Downloaded and testing the demo out now. ZEN playthrough, of course. Some expected changes and updates here, lore wise, most of which is alright (happy for Vortex to get the ZEN contract, he's always been one of my go-to banger guys, bummed Dastardly gave in to the big money Raw offer, he's always been the obvious focal point of my ZEN playthroughs). I wish there was a bit more lore changes, I think there's been only one company closing down. I'm happy that the Aussie/Oceanic talent have progressed surprisingly nicely, I usually start a 0/0/0/1000 save with the aussie new guys so this'll be grand. Surprised Rob Edwards and Surfer Dude Lucas are still unsigned, but that just means they get to be the backbone of my company now.
The booking comittee/inner circle stuff is a fantastic way to breath life into things, I'm definitely going to have fun with that. Love these suggestions, now when I give a guy I don't like a wallowing loser gimmick he might be able to pull it off and be worth something. Looking at you, Azazel.
The new art renders are... Eh. I strongly dislike the photorealistic change, much prefer the classic 3D cartoony vibes. It feels much more digestible when I can just google a 3D render of some fictional dude from a video game (see: Star Fox) and add them to the worker pool. Yeah they'd still stand out, but now it's even more obviously so. The borders around the workers designating their company or stable is a great touch, though.
An option of trans workers (and an asexuality option! I feel seen!) is fantastic, something that honestly 95% of people are going to skip over but I love it.
The new angle booking is kind of a slog to get through and seems like a lot to deal with, at least until I get the hang of things. I feel like I'm missing something obvious, or getting overwhelmed by the sheer options.
The UI hasn't improved but I've grown used to the 2020 version, so. Oh well.
I'm not hating it, it does feel more like a sidegrade to the 2020 version and I wish there were a few more lore updates, but I can definitely see myself sinking a buttload of hours into this one. At least after I finish up my run in 2020, just about taken ZEN to near-medium size without throwing in extra shows, which is... surprisingly benevolent.
So, yeah. Those are some of my shit takes. What do y'all think?