I have recently finished the game and can certainly echo the few of the comments here. 1) State of the game 2 stars but getting better. It was really rushed out the door - the initial release had a ton of bugs and lots of them game breaking. As the patches have come out this has gotten incrementally better but I experienced several issues particularly with companion quests that meant I could not progress that aspect of the game. This has flow on effects towards the end of the game which is pretty disappointing and frustrating. If you purchase the game now, it is likely you will not experience the same level of frustration as it has been patched. 2) Difficulty curve 2 stars ... wow there are some SERIOUS difficulty spikes during the campaign with a few of the fights just outright retarded. You need to very carefully tailor your equipment loadout and spells to even have a chance of surviving some of the fights on challenging (which you will only learn through numerous wipes!). Early game is particularly punishing at times. For those struggling I found duel wielding backstabbing toons to be particularly strong particularly with some of the available party feats. 3) Kingdom management 3 stars - you can disable it if you want to - definitely needs some tweaking as it can be a bit painful at times. You will probably want to persist with it because there are some good items/buffs you can get through it. 4) Story line 4 stars - I actually thought this was pretty good, deep backstories to the characters and an interesting plot. 5) Value for money 4 stars - I think I was at almost 120 hours when I finally finished the game on a single run through, That is a mammoth campaign in this day and age where most games top out at 20-40hrs. Overall 3 stars but believe that as it is patched and tweaked it will evolve into a 4 star. If you love CPRG's you are definitely going to want to add this to your list.
From the outset let me say that at "alpha" this puts many many AAA titles to shame. The game runs beautifully and is clearly well optmized, the joy of having it developed for PC and not console. The gameplay is engrossing, the tactical options nearly limitless, I love the elemental interaction, this is a game that allows dozens of different approaches to nearly all tactical problems, you are not pegged to make a "cookie cutter" party, rather develop your own options and synergise variouse skills and abilities. Given that it is still in developement, additional options and content will be forthcomming, but in its current state the game is truly enjoyable and will only get better with time. Well done Larian Studio's, you have set the benchmark to other companies on how to do a developmental release.
