[Revision #4]

That said, I wish Steam offered the option to leave a more neutral rating. Looking at PoE as a newer CRPG release, it really doesn't meet my standards set by other games of the genre, yet it isn't bad enough for a thumbs-down...

The gameplay feels like Baldur's Gate all over again, meaning like 1999. While that game was fresh and original at its time of release, being the first game that gave you an intense feeling of playing an actual fantasy RPG (like real pen & paper), this is 20 years later.

In 2020 (2015 when it was released), and after games like Dragon Age: Origins (2009), or the even older Neverwinter Nights (2002), a game with an isometric, non-rotateable camera that so drastically limits your view of an area like PoE does and makes exploring quite painful at times is absolutely outdated for today's standards. Apart from the technical aspect, you also don't immerse as deeply into the game as you would without those limitations.

The UI isn't all that comfortable, either, which also hampers the fun. The worst part is the submenus. Who wants to have to make several clicks to get to a certain skill or spell while immersed in combat? I, for one, don't - especially when the sensitivity of those submenu icons is terrible and makes getting to where you want a pain in the behind. You can't lock the character portraits, either, and so it often happens that you accidentally switch character positions instead of selecting the character.

Horrific. Strategic positioning is often out of the question. For example, the AI ignores your set formation if movie sequences are triggered, leaving your party exposed in a tight ball to AoE damage. You can try to reposition everyone as soon as possible, but this often results in heavy damage and losses when facing a large group of fierce opponents.

In addition to enemies, characters easily get stuck on objects as well. For instance, there is a tavern where you have to manually free 1-2 characters of your party each time they are attempting to walk towards the exit, due to a wooden beam that's "in the way."

When the characters get stuck during battle, you often see them desperately trying to move forward or finding a way around the obstacle/enemy. When that doesn't work, they move left and right and back again like brainless lemmings. Of course, that combat time is completely wasted for the AI isn't even smart enough to attack the nearest enemy instead when a character gets stuck and can't reach their ordered target. You have to manually command them to switch targets - character by character, naturally. Quite painful.

Your opponents often seem equally confused, chaotically running around, thus rendering AI scripts and formations provided by the game completely useless. Frankly, your best bet is to outheal any damage during such fights. Quite sad for a game that was released in 2015.

There is way too much valuable stuff in this game. You quickly lose track of things. Sometimes less is more.

I like the soulbound items.

The biggest downside regarding items in this game is the fact that you cannot alter enchantments on them. By the time you find the rare scales for legendaries, they have been rendered completely useless, because you can't apply them to your existent equipment as it already has the maximun amount of enchantments on it. Look at Dragon Age: Origins, now there was an intelligent way of handling item upgrades and enchantments. This is not.

Also extremely outdated regarding the visual quality and customization options. Just a few faces, no scaling, no different body types or any other details to add/change, and the hair looks like 2006's Neverwinter Nights 2. Seriously, does crowd funding provide too little to put resources into what many role-players consider a vital part of the game in which they easily invest an hour or two?

Don't even get me started... especially with the many sections of the Stronghold. Goodness gracious! The amount of loading screens you have to go through in order to use a room for resting at the Lodge.

Now that I have played the game intensely for two weeks, I must admit that the story is quite good. The quests are well-written and a lot of fun for most part.

The biggest downside is the walls of text that frequently break your immersion and force you into reading mode. I enjoy reading, mind you, but not in a computer game. This might have been a necessity 20 years ago, but many games have proven that the genre has since evolved and that text should no longer be the primary delivery method of story content. Having to read a character's emotions, rather than seeing them acted out truly doesn't meet my standards for any newer CRPG.

At some point I felt like skipping dialogue altogether, that's how bad it got with the chunks of text I had to digest. It also makes no sense to only add voice acting to random portions of a dialogue. (The voice acting is very good, by the way.)

And last but not least, I like the idea of my own upgradeable stronghold. It was fun to add all the stuff and see it affect gameplay.

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TL;DR: In my opinion, the game is outdated in many aspects for a 2015 release and not worth paying the full price.

