Finally got a full three-day weekend to play this game, and I just finished it on the following weekend. I'm not the biggest fan of action RPGs, but this was a very solid experience. The first few hours were nothing special, but then the game opens up with more options and a wider range of enemies. The game lore is actually pretty deep and reveals itself slowly, layer by layer, and I know I missed a ton of stuff out there; like I have no idea what I was supposed to do with the witch, and I stopped being able to do tasks for the conspiring but fun blonde roguish trader. But enough of that... let's talk gameplay:
- The game world looks intimidatingly large, but due to some mountain ranges and some teleportation crystals you can find, it's actually not that bad. In fact I'd say the game length and size is about perfect. By the time you are running out of things to do and places to explore, you should be about ready for the end game.
- The pawn system was very cool. I liked creating a partner that could compliment my skill set. I went with a sword-and-shield fighter/assassin. My pawn was a straight-up sorcerer that liked to drop meteors on the enemies I distracted.
- Some of the side quests are pretty straight-forward (kill x amount of y enemies), but a lot of them are surprisingly integrated well with the main plot. I helped one dude find an arcane item, and then forgot about him... until he showed up later during a boss fight. It was pretty evident that if I didn't help him out earlier, he wouldn't have had this special appearance. And I ignored escort quests (because escort quests always suck), only to find out after I finished the game that doing these sorts of missions could have benefited my relationship with named NPCs. Also, many of these side quests add to the lore of the game.
- I did like the hit location system. Trying to destroy a giant monster's armor so that I could slay it never got old, even when I became a bit overpowered towards the end.
- Even the weakest monsters have ways to surprise you. I can take out that archer with ease, but he can still knock me on my ass and take me out of the fight for a few moments with a special move of his. Flying creatures can pick me up and then drop me off a cliff to my death, no matter my level. And the lowliest pack of canines can chomp on my limbs, trip me up, and make me helpless.
- There are choices... and they have consequences.
- No level scaling!
Man, I really enjoyed the hell out of this game. I'm done for now, but might come back to it for its replay value. Try a different build. Become BFFs with other characters. Make different decisions. Grudgingly do the escort quests. Play through the expansion campaign.
