I've been playing hours of this on end and like others have said, it's the recruitment mechanic that gives this game any value at all. It is unlike anything I've ever played in a AAA game. I'm sure some rogue like indie games have something like this (or pokemon), but it feels like a glimpse into the future. The ambition of it is staggering. I have spent a shameful amount of time walking through the city, trying to find the hottest chick, the weirdest looking blokes or just unexpected combination of looks and abilities and recruit them.
Problem is the game is held back by it's Ubisoft game design, which has come to mean forgettable story, bland characters, repetitive enemy stronghold based mission structure. Randos still feel lifeless until you recruit them. This problem is compounded by the fact you could be using any character with any personality or abilities at any given point, which means they had to design all the dialogue, story beats, and even mission design as broad, vague, and impersonal as possible so it would fit no matter who your character is.
I can confidently say it would have worked out much better if they built the game around a team of 5-8 recruits with set roles to play, and unique dialogue to the role, so they could have an actual story. Each of those 5-8 could still be any rando from the street, but once you recruit them you have to slot/train them in a one of the specific jobs on the team, so they'll become a particular character with specific voiced lines. Say, the spy is one such set role, and they will always say the same thing in the story no matter who they are. Missions could even be designed around their skillset. That would have given the game much more flavor.
