Impulse bought this during the summer steam sale even though in theory I already have it on CD Rom somewhereᶧ, just for a hit of nostalgia. And it delivered that immediately. The world is beautiful and (more importantly) still feels unique 20 years later, there's a sense of endless possibilities as soon as you're given your release papers (it's mostly a false sense, but that's totally expected), and the soundtrack is one of the goats.
But I'm only level 4 and I'm already realizing why I never got super far into this game back in the day. I feel like if any one of the following problems were addressed this game would be incredible:
• Uninteresting and completely un-tactile combat, which to my memory really doesn't get more interesting as it gets more difficult.
• Glacially slow pacing, figuratively and literally. Boosting my Athletics to 100 might fix the literal pacing issue but not the more fundamental design one.
• Embarassingly lore-heavy writing with nowhere near enough character to spare for all its quest-giving NPCs, making every dialog window feel like a chore.
As it stands, though, the game is definitely not incredible (any historical significance aside). I'm gonna keep poking around in it here and there, because the nostalgia is pure and is still hitting. But that has limits too--as good as that music is, you hear the same tracks a LOT.
ᶧ(Scratch that, I definitely have it on CD Rom because I just found it. 😬 At least now I have all the DLC, I guess, although there's a fat chance I'll actually get to any of that content before the nostalgia fueling my playthrough is exhausted.)
But I'm only level 4 and I'm already realizing why I never got super far into this game back in the day. I feel like if any one of the following problems were addressed this game would be incredible:
• Uninteresting and completely un-tactile combat, which to my memory really doesn't get more interesting as it gets more difficult.
• Glacially slow pacing, figuratively and literally. Boosting my Athletics to 100 might fix the literal pacing issue but not the more fundamental design one.
• Embarassingly lore-heavy writing with nowhere near enough character to spare for all its quest-giving NPCs, making every dialog window feel like a chore.
As it stands, though, the game is definitely not incredible (any historical significance aside). I'm gonna keep poking around in it here and there, because the nostalgia is pure and is still hitting. But that has limits too--as good as that music is, you hear the same tracks a LOT.
ᶧ(Scratch that, I definitely have it on CD Rom because I just found it. 😬 At least now I have all the DLC, I guess, although there's a fat chance I'll actually get to any of that content before the nostalgia fueling my playthrough is exhausted.)