Its obsession with detailing every possible mechanical interaction creates a horrendous bogged-down mess. While it claims to be "Physics based" it's really just an extremely complex effects based system. I can't imagine actually wanting to run or play this, every little thing would require looking up values on tables and unnecessary formulas.
For example:
People can passively smell things at a range determined by: Ranks in Ultra-Sensitive Scent + Weight of Odorant + Pungency SP - 10 - SP of Cover or Obscurity. There are tables to look up the Pungency of various oderants, and the weight of various items.
Why? In what possible world is this a fun or engaging exercise to do in a super hero game? And on top of that, Ultra-Sensitive Scent is a weirdly expensive power, costing more than twice as much as hearing and even more than vision. Because apparently Ascendant thinks that being able to smell a dead body from a thousand feet away is worth 40 points (an amount the game claims should double your overall power level), which is cheaper than getting vision capable of seeing 8192 times better than normal.
Ultimately, Ascendant is a book for people who are obsessed with every tiny detail of the world being simulated in the rules. If you want to play an actual game, I'd suggest checking out one of the many other superhero options.
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