Man, I just cannot stop playing this game. I'm up to 47 hours on the PC now. It was totally worth taking the week off. I don't know if there's ever been a game I've felt I've gotten more value out of, and I'm hardly through the content yet. I'm only 2-3 areas outside of Dalentarth right now.
The quest system here is amazing. It's not so much revolutionary as it is just a higher quality than what I'm used to seeing in RPGs these days. Even the very few quests that have a mechanic that resembles a "fetch" quest, the lore behind it really makes it seem like the NPC's request makes sense in the game world.
I had a quest tonight where an NPC approached me while I was hunting, drug me off into a dungeon, and tried to manipulate me during multiple conversations to accomplish something he wanted done -- then at the end, I had to make a choice about whether I believed him, or the eventual "boss" of the dungeon. Amazing stuff. When you pair stuff like that together with the combat that is actually fun.... man.....
I'm working up a critique for 38Watch.com -- I've got a long list of things that I think need to be constructively criticized, tweaked, or rebalanced. Some of the skills in particular appear to be broken or unbalanced to the point that some of the player choices are rendered meaningless. But I don't want to go there yet until I've got more notes and complete the game a few times. Complaints aside, I'm very happy with what I've experienced so far.
For you guys playing rogues, if you haven't gotten the Gambit ability yet, make it your #1 priority. I've wasted thousands of dollars on mana potions and extended combat longer than I need to just so I can watch those enemies walk through those mine fields again.
Walked out of Dalentarth this morning and saw this for the first time --- it's the type of thing that really makes you want to explore what's out there in the world.
And then when I remember how ridiculously cool it is that I've got a Todd McFarlane statue signed by Curt Schilling and a lithograph signed by Ken Rolston for a game in a world created by R.A. Salvatore... sorry for the fanboy rave here. Lack of sleep is a problem. Hopefully a lot of other GAF'ers are enjoying it just as much. As for a few coworkers and family members, they're getting copies whether they know it or not yet
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I don't know if any of you guys got the destiny cards that came with one of the special editions, but they are one of my favorite things in that set. They are much higher quality than I expected, and much larger. Have to find something cool to do with them.