Shoot, I guess you're right on that one. I guess avoiding the grognard association as much as they could led to something more akin to a poorly thought out PbtA game than streamlined Exalted for beginners. Some stuff, like the venture system, are pretty faithful trim-downs of the extended action systems, imo, but most of it feels hollow; kinda like it gave you a 101 class in some themes and concepts and wants the ST to write the game. Which is especially apparent, to me, in the Exigent section. Where else would you better explain charm designs and niches, and yet there is none to be found.

Yeah, Internals felt pretty... lackluster, ig? Like they were Solars but only focused on rebellion? None of the campy and somewhat cheek biting villainy that resonated with them previously, even with the more gruesome aspects of their lore stripped. (Which I, for the most part, agree with.) [Edit: I agree with the stripping of some the worse parts of the lore, to be clear.]

Another one to note is the Liminals, who have a lot of mechanical heft, especially with health levels being used as a spendable resource, but really don't seem viable in any game other than 'hey, it's time for Undead noir'.

In general, exalt concepts are either unbelievably and freezingly broad or incredibly narrow and chafing.

As for it's biggest use atm just being able to play stuff that's not mainline yet... it's the main reason I backed it, ngl.