Hi Dgaf!
I've been playing the game much slower than a whole bunch of you. Put in about 37 hours and at level 24 & dz 20. Haven't been interested in rushing through and burning through content (did this enough in destiny) and just trying to take my time. I am really enjoying it overall and here is my break down of my time with it so far.
+ The atmosphere in this game can be amazing! Coming out of a sewer to a snow storm with low visibility looks amazing. Also enjoying the detail in the modelling and world building. I recently did a virus research side mission in a burned out car park filled with dead bodies and moody lighting.
+ I have had a lot of fun times in the DZ. In a group it was good, especially when one of your team mates accidentally turns you all rogue and things get crazy with NPCs and rogue hunters. Though playing solo is a much more tense and interesting experience. I've found most people are happy to work in a team though that might just be luck and playing with a lot of other Aussies ("mate!""You all right mate?"). Going into the DZ I know I could loss anything I find and am fine with it, it's what makes it interesting. Obviously I have no idea how being in DZ level 30 bracket is like and might change things completely.
+ I like that there is no skill tree like every other ubi game and having your skills come from upgrading your base is more interesting.
+ The game isn't focused in telling story via cut scenes apart form a few rare occasions so far. For me this is a plus and lets you chase things up in more detail via echos, recording & intel. The game also does a lot of ambient story telling in the environments. I like a cinematic story game but this isn't what I expect or want from a game like this.
+ I enjoy just exploring areas, especially interiors.
+ I've been forcing myself to mix up my play style, skills & weapons. Keeps the game fun and forces me to experiment. For instance I just started using the ballastic shield which has forced me to be much more aggressive. Or some missions I'll try different weapon combos, had fun going nuts with a shotty recently.
+ Matchmaking and grouping with friends is so easy and works well.
+ No going to orbit!!! Just not having a lot of loading screens is great and most of the experience is seamless when loaded in.
Onto the not so great...
- Unresponsive controls! This doesn't happen as much since the patch but before I'd often tap fire and it won't fire or I'd click the skill for the shield and it wouldn't come out.
- Bugs. I joined a friend and feel through the floor (which was actually pretty funny!) but then it happened again during a mission (which was less funny) and I had to log out then in to fix it.
- Quality of life changes. In the beta on PC I could sort my inventory, on ps4 I can't. A small change would make sorting through things nicer.
- In the DZ it seems odd that the buying level doesn't have any in between levels. After the first bracket you need to be DZ level 30 before buying anything, having some more in between items would be good.
- As great as match making or joining friends is it would nice to see if my friends are in a group or to be able to inspect their gear.
I'm really enjoying this. Everyone has different tastes and I can get the criticisms but for me the game being a fairly realistic setting with no zombies, crazy enemy types and fairly realistic weapons is actually a nice change. If I want lazer beams or crazy armour I'll play something else. Though more enemy variety never hurts.
That being said I hope massive are much more responsive and handle the game in a better way than Bungie. I think they have a great base here that they can build on (add more varied and interesting events and game types for teams, different weapon types & over all quality of life changes).
