The game is very good.
Okay now that that is out of the way, I'm starting to really dislike the way the game handles "cutscenes". The camera perspective doesn't change when you talk to someone, you just have to be within range. It's like Half-Life but in third person. Anyway, it is very uneffective and stops you from really getting a sense of charcater when talking to someone or from really communicating dramatic story points (like the end of the childhood phase).
What's worst is that when you start a quest, you have to just stand and wait as the quest giver starts talking, try and position the camera in a cool way (or go first person) and try and guess the right time to hold down the accept quest button so you don't skip anything. A lot of the time you'll run around in circles, stand unnaturally close or turn your back on the speaker just because you can.
Cinematics would have benefited this game very much. Trying to keep you immersed in the game world might have held some water in a world that didn't contain a glowing yellow-trail leading you around, an icon above your dogs head that says "treasure" or "dig spot" or orbs that indicate other players (the city squares are going to LOUD when the game fills up, what with all the talking through mics). Although to be fair you can turn off the trail and the orbs.
That's the bizarre thing though. The game goes out of its way to both embrace its game-i-ness and try to immerse you in its world. It sends off such mixed messages, it's confusing.
I really wanted to play this now.
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