One of the most definitive RPG experiences I've ever had, whilst also bringing something to the table wholly original that sets it apart from most.

What I instantly noticed straight off the bat was this game's resemblance to the Darksiders games, very loosely. The dungeon crawler approach reminded me so much of this and compelled to want to go back to Darksiders in the near future. I came for the gameplay, that I had seen in a YouTube video, and didn't expect much outside the realm of that but I was surprised to learn that this is a pretty solid game in almost every aspect. An intriguing narrative, addictive gameplay and a world that keeps you wanting more with arguably one of the best player insert RPG protagonists.

To say that the gameplay is good is a gross understatement. While it's skill and build system isn't as complex and intricate as others in the RPG genre, it still holds pretty well on it's own. You will find that you will experiment with various weapons, all which are pretty solid on their own, but eventually you find the combination that fits your playstyle which definitely does vary based on what skill tree/weapons you might invest in more than others, which I really enjoyed having the freedom of choosing. It's very true to the nature of it's narrative, essentially forging your own destiny, and it does a great job and making you feel like you really do have that freedom, even if it could be a bit of an illusion (I'm not sure whether this game has multiple endings or not, would be a shame if it really doesn't.) The combat is great, I love being able to mash up combos, making it super satisfying. Once you reach higher levels, you become an unstoppable force, which makes you want to engage with enemies even more because of how satisfying decimating Tuatha canon-fodder can feel. However, there were some instances where I felt as if the combat was a little rough around the edges at times. Very rarely, the camera will be your worst enemy, because you can't really move it around too much in encounters. There will be some environments that are a little bit of a tight squeeze and your view will be obstructed either by objects or the world itself. There were very few bugs that I came across personally, mostly just things in the real-time cutscenes with NPCs, where my character would be off-camera and it'd look like the NPC was schizophrenic, or even the camera being too zoomed into an NPC. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but some of the pre-rendered cutscenes were also missing SFX. Maybe it's like that in the original game, too, I wouldn't know, but it was a little bit jarring and mildly ruined big moments.

As for the open world, and it's lore, it is very intriguing. I'm glad the world isn't largely huge, either, because you will be running everywhere. There are no mounts. But this isn't an issue, there are tons of fast travel points and honestly, being able to take in the sights as you do is very therapeutic and freeing. The lore itself reminded me SO much of Tolkien, certain plot points actually felt like they were directly ripped from The Lord of the Rings, even the way the world was laid out. Rathir felt like Minas Tirith and Mel Senshir, Minas Morgul. Alabastra itself was basically Mordor, and the surrounding Klurikon being the Dead Marshes. Is this a bad thing? No, it actually made me resonate with the world more and I really appreciated the parallels, even if they weren't intentional.

Obviously, though, the narrative itself wasn't nearly as captivating as anything Tolkien has written. But, it was still pretty decent. I think what motivated me to get it finished was anything to do with fate/destiny, the themes of forging your own story instead of playing to the rules laid out by someone or something else resonated with me personally and the ending definitely held some words to live by. A very common theme explored in media, but done in a very different and unique way, I felt. Even outside of the main storyline quests, there are still some pretty interesting narratives to get yourself caught up in. The side quests and faction quests are just as interesting themselves and I feel like I'll probably spends hours more in this world just to get the most out of it. It is a very forgiving open world that doesn't make the task of doing something like that feel as daunting as most other open world RPGs would. Skyrim will always be in it's own league, of course, but I feel like this game is severely overlooked by many because of that.

If you're into this genre, this is a must-play. It's a great game overall, despite it's minor flaws.