The game is tactically interesting most of the time because the quality of cover and positioning tends to change every turn and Eiger/Glory in particular can occasionally benefit from using all their weapons -- it's fun to boost Glory's accuracy, spend 2 AP on tearing people into open view for Eiger to snipe, dual-shotting one with a pistol to finish him off, and finally setting the minigun to Overwatch. For an added challenge I kept to the "clean" conduct, i.e. no comestible stimulants allowed, which would make Glory even more ridiculous. I don't understand why she's maligned as useless -- though that's likely because I made the PC a shaman and thus Dietrich rather redundant.
Strategically, though, it's rather shallow -- the general plan and roles are almost always the same. The excellent "tower" (terminal) defense encounter in the endgame was among the exceptions, as it's one of the few times you're defending targets that simply can't be defended by a single frontline and require treating every character as a "commando". While I appreciate that the personal missions for each party member made you operate with a reduced squad (and honestly I should try playing this game with only PC + Lucky Strike or such), they also had a notably reduced difficulty.
Aesthetically, I like it very much. The companions are all interesting and multifaceted, Dietrich perhaps the least, although he is sympathetic and still feels coherent. The personal missions for Blitz and Glory have brilliant interplay between the three party members. That I like Blitz and Glory should come as no surprise, particularly Glory's discovery that her potential for kindness and cruelty grow from the same root altogether, and how there is change, but no simple closure of the mutual conflict of love and hatred and instrumentalization and self-denial with Marta.
As for Blitz, he learns about letting go twice: first with Hasenkamp, then Emilie. Eiger, meanwhile, has the most interesting (up-and-down) relationship with the PC, and I particularly like how she insists that she was right about Daemonika's decision being wrong at the time, but you grew into the role gradually. It doesn't quite make sense, but alludes to her growing doubts about her attitude of pre-planning everything. Another memorable story is that of how she felt obliged to claim the meaning of "Eiger" by her own terms, since she knew the battle against being called that forever was already lost. (And it shows how much she really cares about what others think of her, which is again at odds with the first impression you get.) In general, companion dialogues rarely feel tailored towards "+Influence" as they did in e.g. Obsidian's early (=good) games.
Another vignette: Café Cezve (good name) and the fate of Altug, Kami and Jakob. The latter orders coffee daily, and they mutually fling insults at each other (no telling who started the tradition) which Jakob insists is all in good fun, but Altug does not see it thus, which Jakob cannot understand. When you meet Altug for the last time, he says "I wasn't kidding. I couldn't stand the man. But he must have seen it differently."
Other impressions: The lone dancer in the Kreuzbasar that you can tip 5 nuyen after each mission. This never gets you anything, and the spot is deserted after the attack. The conversations with Lucky Strike, who you cannot quite make friends with (great idea). The strange affection that Dr. Ezkibel feels for "Simmy" alone. The mail that an alive Jana sends you after the Lodge "trial run" if you go through with the "pixie dust".
Or how Vauclair being stuck in the past with his grief about dragons controlling the "megacorporations" is hinted at by his choice of an old-fashioned financial newspaper (as in, still printed on dead trees) that Green Winters mentions on his DVDs.
Towards the end, the combat really drags (even if they tried to keep it interesting by giving you the unironic best and probably unexpected character), but it's a testament to the artistry of this game that I had forgotten that.
Btw, investing in Dodge and Throwing Weapons was silly, as I realized quickly -- no reason to try and crit with shurikens or whatever when you can just cast Stunball (or have the two physical experts deal AP damage, or throw flashbang grenades). I also abandoned the "flavourful" plan of going for only Conjuration spells and went with various tiers of Aim/Heal/Haste + Acid Bolt III (later IV) after all, as in every other RPG. I kitted out Glory with the 5000 nuyen minigun even though it isn't really worth that price, because she's the primary Aim receiver anyway and the thing is hilarious when it hits.
