On first look, it does look like a lo-fi Stalker-style game....

I've played a little over 30 minutes and it's just ugly. The whole game is made of Synty assets, the mechanics are clunky, the map is terrible, the inventory is awkward and cannot be auto-sorted. The quests are generic fetch and kill quests and the word is dull and lifeless between the smatterings of random buildings.

One of those games, where I wish there was a "Mixed" or "Maybe", over just "Do you recommend this game?".
Because on one hand, that 7.9 hours at review time? That was done on my day off.
Just got on the computer to check out this game, and was glued to it 7 hours straight.
What it does well, it nails.
What it doesn't do well, or is even broken, shows potential.

A lot of frustration can be alleviated with turning off the provided settings like: "Don't need to sleep", "Don't lose items on death."
I didn't turn off the former, that kept me grounded in the limited base building elements, and made me make a safe place to sleep and store valuable loot I didn't need for crafting yet, and was taking up weight.
I did turn off item loss on death eventually, as losing items while figuring the game out was frustrating me.
Loot builds up quickly regardless, before you can get a better backpack, so storage and a safe area to sleep is essential, and I feel it makes the game what it is. It's one the features that tie into the game loop well.

A few things that need to be addressed: The size of the map, and quest rewards.

1. Map size:
The map size does NOT need to be shrunk.
It makes exploration more meaningful early on, but can be frustrating when you're wounded/crippled/overloaded.
More minor POI is an idea, but the game actually has a decent amount already.
You might not notice it at first, but there are re-spawning enemies on routes, areas you avoid until you become more comfortable with the game, and unique quests with their own interesting stories.
That said...
One way of dealing with this, is to work on the faction system.
As is atm it's just who will more likely shoot at you or not.
You're already pushed early on to side with Runners, and kill any Hollowed on sight.
The game has both factions in the world on patrol, and I'd love to see this system evolved.
The only time this system impacted my gameplay, besides the infighting, was when I needed to cut my route home through a POI, and I just followed a group of runners going in the area, and just followed them on their infight mechanics with other factions.

A way to deal with travel times, and push player to invest in faction fast travel, or to investing in gathering, would be a vehicle system.
Vehicles that need scrap repair, electronics to get working, and gas being very expensive, could really help with the travel time, player economy, mid to late game.

YOU CAN pay friendly faction members for fast travel, that early on is outrageous, and trivial priced later on.
Keep that system, but also:

2. Quest:
Need earlier mission that reward you better, and later give you better credits.
I vaguely remember the starting NPC offering me a survival item upon a quest completion.
By the time I got back to them, I had crafted the survival item, and another one a tier above, out of necessity.
Even with the "get looted on death" on, you can still make plenty of money for selling trash loot. You are punished for not being careful and not respecting the Barrens, which is fine.
But, without a goal in mind, like a better faction system to be invested in, or a vehicle system with a high invest cost, you have little reason to interact with the current features.

The game is very early on, and I really like it.
I don't recommend it for everyone. Keep an eye on it.

I liked the simple graphics, and it is also a more simplistic version of Stalker. But it is its own game. It is somewhat hard to start, but not too terribly. It needs a little bit more mutants or zombies around the environment. maybe more hazardous events. Overall, good game.