This game works as an Early Access title heading into its alpha phase. But it is not ready for release by a long shot. It needs years to get up to a release standard... It's fun, but so too are many Early Access indie games that cost a lot less and end up being more polished in a shorter amount of time. Unfortunately, I don't see this as being something that can get to the scope it was promised years ago. With each cycle of development leading to further release delays, it's apparent that the scope was reduced, features removed and trimmed down, down, down until what we're left with is a world that's not only unfinished, but one that lacks immersion or, I should say, cannot sustain its suspension of disbelief for much longer than an eye-blink before the weight of its complex systems interacting with one another just falls over and the sub-routines implode and the game janks out. By now, you've seen the videos of the various glitches and bugs - this game is horrendously buggy. I feel like it's a game that's a mile wide, but centimetres deep and it makes Bethesda games feel immersive - and those games are just horrible and the people who enjoy them as lofty experiences with incredibly immersive worlds, rather than quite mediocre RPGs... are mentally handicapped. Play Witcher 3 instead.
I have played the game pretty extensively now, and I was intially kind of disappointed with it... My biggest gripe which has been resolved for the most part now was with the load times, which were interminable. I estimate I spent out of forty hours of play - more than 2 hours in load screens. My computer isn't particularly shabby, but I put this on my SSD and the load times were not improved by this until the most recent patch. My enjoyment of the game has increased considerably since then. Don't get me wrong, I have had fun playing the game, though, for the most part. I prefer the desert wastes to the frozen wastes - the aesthetic doesn't really do it for me, but as someone who really enjoyed WL2, that is to be expected - change is hard. The technical shortcomings in the game did seem to hold it back - it looks dated as heck, and no matter the tweaking, it still kind of looks way better in the screenshots than it does in play. ... The sound design is excellent as is the soundtrack and the voice acting is B+, good for such a huge game... I think there needed to be more streamlining to the systems in the game but I found it not a huge chore to play through, though I wish there was more than just the combat options to solve some fo the scenarios I went into. It is replayable, and it's a game that I will keep installed, and although I had felt gipped at not getting a second copy (Fig backer for the special edition where they were going to give a digital and physical copy) when it was released, it didn't detract from the experience that I'm NOW having with the game (plus they gave me a wicked Scorpitron statue instead!). The interminable load times now reduced HUGELY, I feel this game is worth picking up, but I wouldn't have a month ago.
