2016 was perfect, and a worthy successor to the original. I think the scene in the beginning sums it up: there's a story, but doomguy doesn't care and smashes the screen. Rip and tear.
Aside from the stylistic change to ugly, cartoony visuals, and the more restrictive, rigid gun mechanics, Eternal's story was all over the place. I only got a few hours in, but it was just random characters that had nothing to do with anything.
I actually think that's worse for the customer. This way, games will be targeted to run well on the steam deck throughout its lifetime.