Graphics
I really enjoy the dark futuristic mood of the graphics, also the creature design which feels awesome in its gory “biology- gone- haywire” - way. Finally, XCOM graphics that match the premise, a frightful attack on Earth by unknown, terrifying forces!
The cutscenes are okay, they are not the most important part of the game for me, and do their job sufficiently. The short video when the Manticore or other ship lands before a mission feels a bit “off” for some reason.
Would be cool: “Climate zones” (like in the original XCOM) on the geoscape that affects the mission environment. I know the Earth is messed up at the point of time of time in the game, but it would add more variation.
Sound
Really enjoying the music, the classic mission sound from the original XCOM is even there 
Nice touch with the special sound effects when certain things happen, like destroying a friendly objective or seeing a new type of enemy the first time.
Not enjoying some of the voice acting, seems like some voices from the BB5 (?) is still there, for example? Kind of kills the immersion sometimes.
Geoscape/factions
The geoscape looks great, same nice feeling as the mission graphics/music. The Earth really has gone to hell.
I enjoy the factions and the fact that I’m fighting them at least 50% of the time. It gives a lot of variation to the missions for me. Been stealing tech, air crafts, and generally ruining New Jericho’s business. It’s natural to be passionate about the factions since they represent starkly different ideologies, perfect! Synedrion 
The faction component in this game takes me back to XCOM Apocalypse a bit, which is marvelous.
The growing mist coverage adds a stress factor in a good way, providing a feeling of urgency and forcing me to take the “best” action rather than messing about aimlessly.
Many of the texts in the exploration sites feel uninspired, could be improved.
Mission Gameplay/Challenge
I’m playing on the default difficulty. Positively surprised that some missions are a bit tricky even on this fairly easy setting. I’ve had to restart a number of the special mission due to my own failure to adapt to the enemies, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be! Once you figure out how to counter the Chirons/Sirens, for example, it doesn’t feel insurmountable anymore.
Loving that there are such large amounts of enemies in some missions! An alien base should rightfully be teeming with newly hatched enemies, increasing the pressure to destroy the mission target structures before getting overwhelmed.
Ambush missions are a bit tedious, I see what the idea is: you survive a few rounds under heavy attack and then you’re allowed to withdraw while new enemies are still coming at you. But it doesn’t seem to get hard enough yet(?), you just kill all enemies and then annoyingly have to move your soldiers out of the map while a few more enemies that don’t feel worth the trouble killing appears. Could use some tweaking, but it is a nice concept that’s supposed to add variety.
In conclusion
I am really enjoying the game so far, despite the need for extra polishing and tweaking. I’d give it a 7.5/10 in the current state. Well worth the wait and money since backing it in 2016.