So I finally finished PoE.
Pros:
-Some welcome gameplay refinements to the IE-type genre to make life a bit easier.
-Going around doing a few of the side quests, as well as exploring some of the Endless Paths, were reasonably interesting.
-The ability to create additional and mercifully laconic adventurers to fill out your party is a welcome addition in an Obsidian RPG. Silence is golden.
-I stowed a bunch of creatures in my backpack during my travels: a cat, a happy labrador, a miniature blue guy and a docile spider. They were my true friends in all this.
-I jumped into the pit at the end without really thinking. Got impaled on a spike and then the credits rolled. It might have been one of those unintentional funny moments but I laughed all the same. If I weren't a completionist I would've just let it end there. It was kind of perfect, and hilarious.
-That one dude called Thaos who is apparently the main villain. I gibbed him in the end. He didn't have a smarmy out-of-body retort to that, now did he?
-I created a monk waifu to hold down the fort while I was out earning that bread, namely...
-Bounties, simply because I was actually motivated to do them. Money and XP. Also a bloody head in a sack which I gave to the pipe-smoking dude in the hut who was real chill. I liked him.
Cons:
-The absence of pre-buffing and the short durations of buffs in general, which means you have to cast every 15 seconds or so. For most battles it isn't that noticable but for others it becomes a royal pain in the ass, especially considering it takes so long for characters to actually do what they're told to do.
-The companions. The ones in NWN 2 were atrocious for sure but at least they had something going for them - at times. These ones were like tumbleweeds blowing across a damn desert. Durance was sort of okay, I guess. One chief thing which bothered me, even though I'm no longer surprised, is the palpable servility in your average Obsidian companion. It's like they glance tentatively your way every time they are about to make a decision or speak up - just to make sure it's okay. It sickens me and made my aversion towards my weak-kneed allies all the more intense.
-Thaos. The most pathetic villain yet. Didn't help that the storyline places you (except not really you) and this uninteresting nutsack at the centre of everything. He was annoying. What other traits did he have, exactly?
-The writing. I skimmed through pretty much everything by the end. You couldn't pay me to read any more Obsidian-patented verbose drivel that goes nowhere. Never have I played a game with so little to say but still insisted in bombarding me with words. It's a downer in game form, without a doubt. By the end I didn't even know what the fuck I was doing, nor did I care. The filthy people in the Derpwood can finally squeeze out some disgusting children - happy days.
-Adra dragon. Don't even know what to say about this one. Challenge is one thing but this is entirely different. Firkraag in BG2 was challenging. He hit hard and could wipe you out if you came unprepared, so you had to dig in. Did he one-hit your entire level-capped party with one incredibly broken and pretty much unavoidable attack move, though? No, he didn't. Because that would be fucking retarded. Didn't help I was burned out by this point.
-Let's have a long chat before the inevitable big fight that most likely will require reloads.
-Can't leave area when in combat. Because reasons.
-Boring loot. A lot of unique stuff but none of it stood out.
-I didn't even notice the music at times. Very forgettable.
-I'm pretty sure I saw some imposter hobbits walking around.
Lots more to say, I'm sure, but there's no real point. I draw parallels between this game and Dragon Age: Origins. Both BioWare and Obsidian decided to do their own thing in the fantasy genre, except they didn't really do anything fresh or interesting to warrant an entirely new setting. This game almost demands you to learn its ins and outs in order to get the most of the experience. That means it's important that I stay invested. I never was invested, though. There was nothing compelling me.
I GIVE THIS GAME 36 HAPPY LABRADORS OUT OF 69. That's more than fair.