More of the base game for better and worse: the exploration is on par (if not better) than before, I largely like the lore that has been expanded on, but so many of the bosses here are ridiculously overtuned, ramping up the end game's difficulty to the point where I can't even bring myself to try and beat the final boss because it's mind-numbingly frustrating. Add to that a severe amount of enemy reuse and lots of bizarrely empty spaces on the map, making it quite disappointing in a number of ways.

It still captures that feeling of awe from the base game in many regards (one of my favourite games ever), and From really are the best when it comes to world-building and art direction. But I really, really hope this isn't indicative of their design philosophy moving forwards. It's very quickly moving from punishing but fair and rewarding into pure tedium.

End note: fuck Commander Gaius.

Giving up on this - probably the biggest disappointment I've had with a game in a long time. Everything about it is so unbearably slow, everything feels so archaic in a it's a 'classic JRPG' but in all the worst ways possible. It needs a hell of a lot of balance and QOL changes before it resembles anything like a decent game, and it's very clear it was released half-baked. The story isn't particularly engaging, but it's the painfully slow gameplay that's really turned me off it, particularly sections that involve 'take 2 steps here, cutscene, fight, take 2 steps, cutscene, fight' repeated ad nauseum, which is made worse by the fact that all dialogue and animations take about 3 seconds longer than they should to finish.

I do feel like there's a great game in here somewhere, but it's such a chore to get through that I'd rather put it down and consider coming back to it in the future if they manage to make some serious adjustments.