I'm in love. I wanted to try the game and I could not stop playing for the last 2 days. It took me 14 hours to finish the first 2 chapters (ocd). I had a peek into chapter 3 and I gtfo
I need a pause anyway.
The gameworld design reminds me more of Gothic than Thief: handcrafted areas, hand placed loot, secrets everywhere, the roaming creatures. The dogs eat other dead dogs like scavengers in Gothic. Overall the exploration is excellent.
The atmosphere is more Thief than Gothic, especially when using stealth. As with Thief the world starts to grow on you and there are spooky moments. Good moments but I will not spoil them.
However I went the gunslinger way because the mobs respawn too much. It feels good, it feels tactical in the same way old immersive sims felt. There were a couple of issues with the hitboxes but the weapons are so satisfying. Not to mention the gore.
Simply put, this game has no right to be as good as it is. It reeks of old design but it doesn't matter if it works. No fillers, just gameplay. I love it.
Just look at these screens: they are not graphically impressive but they feel like taken from a 90's game