Ive run the game for close to a year by now and it is my favorite game. I've tried many supers games: Icons, Marvel TSR, Mutants andMasterminds (all editions), Champions NOW, Supers.
What I dont like:
NPCs are created exactly like PCs, and that can get overwhelming. By the time characters are rank 3 they can have about 15 powers, and each of those do something different. And for me, and the way I game, that is too much for a one shot NPC to handle. Because the game relies on "synergy" of the powers, and remembering that you have powers that provide permanent effects. Maybe some GMs don't mind that, but for me it is too much, especially if I have to have more than one NPC foe. Its info overload.
What I like:
1.
Choices. Especially in combat. There are 3 choices Action, Movement, Reaction. First two are pretty standard, and rather boring by themselves. But Reaction for me, is exciting. There are powers that give players options to dodge incoming attacks or riposte. Even without powers, if you are standing withing reach (typically 1 square) of another person, you can use them as a shield. Or someone could step infront of the blast for you.
For me it has created a dynamic combat experience, and my players are not fond when I use "skulk" (the reaction to use another as a shield) But it keeps the combat from just being I hit and move.
2.
The powers are easy to understand, and pretty clearly explained. However, this is not Champions, they have not tied everyting down. You and your players are going to have to negotiate some things because the rules are not "balanced". For example. I just had an example of this:
As written a player may skulk behind another character and avoid being hit. They can only do this if the other character is "within reach". And reach is defined in the book as next to the character (1 square). Well there is a power called "extended reach" you can take it twice giving you something like 20 spaces of "reach". Well my villain did just that and my player agreed (after reading the rules) that this was allowed by the rules as written, but was "just not cool man". I agreed and i won't be using that trick again.
I think in any superhero game, though, you end up with those unintended effects. This one has not solved that problem, and I don't think it can be solved. You cannot account for all the ways a power might be coupled with another power and the effect they will produce.
3.
the glossary In the back of the book all the major terms are defined and a page number provided for further reading. I cannot think of another RPG book that has done this. I think it is only 3 pages long. Its fantastic. In fact, here is the exact text of reach "
Reach The maximum distance a target can be away from a character to engage it in close combat. Usually 1 space."* You can also find that glossary
here. So by those rules it even says "usually 1 space". Which means, we as a group were probably right, extended reach works the way I used it to skulk, BUT what is above that is my players, and one especially gave me a hard "nope".
What is difficult:
1.
challenging players. at rank 4 they just mowed through anything I could do. It was not fun for me as a GM. This is not a system problem this is a user problem. Which is why this campaign we are at Rank 2 and making slow progression to Rank 3. But I mentioned that above.
2.
It requires some judgement calls. With any RPG these have to be made, with a Superhero game moreso. The way powers are worded can get tricky, and I just do my best to rule in the favor of the players as much as possible. After all their only point of contact with the game is their character, and I dont' want to overrule that any more than I have to.
*i then looked up skulk, because i thought it might have said a character adjacent to the attacked character, but it says Skulk:
Trigger: The character is a target of a ranged attack, and someone within their reach is not a target of that attack.
