(For the record, speaking about the "Deluxe Edition" v.1.3.2.13 (Spring 2025) with the "Void Shadows" DLC)
The Good
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Short version: Great game, took me about 100h to get through. Countless quests, side quests and things to do, it does remind me of BG in a way. Also the WH40k universe is very rich, with an extremely rich and elaborate lore, and RT uses it extensively. Universe integration is perfect (at least IMHO, I'm no WH40k specialist). WH40k fans should be delighted, but even people who are totally new to it are not lost, everything is very elegantly explained.
Besides the main RPG quests part there are also a couple other things happening, like ship-to-ship combat, commerce/diplomacy and colony management. They're (IMHO) quite elegantly integrated, and give you the feeling you're indeed a Rogue Trader, not just some insanely rich bully boy.
- Ship combat is interesting, though you only fight enemy ships during specific quests, there are no random pirate encounters.
- Colony management is simple, but needs careful planning to eventually get to the projects you want (like the one giving your character some power armor): Many projects block other projects, and some (apparently minor) projects are requirements for major projects on other systems! Better take 5 minutes and a piece of paper, and plan ahead.
- Last but not least, the companions you can surround yourself with are mostly interesting, most feel real, and have their own agendas and side quests. (I'm particularly fond of Idira, her comments and reactions always make me smile...)
- The RPG game engine is rich (borderline complicated) and lets you fine-tune your character and your companions as you see fit. You can even create additional companions from scratch.
There are (still) some bugs though, and that brings us to:
The Bad
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Everything would be perfect if it weren't for the slightly unfinished (and untested) state of the game, especially concerning the later chapters (3+), which are also very much shorter:
Chapter 2 is the longest and most satisfying, 3 and 5 are just quest-sized, and 4 is short, much too short.
- Concerning bugs, the devs are apparently still working on it, and most of the bigger issues you can read about in the forums seem to have been fixed at the time I'm writing this. Not that everything is fixed, but what remains are just annoyances, not deal breakers. In 2 playthroughs I didn't experience anything really major, but I did meet some annoyances (like quests randomly broken, but playable).
- There are some annoying GUI issues, like the ever shuffling inventory: After some time you accumulate lots of items (like a dozen grenade types, a dozen types of medikits and so on). At some point you certainly will decide to spend some time organizing each item category (weapons, armor, consumables, etc.) so you can find stuff more easily, but in vain: After a while the game will randomly reshuffle everything--not always, not everything, just sometimes and potentially just some items, so you are encouraged to waste again 5 minutes re-organizing everything, hoping (in vain) it will stay that way for a little while...
- There are also several buggy items, for instance medikits: you have 10 kits of a type in your general inventory, you equip a character with: 2 kits appear in the character's slot, and 9 are left in the general inventory! When the character uses one of his 2 kits and puts the remaining kit back into the general inventory, it won't stack anymore. You now have 9 medikits + 1 "preowned" one... So you'll eventually find yourself with a stack of "unused" medikits and a stack of (visually identical) "preowned" medikits, and those "preowned" ones won't stack on the character either (can't give him 2 of those)... And this happens for all the dozen different medikit types! That's where the ever-shuffling inventory hurts a lot, since you'll try to keep tabs and use those single "preowned" medikits outside of combat, so you can have your characters go into combat carrying 2 "unused" medikits.
- Some colony projects are bugged too, in that they don't seem to give the "colony characteristics" bonuses they are supposed to give. But it's no show stopper, since those stats don't seem to do much anyway, most colony events seem scripted.
- Another thing which is mildly annoying from a role-playing point of view (but apparently on the point of being fixed) is that the game is alignment biased: "Iconoclast" (chaotic good) characters get all the best and most sensible choices, and the best gear too. "Dogmatic" (lawful neutral) characters are left in the cold: In RT Dogmatic = brainless fanatic, so if you roleplay one your game will be violent and short, missing a huge lot of the story. Not only do Dogmatic characters have quite boneheaded dialogue/action choices ("me see, me kill"), there are also few alignment-specific items for them (not to mention they couldn't possibly get through Chapter 3 alive). "Heretic" (chaotic evil) seems more playable (I didn't try though), and version (1.3.2.28) apparently added a cartload of heretic-only objects (nothing compelling or even interesting though IMHO).
In short, "Iconoclast" is the choice of sane and/or sensible people and the one which lets you fully enjoy the game, "heretic" is for raving psychopaths, and "dogmatic" is apparently for those who shoot first and ask questions never ever.
Conclusion:
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An excellent game I'm really glad to have stumbled upon. I really would had loved a real sequel with more adventures, not just DLCs adding content to the existing story. There are only so many times you'll replay the whole 100h, just for a couple hours of new content. But since Owlcat just announced "Dark Heresy", a different game in the WH40k franchise, I guess that's that. :-(
A note about the "Void Shadows" DLC:
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Good DLC, definitely worth the money, if only for the additional adventures: I've read lots of complaints from people who wanted to have more Genestealer encounters (and I concur, after all I discovered the WH40k universe thanks to the "Space Hulk" board game). Well, let's just say Void Shadows satisfies that wish... ;-)
A note about the Deluxe Edition:
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For those wondering like myself where those bonus weapons supposedly included in the Deluxe Edition might be hidden (by the time I eventually found them they were hopelessly obsolete): You can find them at the start of chapter 1 (after the Prologue is finished), in the crate in your new office (room with the big desk in your quarters). The Heirloom Pistol gives you the "Dual Weapons" perk, so you can use it together with the chainsword.
Which leads me to note: Do explore, always check every nook and cranny, in every location. RT has a lot of not-obvious loot lying around, including a lot of hidden things which only become visible (i.e. able to be highlighted) when you're near enough. Explore every level!
A note about Editing/Cheating/Fixing:
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For those stuck due to bug or just stupidity, there is a great program called "ToyBox" (search "ToyBox-RogueTrader" at GitHub). It allows you to edit about everything in your game, and might help you out of otherwise hopeless situations. Like when a quest wouldn't finish: The objective was "Kill all enemies", and well, they were all dead, I did wander around the room for a while without finding anything left to kill, but the game didn't acknowledge it was done. ToyBox allows you to fix this with a single click (choose quest, click "finish"). (Disclaimer: Not affiliated, use at your own risk, etc.)
