It is still the best, but I wish it were a longer game. Replaying is good but a longer game would have been better.
I rarely buy a game when it is first released let alone while it is in development, but this game had some great ideas and I wanted to try it and to support the developers. While I love the idea, I didn't enjoy the game.... yet. At the moment (Feb 2023) there is simply too much going on. The developers need to find a way to really simplify some aspects of the game. For example, there are just too many different missions for your agents to take. Many are really very similar when you stand back and look at it. Gaining control of a country involves gaining popular support and then taking positions of power, but then opponents use different powers to "crackdown" or "create instability" or "coup d'etat" or "replace you people in power" or "assassinate your agents" or "detain" them. So, then you start taking defend and hide and stabilising actions etc. It's just not fun. I haven't even considered fighting wars or settling space etc. Why not just have one simple influnce score for each nation? A game this big needs each of its' components to be REALLY TIGHT. The developers need to make some big cuts to this game, which will be hard to do. They need to distil down the essence of each aspect of the game into something simple so that when you put all the different theatres of operation back together, they are not too much for the player. I found myself missing the simplicity of X-com's strategic phase.
I'm an old school player. I played the first bard's tale 30 years ago, and it wasn't perfect, but I loved it. Similarly there is a lot that I dislike in this game but my overall experience (and it is an experience) is very positive. The bad: It's a very different game to bard's tale 1-3: It has a "special attack" based combat system that takes some getting use to. The skill tree is overwhelming at first and the limited re-spec option (you can re-spec a limited number of times by using mercenary tokens at the adventurers review board) is a bit hard on new players. Code wheel is just annoying. The good: Although it is different to BT1-3 it is good in it's own right. It is very satisfying when you characters skill work well together. If you persevere you will get it and enjoy it. It has many nostalgic nods to the first games. The street names, the street which goes on forever, the characters in the story, the spell names etc. The music! I've never been much for music or even sound in a game, but this is something else. All of the music is great but there is one particular song when you first leave Skara Brae that is just extraordinary and it adds so much to the celtic/scottish feel of the game. The voice acting isn't bad either. Overall a very enjoyable, immersive experience.