[Revision #4] [h1]+++ ONLY BUY WHEN ON SALE +++[/h1] That said, I wish Steam offered the option to leave a more neutral rating. Looking at PoE as a newer CRPG release, it really doesn't meet my standards set by other games of the genre, yet it isn't bad enough for a thumbs-down... [h1]Gameplay & Engine[/h1] The gameplay feels like Baldur's Gate all over again, meaning like 1999. While [i]that[/i] game [i]was[/i] fresh and original at its time of release, being the first game that gave you an intense feeling of playing an actual fantasy RPG (like real pen & paper), this is 20 years later. In 2020 (2015 when it was released), and after games like [url=https://sp.zhabite.com/steamstore/app/17450/Dragon_Age_Origins]Dragon Age: Origins[/url] (2009), or the even older [url=https://sp.zhabite.com/steamstore/app/704450/Neverwinter_Nights_Enhanced_Edition]Neverwinter Nights[/url] (2002), a game with an isometric, non-rotateable camera that so drastically limits your view of an area like PoE does and makes exploring quite painful at times is absolutely outdated for today's standards. Apart from the technical aspect, you also don't immerse as deeply into the game as you would without those limitations. The UI isn't all that comfortable, either, which also hampers the fun. The worst part is the submenus. Who wants to have to make several clicks to get to a certain skill or spell while immersed in combat? I, for one, don't - especially when the sensitivity of those submenu icons is terrible and makes getting to where you want a pain in the behind. You can't lock the character portraits, either, and so it often happens that you accidentally switch character positions instead of selecting the character. [h1]Combat & Movement[/h1] Horrific. Strategic positioning is often out of the question. For example, the AI ignores your set formation if movie sequences are triggered, leaving your party exposed in a tight ball to AoE damage. You can try to reposition everyone as soon as possible, but this often results in heavy damage and losses when facing a large group of fierce opponents. In addition to enemies, characters easily get stuck on objects as well. For instance, there is a tavern where you have to manually free 1-2 characters of your party each time they are attempting to walk towards the exit, due to a wooden beam that's "in the way." When the characters get stuck during battle, you often see them desperately trying to move forward or finding a way around the obstacle/enemy. When that doesn't work, they move left and right and back again like brainless lemmings. Of course, that combat time is completely wasted for the AI isn't even smart enough to attack the nearest enemy [i]instead[/i] when a character gets stuck and can't reach their ordered target. You have to manually command them to switch targets - character by character, naturally. Quite painful. Your opponents often seem equally confused, chaotically running around, thus rendering AI scripts and formations provided by the game completely useless. Frankly, your best bet is to outheal any damage during such fights. Quite sad for a game that was released in 2015. [h1]Equipment[/h1] There is way too much valuable stuff in this game. You quickly lose track of things. Sometimes less is more. I like the soulbound items. The biggest downside regarding items in this game is the fact that you cannot alter enchantments on them. By the time you find the rare scales for legendaries, they have been rendered completely useless, because you can't apply them to your existent equipment as it already has the maximun amount of enchantments on it. Look at Dragon Age: Origins, now [i]there[/i] was an intelligent way of handling item upgrades and enchantments. [i]This[/i] is not. [h1]Character Creation[/h1] Also [i]extremely[/i] outdated regarding the visual quality and customization options. Just a few faces, no scaling, no different body types or any other details to add/change, and the hair looks like 2006's Neverwinter Nights 2. Seriously, does crowd funding provide too little to put resources into what many role-players consider a vital part of the game in which they easily invest an hour or two? [h1]Loading Times[/h1] Don't even get me started... especially with the many sections of the Stronghold. Goodness gracious! The amount of loading screens you have to go through in order to use a room for resting at the Lodge. [h1]Story & Voice Acting[/h1] Now that I have played the game intensely for two weeks, I must admit that the story is quite good. The quests are well-written and a lot of fun for most part. The biggest downside is the walls of text that frequently break your immersion and force you into reading mode. I enjoy reading, mind you, but not in a computer game. This might have been a necessity 20 years ago, but many games have proven that the genre has since evolved and that text should no longer be the primary delivery method of story content. Having to [i]read[/i] a character's emotions, rather than seeing them acted out truly doesn't meet my standards for any newer CRPG. At some point I felt like skipping dialogue altogether, that's how bad it got with the chunks of text I had to digest. It also makes no sense to only add voice acting to random portions of a dialogue. (The voice acting is very good, by the way.) And last but not least, I like the idea of my own upgradeable stronghold. It was fun to add all the stuff and see it affect gameplay. -------------------------------------------------------------------- TL;DR: In my opinion, the game is outdated in many aspects for a 2015 release and not worth paying the full price.