This game starts very fun but gets boring very quickly. I did finish it, but after ~25% completion I just kept sprinting to the next main objective. One thing this game does very well is the audiovisuals. It has a memorable soundtrack and it looks nice and colorful. The variety of environments do add to the overal colorfulness. Many other games of this genre tend to go for the gloomy gothic look. But this one is your typical fantasy with green meadows, icy mountains, volcanoes, swamps and deserts. And I like it this way. The other very strong point of this game are complex character classes. There's 8 of them and each has a variety of abilities which make room for lots of different playstyles even within each class. The Wood Elf has multiple ways of dealing with enemies with her bow, but maybe you prefer to turn her into a nimble melee fighter? Or she can use magic too. Heal, summon, poison, root enemies in place. All the classes are really fun. Unfortunately, here's where the positives end, since this game is a pile of all bad design decisions this genre has to offer. Here's a list: -spammable consumables, especially health potions; -enemies drop way more stuff than your inventory space allows. Combine with the previous point, since the consumables take inventory space too and don't even stack. -all skills are unlockable very, VERY early in the game, making character progression uninteresting. Basically by levelling up you only increase passive stats. -enemies level up with you, so you don't even feel these stats increase; -enemies respawn, and they do respawn fast. So doesn't matter which area of the world you're exploring, it's the same wall of respawning enemies of the same level. -unreadable map -a very common bug puts a marker for your next main story objective in the wrong place. You're going to waste an hour, then check online to learn where to go. The story is uninteresting, but I don't play such games for the story anyway. Only for genre enthusiasts.
This review is not comparing this game to other entries in the series (which I have not played), but to other games in general. I'm still not sure if I should give this game 3 or 4 stars. I did beat it, I did put tens of hours into it, if not even a hundred. But in the end, I feel this game is equal parts of fun and frustration, so an average 3/5 seems fitting. The levelling up system will be your main source of frustration from the beginning up until the very end. To increase the mastery level of your skills, you need to find a specific trainer for the skill AND mastery level in question. Most of them are just some random people chilling somewhere in the the world in their shacks. And they are gonna train you, the party of dragonslayers. This complaint is crucial, because the whole levelling up and acquiring new skills is the core of this game. And it's amazing. Lots of spells completely alter the gameplay, like invisibility or flight. But before you have fun with them, gotta find that random trainer. Even with external help, you will spend entire HOURS travelling from one trainer to another. If this doesn't scare you, it might be a game for you. The part of time you don't spend on travelling you will most likely spend in combat. It is a tiny bit repetitive due to how many monsters there are in each zone, but the variety of monsters carries this game. From rats and bats to dragons and titans, they are all well defined with strengths, weaknesses and abilities. They don't level up either. You see one and you know what to expect. This is in clear contrast to Morrowind, where many adversaries are human-like NPCs who could one hit you, or die in one hit. The story is... interesting. It's pretty random and illogical, but memorable. One last thing. The soundtrack is FAN TAS TIC. One of the best in history of gaming. I recommend to patient lovers of older games and only with help of external sites. It's seriously more fun this way.
