highest MMR lobbies (streamer lobbies) even when going on a huge loss streak of 10+ games. We were average players at best - only 1-2 million in the bank, and no access to the highest tier gear except for one player on our team. Like it or not, you will get placed against these players, which used to be okay and was fun! But they've consistently catered to the hardcore gamers by buffing only the late game content that the average player won't reach.
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What used to be an advantage and reward for reaching the end-game has pretty much turned into ensuring you never lose to lower tier gear. Players should be punished for being out of position regardless of gear difference. But now if you're on low tier gear, someone crosses an open field or is not using cover, you are still disadvantaged. A net power difference of +70% is just too much for what was advertised as a casual game.
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Even if I was a hardcore gamer, the game wouldn't be fun. Season 1 we experienced enough end-game content. You go center of the map (where everyone else goes) and hope for a fight. A lot of times, people are just camping in a room so rushing center map doesn't mean you get into a fight. It just means you're next to somebody. If you have a high-tier helmet, you are allowed to peak and trade shots (as you won't get 1-tapped). If you don't have the highest possible helmet, you camp or maybe smoke for a push. So this process goes on and on and on until eventually a fight breaks out since no more space remains. Then it's over, an hour of your time is wasted, and you do it again.
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Final Words
It's really sad that the developers catered toward streamers complaining about how lower tier gear can compete when said-streamer isn't playing tactically at all. Said streamer prefers (and now got) a game where they can rush end-game content and rush around the map everywhere without a care in the world. With my squad and I (just average players really) we maybe lost 3 fights to lower tiered gear (Red to Green) and that was before the balance changes that makes me believe we'd never lose such fights with the current state of the game. The 'big' cycle streamers just need to realize that your skills should carry you if you're actually cracked, not your gear.