Good graphics, simple controls, good gimmick, and good level design. Is it SMB 3 caliber? Well, no. But, it's really good, and gets better as you advance through it. I'd give it 4.5 stars, in deference to the few true platforming greats, but as you know, .5 rounds up to 1 :)
It's very good, it is not without some major faults, mainly in handling combat and movement. First, targeting. Some attack skills require homing. So, let's say you target a healer or summoner, and then someone runs up to you. You have to untarget to be able to defend yourself, and the time taken for that can get you killed. Normal attacks should either be divorced from targeting, or WASD should override it. Second, the Gamebryo affliction. You can get "stuck" on slopes and such, and this will get you killed. Third, range. Even with relevant skills, you can't use bows at enough of a range to play stealthily. You can see every feature of the enemy, but not shoot a bow at it. Grrr. If the mentioned problems, and a few that made my first try too long, weren't there, it would be worth 5 stars. The content is there, but some execution details detract from it.
I'm part of the way through my first play through. I did not experience this game when it was new. It's a combination of point'n'click adventure and turn-based CRPG, and executed amazingly well. It just keeps getting better. A few tips for using it on modern systems, though: 1. Use a mouse with adjustable DPI, via button. While running around, high-DPI is nice, but when clicking on everything in sight, or while in combat, low-DPI is easier on the wrists. 2. Play with AA settings, if you need AA. I found light SGSSAA, mixed with FXAA, to look the best, for me. Some AA settings don't work quite right, and may result in artifacts. Due to the futuristic look, with lots of black and near-white lines, plain old supersampling doesn't quite do it. 3. Set the vertical resolution to the closest setting possible for your monitor, then, in your driver settings, set scaling to be 1:1, rather than doing any stretching. 4. Don't bother with Glide. nGlide supports it, and that's cool, but it looks really off, sometimes. Some games, like Rayman 2, are JUST RIGHT with Glide wrapping, but the "flatness" of OpenGL is a bit better, for this game.
