I think it deserves a lot of praise, but also some criticism:
* While it may keep their creative vision "pure", the lack of lower graphical settings makes it run pretty terribly on an RTX 3080, which is very frustrating. You can brute-force this problem away with DLSS, but I like native resolution and I'm sick of DLSS being used as a crutch.
* The difficulty is all over the place. "Story" mode is likely too easy, while "Normal" varies between being reasonable and damn near impossible. A weaker enemy can take 2 bullets in Story, and 10 in normal. That's frustrating when ammo is so tight early on. In general, the game lacks a good "progression" of difficulty. It's a roller-coaster instead of a curve.
* To add on to the difficulty, the mechanics do not feel as consistent in AW2 as AW1. Why do some enemy types have a shield you need to burn away, while others don't? (Despite looking similar) For others, it's unclear which ones will vanish with a little light and which ones require an intense light - and what exactly gets them to disappear. Why can't the flashlight have a bit more grace when a target leaves the crosshair for 0.1 seconds? Why do so many enemies have extendo-reach and teleporting? Why isn't dodging timing better telegraphed? Etc.
* The story, at least so far, hasn't hit the same highs for me. It feels a little like we're doing the same thing over again, and it doesn't hit as hard the second time after the reveals and twists from AW1 are already used up.