Agreed. It was a neat idea, but implementation seemed forced. You're scrounging around through 100 year old ruins and random encampments looking for a magically compatible piece of tech that Baird couldn't just produce in the lab over the course of the game (which he does anyway). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I would have preferred something along the lines of customizing the Nomad in Andromeda, although maybe that's getting too RPG for them (i.e. if there are purchased upgrades, how does currency work, how does resource gathering make sense etc.).
Finding blueprints for upgrading various subsystems might have made more sense as an upgrade mechanic while you're checking out old secret military bases and the like. *cough* ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Say... the old blueprints just help speed up the upgrade process but otherwise have Jack be upgraded linearly so people not looking around aren't screwed over later in the game. It'd just be a way to get certain upgrades earlier.
Anyways, overthinking the design again.
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Random: Sure, Jack can go invisible, technically, but it still seems a little hand-wavey that it didn't get a paint job between the more extreme climates.
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Some of the collectibles are fairly interesting from a lore standpoint.