I personally really enjoyed this game, but it isn't perfect. It's got enough depth to support multiple play-throughs and the story is great. The dialog is well written and really pulls you into the world. I love isometric graphics and these are nicely depicted with a painterly art style. The turn-based combat means that you can play it at any pace. Unfortunately there are flaws: I experienced a few occasions transitioning between the matrix and meat-world where the game effectively locked up and I had to restart a level. The occlusion and non-rotatable camera can make it hard to select and navigate at times. Characters in the game are also unbelievably bad at hitting their targets - point-blank missing is not uncommon - but if you accept these things and allow for them as part of the game mechanics, the game is still a whole lot more good than bad. My first play-through I played a decker, but I'd recommend a combat-oriented character, as it yields more fun and you still get to play all the decking parts of the game using NPCs in your team. The storytelling, setting, casual non-twitch game-play and characters make this an enjoyable experience overall. It isn't as linear as Shadowrun Returns, and the NPCs and story are superior to Shadowrun Hong Kong's. If you only get one of them, buy this one.
This game is truly special. If I ever get struck down with Alzheimer's I'll be consoled by the fact I will be able to play this game all over again without knowing all the spoilers. I came to it without having played the earlier games in the series, or knowing anything about the world of the Witcher, but it didn't matter as the game and story reveal the world incrementally. And I found it such a wonderfully immersive experience, that I'm even reading the books now. The first revelatory moment came to me when I discovered the "massive" White Orchard map I'd been wandering about in for hours of game-play was just the introductory tutorial area. I found combat a little bit difficult starting out, but quickly became more proficient with signs, potions, blocking, dodging, counter-attacking and bombs and found there was always something new to experiment with or explore. I guess the advice I'd give is to not attempt missions that are too far beyond your character's level. The main story is compelling, the beautiful open world allows you to explore non linearly, and the side-quests are all very good in their own right. I quickly found that fear-of-missing-out had me trying every possible adventure, and the game did not punish me for completing things in an irregular order or coerce me to play in one particular way. At 70%-off the price is simply ridiculous. If you haven't got it, do yourself a favour and do so now -- but be warned "completing just one more quest" can be terribly addictive..
