I've actually gotten to the point where I'm really enjoying the game and playing it for more time that I'd originally plan to, which is after getting the vast majority of the hacking done and I seem to be fairly neutral to most every faction whether they hate me or love me. I have to pick fights now to get experience if it's not a quest, though those have brought me to enemies at least 10+ levels above mine (~lvl 40 compared to me being ~28 or so) which are a bit out of my range with what skills I have to work with compared to their set of skills. I've noticed a few levels for each of the four attributes you can upgrade will level out until you pump enough points into them for an actual upgrade, so I'm more into the grinding portion of the game where I need money for a better ship with more slots for parts/skills along with leveling up.
I'm really liking it a lot now, but I was able get through a part of it that I don't all that many really want to go through if it weren't for this being a $20 game.