I think the biggest gameplay problem continues to be grapples. As nice as it was to give them bigger visual and audio cues, the real problem isn't in not seeing them coming - it's in not being able to DO anything about them. In a pure 1v1 situation, they're fine (if still giving a little too much reward for the level of risk), but having any other nearby enemies turns them into a massive problem - I have, on several occasions now, had my rock-beats-scissors melee strike against an onrushing elite interrupted by another basic enemy's shotgun blast, utterly dooming me to the silent frustration of watching said elite's grapple animation play out while getting chided about my depleting Aleph supply. This is already assuming my punch would have even done anything... as I'm still not clear on when elite enemies are and are not invincible during grab attempts. It can't be spawn invulnerability, because I've made sure to kite them around long enough for that to have worn off.
This seems to tie into the rock-paper-scissors setup - regardless of how much loud of a warning siren they give off, grapples don't have nearly enough of a risk for their instant-kill reward. This is exemplified by the fact the the most dangerous AI opponents are the ones who do nothing but fish for those instant kills. The designed answer is to clock them as they go in for the grab, but this doesn't seem any more punishing then hitting them in any other circumstance would be. Logically, getting hit with the appropriate counter while trying for the instant kill should carry a big downside, such as a similarly-fatal counter-grapple or a dizzy/stun that renders the attacker temporarily harmless (possibly featuring a tweeting-bird sound effect and comical reeling). This is all going under the assumption that you guys are unwilling to scale grapples back from being instant-kills on players/elites or to make them dodge-able, of course - I'd rather make suggestions that go with the original vision, rather than against it.
Also, getting back in the saddle after a mission failure continues to be a massive chore. Please give us the option to continue from the current map on loss, even if we have to vote on it and possibly take a rewards penalty. Getting kicked out to the lobby is incredibly frustrating, and seems designed to make the player quit for the day.
Purely from a XBox One player's experience, the matchmaking is still almost completely nonfunctional - time in the matchmaking cue can go upwards of a half and hour. Strangely, the only time it worked well was when the current XB1 version wasn't available one weekend, a couple of months ago, and it worked almost perfectly. I was actually able to get more than one match in a several-hour sitting! Whatever "'Boneheads Only" replacement system you guys put together worked better than the real thing! The punishing system of gambling on a post match reward wouldn't be as much of a bummer if I could get more than maybe one match a day.
To round out with some crucial positive feedback - the new Fist Full Of Sand seems a lot more fair than most of the others. The elite sharpshooter enemies, in particular, are MUCH more fun to fight than other elite enemies. Even when it's by that damnable grapple attack, I actually feel genuinely bested when I lose to them, rather than just mechanically overwhelmed. Probably because they only seem to do it when I commit an error and leave myself particularly open.
I want to see this game succeed. It has an infectiously fun attitude to it, some cool mechanical concepts, and an aesthetic and character design are very distinctive and enjoyable. Here's hoping for a rousing success, Mercury Steam!
