Just finished up the campaign. Overall had a really good time with it. I think things like using the environment to do damage (dropping icicles on enemies never got old) and a lot of Jack's abilities added a lot of welcome variety to the series' well established gunplay. And while Gears 5 may not be my favorite example of story/writing of the year, I probably enjoyed this one the most of the bunch, and I felt some of the emotional moments hit me a bit harder in this one than they have in past Gears game, perhaps because I felt these characters endeared to me a bit more. I think Kait has been my favorite protagonist of the series so far, and I appreciate their decision to change that up from Gears 4 to 5.
I think one thing that didn't quite click with me was the open world elements. It was fun riding the skiff around, and the secondary missions were decent, but they just didn't feel like they added a whole lot to the game for me (even if they did provide some added lore and world building). I think they were worth doing for the special ability unlocks, but otherwise I think I would have preferred the campaign's pacing a lot more without them.
Overall was definitely a fun ride, and looking forward to seeing where everything goes next in the inevitable Gears 6.
