Maybe playing the first game and this one back to back was not a good idea. Might've had a slightly more positive view on this one if I hadn't played both the games back to back cuz most of the core elements whether it's the story, gameplay feel very identical. Also despite me taking my sweet time to finish the main story I was barely invested in all the crafting, skilling up and upgrading. I barely levelled up and completed quests despite being too under levelled, don't know if it enhanced the challenge or increased the tedium or a bit of both, cuz I hardly even changed the weapons until the final set of missions. The first game had a better lore, I barely cared about the zenith crap, not that I had any expectations for both the games in the first place. But the graphics and art style of the game are absolutely best in the business, I think its even better than Alan Wake 2. AW looks more realistic but this one's more gorgeous to look at. Deciding to play this game at 21:9 Aspect Ratio instead of the usual 16:9 might be the best decision I made regarding this game, makes the art style and visuals look even more godly.
They did add new elements to the gameplay and revamped the skill tree and also brought forth changes to melee and other stuff but I don't know the combat somehow feels better on the first game, maybe has to do with how the machines move while in combat. The characters were a mixed bag, they did a decent job with returning characters like Varl etc but had some annoying new characters as well. Overall I did actually like it I'd give it a 3 if I hadn't played Zero Dawn right before playing this. It's fun to shoot robotic animals and roam around in a setting like this with such gorgeous visuals. Onto the DLC now 🫡.