Very long game, and other thoughts

[Joshyjess]

Well, I just finished playing this game, and I thought I'd go ahead and list a few of my thoughts about it, while they are still fresh. Perhaps this can help others decide on whether to get this game or not.

First of all let me say that it is a VERY long game. I did most of the quests in the game (that I know of), and I think I explored all of the available maps. Altogether it took me about 80 hours to finish this game. That is a big chunk of time, so if you do decide to play this game, be prepared to spend a lot of time with it.

For the most part I did enjoy it. It is similar to Baldur's Gate (one of my all-time favorite games) in enough way to make it enjoyable to any fans who like that kind of game. It offers a ton of different ways to level up (from stats, to unique powers, to power ups), and you get quite a few levels to get points with. My main character finished at level 37 (I believe level 40 is the highest you can get). My other characters had about the same final level.

The gameplay is kind of slow and deliberate, but if you know that going in, it's not too bad. Each of the many maps are huge, and filled with a ton of enemies. There is a pretty good selection of enemies that you will battle throughout the game (each with their own unique form of attack). Although you can try the old hack-and-slash routine of charging in barrels blazing, it is much better to use a good amount of strategy with each fight.

The game uses a neat combination of magic and technology, giving you the option of studying either field (or combine them together). This gives you a ton of different options on how you want to level up your characters.

There are quite a few quests in the game, most of which are pretty interesting (although it does have a few "go fetch" quests as well). Quests are the best way to get experience (especially later in the game).

You will most likely find any and all equipment and weapons you need from slain enemies or from breaking boxes (yup, you will be breaking a ton of boxes in this game), so the vendors don't really play much of a roll in the game, except for a place to unload your tons of merchandise you pick up.

There are some bugs in the game, unfortunately. Here are a few of the worst ones:
- Items get stuck in walls, and you can't get them
- You will occasionally get stuck on the map, and not be able to move, thus requiring a reload of your last save.
- While traveling across long distances on the map, your characters will often stop moving because of a bush or tree
- No fog of war on the mini-map (causing you to keep opening up the main map to see where you have / haven't explored). This is not a bug, but rather an annoyance.
- Sometimes you will get stuck behind people (really irritating when this happens while you are in a building
- Some buildings can't be entered (even though the door is wide open)

I heard that you need a patch to see the ending (it wasn't translated from Russian), but I didn't have that problem, I was able to see the entire ending (Maybe Steam has included the patch).

All-in-all, I would give this game an 8 (out of 10), and recommend it to any fans of the Baldur Gate genre of games. Just give yourself a lot of time, and be patient with the various bugs. If you are looking for a faster pace, hack-and-slash Diablo type game, this isn't it.