Bigger in just about every way from its prequel. The only thing it doesn't really do more of is the cinematic action, which is only because the original game blew its load so much on that part that any subsequent game would struggle to even match it, much less expand on it.
Otherwise you've got a longer game, bigger areas, more combat and exploration options, more skills, more wild animals (despite hunting still feeling like an afterthought), all put into a plot which is...surprisingly similar to the first one, right down to the whole fighting an immortal army near the end.
But making everything bigger comes with a few flaws. There are 2 particuarly huge areas in the game, and they decided to shoehorn some optional missions in these areas. They feel very out of place.
A bigger game also means way more collectibles. Documents/audio logs have always been a good way to add some extra lore and even foreshadowing for players who pay attention, but this game, like so many others, go overboard and throw in so many that they kill the pace every 5 minutes and are full of filler. Obviously they are ignorable though, so unless you're like me who feels the compulsive urge to fill every section of a map in games, it might not be a problem for you. Also fast travel points aren't always generous if you need to backtrack to collect stuff.
I ended up 100%'ing the main game, but I mostly ignored score attack which is why it isn't set to mastered. Score attack itself is a fairly fun idea, and I could see a lot of people getting more invested in that than even the main story, but I just didn't have the energy to do it after I was done with everything else.
I think with all the improvements this game does come out better than the 2013 game, but it has some extra fat that could be trimmed, and a suspiciously similar plot that feels lazy.
Otherwise you've got a longer game, bigger areas, more combat and exploration options, more skills, more wild animals (despite hunting still feeling like an afterthought), all put into a plot which is...surprisingly similar to the first one, right down to the whole fighting an immortal army near the end.
But making everything bigger comes with a few flaws. There are 2 particuarly huge areas in the game, and they decided to shoehorn some optional missions in these areas. They feel very out of place.
A bigger game also means way more collectibles. Documents/audio logs have always been a good way to add some extra lore and even foreshadowing for players who pay attention, but this game, like so many others, go overboard and throw in so many that they kill the pace every 5 minutes and are full of filler. Obviously they are ignorable though, so unless you're like me who feels the compulsive urge to fill every section of a map in games, it might not be a problem for you. Also fast travel points aren't always generous if you need to backtrack to collect stuff.
I ended up 100%'ing the main game, but I mostly ignored score attack which is why it isn't set to mastered. Score attack itself is a fairly fun idea, and I could see a lot of people getting more invested in that than even the main story, but I just didn't have the energy to do it after I was done with everything else.
I think with all the improvements this game does come out better than the 2013 game, but it has some extra fat that could be trimmed, and a suspiciously similar plot that feels lazy.