Customer Ratings & Reviews

I read quite a few reviews about this game, and watched some videos, before deciding to buy it. I saw a lot of stuff about how the combat in the game was clunky or how it varied drastically in difficulty from one battle to the next. I decided to give it a try anyway, and I am not disappointed. The controls are, indeed, a little wonky, as far as walking and running in any given direction. It's not that they're BAD, they're just a little different from the way most games handle these days. Turning is quite sensitive, in that you can tilt the control stick and suddenly find the camera swinging around as your character does a 180. Making precise, small movements is not very easy, as your character will take a full lunge forward when you attempt to take a simple, small step. That said, you DO get used to the controls. It was only really an issue in maybe the first hour or two of playing. I am now a good 10 hours into the game, and things are fine. You will adjust. As for the combat, it's actually quite fun and smartly paced. The difficulty can SEEM to shift dramatically from one fight to the next, but I've found it's actually just due to my own error. The controls in combat are in fact quite responsive. The character dodges when you try to dodge, attacks when you try to attack, and uses magic when you try to use magic. The key to the battles isn't just slamming buttons faster than the AI can predict. You have to watch small visual cues to know when to do each thing, and whether or not you'll have the time required to execute a certain action. That's where the difficulty comes in. Sometimes you will go into a fight and can do just fine by button mashing. The next fight you can't do that, because your enemy uses a different type of attack method. You really have to gauge the situation based on the specific attack methods your enemies employ, and adjust your own approach accordingly. The game gives you all the tools you need to succeed in varying circumstances in the form of battle stances. You have one stance for fast, mobile attacking, one for defensive, control types of maneuvers, and one for sweeping, steady attacks and a decent, balanced mix of abilities. Your magic abilities can be utilized in any of the three stances. You will likely need to retry certain battles. That's a given. Some of the "boss" fights are obviously going to be more challenging. That's true for nearly any game. Just adopt the habit of frequent saving (the game does a fair job at auto saving at various intervals, but I still like to manually save often) and you shouldn't run into any problems. When it comes to the story, I can't say much about it. Even 10 hours into the game, I find a lot of my time has been preoccupied with side quests. I assume you could skip the side stuff if you're not interested in the distractions, but I feel that the quests are interesting and well-written...as far as quests go. They tend to follow the same formula that the majority of games do. Go find someone, escort an important person to safety, attack this enemy, infiltrate a specific base, etc. etc. One interesting point is that it seems you can play toward one side or the other of the "good/bad" spectrum, or perhaps even toe the line between. Depending on how you choose to complete a quest, or which people you decide to help, you can accumulate reputation and "karma" points. Your reputation with certain groups can go up or down, and your karma can go up or down. While these two things are separate, they seem to work in tandem to determine how you are viewed by the public, various groups or factions, and even your own party members. It all works together to create a character that you feel is truly a reflection of the way you want to play (within the bounds of the programming, of course). Apart from all of that, there are plenty of different items and abilities to unlock and upgrade, which helps to further tailor the player character to the way you prefer to play. You can also equip your party members with varying equipment, but I don't think you can customize their abilities the same way you can for the player character. They each have their own flavor and style, though, so the members can complement your character. I have not explored the world very much, namely just the main city where the game first drops you. The environments seem to be done very well, though. The graphics and the design are well done. The world is not, from what I have seen, completely "open". There are set paths and areas throughout the city which are accessible, certain doors you can or can't open, etc., but they are still large maps to explore. There are lots of little items or containers to interact with, which can contain an assortment of equipment, consumables or materials with which to upgrade your gear. One negative comment I have is simply that the voice acting is not always the best. While it's nowhere near as bad as some other stuff I've heard, it can come across as forced or inorganic. Many of the characters seem to be voiced by the talented Matthew Mercer, and are done very well. Some other characters, though, just aren't as polished or to the same degree of quality. Namely the player character, oddly enough. The timing, the tone, the flux in his voice and delivery...just seems a bit off. It's a very small gripe, however, and doesn't diminish the game enough to lessen my enjoyment. One other small thing is that the story can seem confusing at times. The dialog is written to be somewhat quirky, or set in a different sort of era. Sometimes the locations, factions, characters, etc. aren't fully explained or described, so you kind of have to piece together from different sources what or who something or someone actually is. I would have liked an ingame glossary or codex to which we could refer when we discover a new place or person, to learn more about it. That's probably more just my inquisitive/obsessive personality, though. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase. I rate it a 4.5/5 stars. The combat is fun and engaging, the story (the small part I've seen) seems to be well written...the game is, for the most part, quite charming and entertaining.

Good game with rpg elements. About 20 hours of game play