I bought the 'early access' version of DOS 2 on Steam a week ago and just finished it yesterday. I'd like to give feedback about bugs and other thoughts while everything is fresh in my mind.
First a little about me: I've played RPG and CRPG games since the 1970's, and have enjoyed much of the history of CRPGs from the days of Zork, Ultima, Might and Magic, and Bard's Tale onward. I also finished the first Divinity: Original Sin, and loved it so much I bought the Enhanced Edition later and played it fully as well.
About DOS 2: I'm delighted so far, I know it's a work in progress, but escaping Fort Joy is a great episode in what I hope will be another classic game. I thought the combat mechanics of the first DOS were the best I've seen in a turn-based CPRG, and I'm glad the fundamentals have been kept for DOS 2. It's great fun to plan interacting/complementary tactics for each character in your party to maximize their effectiveness, and it never gets old watching area-of-effect spells/weapons do their thing. The new height modifiers for missile attacks are a fun addition. Also, I enjoyed several 'gotcha' moments. More and more voidwoken crawlers kept coming in the voidwoken attack near the pirate beach, and the cursed effects made it into a more challenging fight than initially expected. And the entrance of the void worm at the docks in the last battle is fantastic, my jaw literally dropped when I saw it for the first time and realized this fight would be a little harder than I thought! I hope there's more of this type of storytelling to come as you keep finishing the game, the sense of surprise and wonder is a great thing journeying through it.
Other elements I enjoyed: the music (fantastic!) slowly learning the depths to which the Magisters have sunk in pursuing their goals, the Gratiana back story, the desperation of the Seekers while refusing to give up, and the undead just outside the Fort: what are they up to? I also appreciate the flexibility of your world and character skills allowing multiple solutions to many problems. I recently read a thread about the last battle vs. Alexander and the worm, out of curiosity about whether others won it like I did. Many found other paths, I was delighted at how many solutions people came up with. If hearing about some of the more cheesy/hacky solutions irritates you, I'd urge you to NOT feel that way! I find it wonderful that your world has enough complexity to permit so many different play styles, and I think many players enjoy coming up with creative thinking. In DOS 2, I think it adds a lot to have tags for the characters leading to different dialog choices and outcomes, am hoping the finished game explores that a lot more and lets individual characters pursue quests/goals unique to their tags. A great concept of the Elder Scrolls games are the factions, perhaps most thoroughly explored in Morrowind, where you can join different groups and explore unique plot lines for said group. Especially loved the rogue and assassin quests. Would love to see something like that come to DOS 2.
Regarding bugs, I saw a few mentioned below, but overall my version of the game (alpha v2.0.165.341) is working pretty well and very playable, I was able to complete it with no insurmountable glitches. The biggest bug I noticed was near the end: I couldn't find Gareth at the assembly point for the assault on the ship, despite talking with him in the Seeker sanctuary, having him mention the assembly point, and then going to the assembly point where I saw the other Seekers except him. If he was there and I just somehow didn't see him, it's my fault, but I looked for a long time and could not find him. From reading forum posts I gather other players have seen him and he connects you to a battle plan and sets the stage for the attack, and offers you some helpers. I was able to finish without him, but if he was really not there at all it's a big glitch that should be fixed.
There's also something off about the dialog with Gratiana about the soul jars. Perhaps it's related to me finding the jars before talking with her: I ended up plundering Braccus's treasure house before reaching Gratiana for the first time. I had all the soul jars in the backpack of a different character than the one talking with Gratiana. Anyway, I eventually was able to give her her soul jar in the dialog, but it didn't transfer fully from my inventory. It was the 'tarnished' soul jar when I picked it up, but remained in the inventory as an unselectable object. Also, she initially said she'd provide some sort of blessing if she was given soul jars, but I didn't notice her actually do anything after she got hers back. That's fine if it was your intention, but a bug if you think something should have happened but did not in my game.
Another problem is that the yellow markers indicating quest objectives only seemed to work intermittently on the map. Sometimes they appeared, other times not. There was an extended period when I couldn't see the one for the Seeker hideout location, and wasted a lot of time looking for it in wrong locations….frustrating because I knew it had initially been marked. For objectives that were initially revealed during conversation with a particular character, I think you may have only shown yellow indicators on the map when that character was selected. But even when selecting the appropriate character, I still only saw the indicators sometimes and not others. Also I think it will confuse many players to have the indicator display be tied to particular characters, I recommend instead just having one map that shows a superset of all character objectives.
A final issue may not be a bug exactly, but I was frustrated that Han disappeared from the dock in the basement of Fort Joy after I escaped Fort Joy using other methods (not sure if Han's disappearance was triggered by me using Gawin's teleporting gloves, or walking over the drawbridge after bashing my way through the magister guards). I think it'd be better if he stayed there regardless of whether you get outside the fort, unless/until you make it to the Seeker camp without him.
In general I like the interface and controls but found a few instances of view being obscured when a character walked inside a small enclosure like a tent or tower, and I wanted to see what was inside. Also, I don't see the point of repairing equipment. Yes, it adds realism, but it seems like tedious realism that's not central to the gameplay experience, and doesn't add enjoyment. If you completely forget and allow your stuff to break, I guess that's a problem if you lose some really good gear, but otherwise it's just aggravating. I request getting rid of it. You don't require the characters to do other similar things like take bathroom breaks, eat, drink, or sleep, and the game is better off as a result. People want to explore your world and story, not spend time on that. Just get rid of the gear maintenance and let players focus on other things.
