Just arrived at World/Episode 3. There's definitely a lot I like about this installment, but at the same time there's still a lot of bad Sly2/3 DNA lingering around. There was a mission in the second world which started with a "stalk the bad guy without being seen" GTA-style nonsense followed by an incredibly boring/unexciting turret scenario. It was like a combo of the worst gameplay scenarios that have plagued this medium for the past decade or so. This sort of shit was in Sly 2/3 and I'm just so beyond done with it, lol! Now, don't get me wrong, it's not like these sections are overly offensive or anything, it's just that they're so astronomically boring and uninspired. Puts me on a one way train to sleepy-town whenever I experience a section like this in a game.
I also still think their scenarios/missions overstay their welcome. Everything they attempt to do lasts too long. There's also WAY too much Bentley in this game. I'm already so sick of the hack games. Grant it, they do seem to follow the rule of three (meaning, a lot of the mini scenarios consist of three main "sections"), but other sections clearly break the golden rule. The only one I like so far was the ball rolling one and I've only seen it once! The side scrolling matrix shit is so whatever-town.
Fortunately, the game does do a lot right. I actually REALLY like all the ancestors that I've played. Some of the missions with them are pretty cool and they house some small ideas which is always appreciated. The world 2 costume and the usage of it during an escape was pretty neat. There's light puzzles sprinkled throughout some of these missions and it's the kind of design philosophies/ideas that Sucker Punch never arrived at, surprisingly. I love how each costume is used for the bosses too. It gives me a very Zelda-like vibe and that's always a welcome feeling. The bosses themselves are actually pretty fun to fight too! All of them have been WAY more interesting than anything I remembered fighting in ALL THREE of the original Sly games.
Overall, the costume and ancestor stuff was the exact kind of new shit this series needed. I wish the entire game was focused around the classic Sly platforming and the ancestor stuff. If I have to play one more RC car mission, I'm going to lose it! The Bentley and Murray crap needs to go, dudes! At the moment, I'd say I like this more than Sly 2/3, but it's still not Sly 1 caliber and I don't expect it to reach those heights either. But hey, not too bad for a new studio trying to emulate/recreate what Sucker Punch created, right?