A GM play tester posted this on the Discord, and I'm very excited by this feedback. I think it's a great testimonial to share, and also a confirmation of our overall approach. Making the game system-flexible was a priority, so I'm really glad to hear that it works in actual use that way.
@andrewrgross when I joined this discord like half a year ago or more, you asked me to share my thoughts on the game. I have finally had a chance to play. Or well, a completely overhauled version of the game, so I'm not sure if my thoughts are still worth much, but here it goes.
I read the entire setting and came up with some more details for my own region, the Netherlands. I found some friends in my neighbourhood and we played in our own neighbourhood in the year 2124. Most were new to rpgs in general. I used my own monstrous homebrew mechanics that are a mix of Pathfinder2e and Powered by the Apocalypse, but extremely rules-lite. I made some pregens heavily inspired by the pregens in this game but turned to a more Dutch setting. I also came up with my own one-shot adventure about finding a missing sabretooth tiger (scientists were restoring extinct animals, not sure if I made that up or if it was in the setting already), including a neurodive/skidoo in a sabretooth tiger.
All players absolutely had a blast. The new players had some trouble thinking of what was possible, but they asked a lot of questions and were very enthousiastic of being able to do anything. Two players were DnD veterans, but they really enjoyed the light tone of the setting. The light atmosphere was not a downside, as there was still tension (would they be able to find the tiger in time? would the neurodive go wrong?). We even had some combat in neurospace, which was just resolved like any other encounter and more freeform. I explained that a cyberdeck to the players was just like what a smartphone would be like for someone from 1924, and they got really creative with it, contacting their social media followers and looking up information, etc.
We will probably turn it into a campaign, and next time they will make their own characters. For me as a GM, the whole setting really came alive from the rulebook. I think I will make the campaign about extinct animals being brought back.