I don't remember exactly what my thoughts of the first game were, but I just remember not being very interested in it's narrative and found it pretty janky and glitchy at times. That and I probably got sick of it's gameplay loop at some point...

I mention a lot of this because playing this game made me wonder what I actually didn't like? Granted, I think this game does certainly make me care about the narrative more by actually letting me chat with the characters rather than just hear them in my ear all game, and I do like the premise of the game being basically the fallout of the first game's ending, and I like seeing how everyone tries to steer through the mud of politics and violence in the wake of an absent government. It's not like it's absolutely stellar writing, but I liked it, especially with Kira and Saul, and Conners. Jack being a lot more personable in this game does certainly help with that.

Honestly though, the story is not the biggest important factor in these games in my opinion. It's a notable enough part for the campaign, but I do really like the game play loop in this game.

I got this game other than familiarity with the first one with the hook of riding down a giant tower with a motorcycle and I got exactly what I wanted. The motorcycle stuff is pretty sick, but generally a lot of this game taps into how cool it is to shred through rooms of baddies with precision without being tapped once. I liked the loop so much that I think it holds up in the roguelike mode they have on the side.

I like this game more than the first one, though I think I really should play the first again at some point just to see what I feel about it compared to this one.