Alright, I've played for about 6 hours, so I'd like to give some quick initial impressions.
- Movement and controls are pretty much exactly how I'd imagine they'd be. I like how it feels, and has me feeling quite nostalgic for trotting over the lands of Khorinis. The movement can certainly be awkward at times, but overall the game moves well. This includes use of the jet pack, which I have enjoyed far more than I thought I would.
- Exploration feels full and rewarding. There are all sorts of little areas that were beautifully handcrafted for the chance that the player might find them. Itemization has been nice too.
- A lot of people are going to find fault with the combat, but I've been enjoying it's challenges and general feel a lot. Only used melee weapons so far, so it could vary in quality a fair bit. Clearly one of the weaker parts of the game, but not nearly as bad as it looks or has been made out to be.
- Love the stat system and how many skills there are. It's not too many to make them seem trivial either. You can tell right away that if you're playing on a harder difficulty, you're going to need to have an idea of where you want your character progression to be going. Really impressed by that.
- Likewise, equipment requirements are present in their full glory. I've always enjoyed having stat requirements for equipment, as it adds another layer of your planned character progression, and the rewarding feeling you receive when you can finally equip that badass twohander.
- Have already noticed a good amount of varied skill checks present in dialogues. True
- Early game economy seems really good. You have to work hard for you money, and you'll spend it just as fast. Always a good sign. I have no indication that this will change as you get further, but chances are it will.
- Have explored most of the Berserker camp and am really happy with the "lived-in" feeling it has. This place has been in operation long before you arrived, and it certainly feels like it.
- Haven't been able to play around with other factions yet, but there seems to be a lot of freedom to play many different sides for a long time until you decide who you want to become chummy with (or not).
- Quest markers on the world map are defaulted to OFF, and that is a great thing. Quests are nicely contextualized within conversations, and you are given directions or land markers if someone sends you somewhere specific. AWESOME!
- Aesthetically, I find the world to be interesting and often times beautiful to look at. Great world building so far.
- Music is hard to comment on this early. I've only heard a few tracks. They have served well in creating a good atmosphere, but lack some of the more melodic pieces that I've been spoiled with by Kai in the past. I like it, but don't love it so far.
- Ingame HUD and Menu UI are a couple of the worst things about the game so far, but it's manageable. Much preferred the HP/MP/Stamina bar look from the early Alpha.
- Game can be brutal in the best possible way!
And that's all for now. Sounds overwhelmingly positive, right? Well, for me it has been. I'm probably biased as a big pre-Risen 2/3 PB fan, but these past 6 hours have actually been better than I expected. We'll see if that can hold up in the coming hours.