Just completed NG++ and with that the final ending. What an epic game. I'm not going to repeat my praise of the gameplay.
The sound design in this game is great along with the sound track, though you don't have much time to appreciate it with all the bullets, rockets and lasers heading your way. The low contrast look/back drop works really well to help identify incoming fire.
The story is good enough, it got me hooked. I would have liked more from the ending especially the aftermath but it does seem to be From Softwares style to leave the post ending quite open for discussion. I do like how the story changes through the subsequent playthroughs as it reveals more information. There is some interesting tidbits in the logs that are scattered around that reveal more about past and current events. The dialogue and interactions between characters is great and I liked the different personalities that shine through. Such as the contrast between the leadership style of G1 Michigan and VII Snail, with how they treat their subordinates and others. Its really gritty but they do a good job adding appropriate levity to the tone.
There were a few times that subsequent playthrough did feel like a bit of a chore because not every mission changes with each playthrough. However because you are improving with each playthrough you just dominate in the missions. You're not spending 3 hours to fight the same boss. Most missions you will one shot them. The missions that do change, I don't expect you will be stuck for too long on them. I do wish that for repeat missions it would give you a rank rather than having to go specifically into the replay missions mode.
In my first playthrough I ended up doing all the missions to support the liberation front while in the second playthrough I worked with the corporations (while doing all the new missions I was given). I do wish I had done it the other way around and that is what I would recommend that people do. I think it flows better from a story perspective and it is easier to keep track of for reasons that will become obvious when doing a NG+ playthrough.
I do want to S-rank all missions and hunt the last few parts and logs down. We'll see how that goes.
Fun Fact, It seems like the AC tester pilot who was delivering the Mech. The one we murder as he crys about just wanting a callsign of his own. It seems like he was supposed to end up with the G13 callsign. So we took his life and his callsign
. All in a good days work.
