Got it almost for free and still don't feel like beating it. It's not the worst souls-like I've played (mortal shell) but it's terribly imbalanced as though the game was not playtested and they just rushed it into completion. If you want to do a two-handed strength build, you are agonizingly slow to act and to recover from your actions, combined with a very high stamina cost and it is particularly painful against bosses where this speed means even less time to capitalize on those safe windows of attack bosses have after they do a move. There is no fix other than extreme patience or picking a different class/build. I have a better fix: play something else! If I was sure the difficulty would not increase significantly, I would recommend it for challenge seekers but with what I know, I cannot go higher than "don't waste your time".
TLD;R Great story, decisions matter, intense turn-based strategy, innovative design, superb graphics and polish. You do not need to play Gwent to enjoy this although it complements your experience greatly. Easily well worth the price if treated as an expansion and has a free multiplayer expansion called Gwent if treated as the main game. *** Review Extension I currently have not finished the game so I cannot comment on it's duration but so far I doubt it has replayability outside of unlocking stuff which I would say is more of a chore rather than a fun experience. Given it's a CDPR product however I wouldn't be surprised if there's actually a lot of content beyond my estimation. *** Warning While this is technically an RPG, decision making is generally binary (in the early game anyway) and there's little to no actual character customization. This doesn't stop you from enjoying the great, non-linear story or deep strategic gameplay but it's worth knowing.
