spoiler free as always
I loved it~ it has its issues, but they didn't stop me from having a great time! definitely recommend it

- u can tell there is a loooot of love poured into it
- so much freedom & closest to a true roleplay experience I've experienced in a video game yet
- character creation is rly fun! lots of customizability, but not so much so that it can veer out of the games art direction. we've still got a long way to go in terms of representation, but this is the best I've come across yet
- great characters that rly want to make u get to know them & care for them
- rly fun combat (played on balanced), & there's just so much there~ was still experimenting with playstyles & learning fun new things after 170 hrs, impressive feat, also just a wonderful capture of d&d
- great music, at times a bit generic yet great, & sum truly great tracks that stand out when they need to
- awesome sound design, v creative & varied
- love the cinematic aspects, the motion cap, the many great voices. the fact they have voice lines for when ppl are alive, a whole different set for Speak with the Dead, & for all animals with Speak with Animals, and for countless different scenarios based on different decision u make or what class or being u are... mind-boggling
- beautiful visuals, a world that actually feels alive & not just big to be big
- story is fun & though overall it's not super ground-breakkng or emotional, the wild & tricky dilemmas they put u through rly makes sum parts of it impactful, especially as u get to kno the main characters better. I cried several times at the ending, so that's a good game to me!
- the more intimate relationship scenes were surprisingly well done, u can tell they had an intimacy coach in the crew! bravo
- while the bar is very low in video games unfortunately, the levels of communication & consent in character relationships was much better then I anticipated, best I've seen yet! long way to go, but it's slowly happeningggg
- I just love how much Larian has managed to show up & flip the gaming industry on its head, a good solid step towards a future where all game designers can access health, wellness & creative satisfaction, gamers can enjoy games with real love poured into them, & where the creators & gamers can truly have a relationship instead of just unsustainably printing rushed products that are then consumed with no thought to the humans at it's origin

critiques:
- I do agree that the pacing of act 3 is a lil sloggy, esp after the epic build in act 2, but I quite enjoyed it regardless
- the character creator rly needs a cpl more body shape options/adjustable height & weight, and sum options like prosthetic/missing limbs or rune-powered chairs, wud help soo many more folks feel like they are appreciated, invited and can relate to their character, and just enrich the experience overall to be that much more human.
- while they attempted to allow avenues for a more open approach to relationships (which I rly appreciated as a relationship anarchist), it is still obvious that the creators were operating from a very mono-normative perspective, with almost all situations not allowing u to roleplay outside of that mindset (or even a cpl times, not allowing u to engage in proper communication or consent practices unfortunately). yes we have a long way to go, but tbh after experiencing this i have faith that this team could rly do that in the future~ it's definitely the closest I've seen an rpg get to portraying & encouraging healthy relationship dynamics
- i understand that this is a game based on a game that is based around combat and violence, but it would've been nice to have non-violent options available for more situations, i didn't like how many times i just had to fight no matter what, even when it didn't really make sense that there wouldn't be a non-violent approach.
- some of the issues I have are actually with the more problematic aspects of d&d~ like it's racist+ origins & it's continued influence, calling these different beings races at all in the first place & largely putting specific beings into distinctly good/evil categories- also why is looting & hoarding still such a prominent & encouraged aspect? makes me v curious to see what Larian does going forwards with projects that don't have Wizards of the coast & their baggage involved (will definitely play divinity 2 to get a better window into that too, I'm curious)