Extremely lopsided balance between factions. Most had interesting mechanics, some basically useless and some wildly overpowered. Apparently the new-ish aqua faction has an overwhelming mobility advantage, things like that.

They added these game changing titans to the game at one point that you could defeat and employ, but this was either just luck of the draw or not possible for some factions.

Combat was meh go boring, generally. The “look at us go” turn based zoom in fights were very boring to watch, and more boring to play.

The game dragged. Just dragged, to finish. I played dozens of times, and i dont think i fully finished the game more than maybe 3 times.

All that said, the games world building, plot, and overall interesting mechanics makes me hopeful for this sequel. If they can keep the fascinating lore going and fix the “game” issues, i’ll be there for it.