I can’t say much about the final version since I didn’t play much of it yet but I do remember some fun ideas being lost during the development. I also remember not vibing much with the new lore & introduction but that could possibly change whenever I take some time to finally experience the game.
I guess I could ask since you’ve mentioned Frackin’ Universe. I’ve seen some mods trying to bring various parts of the old features back, do you know if any of them managed a decent mix of old and new vision of the project?