Could it be the cultural elements

What makes LID stand out is the cultural elements. Tokyo, metros, arcades, pop cultural references, and most importantly, good songs.

The new game feels soulless because of the lack of those elements. Even Uncle Death looks less special and lacks personality in the new game. Really miss his interaction in the first game.

But I guess one thing the developer does not change is their pursuit of trending genre. 9 years ago, it was soul-like games. Then there was battle royale, now Tarkov-like.