As someone who played the first Frostpunk inside and out I felt like I'd have a good handle on the sequel and was exited for the new mechanics. But while Frostpunk 1 was challenging and engaging, Frostpunk 2 just feels overwhelming and stressful like I'm trying to organize a schoolbus full of suicidal ten year olds that keeps swerving into oncoming traffic.

The constant demands of factions, the fact that no matter what there never seems to be enough resources to not be constantly on the edge, and the breakneck pace the game throws things at you all made me feel burnt out and stressed rather than challenged. I am sure that many will call this a skill issue, but if getting the skills to be any good means having to constantly be anxious and overwhelmed by playing the game further, then count me out.

There is a line between challenging and just screwing me about and the game crossed it on my third Endless run attempt when even with three fuel producing districts and as many storage hubs as I could build the fuel still ran out in a few weeks and everyone froze.

Game became city builders with politics instead of survival city builder with tight resource management and planing.

Game no longer stand out from other city builder anymore.
Good game in the city builder genre.
Disappointment as a frostpunk sequel.

Overall it was ok but I put thumbs down. It might be worth it if the game was cheaper. Steam doesn't have an thumbs middle button.

Pros:
✅Lovely music
✅Nice map design
✅interesting pentagon / hexagon style base tilemap system.
✅Interesting story

Cons:
❌Interface a bit clunky - step backwards from FP1
❌Game felt short. I finished it thinking I had only completed the 2nd level.
❌Strange political system - core mechanic of the game seems a bit broken.
❌Global map transport system a bit clunky. Felt like it was made for console instead of PC.
❌Game didn't run smooth like FP1 and visually they are comparable. I have a 4070Ti and a 5950x with 64GB of ram. So unsure why I was getting serious frame rate drops. Driver updates didn't fix the issue.

I'm not sure I would recommend Frostpunk 2. It's quite disappointing to me because the first game was incredible. I don't know why in earth the developers deviated so far from the original recipe of the game. The first game absolutely captivated me. I can't say the same for FP2. The menu system was probably the biggest piss off with FP2. Every time there was an event or some kind of counsel meeting, it was a chore to use.

To make it worse, the overall story is extremely short. I finished FP2 thinking I had finished the first level but nope, I had finished the whole game. The devs might fix this in future with some DLC, but honestly my money is spent now and I'm not that keen to jump back in again anyway. For that reason, the game honestly feels like 1/5th of the first game in terms of value.

I did like the new map design and the way map tiles are formed. The ice breaking isn't very visually obvious. Certain aspects of the game like making food were removed in FP2 that were in FP1 which annoyed me. So once your population grows substantially, good luck... You're pretty much screwed.

The world map was interesting but needs some polish. I think the way paths were made could have been improved. For eg, sky karts should in theory be able to traverse over steeper terrain. By the time you can even use sky rails, the game is already almost over. So why include them?

The way politics is done in FP2 is also a step backward. I liked the simplicity of FP1 with regards to politics. FP2 added complexity but made an absolute mess of the interface. One of the worst problems is that some interfaces lock you into making a decision unless you glitch your way out by clicking one of the sub sections. the UI designer should be shot. I want the old interface back.

Resource management could have been better polished. It's OK as a strategy game, but it's another area that felt like it was a step backward from the first game. So, I am wondering if the game was rushed for an early release because the game honestly didn't feel complete. Buy this game if you really just want to know the progression of the story and don't mind having to relearn a new style strategy game. Don't buy it if you're expecting FP1 gameplay, it's totally different.