People are being too harsh on CS, it does a lot of things differently from AoD. Non-human enemies, stealth and party combat for starters. It's also very impressive visually. How many people even worked on this? 4-5? It must've been a superhuman effort. Unfortunately, it's too ambitious for its own good. This manifests in the Habitat already very clearly(and even before, in the Factory), but it still manages to impress in certain parts.
I'm playing the game only now, I never played Early Access. I think a lot of people made up their own minds before some of the new content was added. For example, I thought Hydroponics Yellow and Red were just OK, not great, but it's very unfair to call them simple corridors.
I'm almost finished, now in Ch. 4. Will probably finish today once I get home.
There are plenty of Ok games that were completely crucified on Codex for a lot less and never been given a second chance (Encased, Black Geyser, InSomnia). CS still got voted incredibly high (way too high in my opinion) during GOTY voting. As for the amount of people who worked on the game well its been in production for a very long time and had EA for years as well. Also there are some other huge and impressive RPG made by even fewer people. (Underail, Skald, Serpents of Staglands).
I don't know what the Codex thinks in general, I'm talking about specific claims by people in this thread. As to how much work went into this compared to, say, Underrail, I can't say. I mentioned it because CS is the kind of game that would typically need a medium sized studio to accomplish successfully. All those lush 3D backgrounds, the fully animated creatures, on top of all the systems gameplay, that's a tall order, specially considering the scope of the game. There are 5 large areas in the Habitat alone (Entrance, Shuttle Bay and the 3 faction areas) that needed each as much attention as the Pit, and that means they clearly overshot the mark. That it still turned out somewhat OK is pretty impressive to me.
Anyway, I just finished the game. Ch. 4 has almost no gameplay, it's more of an addendum. The final encounter had no thought put into it: fight a robot and some turrets or just go down a ladder and use lockpick/computers to skip it. The ending was rather underwhelming too.
Some observations:
- learn by doing has its own set of problems, but it's overall an improvement from AoD's hoarding points to pass a skill check in the future.
- EXP feats work retroactively, wonderful.
- stealth can be pretty fun with an optimized build, otherwise it takes a bit of trial and error. Huge improvement over AoD regardless. BTW, why not allow multiple character stealth(someone distracts the guard while another takes him out)?
- 3D backgrounds look fantastic, as do the characters and animations. I like the huge variety of 2D assets for the equipment. Characters portraits are good, but not as memorable as AoD.
- Quest log should be a bit more detailed. I had to look up who Luther was, I'd completely forgotten about him.
- Mission Control is great, probably my favorite area in IT games so far. Other areas of the game are not as good, but often still look pretty cool(e.g. Hydroponics Green, the Pit, Brotherhood area).
- The game overpromises and underdelivers when it comes to some areas like the Factory and the Habitat. Shuttle Bay was the worst, imo. Boring, self-contained, disconnected. It should probably be completely redesigned.
- I'd like to see them add more non-generic content to the Habitat, specially quests that require you to explore multiple areas and talk to characters from various factions. Make it seem like a real place where not everyone believes the official ideology. More hidden areas too, like the container in the Pit you need 5 Electronics to access. The Factory should have a lot going on beneath the passageway.
- the early game is much less effective in drawing you into its world than AoD. Here you are immediately introduced to and forced to take sides in(even if not in a consequential way) a faction conflict you don't care about(Braxton vs. Jonas). You hear about stuff like Regulators and Protectors, which now swirl in the void between your ears while you're still figuring out you can use Alt to highlight scenery. Compare to AoD, where you're given a job and only later learn about the broader context.
About combat:
- hard, while still allowing decent variety of builds. Pretty good balance with stats and feats. However...
- it's not as tactical as I'd like, relying mostly on ruthless build optimization and economy(which is good, but why not both?). It's often impossible to control space, unlike AoD where you could use fire grenades to section the battlefield(there are Stasis grenades, but these are expensive items you hoard for special occasions). Add to it that some later enemies are immune to everything.
- I found the cover system a bit inconsistent. Sometimes you have an object that provides cover on one side, but not on the opposite. What gives?
- Every AoD weapon type had a specific use tied to its special ability. CS abandoned this simple and effective model, but is also much less clear about the benefits of each type until you've played the game for a considerable time.
- the economy relies on scarcity of certain items, like grenades, which are too few, imo(I can't imagine how solo players manage). On the other hand, you always have plenty of money and ammo.
Overall, pretty good but not great. I'd gladly pay 10 more bucks for them to finish the game if that's what it takes, just like I'd pay Tim Cain in 2001 to finish Arcanum. Level up your trading skill, Vince.
