Death Stranding is one of my favorite games of all times. I've 100% completed it at least 4 times (I don't keep track). Death Stranding 2 is fucking awful. I completed the story and started working on 100%ing it, but I had to give up because the game is just awful. It adds in so much new stuff that just playing the game feels like a waste of time. They added in new weapons and equipment that make everything obsolete. It's like they thought the first game was too complicated, so they REALLY over simplified everything to the point of the game completely losing anything to keep you actually interested in what you're doing. The first game was about preparing what you take with you based on what you're going to face in your journey. The second game is about just carting the same crap around everywhere because it just instantly wins against everything and eliminates all challenge. Absolutely destroyed this series.

This game is fine. But that's about all it is. There's nothing outstanding about Avowed.

The combat is like Skyrim, but way better, with dodging and way cooler and more satisfying battle effects.

The story was very typical and bland, but the characters were interesting. The voice acting is great and the dialogue is extensive, if you ask questions; or you can skip most of it if you just want to get on with it.

The visuals are colorful and vivid, and it's a joy to explore the world. Speaking of which, exploring feels like Skyrim, but better, with more satisfying movement, and the ability to vault over things and climb up ledges.

Overall, the game is great, but for some reason it fails to hook me. I did play it for probably 15 hours or so, but I wouldn't consider that enough to judge the full game. Despite doing everything pretty well, it lacks something to make it interesting enough to keep playing.