I have this to say after beating this game on Hard in 62 hours before any patches

In short:

The game looks great, story is solid. Don’t play on Hard unless your life feels too easy)

In detail (buckle up):

1) Graphics and Performance:
The graphics are impressive, but there were several moments when visual bugs almost gave me a seizure. It's not critical, but definitely noticeable. Overall performance is good on my system.

2) Bugs and Technical Issues:
Mostly fixed

3) Story:
The story is well-crafted. The main character has clear motivation, and the ending explains everything, resolving my earlier doubts. The characters feel realistic - some are greedy, others vengeful, some are good and some are insane. Most have solid reasons for their behavior.
It was also a treat to see familiar characters and locations from previous games.

4) Difficulty:
The game isn’t balanced for Hard difficulty. it’s immersion-breaking at times.
• Mutant fights are best avoided; 90% of the time, you gain nothing and only waste time and resources.
• NPCs drop almost no ammo—killing them stealthily might yield 3–4 bullets for one gun and 3–5 for another.
• One quest tasked me with killing one of the scariest mutants in the Zone using only the provided equipment: 270 bullets for an automatic rifle, a few bandages, and a few medkits, in a confined space. I bugged that creature out and still ended up using 261 of the 270 bullets in single-shot mode. This doesn’t feel balanced at all.
Also, there’s no achievement for beating the game on Hard - a disappointing omission.

Overall:
The game offers a fantastic experience with interesting characters, a good story, solid gunplay, and beautiful locations.