Overview
Subnautica 2 was very good. Finished survival single player in about 18 hours. It felt like Subnautica 1 (SN1) more than Below Zero in that the story felt real.
Story and Atmosphere
Story was well written and had memorable characters. World felt lived in.
Graphics were great. Very atmospheric and immersive which is what Subnautica is known for. I did bump up some settings it felt they went conservative with presets (this will likely be patched).
Gameplay and Mechanics
World layout and biomes felt expansive but not to punishing or boring. Creatures were similar to SN1 where they pose challenges but are manageable. Food/water/health felt less punishing because of some changes and how much I just scavenged.
There was once or twice I had no idea what the next step was to the point of just wandering around aimlessly. I may have accidentally sequence broken a section. I imagine the devs will patch these with more help. But at no point did quests feel like filler or tangents.
I liked the changes to resource collection (minerals are just on the ground and can be acquired multiple at a time) and crafting no longer requires stuff to be on you.
Base building was improved and for people like me who just want a base that works it is very quick.
Current Issues and Polish
Things devs will obviously patch (if they will bother you just wait): a few things had awkward animations, sounds sometimes clipped, dialog would replay every time I entered my base. Some items, flora, and fauna were hard to know what they were for or how they fit in.
Verdict
TLDR: If you liked the first one or survival-crafting games Subnautica 2 is a great game (it needs some polish) that is ~20 hours long (and will have more content in the future) is worth the price, then I highly recommend it.
