I don’t dislike Marrakesh, but Conghqing is definetly different. The main mission is not for everyone I agree, but I feel it has a very distinctive stealth feeling on it, it’s like an Absolution mission, but done right IMO.
Maybe most people are disappointed because they were expecting something like an oriental Sapienza, I dunno.
I was hoping that the map would be much bigger, with a much more interesting city part with several explorable shops.
Finally we end up with a very small map, with most of the shops closed and a totally boring Hush tower.
The ICA Facilty is nice but looks too much like Hokkaido nothing exciting.
The potential of this map was incredible but ends in a huge disappointment
Personally I’m fine with the size of the map. H3 maps are generally more compact in confront of some of H2, and as long as I love Miami and Mumbai, those maps feels sometimes way too big in contrast with the point of interest of the main mission : for example, in Mumbai, if I’m playing a SO run, I usually go for Rangan Tower, Hills and Train yard. I still tend to avoid the slums and the market, we’re I get lost still now. Same for A Gilded Cage, for me the Market and Sisha Cafe are pointless for a SO run.
In Chongquing, the Block and the ICA facility are connected with a pipe that link the Block’s roof with an secondary access point to the ICA HQ, and generally there are several routes for each place, you just need to explore and find those.
Don’t get me wrong, I would like to have more part of the city amplied and hopefully functional for the mission itself, but I still like the map as it is.
But I can see Chongquing is not very easy to love, it lacks that sense of freedom and immersion that maps like Sapienza or Paris gives at first sight, but I also think that it can still give some good satisfaction once learned.
BTW, personally I 'll choose Chongquing to Santa Fortuna any time. The latter is really a waste and really gives me a sense of linearity more than Marrakesh (still better than Bangkok BTW).
Chongqing isn’t my least favorite but it’s not my favorite either.
It is similar to Marrakech in a lot of ways—two target fortresses, one run down and one elegant, separated by an unfortunately underutilized city area.
However, Chongqing has a lot more detail, atmosphere, creative kills, and approach options then Marrakech. This mission really nails IOI’s new take on mission stories. There’s three here, but so many more that are unscripted and require the player to discover them on their own. The satellite dish and the break room are both good examples of this.
But at this point, I’m much more eager to play Dubai, Dartmoor, Berlin, and Mendoza.
Funny you mention it working good for stealth. I love the map and I’m a stealth player more than a “puzzle” player so maybe you’re on to something. Even the escalation focuses on stealth mechanics. Mendoza is the opposite, and a lot of other people’s favorite. So maybe it comes down to the kind of Hitman player you are.
More traditional and city to explore with food shops and temples that feel real china
But they really disapointed. 
The restaurant was good. The ica facility boring
Sorry for the late reply, I just checked the thread now.
@HungaryHippoe you get some interesting points here: there are effectly some similarities in both mission (like you can make meet both targets with some tedious script) but for now I find End of an Era more complex and interesting than Gilded Cage (a mission that I still like BTW), and especially I find more interesting routes and opportunities here, even if I admit most of those are not easy to reproduce, (apart the satellite one especially if you unlocked the micro taser). I think it’s a mission that can grown on you the more you play it, but effectly it’s overlooked by mission with better appeal like Mendoza in fact.
@StingingVelvet my personal game play is effectly more oriented in a more traditional stealth, maybe for this I 'm intrigued by the many routes in both the Block and Facility, but I still opened to almost any approach of this game, I still get inspired by the amazing runs done by the speedruners of HMF community, even if speedruning is not really suited for my average skill. 
@Sami_Shaikh I think IOI this time was more oriented into devolving the mission’s story itself over than recreating the feeling of the place where the same mission is based, differently from the previous games. I can see this can be disappointing, though.
And frustrating with the whole dongle system too. It feels like its there just to give the camera something to do in the location - only having to also acquire the dongle makes the camera aspect of it redundant because the whole point of the camera was being able to hack stuff. They may as well have ditched the camera and just had 47 plug the dongle into a USB port on each terminal pad to use it.
Yeah, a patch making the dongles work like Hokkaido would be very welcome. The camera would still be used to hack computers and scan evidence.
I doubt this happens though.
I agree. Chongqing has grown on me recently and I definitely prefer it over it’s counterpart.
I think the ICA Facility is one of the most interesting single areas in this trilogy, now that I explore it more. The vents, the ledges, the alternate key system, it’s all really intricate in the ways I enjoy puzzling out.
To the Marrakesh comparison, I think a point in A Gilded Cage’s favor is that there are sniping vantage points for each of the two targets; sniper assassin here feels much more “manufactured” via the mission story, if that makes sense. Having one target almost entirely underground, hidden off from view, adds to the sense of separation in this level.
Has anyone else found that they have to hack the data core every time they play this mission?
Olivia offered to do it herself during my first replay of the mission. I turned her down, so she clearly decided to never offer again! 
At least it’s not that arduous a chore.
Haha, it depends on your starting location. Train station makes it mandatory, while other locations make it optional.
I bet the train station start requires you to run through the long-ass passage in the beginning to reach the main area so players (especially speedrunners) will never choose it again and end up doing the core objective.
Yes. Very easy. My nephew abuses it all the time. Got him SA-SA-SO…(which should be a big clue for you)
What I’d like in a patch.
And The train station starting stupid because u just walking and cant do anything the apartment out of area, temple, the train station look nice but you cant come in. So potencial this level that wasted.
The only part they make perfect with traditional its the restaurant . Really nice. Just need chinese music in the background 
So what’s the deal with Zhao’s apartment? Is that Zhao the handler of the ICA agents in Berlin, or someone in this level? There’s not a lot in the apartment, just a driftwood log and umbrella.
he’s just a guy
that’s Jiao
Is this that apartment that’s in the same block as Pritchard’s?
Unless the couple reveal intel in a conversation, then I think IOI included that place as a bit of a red herring. Perhaps an ET will be based there.