I am really loving my time with this game.

That said, at the time of reviewing this, I haven't completed the main mission and the 2.0 beta is going on right now so the game will likely change a lot soon. I've had some issues with the gunplay and frustrations with the enemies. All that said, I feel terrified in the radius, the pacing of introducing new anomalies by letting you explore at your own pace is excellent, I absolutely love how unique every area I explore has been and the feeling of gradually getting a better picture of life before the incident and what has happened since. I appreciate how fragments tend to group around previously inhabited places. I HATE the spawns coming out of nowhere and jumping at me. It's excellent! I highly recommend if you like being terrified but curious, give it a try, take your time, explore the radius!

So far, some quick specific feedback about the parts I am really enjoying and parts that are less enjoyable.
First, the positive:
-The audio design is amazing, aside from a few jump-scare like sounds from specific areas, there are lots of great environmental sounds AND almost everything that will harm you has an audio queue to warn you it is coming, so even if you don't see it, it doesn't feel unfair. Because audio both builds the environment AND warns you about incoming danger, it keeps the suspense built and builds intrigue very well.
-The mystery of what things do, especially the anomalies, is great fun to learn and master. This can be a bit dual-edged, as generally "learning" means losing a lot of health from doing the wrong thing, but there is a lot in your kit to help mitigate that if you're careful and use your tools.

Then, the negative:
-Despite being released (and very good overall) it does have a very unpolished feeling for many features and can feel very early-access for others.
-The enemies tend to all be black silhouettes or inky black creatures and the trees are also generally black, a lot of the environment has black foliage and primarily grey-scale features. The result is that many enemies are very difficult to make out, even when moving, and because the two ranged enemies I've encountered don't seem to have any trouble seeing the player even through said black foliage, it can be basically impossible to fight back at times. While it makes sense for encounters to not always be a fight you can win, it feels unfair when you just can't even see what's shooting at you.
-I've had a few items disappear on me, I'm sure I did something silly, fortunately it hasn't been anything too serious yet.

And very petty:
-I scare myself when the gun on my back bumps against something behind me like a door, I'm a very jumpy person :<
-When cleaning pistols the cleaning rod pops out really quickly so you have to move your arm a lot to clean them

Excited for the 2.0 update, loving the game, hope it continues to grow! Even the jankiness at times feels very S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-y

I am really loving my time with this game. That said, at the time of reviewing this, I haven't completed the main mission and the 2.0 beta is going on right now so the game will likely change a lot soon. I've had some issues with the gunplay and frustrations with the enemies. All that said, I feel terrified in the radius, the pacing of introducing new anomalies by letting you explore at your own pace is excellent, I absolutely love how unique every area I explore has been and the feeling of gradually getting a better picture of life before the incident and what has happened since. I appreciate how fragments tend to group around previously inhabited places. I HATE the spawns coming out of nowhere and jumping at me. It's excellent! I highly recommend if you like being terrified but curious, give it a try, take your time, explore the radius! So far, some quick specific feedback about the parts I am really enjoying and parts that are less enjoyable. First, the positive: -The audio design is amazing, aside from a few jump-scare like sounds from specific areas, there are lots of great environmental sounds AND almost everything that will harm you has an audio queue to warn you it is coming, so even if you don't see it, it doesn't feel unfair. Because audio both builds the environment AND warns you about incoming danger, it keeps the suspense built and builds intrigue very well. -The mystery of what things do, especially the anomalies, is great fun to learn and master. This can be a bit dual-edged, as generally "learning" means losing a lot of health from doing the wrong thing, but there is a lot in your kit to help mitigate that if you're careful and use your tools. Then, the negative: -Despite being released (and very good overall) it does have a very unpolished feeling for many features and can feel very early-access for others. -The enemies tend to all be black silhouettes or inky black creatures and the trees are also generally black, a lot of the environment has black foliage and primarily grey-scale features. The result is that many enemies are very difficult to make out, even when moving, and because the two ranged enemies I've encountered don't seem to have any trouble seeing the player even through said black foliage, it can be basically impossible to fight back at times. While it makes sense for encounters to not always be a fight you can win, it feels unfair when you just can't even see what's shooting at you. -I've had a few items disappear on me, I'm sure I did something silly, fortunately it hasn't been anything too serious yet. And very petty: -I scare myself when the gun on my back bumps against something behind me like a door, I'm a very jumpy person :< -When cleaning pistols the cleaning rod pops out really quickly so you have to move your arm a lot to clean them Excited for the 2.0 update, loving the game, hope it continues to grow! Even the jankiness at times feels very S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-y