1st run I get to the boss and pass it. 3 next ones I am munched on first few packs. So much random, even though its supposed to be less then in 1st game. Here if I am unlucky run is over, in 1st version: gather new party and continue. Each run is slowed by unskipable animations and tutorial. Thats annoying.
Not perfect, bit overwelming. But still quite good state of the game.
Just started it (few chapters in) and it looks amazing, story is good, post apocalypse rural 198x USSR (Russian part) looks very detailed and on point. For those who are interested in how really rural Russia was looking in 198x via post apocalypse lenses - this game will give you the idea and atmosphere. Enchanced Edition with all Ultra (RT all) + DLSS Quality at 2560x1440 runs 60-100 FPS on R5 2600x + 3060 Ti.
Amazing world, visuals, machines and combat. Day night cycle as well as weather changes are one of the best that I saw so far. Almost at any point in game you can make a wallpaper quality screenshot. Breath taking views everywhere. Story is OK-ish, but dialogs and characters are on hollywood teenager movie level. They are boring, bland and full of inconsistency. Read: your typical scenario of choosen one main protagonist and bad guy(s) with few cliche freinds along the way. Fortunatelly world building make up for this. And I liked main character, very nicelly done. Many side quests are equally boring. Peasant: go to barn and kill 10 rats, than I will reward you with rusty pan. Or may be I am just spoiled by Witcher 3 / Cyberpank 2077 story and quests? Luckily you can just ignore them. Game have few technical issues. Namelly it is agressivly uses low quality textures. If you move 5 meters from object high quality textures are replaced with low quality ones. For consoles thats problably fine, but we are on PC? On top of that after some hours of playing, game stops using high quality textures for many objects alltogether. Up to the point that during diallog NPC body is just a brown cylinder instead of armor / skin texture. Game also leaks memmory and crashes after prolonged running sessions (even if you stay AFK). I end up reloading game every few hours. Overall game runs 60-70 FPS with ultra / high settings on following PC: 1440p display, Vega 64 UV&OC (1500 MHz core, 1100 MHz mem), R5 2600x. Inventory managment is also so so. I can live with sub par story and quests because visuals, machines, weapons and combat are amazing. And you spent most of the time exploring the world and fighting then engaging with NPC's. Also you can skip dialogs.
Nice graphics, music, sounds and narative delivers cool atmosphere. Playthrough of scenarios are average in length, which is good. Must likelly you wont spent 100+ hours here, but is it matter when you have fun?
I have yet to finish my playthrough, but this one is anamazing game. Trully on of the best CRPG in recent years. Typically I do not expect something very good from poster with a lot of 5 star stamps, but in this case it's really deserved. Story, quests, characters, combat, world, graphics, animation - all on very good level. And the amount of content is just crazy alot. I spent more than 60 hours and yet not finished the game (level 16 ATM). ***** The only serious complain that I have is level scaling. It is way way too high. Monsters of 2 level higher than you can 1-2 shot you. And when you beat them rewards are 2 level higher and you have penalty of using the weapons. However armor is usable and I was using 14 lvl rare shield on 12 lvl character for a long time, because even Epic 13 lvl shield had worth stats. The same is applicable for skill damage, XP rewards. It is also bits you other way around: fighting monsters 2 level below you is boringly easy and unrewarding: low XP and items are inferrior.
Have it on Steam (200+ hours) with all gameplay altering DLC. Bought it on GoG as well (all DLC except last one) to support Paradox going DRM free. Awesome game that is under constant development by Paradox. Some changes are free, some are released as DLC. If you are not sure which DLC to get first, here is my list from most important to least: Utopia Leviathans Apocalypse Synthetic Dawn (this one let you play as robot civilization, so priority is up to you in some way).
I do not want to write long review, I just want to give this game 5 stars. Its wonderfully styled, dramatically voiced, immersly sound designed game. With simple looking yet deep game mechanics. The biggest complain of all players: you are loosing adventures and characters. Which is absolutly true. However all that is recoverable. You can't loose game because of this (unlike loosing main squad in X-Com...).
