I think you're doing the mission a disservice by panning it without trying harder (it's not harder than lots of others - it just comes to my mind for example that the beginning of The Lost City is practically identical, overall number of initial spiders there = 10) or using specific in-built features that are common sense - like running from some enemies or using spaces that are impossible to enter for human NPCs (admittedly a feature I can't recall from anywhere else but apparently a delibe...

I love the absolute mercilessness of this in terms of absence of any context, you have to parse any interpretations of the place and where your avatar is coming from on your own at your own risk. To my knowledge there is nothing fully comparable among Thief FMs but slightly more "conventional" ones that have some aspects of this are Katharsis and some of DrK's missions (also there is a mission 3 in a campaign called Night Watch with similar tones).

@Eeerie Quiet: It surely must get better with the next one... :-)

*Spoiler*
AFAIR there is a statue in the Keeper compound that carries like a 250g tiara (where loot in general is very meager in value)

An interesting one indeed. I believe this is by far the author's best mission.

The loot objective is indeed somewhat high (2800 out of 3300, so 83%?), but not downright unfair. Have you swept the lower levels?

Well if weed is your 1st association ;-o I always interpreted it as just smoking to kill time (cool enough as is). Mechanists are there apparently on notice to collect bodies for their certain project...etc.

The plot (or a system of fleetingly connecting sections of different plots in a day in the life of the City that Garrett is fleetingly witnessing) makes perfect sense. Read the readables/hear the conversations/observe the details. Do not bother connecting everything to the basegame timeline or making a sacred cow of it. Thief at its core is best as dark fantasy which many authors nowadays trying to be faithful chroniclers of a non-existent world instead of creating their own enrichments of it...

Ok now all the other classic (ie pre-ca. early 2k10s) FMs :-) My tentative suggestions: Rocksbourg series, L'Arséne+Emilie Victor series, Calendra series (specially Legacy, imo the first that set the modern bar in all regards) and as special bonuses Ruins of Originia, Dark Messiah, Dancing with the Dead & more...

Only the last stretch of the approach is linear, the vast majority of it isn't.

This mission may be a guilty pleasure of mine but I respectfully disagree. The level itself is actually pretty complex and I discovered that it's best (and probably meant to be given Garrett's situation and the slightly soured relationship with his principal) played entirely "revenge style", ie using the means you get that are actually very accurately dosed to be just enough (on Expert) to dispose of ALL enemies in the level in any ways imaginable in the Original Ghosting ((C) Civvie) style ...

BTW if you're into the burrick/horn trope try a nice FM that (partly) explores it - Forgotten Tomb.