giving this a tentative 3 stars. it's early access, decent chance I'll play more when the full release comes out, but I'm at a point where I feel like putting it down, and that's not a great sign.

first proper map was kind of amazing. like, from the demo (which is the prologue chapter), I was expecting something in the ion fury/selaco end of the spectrum: big maps, some nonlinearity, secret areas tucked away, but still, y'know, levels. getting to the first main chapter and discovering what is basically a hong kong mission from deus ex 1 was a shocker. and digging into all its areas, its factions, its local economies, its side missions, its loops and reconnections with other areas, was delicious. this game went quickly from "selaco's less attractive sibling" to its own thing.

second proper map has been a bummer. it's all tech interiors with arenas that spawn enemies and fetch quests to other arenas that spawn enemies. so far as such things go, they're not bad arena fights, and the enemy combinations make each fight unique, but so many of the pleasures of the previous map are missing. haven't run into any side stories, any sub areas, any secrets, any mini plots. it's so much more like the prologue level, but with more bottomless pits that kill you and force a restart of the encounter.

maybe this is just a bummer stretch of a level. maybe the devs have so many ambitions that the next map will be yet another unique experience. maybe I just need to get through this one fucking arena with the fucking bottomless pits that I can play fucking perfectly and still have to fucking restart cuz I airdashed wrong. but I stopped having fun. boooo.