tl;dr: not impressed with the G2.
I finally decided to get back into shape with helicopters, after a long pause due to my move from California to France. I had about 150 hours of R44 (and 2000 total including FW), and exactly 1 hour of G2. Here at Cannes we have a big heli school (Azur Helicoptere) which has R22, R44 and G2, and plenty of bigger stuff too.
The G2 is substantially cheaper than the R44, and also safer. So I figured, let's go with that.
I've now done two ~1 hour flights in the G2. I haven't enjoyed a single minute of it. Despite its small size, it's like flying a tractor. The controls are heavy, and it's underpowered: when below ETL speed you have to watch the power constantly since it takes 98% power just to stay in the air - and you must not go beyond 100% even for a second or two. And that's at sea level!
It's a bit like driving a 1960s truck, with no power-assisted anything - brakes, steering, no synchromesh...
The collective is particularly unpleasant. You have to maintain a constant heavy pull, or it slowly but surely drops to the floor. It's like flying an R44 with a sack of potatoes hanging from the collective. After an hour, my arm aches.
For sure I'm pretty rusty - I hadn't flown a heli in over a year. So it's hard to say how much is due to my rustiness and how much is due to the G2. But I've flown the R44 after similar pauses and got back into the groove within an hour.
I'll be going back to the R44, despite the extra cost. If my rustiness is terminal, so be it, but I'd prefer to give myself a decent chance.