The base game is quite playable as is. I’m happier with the cities I’m building in CS2 than anything I ever built in CS1, even with a dozen mods and 35 gigs worth of custom assets. It looks way better and the cim behavior is as good or better than CS1 + traffic manager. There are issues with land value, but it really doesn’t impact gameplay that much.
I know it’s an unpopular opinion, but I’m honestly baffled by just how negative the reaction to this game has been.