Starting up the game, I think you did a really good job with the music. Having played the game many times now over several months, it still works, and doesn't feel too repetitive. The switching of tracks helps a lot.
I like the new waypoints. The distance counting down as you move is especially a nice touch. It also gives a feel of how far a unit is for places that talk about them.
I like the Control Tips changing on their own at times.
The new waypoints make the bus far more useful than before, with the bus applying to the full route and not just the first waypoint. I used to prefer the car as I'd do lots of shorter movements that wasted the bus, but now the bus can do a full loop for picking up fame. The car is still nice for after the bus has closed for the night.
The Fame Tokens, or rather the bonus for getting a bunch together, adds an interesting choice to the game. Before I'd just run around and do whatever seemed like the best thing to do next. Now I have to wait, or plan my path around collecting them, until there are enough to get a bonus, or evaluate if the lost bonus is worth doing the thing now. I spend a lot more time evaluating my choices for what, and how, to do the next thing. I'm doing a lot more pausing and thinking. It also feels like you collect a lot less Fame/Rally points than in past versions, so those bonuses feel more valuable. It adds an interesting strategic element, though I'm not sure yet if I like it or not. It is a neat mechanic and it does work, but it also makes me feel like I can't always go do the thing that would be best right away. I suppose it does add an element of realism in that you often have competing priorities and need to decide which to deal with in what order.
It took me longer than normal to win this time. Enough changed that my previous strategy no longer worked. The biggest thing that I think changed was how effective the size of the crowd was. In the past I would set up a Barricade on the 2 paths leading to your base, then use the rest of the crowd to attack. This time I found that doing so left me with too few people in the crowd to deal with even a small building. The following Campaign Day I skipped all defense and went full offense. I gathered all I could and then went to the cluster of small buildings and protested at each one in turn, very quickly reclaiming each lot. Then moved onto the HQ, and quickly finished it off. All of them showed as Adequate, but felt like that should have been higher with how fast they were ended. I didn't track all the numbers along the way, but from the ending screen I can see that I still have a Gathered Crowd of 39, with 10 Offense and 13 Defense. I had 63 Residents. Looking around, I'm not seeing what day it is/how many days it took to win. Counting the tutorial Campaign Day, this was the 3rd Campaign Day.
I play this as a strategy game, with a focus on logically solving the problems of how to kick out the bag guys. I like the theme and that concept of fighting back against the big corps trying to take over and ruin a community. Though, I don't really feel connected to the community. The music helps set the tone. And there are neat little things to do. But, a lot of it really feels like a numbers game. I learn what works best to get the right points to go up, and follow that path. The goal is to kick out the bad guys, so that is where I focus. All of the building up of other stuff is to unlock more power to fight back. You've got the section showing Ratings on things, but they are just bars and numbers. When they get good enough you get something crossed off your Goals, or unlock a new Campaign Day Ability, but they don't really make things feel more alive. I think if you are wanting that feeling, they need to be a bigger part of the game. There needs to be more incentive to build them up and want to play longer to see what they do. What I'm thinking here is to perhaps have some visual changes as things change. Maybe add parks around town, or other events popping up as a result of reaching bigger numbers. I'm not recalling if the Ratings can go down, but if they just go up, then maybe have a notification as you reach each new level. I really only glance at them occasionally. You could maybe start with a smaller play area, and expand it as the Ratings go up and the community can support a bigger area. I do like the Ratings and growth of the community affecting what you can build, but it needs to be implemented right to convey the info to the player. Maybe reevaluate that system. Perhaps only show to the player the buildings they can build currently, and when they reach enough points in a Rating Category to unlock something new, there is a popup notification about it. It can make reaching new levels feel like more of an accomplishment and also draw more attention the fact that it changed. Game stopping popups could get annoying for repeat plays, so I think that it should be an option. I would have the default/tutorial version show a popup that pauses the game when you unlock new things/reach a new level in the Ratings. Let it give some details about the things unlocked and make it feel like more of an important accomplishment. For the repeat player mode, I would still show something, but smaller and without a pause. I see 2 options for this, with pros and cons to each. The first is based on the initial use being tied to Ratings, so I would be to set up a notification system that shows overtop of the Ratings area. It is a decent size for a short message about the level up, and draws he eye to where the change happened. I would add a queue to the system in case multiple were unlocked together. Each can show for a short time, such as 2-5 seconds, then fade away to be replaced by any others in the queue. The second options I see would be for more general use when the message does not apply to the Ratings. You have a fair amount of space at the bottom which could be used for a notification to show. It could be on either side of the road that goes off-screen. This would keep it out of the way of any existing UI, though it is further away from where the Ratings are for those messages. The other downside I see to this area is that it could be used for other things, such as my above comments about adding parks or other visual elements that make the town feel like it is growing and the numbers go up.
Now, I am not your average player, so maybe for others there is already enough to draw them in and feel more connected than I do. I have a very logical problem solving mindset, so often break things down into puzzle pieces to solve, and can be somewhat detached from certain pieces that resonate with others. I think you have a good base with things like the Community Board and the Ratings. It is just for me the strategy layer is far more pronounced and where I focus.
This was a nice update. I think you refined the new systems well. The crowd mechanics feel more balanced than before, even if they can still become overwhelmingly powerful.