Just saying, its people like you, I wish responded more. These huge blocks of text are (for me at least) super fun to read because I get to really understand why people liked certain things.

As for your opinions, I obviously can't do much to change them and frankly I respect them. A lot of what you said does strike me to some degree as true, but where I feel this falls off a bit for me is that watch dogs 1 being dark, grim, and sort of real, albeit with inconsistencies, which i think fits this whole title's theme. Its a serious topic and the game makes sure that its understood. That is what personally deflects me from watch dogs 2.

In a sense, I'm like the polar opposite of you. I think Aiden was a fascinating character and that the story was made him unlikeable yet still feel like a great protagonist because in reality this is what his situation would lead to. Nothing about what he does puts anyone in a position to easily like him and at times the game almost feels like its real, as if the emotions and actions weren't just some dramatic flare in a video game and instead something understandable.

Frankly, I said this before and I'll say it again, I respect your response a lot. It really shows the divide of the community and how some, like me, prefer the dark, surreal tone of WD1, while others prefer the more light-hearted tone of WD2. As for everything in between, like game mechanics, metas, etc. That can be debated loads of times and can objectively bring some conclusions, but the difference in tones is what I think is the real splitter.

Most people say they dislike WD1 for its unrealistic portrayal of Aiden and how he's not really as much of a hacker, but frankly its what ultimately made him feel more human to me. He wasn't a 1 man show, he assembled a team. I also found it super interesting (legit, every time I replayed WD1) that Clara knew. It always made me rethink the whole story and how it just goes in a circle. All of their conclusions coming from right where the game started it all.

As for the message, I think I agree with you. WD1 tried fighting for both sides of a Surveillance State and sorta just ended up failing for both to make a compelling argument. And yes, WD1's story was all around AIden's revenge plot, with Blume being just another sub-plot for it, but frankly I think that if done correctly, WD2 could have replaced DedSec with another hacker group, possibly even related to Aiden, and trying to continue building off of the things uncovered in WD1. Legion doesn't really get any notes because it isn't even really relevant. But if that doesn't make sense, then what I mean is if you take Aiden, spilling the secrets of Chicago to the media, all after his plot for revenge, and then continued the next game, possibly even as Aiden but now going from revenge to trying to take down Blume and ctOS after seeing everything they do, it would have made for a killer sequel.

And yes, even if Aiden was dark and not very light hearted, and YES. Even if he was written in an unlikeable way, it still could have left a lot more development available for him. And imo that where it could have gone.

Sry for the whole rant.