So is this game worth buying? Fallout 3 and New Vegas are in my top 10 of all time, nothing has quite scratched the itch I've been feeling for something similar. It's $37.69 on CDKEYS right now, and I'm close to taking the plunge.
I think so. as long you set reasonable expectations given the size of the team, you'll enjoy it
the combat itself feels fine to me, but the traversal could use work. you hit some invisible walls and climbing/parkour isn't very fluid, but this could be partly due to me just finishing Avowed where the parkour/traversal was perfect
the game does virtually zero hand holding. I was incredibly confused as to wtf I was doing for the first few hours of the game but you eventually start to find purpose once you gather enough leads and start getting a vague idea as to what is going on. I'm 7 hours in and the game continues to very cryptic. I think the Morrowind comparison is fair. expect to use your map a lot.
for a game with no linear story, I find the story/narrative to be where it shines. the lead system is amazing, following a lead might trigger another lead, causing a spiderweb of possible choices. you can tackle "quests" backwards or forwards. you have a ton of freedom to take on this game. the NPCs are very well written and the voice acting is great.
as far as I can tell, you can kill every single NPC. this means if you're too lazy to do a long mission for a key to unlock a door you can just kill the npc and grab it. I think the game tries to encourage you to think like this, because the tutorial (which lasts 5 seconds) gives you the choice to either trade a bandage for a keycard or kill the innocent npc and steal the keycard from him. this game has zero fast travel so I've done this simply because I was feeling lazy
the world itself is very packed with stuff to explore and see. exploration is extremely rewarding because of great world design combined with the fact that exploring is literally the only way to "level up." both acquiring new skills and leveling skills is based on items you find in the world.
navigating the world involves you paying attention to the world itself and your map. if you are exploring a facility you need to pay attention to written markings on doors and signs that explain the floorpan to navigate. there is zero hand holding here
it has some jank but I don't mind that. stuff like sitting at the top of a ladder and kicking people to their death as they climb up is something if find hilarious and enjoy
it is much more difficult than the Fallout games. Only STALKER game I've played is STALKER 2 and that was brief, but this game feels more like that. very limited ammo and enemies can do a ton of damage quickly.
if you loved the FO games for the combat and the systems, this game is VERY different and much more difficult
if you loved the FO games because you just love exploring interesting post apocalyptic worlds, I think this is worth picking up.
it isn't an RPG, although it does have a basic character progression system where you acquire new skills and crafting recipes, making you a bit more powerful overall
Edit: difficulty should not be a reason to not grab it though as they have difficulty sliders on various aspects of the game. You have a lot of freedom to customize how difficult you want to experience to be. What I meant more so is that the normal difficulty in this game is much more difficult than the hardcore difficulty in fallout games