Very very first response was, “Oooh, this is good.” One of the things I read made me concerned about the story bits, but they have an initial charm. It handles tutorial stuff well, and looks great on the Switch screen in handheld. Next response was... a bit of motion sickness. For the first few minutes you’re on foot and guided by terrain, so the camera doesn’t have much to do. But, when you first get into a car, the heavy chassis and the soft suspension combine with a zoomed in camera that swings around a fair amount. Even on foot, when you move near buildings the camera swings up to a more vertical view. The whole lot acting together is a bit nauseating. I tried the follow camera, rather than the fixed, and that didn’t help. I docked the Switch to see if looking at a further away screen would help, but it didn’t really. That’s also when I first noticed the judder of some slowdown. I’m not too worried just now; my worries strike me as being patchable, and the gameplay itself seems fun; burgling houses is a gamble of the time it takes to search rooms versus the time it takes the Police to respond. I gather you can also try to restrain anyone you find in the house, and your success depends on upgradeable skills. You also peer in windows first, to make sure you’re entering an unoccupied room. Depending on how your crimes are witnessed, the description of either your clothes or your vehicle will be circulated. You can grab a change of clothes from a washing line, or (I think) buy from a shop. I’ve died once so far; I jumped off a pier, and couldn’t work out how to climb the ladder back out of the water before my stamina depleted. The game tells you that, when you die, you lose your inventory, but retain your money and XP. I died mid-mission, though, and it reloaded my last save point, so I didn’t lose anything. The inventory is fairly well handled, too. Everything has a weight, and there’s only so much you can carry. Things like crowbars and wrenches can be used as weapons, or can be used to break into cars or houses a limited number of times before they break. They display an approximate number of uses you have remaining. Lots to like, a couple of grumbles.

Some more thoughts, then. I’m no longer experiencing motion sickness while playing. I don’t know if I’ve just acclimatised, but playing is no longer uncomfortable. I wouldn’t mind a few more options for the camera, though, to make it a little less swoopy. I’ll get the negatives out of the way first. The camera is definitely too close to have a reasonable chance of avoiding collisions. If you encounter a vehicle travelling in the same direction as you, there’s just enough time to avoid clipping it at least some of the time. Vehicles coming the other way, though, and you’ve got very little chance of avoiding it. Even junctions are a nightmare; brakes are soft as hell, and even when it’s obviously the other drivers fault that you’ve collided, you’re the one who ends up wanted. So you end up being wanted a lot. I’ve also (at least) twice had the game completely crash. Apparently a patch is incoming next week which should help. Finally, if evading capture in a car is a bit too hard, evading on foot is a bit too easy. Cops don’t chase you for long, and that’s even before I’ve upgraded my sprint stamina. As for the positive, so far it’s been great fun. Earlier, I mentioned the houses being a balance of how long it takes to search rooms, with how long until the Police arrive. Earlier, I took too long, and saw Police symbols outside my various exit points. I picked the last window uncovered, and as I arrived outside, the place was indeed surrounded, with cops at each door and window. I almost managed to sneak away, but got spotted. As I ran away, I was again seen switching clothes, so my new description was circulated. I had to run further before I could change my clothing unseen. I’ve also now realised that the people who go around the house exteriors live there. So, if you sneak up on one, you can knock them out, search them, and find a key that means you have all the time you want to search the whole house and steal the valuables. I also managed to batter a cop with a shovel, undetected, and currently have his uniform, baton, and revolver (having blown up his car). I’m assuming the level of Police corruption is the main reason nobody reported me for using his gun to shoot his car to make it explode, to destroy the pick-up trucks parked either side to complete my current mission. I think I need to upgrade a few of my stats before I try holding up any of the stores, and I imagine to have a chance of successfully robbing the bank, I’ll need to max out a few of them.