Very atmospheric, great mood and interesting setting. I liked the portraits and the magic system and the skills (although I didn't get far enough to use them meaningfully). You will die. A lot. It's hard and doesn't hold your hand at all. Which I was actually beginning to adjust to. Then I loaded a save and a map I had cleared out suddenly had a pack of enemies in it. Which to survive you have to really edge forward slowly, kite the enemies, and save a ton. I think I can handle it until I reach certain levels but not having to clear out map levels AGAIN that way. Stopped playing after 5 hours. Probably not going back. All the stuff I mentioned at the start of my review is why it has 3 stars - this game looks pretty good and refreshing. But I found it unplayable just due to frustration.
I grew up playing RPGs and this looked like a taste of some of the older RPGs I loved, my fav of all time being Planescape: Torment. I thought the beginning was fantastic, the setting very interesting, the characters striking enough. I enjoyed the reputation mechanic. Combat can be a bit repetitive. The end was very disappointing. Some spoilers ahead. This was the first game I think I have ever played where I was appreciating the somewhat nuanced and fleshed out approach to things like faith, religion, science and progress, the occasional tension between the two, understanding and making sense of faith in the world with hardships. But the plot throws it all away by taking the road of, I think, every single other RPG out there that even bothers to approach these subjects at all. The end throws all of these nuances away with yet another atheism is true. I've encountered it so much that it's not innovative or evocative or groundbreaking. It's tiresome. Frankly, I encounter it so much I do wonder if there isn't some wish fulfillment in this being a plot point of so many games. In PoE it definitely comes across as such. I was also struck by how much this took the wind out of my sails to go through the final fight. At this point I just don't care. Which is frustrating after all the hours and money I have sunk into this. It may have killed cRPGs for me at this point.
