played JA2 more times than I can count, and when this came out I stayed away based on reviews at the time - I only picked this up in 2025 as I heard that a lot of the issues had been resolved. pros + IMO combat is even better than JA2 - it's intense and more dynamic, I like the different unit types - the new overwatch ability/interrupts are great as well + environments look great, are nicely composed + dramatically improved stealth gameplay, takedowns, etc + 90% UI/UX is great - managing individual inventories is way easier, etc. On the other hand, the new aiming UI... I'm just confused as to why this was designed this way? Feels like reinventing the wheel for no reason. It never bothered me much, just 1-2 more mouse clicks involved to perform attacks. cons - absolutely nothing about the characters (all NPCs, most of the mercs) made me feel like these were real individuals, much less paramilitary. everyone's dialogue is cringe and derivative (and often completely self obsessed in a random, situationally-tone-deaf sort of way). The whole thing has a very scooby-doo "he's right behind me, isn't he?" vibe and it's turned up to 11. Much of the character art is wacky which doesn't help - and though I did end up getting used to the mercs in my squad, I never cared about any of the NPCs at any point. I get that JA2 had a certain '90s action movie' vibe, but its characters were far more believable, the voice acting somehow infinitely better. Ended up skipping a lot of the dialogue on my first run because it was just annoying - I've seen film student movies with better writing than the dialogue in this game. To summarize - game fun, combat great, writing bad, overall recommend
