So, finally had the day to play the new release (i.e. to replay the whole game). As always Droid delivers a quality product. I love the characters, I especially love the dialogue and I really like the MC and the Valeria. I think we all can see where some things are heading to, but I feel it's too early to make predictions and it;s not like Droid isn't a master at delivering quality twists.
I had fun. It was very satisfying to kick some major ass in this chapter, tho it was quite one-sided. As a whole, from what we have seen to this point the Empire can easily deal with 2:1 odds. And that's with a navy that's heavily implied is filled with people who are promoted not on skill, but on connections and political ability. Unless the Shogunate enters the fray, I don't think they should be concerned with how the war would turn out much.
I also love the little things pointing out how it is a peace time navy. Hell, they have no reserve fighters on carriers, for example. Cabins are something like 2x bigger then they should be. Big showers, large legion detachments that have little to do in combat situations. I imagine a lot of shuttles to drop said Legionaries. It's great how the MC calls out the idiocity of the doctrine to try and get away from faster enemies. It will be interesting how much of that we will see change over the course of the story.
Some things I did not like:
The AI missiles still skip turns. Either I'm stupid and don't know how, or mine can't. Not fair.
I don't like the 4 skills limit. I think 3 on 3 (3 active - 3 passive) would be better, especially since we don't have a way to re-spec our build and try new things.
If you put enough hours in the simulations (and you can do that AND finish every bit of content in the game currently easily) you become a beast outpacing your wingmates by a mile pretty quickly. I feel they should level up better, maybe gain some skills that would make their personalities shine more in combat. Throw more enemies to balance it out if need be.
I know it's probably a pain, but an actual codex like in ME or DA wit a bit more then a single sentence of explanation about stuff would be appreciated.
On a purely subjective and personal note: I don't like how abysmal are the survivor numbers from blown up ships. War is hell and whatnot, but currently the space combat in this universe seems like a bunch of eggs carrying hammers - a few good hits turn a ship in to floating scrap and at that point I'm wondering why even bother putting armor on them. Point-defense sucks worse then the AA battery Bismark had. It seems nobody is even bothering with ECM and stealth, beyond "we shall hide behind a planet". Like, I get that there plainly hasn't been a major war in space like ever. But still...
Anyhow, I'm eager to see where the next chapter would lead us. I love the world and the characters, I'm intrigued by some of the mysteries presented.
