I honestly struggle to come up with the right words for how much this game means to me. I believe it is nothing less than the apex of what Immersive Sims can be. Something that grips you utterly and drags you into its world by force. The fact it did not do so well when it comes to sales and the fact that it is less known than dishonored is a disgrace, as, while all these games are great, I believe this is the crown jewel of the bunch. Mind, you, this is coming from someone who loves the Dishonored series to death, so I think it says a lot. Gameplay wise, the game offers several avenues of approach for each task, with a full playthrough changing drastically with different playstyles. In this regard, I also highly recomed mooncrash, as the DLC forces you to interact with the gameès systems in ways you probably hadnèt before. Once you finish it, you will gain a brand new apreciation for how many different approaches are coded into the main game, as one can use stealth, guns, grenades and other of the usual routes or one can rely on mind-control, mobility and mimicking smaller objects to bypass a lot of hurdles. Overall, play it. I promise it will change the way you look at games.
I have played a lot of Isometric RPGs in the past few years and liked some enough to buy them again when i switched to GOG last year and I also have some experience as a DM for running my own camaigns, although I play Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms, not Pathfinder. In the case of CRPGs i have played everything from Obsidian and Larian as well as this game from Owlcat, including Pillars of eternity 1 and 2 (though i havent finished the second one), Tyranny, Divinity Original sin 1 and 2 (2 being my game of the year last year and one of my all time favourites) and I can say this game became my game of the year for 2018 and I have spent the past months playing it non-stop. I will go over the good, the bad, and finally compare it to DOS2 so people get a better grasp of it. The Good: The story: which grabbed my attention right of the bat, with a plot in which you start as an adventurer on a quest and follow a belivable chain of events (By DnD standars). The characters: which are some of the goofiest and campiest NPCs this side of the world, and I love it. Everyone has their own alignments and beliefs and make for some great side quests which they play completely straight without any self references but also don't take themselves so seriusly that it turns you off. The Gameplay: much like playing a DnD campaign, felt very familiar to me. The Bad: The Bugs: mostly fixed by now but still prevalent in some areas and questline, Wildcards DLC bugged out for me and cutscenes wouldn't start even though they were prompted by dialogue. Save often. Crafting: non-existent, even for wizards which are supposed to be able to write scrolls in DnD or create items, severely underpowered. Party: not large enough. Pacing: Turtle crawl, unskipable cutscenes and unforgivable loading times. Comaprisson: the main difference is in combat, in DOS2 the battle was decided moment to moment. In Pathfinder, wether you win or lose is determined by your buffs and preparation time.
