This game was released in 2004, but feels almost pre 2000. The fighting animations are very poorly done. There is very little weight to each hit, it's like hitting thin air. The voice acting is okay, though sometimes cringe worthy, but the worst part is the terrible lip syncing. There is very little RPG to this game. It's linear, which is okay, but this is essentially a left cliking simulator.
The gameplay was quite revolutionary at the time, but it is plagued by issues. The game has bugs, it is far too difficult in an annoying not satisfying way, the animations are old - nothing wrong with that, but they are inaccurate (try climbing a ladder), but the controls are the worst. Ladies and gentlemen there are 9 keys that control movement alone. NINE. The awesome missions are not fun anymore when I don't know how to walk.
The idea behind it is really good, although the implementation at times isn't natural. The locations and graphics are truly memorable. The fighting is lacking as it's repetitive and same goes for having to visit the same locations more than once and not really experience anything new. However, this is a start of a great story that will span many more games.