UPDATE: If you are a new or returning player do not bother. The game doesn't want you, only your $40. I was halfway through Forsaken. Load into game first time after update... loading... cutscene unrelated to anything I know about... loading... cutscene unrelated to anything I know about... loading... cutscene unrelated to anything I know about... loading... ... ... dropped into mission unrelated to anything I know about; tuned to a power level above mine with the weapon/powers I had loaded out for completely different missions last time I played... drudge through that combat in a white-out-blizzard with just a bow for most of it eventually just death-scumming it... loading... ADVERTISEMENT TO BUY THE NEW EXPACK... alt-F4... uninstalled for the last time.

I bought the base game right before the first expansion and enjoyed it enough to buy the DLCs but never got to the first expansion. More recently I got the 1st and 2nd expacs in a bundle and I deeply regret it. I don't even know if the first expack's content is still in the game but it doesn't matter. The game's content has always divided the community while being overpriced but the gameplay made it worth persevering. Now that's just taken to the point of insulting absurdity.

Original Review:

FIRST, the Good:
Everything about the combat in this game is magnificent. The diverse weapons are all exciting and satisfying, and the movement and abilities of each Guardian class are as well. The PvE and PvP activities are all generally well designed to play to the strengths of the gameplay.

But THEN, the Bad:
Everything else is fine at best or more-often an irritating mess. If you are at the end game when new activities start you wouldn't notice the pain, but as time goes on it gets harder and harder for anyone behind the curve (much less an all new player) to figure out what the hell they are supposed to be doing and how to do it. There are actually many quality of life features buried in menus you'd never be able to guess your way through. Good luck navigating the world map to which of the flashing icons (if any) pertain to your current objectives. The story and lore is similarly incomprehensibly distributed when it hasn't been edited out of the game altogether. The usefulness and progression of gear is simultaneously far more confusing than the simple light score would suggest, while also being not nearly as meaningful as all the different stats, tiers, and variety of progression activities would imply.

And then there's the anti-optimization of the game. When you are in the world the gameplay is great, but the loading screens are absurdly frequent and annoyingly long even with an SSD. And of course the game's disk footprint is so huge that they are famously removing large swaths of content just so that the game can still be installed as they add new content.

The monetization of the various DLCs and expansion packs is confusing and expensive (and now a lot of the base campaign has been removed!) If you can get alllll the content on steep sale at some point on steam then this overall fun game is definitely worth checking out. For standard pricing I can't recommend this to anyone who isn't already COMPLETELY invested.

UPDATE: If you are a new or returning player do not bother. The game doesn't want you, only your $40. I was halfway through Forsaken. Load into game first time after update... loading... cutscene unrelated to anything I know about... loading... cutscene unrelated to anything I know about... loading... cutscene unrelated to anything I know about... loading... ... ... dropped into mission unrelated to anything I know about; tuned to a power level above mine with the weapon/powers I had loaded out for completely different missions last time I played... drudge through that combat in a white-out-blizzard with just a bow for most of it eventually just death-scumming it... loading... ADVERTISEMENT TO BUY THE NEW EXPACK... alt-F4... uninstalled for the last time. I bought the base game right before the first expansion and enjoyed it enough to buy the DLCs but never got to the first expansion. More recently I got the 1st and 2nd expacs in a bundle and I deeply regret it. I don't even know if the first expack's content is still in the game but it doesn't matter. The game's content has always divided the community while being overpriced but the gameplay made it worth persevering. Now that's just taken to the point of insulting absurdity. Original Review: FIRST, the Good: Everything about the combat in this game is magnificent. The diverse weapons are all exciting and satisfying, and the movement and abilities of each Guardian class are as well. The PvE and PvP activities are all generally well designed to play to the strengths of the gameplay. But THEN, the Bad: Everything else is fine at best or more-often an irritating mess. If you are at the end game when new activities start you wouldn't notice the pain, but as time goes on it gets harder and harder for anyone behind the curve (much less an all new player) to figure out what the hell they are supposed to be doing and how to do it. There are actually many quality of life features buried in menus you'd never be able to guess your way through. Good luck navigating the world map to which of the flashing icons (if any) pertain to your current objectives. The story and lore is similarly incomprehensibly distributed when it hasn't been edited out of the game altogether. The usefulness and progression of gear is simultaneously far more confusing than the simple light score would suggest, while also being not nearly as meaningful as all the different stats, tiers, and variety of progression activities would imply. And then there's the anti-optimization of the game. When you are in the world the gameplay is great, but the loading screens are absurdly frequent and annoyingly long even with an SSD. And of course the game's disk footprint is so huge that they are famously removing large swaths of content just so that the game can still be installed as they add new content. The monetization of the various DLCs and expansion packs is confusing and expensive (and now a lot of the base campaign has been removed!) If you can get alllll the content on steep sale at some point on steam then this overall fun game is definitely worth checking out. For standard pricing I can't recommend this to anyone who isn't already COMPLETELY invested.