Played last night and got the "open world" part of Seattle.
-As far as character development is concerned, the short Abby section wasn't good for or her ex-boyfriend. To this point she feels throw away and I feel know empathy or connection.
-Tommy's wife is a still a huge bummer.
-Dina is kind of meh.
-Grown up Ellie is okay.
-Jesse seems good.
-Joel's Death felt like someone had been watching or reading too much of The Walking Dead.
Having just recently replayed the original, all of the great performances were their to support Joel who was a great flawed, if not broken, character. I get wanting to switch up protagonists but Joel's death feels abrupt and a little cheap. Maybe something you want to save for the end of part 2 in a series. Early impressions is that this is giving Metal Gear Solid 2 vibes except without the bat-shit crazy story that turned out to be not so bat-shit crazy.