I feel a good chunk more favorable towards this game on a replay.

It's still a weird mix of being very polished and detailed in some areas and almost falling apart in others. Driving feels amazing, every other part of the gameplay is catastrophic and drags this game down significantly. There are cool setpieces, hindered by some frustrating mission design and checkpoint systems. There are some amazing details like the radio getting fuzzy when you enter a tunnel but then the sound design feels completely barren in the actual city, in crowds. Sometimes the game looks great, at others it's ugly.

I could go and on and on with this kind of back and forth. Fortunately however, the story and characters are not like that and really carry this experience with amazing performances all around, with a deft touch at cinematic storytelling.