Gave me the same special feeling that Dragon's Dogma 1 did, if not surpassing it sometimes. The exploration and combat are both truly stellar and this game absolutely nails the feeling of going on a classic fantasy adventure, the same way DD1 did. If that's what you want out of this, I'd highly recommend it. It's the same trajectory as DD1, the story gets infinitely better the later in the game you are.

Despite some weak writing and questing, the emergent narrative and gameplay that comes from the exploration and combat makes this a joy to play.