Things have escalated quickly in this first run:
Sindrian Shenanigans! Just stopped in to...see the sights...and get thrown into a conspiracy. Heck yeah! My fleet was too small to even tackle the first mission so I'm just out exploring for now.
New weapons! The Kinetic Blaster is not what I expected and I don't think it's the cure-all that people expect it to be. That said, it does have a niche. The G I G A C A N N O N is basically a better AM Blaster with 700 range (and without charges). 2000 damage! I really like the flavor text for it.
The most unexpected, but awesome, change I've experienced thus far is the new music. Especially the ambient stuff while exploring in systems. I mean, perfect eerie atmospheric mood music. Makes you feel alone, isolated, and on edge. Maybe it's because [REDACTED] were about but it really (and I do mean really) adds to the experience.
I've only seen a few of the new ships as they fly by but I can't wait to see more.
Also, just in my brief foray into exploring, I feel like "loot" density is up. I found two orbital habitats around the same planet and it feels like weapon/supply caches are more common. I have a super small sample size but it felt like there was a lot more in each system. Also, just more fleets flying around in general. I was ganked by a massive (4x Prometheus, 2 Auroras, a Champion, 2 Furies, tons of Destroyers and Frigates) fleet coming back from the fringe as I was leaving a system and then they turned pirate. They were headed back to some core world. Again, very little to go off of here, but there's just "more" of everything so far. I like it!