Been playing Mandate of Heaven the last few days, and it really sucked me in, almost to my surprise, as I generally have a rough history with blobbers. Part of the breakthrough is that I am using Grayface's mods to turn it almost into an FPS control scheme: Always Run, Mouse-Look, One button QuickSave, Tab enabled turn based mod, etc. So this to me fixes a lot of issues I typically have with blobbers.
But aside from that, the game is just DAMN FUN! The constant loop of gratification, talk to NPCs, get quests and buy shit, go fight stuff in massive dungeons or outdoors, get lootz, level up, get new skills, buy spells, and on and on. The graphics are functional enough, and the world has that magic that old RPGs often had, where you feel like you are really stepping into a grand adventure, with massive world regions, different climates, different cities, an everything in between. Most modern games don't have that feel at all. Also, it has to be said, one of the things that makes the world seem so great is the way the NPC dialogue is written and distributed.
Unlike modern RPGs, where as soon as you go anywhere, NPCs vomit a pile of crap into your ears, including tons of needless exposition, and have exclamation marks over their heads, the dialogue in M&M6 is short and to the point. People tell you exactly what you need to know, and leave flowery prose out of it. It also takes effort to find quests, which are actual goals, and dont lead you around by the nose.
