I bought this back on CD and put in enough hours to beat the game twice. Once as Seraphim and once as Temple Guardian. Trust me, it's a lot of hours. I bought it on Steam when it was available and I'm buying it again here, just because I love it so much. I'm hoping this copy actually plays on my Windows 10 laptop as the Steam version doesn't. It did on my old desktop, but not this laptop. This game is an open world ARPG that looks like Witcher 1 but has a story as big as Witcher 3. Your choices don't matter much. In fact, you really only have two choices: light or dark campaign, either stop or hasten the end. And those are restricted by class / race. Speaking of, the class / race choices give you access to a variety of playstyles. I was partial to the Temple Guardian (light campaign) because you get a ranged and a melee weapon at the same time. And his mount/ vehicle is the coolest. Each class / race has its own starting place and its own initial story before blending into the main quest and the light / dark campaigns have their own questlines that are diametrically opposed. One of the nice things about this game is that gear and weapons can radically change your appearence. Another nice thing is the incredibly customizable combo system where you can stack whatever you want out of your available skills. The game is so long, y'all. And all the content is fun, even reuniting a metal band for a concert. This review was written sort of stream of consciousness because I just bought it on GOG and haven't had a chance to install and (try) playing it again. Like I said, getting it to work on Windows 10 is a chore, which is why it isn't 5 stars. Also, we don't talk about Sacred 3.
The best version of the best Dragon Age game. No DRM. No connection to dead Bioware servers required. No hacks to trick the DLC into working. It just works. All the DLC that you were nickel and dimed to death for back in the day? It's in there. Every old Nexus Mod that you downloaded for better hairstyles or godmode equipment or an extra slot so you always have Barkspawn? They still work. I put 500 hours into this game the first time around and I'm playing through it again, raw, no guides, no optimized path or min-maxing. I'm just enjoying the experience. I'd enjoy it more if it didn't crash about a quarter of the time when I have an area transition. I also have a few saves that crash every time I try to load them. The most time I've lost is about 45 minutes, but that's still too much. I'm playing it anyway. I save often and in different slots (when I remember). But every doorway and every map transition is a gamble. If it didnt' crash so much, this would be a five start game easily. And, before you say I should disable mods, it was crashing before I added a single mod. It actaully seems *more* stable since I've modded it. In the end: I love this game. This was the best RPG experience I've had on PC and I played through all of The Curse of the Azure Bonds and Secrets of the Silver Blade Games, Baldur's Gate I and II includign the Ascension mod, Icewind Dale, NWN, and even Planescape: Torment. I think this game is better than Torment. I said it and I am not ashamed.
