Recent reviews by Zelron

Smite 2 is currently a true alpha. Despite numerous other reviews stating otherwise. They completely halted production of new skins and disabled the sale of skins in smite 2 until very recently. It was only re-enabled due to community request, and it is clear that hirez was less sure about it. The legacy gem system is very player friendly, you get a conversion of every gem you ever spent in smite 1 into a metered 50% discount on most things in smite 2.

The boring stuff out of the way, onto the actual review.

The good:
The new item system is an improvement in every way. Using the component system common in MOBAs is a good improvement and allows for better build crafting and gameplay.
Most of the gods get meaningful streamlines or changes when they are brought into smite 2.
The smite 2 unique gods are both very fun, unique, and well designed.
It is EXTREMELY clear that the move to ue5 has helped on the back end. The speed of patches has gone up significantly, bugs have gone down, and the game feels 1000x more polished than it did even 4 months ago.

The meh:
Some of the god changes feel like change for the sake of change. Not necessarily bad, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets toned down later on to try to prevent power/design creep or ability bloat.
The matchmaking system is good and works well... when it works. Due to the small-ish playerbase matches can be very hit or miss depending on when you're playing and where from.

The bad:
Obviously it's a much smaller roster, and it is going to take time to rebuild every smite 1 god. Especially after the push to 50, it'll probably be over a year before we see most of the smite 1 gods in smite 2. This impacts game diversity, especially when some gods are so much stronger than the other options in their role. This will obviously change with time, but is worth considering.

Verdict:
Smite 2 is smite but better, smoother, and modernized. It has a tough road ahead, but the godpack is included in the cheapest founders pack which makes it worth it in my opinion. The rate of improvement and the exceptionally clear love for the game from the dev team shows their dedication to making this thing work.

Early access for the past three years has been one of the best games I've played. Every new playthrough of the available act 1 content revealed new options, dialogues, and even entire story paths/options. A fantastic co-op experience, interesting companions, and a compelling story. The early access is at worst an 8/10, but quite easily worth the price of entry. I cannot see a world where the full game is any worse.

Edit post release:
Easily one of the best games I've ever played, a contender for game of the decade in my opinion. Memorable stories, compelling characters, interesting villains, a meaningful narrative, well executed humor without detracting from the stress of the main story. A masterclass of game design. I personally cannot wait to see what Larian studios does next.

Easily one of the best single player games. Fantastic story, great collectibles and challenges, satisfying combat and mechanics.