When playing 2033 (redux), world building was what I found most noteworthy. Devil is in the details as they say and little details like how food was produced, how people went on with their lives and the existence of different factions painted a vivid picture of life in the metro. But all of these details served the atmosphere more than the narrative, in fact 2033 as a whole was rather light on story. I found it excusable however as it was the 1st game in the series and the novelty of the setting was enough to carry it for me.

Last Light in contrast has a more involved story, more details about the unique cultures formed in the Metro, factions directly involved in the story and a proper antagonist to string you along. Why then did I feel less impressed? The world building still doesn’t serve the narrative well and this time the novelty and sense of discovery of the setting was less. I still don’t know the inner workings of the Nazis and Communists, why were they formed, how do they trade etc. All we get is a faction war, which while completely understandable doesn’t really enhance the world building. The story being slightly better only highlights its flaws more than the previous game, specially the romance which I forgot about the moment the scenes ended. Artyom being silent hurts the narrative the longer I play.
Overall Last Light is a better game, specially level design wise but I wish it was so much more.