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  1. #1

    There's no "wow" in "wony"

    First off, let me give credit where credit is due and name some positives.

    1) The library

    This was so badly needed. Not thrilled at exactly how it works, but after you finish your main build it is REALLY convenient to have.

    2) The environment or "world"

    This is one of the most detail rich worlds I've ever seen, and ny is no exception. There is some Massive talent at Massive in their graphics department.

    3) Keener's watch

    Great concept with a lot of potential. We needed something to help us connect with our agent outside of gear.

    Now let me tell you why this isn't enough.

    1) The world is interesting, the bosses are NOT, not even a little bit.

    There is a huge disconnect between the unique and interesting world of DC and NY and the bland, cookie cutter "bosses" in this game. The journey to the bosses is fantastic, but once you get there they are huge let downs. With how the shd tech technology mingles with the storyline, there is no reason a mech warrior type boss can't be implemented. Think Alita The Battle Angel or something like that. Why isn't there some tank/animal hybrid fighting me? Why isn't there some kind of terminator hybrid climbing walls like a spider shooting disruptor nets at me? It just seems like all the artistic talent goes into the scenery and not the factors that make that scenery come alive. The boss fights are just bad, really bad.

    2) The time to complete NY

    It really seems like the NY expansion was cut down in parts to release later. NY does NOT seem like an expansion, it seems like quarterly dlc. If it wasn't for the gear and talent overhaul, it would be REALLY easy to see how bare bones this expansion really is. Standing by itself, the NY content is absolutely not worth the price. It's worth half that at best. Or rather, when comparing to what is traditionally considered acceptable trends by most genres of gamers. You can have almost everything done in a day.

    3) It really does look like pay to win.

    I'm not saying it really "is", but it does give you that dirty cringy kind of impression. Personally, I wasn't effected by the overhaul too much, but last week when I logged on and looked at my inventory I just felt dirty. After I fixed my build (Didn't take me long I was pretty lucky) and went to NY, I couldn't figure out what the point was. The new system doesn't do anything innovative, the talents before were much more interesting, and it looks like the new tier system is only in place to have people feel a false sense of progression by arbitrary amounts of armor and health. So maybe "pay to win" isn't a great summary, but "pay to keep relevant" is. Traditionally, power creep is injected slowly. It's presented like a carrot on a stick, not a medicine you need to survive.

    4) Bugs and quality control

    This is just bad. There is nothing more frustrating than experiencing bugs that are annoying like a fly constantly pestering you only to tolerate them and watch one make you relog. There is just no excuse for this. These should have been the focus of this game for months, not this expansion. And considering how shallow this expansion is, just seeing they weren't fixed speaks VOLUMES about what their priorities are.

    5) Builds have become cookie cutter, just like the bosses.

    I know you wanted to streamline things, but I don't see why build diversity had to be sacrificed. I've heard some people say builds are more diverse now and I just lmao. The talents were SO MUCH more interesting before. Now, it's almost like they wanted to move away from an rpg game altogether. Which is weird, because of, like I said getting Keener's watch. After NY I thought okay I can see where this is going but after seeing all the new talents and options I can't shake this feeling of NASCAR. Before it was like a race with cars, motorcycles, boats...now though, it's like we're all driving cars with a different sponsor and a dps is the same as the other dps and a skill build is the same as the skill build down the road. I almost feel like Massive thinks I'm too dumb to make builds on my own so they decided to build them for me. Huge turn off.

    6) The state of PvP

    I'm not talking about what's op or what's not. I'm talking about how the PvP has seemed like a rb6 wannabe or cheap knock off for a year now.

    Why doesn't the dz have these epic team vs team landmarks where you have to fight with the other team for a moment and then fight each other and then focus the npc again type of stuff? The concept of pvevp is so interesting I struggle to see how poorly it's been implemented. It really seems like the dz is just a bone to some random.low key non-influential youtubers in hopes they'll give you some free advertising. If you're going to treat the dz like PvP instead of what it really is, then you should just cut it out altogether.

    I have some more gripes, but you get the jist. I'm just not impressed with this expansion at all really. I was pretty pumped up for it, but now that I'm back in DC, I just don't feel like playing it. The division isn't a bad game, not saying that, but this expansion was REALLY over hyped and doesn't really seem like my kind of game anymore. I mean, if it wasn't for how gorgeous and detailed the world is, it really wouldn't have any appeal at all. The division feels like it's trying to cater to every single type of gamer. It's a REALLY good example why being a jack of all trades but a master of none is a really bad thing. The division 2 needs to figure out what it's demographic is, and what it's identity is. It doesn't do looting well, it doesn't do rpg well, it doesn't do PvP well, it does graphics well. And graphics is just not enough.

    Hope Massive finds its muse one day.
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  2. #2
    I agree with a lot of what you said. I think the boss fights are okay because their humanoid. Only so much you can do. But you're right, some more interesting boss fights would be welcomed for sure.

    Most of what you said was right on the money.
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