Progression in general needs to be kept an eye on

While I enjoyed my time with SN2, and I recognize that it is only the first version of early access, I feel that… the amount of content (both gameplay and story) was quite impressive, yet at the same time felt far too densely packed in certain areas.. lacking in others.. and ultimately felt like a whole lot of a linear questline. I hope the developers consider significantly altering progression as they add more areas to the map, rather than simply adding onto the tail end of it more and more. An open map should have some more open progression, but right now you do get railroaded quite easily. Linear progression is good to a certain degree, though I think it should be balanced (like the lost river having several entrances!)
I also echo the feeling that (while I love the story) the game is very heavy handed on dropping story to you early on. Even if I have the choice to not listen/read, it doesnt stop the feeling of being mildly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of “okay, now go here!” and audiologs pointing to a mystery to figure out almost immediately. I liked that in SN1 there was some time early game where you hardly had any clue where exactly to go, and were just trying to get your bearings … there aren’t really any significant landmarks or storybeats within reach until you’ve properly gotten a seaglide and perhaps more.

I also find there being a strangely hot zone in the middle of otherwise non-hot zones to feel very confusing and … its below zero aquarium-biome syndrome IMO

Point is, I think everything in this game right now is phenomenal as individual pieces to a game, and the foundation to lay them atop of is also amazing, but the way theyre all put together.. doesn’t quite compute

Agree. I feel like optional research side quests focusing on individual species and biome apsects could really break up the linearity: https://subnautica2.nolt.io/8257

I feel like we need also reasons to go back and travel to previous biomes. Special areas with ore respawning to setup mining outposts would be one: https://subnautica2.nolt.io/7289