I bought and finished the game (played 100h). My advice is to wait until the game receives a lot of patches and it's at least 50% off. Anyway, here are my thoughts in detail. Gameplay: 5/5 You have plenty of ways to build and customize your characters. The world out there is weird and dark and funny. I had plenty of laughs and i did enjoy this part of the game. Tech & Performance: 2/5 I own a high end PC and the loading times and stuttering were crazy in certain areas. I also encountered plenty of bugs, not enough to spoil my fun, but enough to put a damper on it. Story: 3/5 I'm somewhat dissapointed in the story and the ending. Compared to DOS2, this one felt a bit dry and empty. That feeling of satisfaction just wans't there.
This game is like a great man of old, one that manages to build an empire from nothing, through sheer will and ability. This is what this game does. It was a brand new IP with a never before seen lore, setting and characters. But, alas, as with most great empires built by such great men, this one was undone by it's unworthy predecessors. You guys know of whom i speak and most of you have likely seen the way in which this beautiful legacy was ruined. What it does good: + interesting characters with depth (i love my tsundere witch) + fun combat + fun gameplay (pickpocketing fools in mid combat is such a silly and awesome thing to do) + great replayability (different origins and choices throughout the game) What it does bad: - Some technical issues and bugs that haven't been solved. I recommend saving before and after you finish each zone. I would also recommend you reduce graphical settings in Denerim, as it's prone to crash in that zone (no AA, reduce textures etc) Other suggestions and opinions: - I would highly recommend using Qwinn's Fixpack Mod (it's the only mod i used and it only fixes bugs or restores some dialogue. Read more about it on it's page) - I finished the game(+expansion + dlcs) on Nightmare with a Rogue character and it was fun. Great utility and boss killer. A will try a new run with a mage, as it seems to be a little more engaging. - Don't skip and rush over dialogue, as it's one of the best and you'll find some very funny gems sometimes - I would suggest skipping over Golems of Angarrak as it's a not very fun and more like a slug fest (i beat it on Nightmare, but it was not very fun)
Good - The soundtrack is great in my opinion - The mech customization is fun Bad - Once you get over the initial learning phase, you realise the game lacks greatly in tactics/strategy - Stuttering even on high end PCs (ssd m2, i7, rx2080) - The campaign is rather dull and full of SJW crap (you'll see it too)
I'll only leave a warning to any fellow buyers. If you don't like: - SJW crap - Forced politically correct 'romance' - Poor optimization and low framerates - Liberal agenda (i.e you'll notice only certain choices aligned with certain political views are rewarded ) - Bland and buggy sea battles - Brain dead easy combat in your games, then this isn't for you.
