Alright chaps, I tried, I *really* tried. the story's ok, the visuals are pretty, the NPCs are entertaining and actually not that annoying, but the game mechanics are utterly broken. Or is it the writing ? The whole kingdom management thing could have been interesting, and even a great thing, really. But it isn't. And the game is a pain in the backside. Timed quests with *no* indication of timing whatsoever, crucial NPCs (absolutely needed for your kingdom to survive) that can be recruited but in *one* location at *only one given time* in but one chapter in the WHOLE game, kingdom events with a ridiculous difficulty (like 38 on a d20 roll), and quests that are totally unrelated but doing one is necessary to make the other quest progress had the best of me. And I won't even mention the actual good ending that I only learned of while searching online for help (hint : DON'T start any romance with any of your party members whatsoever !!!). Even with mods and cheats and whatever help I could find online, that's hours of my sad life wasted, and, in frustration... I quit. I might get back to this game some day, if these issues are fixed. Maybe. Because at times it was almost as nice as parts of BG I/II. Not always, but the effort was there. But not anytime soon.
