Recent reviews by TheAngryFish

Honestly I want to recommend this but the devs do not seem to actually play their game to see glaring issues.

Perfect example of this being the Captain, whose thing is drones. While in the void or anything to deal with the void one of 3 things happens A: the drones are just not there with you at all. B: your drones pathfinding bugs out and get stuck. C: Get nuked by a black hole instantly. While that is all happening 2 of your 4 abilities are locked with no alt. How was any of this not noticed beforehand? Why has it not been fixed in well over a year? Why are the devs putting out ♥♥♥♥♥♥ DLC that also seems to have not been tested beforehand?
The game felt way better before they started adding DLC even though survivors of the void was well received.
I enjoy playing this game when it works and when I purposefully try and avoid the void related content. However that means I'm only getting half a game.

Overall this game is a great squeal to the previous titles improving many systems and feeling very much stalker. The most stand out improvement to me is how they changed anomalies adding a few and making them feel more interesting.
Visuals 10/10 the game looks great
Stability 8/10 I only see frame drops every once in awhile
Sound 9/10 only after this latest update fixing quite a few audio bugs
Gunplay 8/10 there are some issues with AI being aim bots but not the worst I have seen

Combat is smooth, story feels like the first game and the world is quite large.
Exploration is rewarding more than the first game and the world feels lived in.
There are hidden classes that you have to find the right person to teach you so it has just as many classes as the first.
It got rid of the constant kill quests from the first which is a blessing and a curse. Less missions cluttering your menu but money will be not as plentiful. That being said I still have been making good money and haven't had to do too much extra grinding to get the gear I need.

Performance wise,
I am running the game using DLSS and it is running 50-60 FPS. My rig is by no means a beast and can still handle the game so I would say buy the game mess with the video setting and if it doesn't run well refund. I went into the game with that mindset and I am happy with my purchase.

Things that need to fix in the game.
Dragons and other random encounter bosses should not be a thing. The dragons feel more like a dark souls enemy than Dragon's Dogma, constant stun locks, flying, high level spells that take out your AI and just overall not a fun experience let alone one you can't flee from unless you are lucky. 1 of these random encounters had me reverse my review that is how horrible it was.

With my most recent delve into the mines, I cannon recommend this game.
From the stuttering of frames to the over usage of environmental hazards on top of horrible AI spawning i just can't. I am playing in the story mode so i expect a level of stability and decent map layout. I was sadly met by the opposite with one of the most useless maps systems I have seen in a game.
Let this game simmer unless you have a bunch of friends to play with as the Co-op is not bad but still has performance issues.

With so many squeals falling flat lately this was a breath of fresh air.
This is what squeals are supposed to be. They took everything they had built in the first game, put it in this game and then improved and added a few things. I can not wait to see what modders do to this game.
Looks better
Performs better
Sounds better
Is better

I think so far the only issue I have had which I had in the first was my camera flying off into the void but they added a button to reset on capital.

Devs finally started to listen to the community.
Great game now

They were so close with this update. The direction was correct they just went too far with everything. The thing that makes some factions almost unplayable is the weapons handling. They made it feel as if you aren't even shouldering your weapons when aiming. Even if there was a weapons bracing system aside from the bipods the sway is just too much.
The update needed more time to cook and they should have been waiting for feedback to tweak the settings. Nothing needs to be removed from the update just needed to take about 15% off.

Edit 10/11/2023
They need to hire someone who has actually fired guns before. From the sway to the odd handling where your butt stock is moving around it feels unnatural. They added all this stuff to an infantry focused update but yet mortars and machine guns still have no overheat, the AT might as well be throwing rocks at most vehicles and the vehicles have the most make believe "armor" values i have seen in a game.

This game will ruin many other games for you. Remember folks it isn't game davs who set the standards it is the gamers. Without us game devs are nothing. That being said Larian is not one of these dog water devs they know what gamers want and gave us what we want.
Everything is top tier, music, story, visuals, voice acting, and depth.
Long live Swen Vincke

With a heavy heart i must not recommend this game.
The game is in fact fun, for a time. The main issue i have is the fact they labeled this a full release game which it is not.
Sons of the forest has had more added to their game than this game and sons of the forest doesn't have micro transactions.
Having cosmetics are a great way to fund your game but don't make the cosmetics the primary focus and everything else second.
After months of little to no updates just skip this game until they actually start adding actual content.

I have tried coming back to this game for years and every time i come back i am reminded why i stopped.
If you like grind you will love this game.
If you don't have thousands of hours to dump into this game you will never be competitive.