Now that the game is actually playable (for the most part, just add an offline mode ffs it's in the damn files), I can easily say this has some of the most well-crafted gameplay I've experienced in years.

All of the heists (despite only 8 at launch) are well-crafted and feel unique from one another (unlike 2's whopping 5 bank heist variations and 4 stores), leading me to already accrue 20+ hours of gameplay already playing each one only a handful of times. Loud at higher difficulties feels much more fair this time around rather than just overwhelming you with a million specials at once. Stealth actually feels like a feature now instead of an afterthought. The reworked skill trees/perks system feel much more thought-out and balanced compared to the cluster♥♥♥♥ that 2 eventually became where like 80% of it was useless. It really feels like they modernized every aspect they could for the current year and its really all I wanted from a follow-up.

The game definitely has its issues right now (No Offline, Questionable XP progression, No VOIP & Generally Lacking UI) but I feel it's all gonna be stuff that gets improved over the next few months as they've already confirmed a few QoL patches coming soon. I really hope this game makes a strong recovery despite its atrocious few launch days because it has so much potential inside of it to be the next big thing like PD2 was years ago

Now that the game is actually playable (for the most part, just add an offline mode ffs it's in the damn files), I can easily say this has some of the most well-crafted gameplay I've experienced in years. All of the heists (despite only 8 at launch) are well-crafted and feel unique from one another (unlike 2's whopping 5 bank heist variations and 4 stores), leading me to already accrue 20+ hours of gameplay already playing each one only a handful of times. Loud at higher difficulties feels much more fair this time around rather than just overwhelming you with a million specials at once. Stealth actually feels like a feature now instead of an afterthought. The reworked skill trees/perks system feel much more thought-out and balanced compared to the clusterfuck that 2 eventually became where like 80% of it was useless. It really feels like they modernized every aspect they could for the current year and its really all I wanted from a follow-up. The game definitely has its issues right now (No Offline, Questionable XP progression, No VOIP & Generally Lacking UI) but I feel it's all gonna be stuff that gets improved over the next few months as they've already confirmed a few QoL patches coming soon. I really hope this game makes a strong recovery despite its atrocious few launch days because it has so much potential inside of it to be the next big thing like PD2 was years ago