I've been going back and forth on whether to refund
The Division or not. And I decided to keep it. And honestly, it's not that bad. Some of the things I don't agree with, but some are actually quite cool. Here's a list of some of my observations
+ The graphics engine is jaw-dropping. Some of the best weather/environmental effects I've ever seen. Also, some of the best lighting I've ever seen. I think it's only in The Witcher 3 that I've seen something comparable. But this one is even better. It's a lot crisper and clearer (at least on PC). And this leads to some of the most atmospheric locations ever. The underground subways are amazing.
+ The gameplay/combat/movement/shooting mechanics are actually top notch. Some people are complaining that it's not as twitchy as they'd like. Well, that's one of the best reasons its good, in my book. I want a balance between how in control I am of my character and how smooth/authentic the animations are. I don't appreciate games where animation is cut down to the minimum amount of frames just to give the players full control. If I as a player make a decision to move somewhere, I want to suffer at least some penalty if I want to change my mind. This leads to a much more fulfilling experience, for me at least.
+ Sound is great also, with plenty of spacial awareness. I don't know how many times I've been aware of a characters positioning just due to sound. Music is so-so. I don't really notice it, except for the few more emotionally packed scenes.
+/- The item progression is there, and it's not as bad as I initially thought. The weapon progression is quite good. What's not as good is the armor progression. Most of them are absolutely boring/generic stuff. Finding knee-pads will never be exciting
They also decoupled the cosmetic items from the gameplay affecting items. Meaning you can visually customize your hero any way you want (with what you have available of course), and choose the armor you want just based on stats. The weapons, on the other hand, are not that way. What weapon your're carrying is what's represented on your avatar.
- The world sometimes feels very empty. The best examples of this was, as I said, running through the subway system, which looks amazing visually, but you most likely find just some recordings or nothing at all. Except for more environmental storytelling. And the usually thugs searching a dead body
- While he main and some side quests feature unique story telling and locations, though the side ones are a bit light on both, the majority of random encounters and optional stuff are absolutely cut&pasted with the same mechanics. I counted 3 optional mission types so far (starting city services (water valves,etc) after clearing the area of enemies, performing timed virus runs through the environment and fighting back thugs/cleaners (basically a time trial of sorts) and briefcase carrying missions).
- The enemies are way too generic and copy-pasted. I basically fought just thugs and cleaners so far. And this is mostly probably due to the setting. All enemies will be humanoids. There's no way around that. Disappointing really.
I haven't gotten into any multiplayer (cooperative or pvp) and will likely only do so after I finish the main questline. The issue with coop for me is that people aren't really concerned with exploring the environment and looking for story tidbits. Most just run through everything, killing stuff as fast as possible.
Anyways, after getting over some of the bad-taste in my mouth from the early impressions, and accepting its shortcomings, I'm actually having a good time exploring. But it's a really terrible shame that this sort of effort went to waste on such a project. I can't help imagining what this sort of engine and huge development team could do with a much more substantative open-world rpg with much more of a narrative focus.
