As a disclaimer, I played Div 1 a ton, I have this game already pre-ordered, but I'm gonna try to give an unbiased opinion based on beta so far. I am playing on the PS4:
PROS:
1. Game is fun, missions are fun especially when playing solo. Far more challenging. I got killed several times trying to figure out how best to approach different enemy stronghold positions, etc. It felt very rewarding figuring out how to overcome the missions. Felt much less so playing in a group because you can roll them over pretty easily. Again, not to disparage one game style vs another, some will group up and rush to max level to reach end-game content, but for myself I think I will be going at a slower pace and enjoying the game for the challenges and flavor text stuff.
2. Skills have been improved imo. Tabs are easy to read, easy to understand how spending SHD boosts what skills and how. More skills this time around, so of course there will be balancing issues in the future, but that's like any other game.
3. Graphics are great, improved over D1. I had no issues, no crashes, no bleeds, etc. I'm playing on PS4 Pro on 65" HDTV.
4. Guns feel good. Not Destiny level of responsiveness, but at least as good as in D1. Early game tip - I was having difficulty with the yellow boss guys when I was soloing, until I picked up a blue SPAS shotgun. That is literally the answer to your problems. Get in close, unload a whole clip, and they die instantly. Very satisfying lol.
5. There is a lot of varied missions and content, which should keep you busy until the end game. New to this game compared to Div 1 is the different factions. You have to donate various items (food, water, armor, etc), and it unlocks stuff or gives you rewards. My guess is easy 40+ hours of content, probably more like 60+ for completionists, prior to reaching end game, if you so choose.
6. Dark zone was cool looking, seemed more atmospheric compared to Div 1. I didn't spend that much time in there, but I had a lot of fun in the DZ both in group and solo during Div 1, so I imagine it will be more of the same. I never did do a ton of DZ though, I think in the first game I ended up around rank 50.
CONS:
1. The mini map seems worse than before. It doesn't tell enough useful information. Maybe it requires some unlocks. I can't tell you how many times I ran into a loot box and didn't realize I could loot it until I was up close. I personally feel like anything lootable should be highlighted in the signature Division orange. I know as you gain rank in the various territories all the echos and collectibles will become highlighted on the map (was one of the unlockable perks), but I'm talking about the mini-map. In Div 1, if you walked into an electronic store for example, you would see the 3 lootable electronic boxes on your mini-map if you got close enough. That didn't happen with me in this game.
2. I did encounter a sound bug, where suddenly my guns sounded like they were on volume 1. I couldn't correct it until I re-logged.
3. The text is way too tiny. I know there are settings to change this, but it still seemed really small on my TV. I'm playing about 10 feet or more away from the TV. I basically have to pull up a chair and play like 6 feet away to read some of the text.
4. I think this will get fixed, but some of the game stuff is not intuitive. For example, you keep hearing "someone near you is calling for help". I had no idea how to respond until I googled it. Turns out you have to go to your map to join. My guess is this will be part of a tutorial, but as of now there's no way of knowing. Also, when you do help, it doesnt *seem* to advance your own story line, but I could be wrong on this. The constant calls for help was annoying, but thankfully you can turn this off. Again, the game never told me how, I had to figure it out on my own. Hopefully the tutorial will be more robust at launch.
5. Loot is still confusing as fuck. Even early on nothing to tell you how to compare one item to another except for like stats showing up green or red when comparing. When in reality there are set pieces even early on. I got 3/3 on some "Brand" set, which improved my damage, etc.....yet nothing in-game to tell me about it. For someone like me with gaming experience, I understand the important of set bonuses. If you are newer and didn't know better, then you would be throwing away your set items just because the game is telling you a different item is better only because the stat is green compared to what you are currently using. For newer players to the genre, I hope there is a tutorial or something to help them understand just because something has higher damage or armor doesn't mean it's better.
All in all I am looking forward to this game. My PS4 tag is Caduceus888, I have quite a few of you on friends list already, but if you ever wanna group up or need another for your party please feel free to add me.