I'm not normally one to set out feedback, and I feel like posting it now during the opening deluge might get it lost. Mostly I'm posting this as a thought diary for my own sanity.
First off, I just turned the game off in sheer frustration for the second time. The second on my two sessions, which is the start of a trend. The biggest thing that is getting to me, playing on normal, is the combat. What gets me here is the slowness of combat, coupled with the brutal slog that combat currently is.
Combat:
I rolled a Wizard and the AI has a true bloodlust for him. I can put him in the backline, push him as far back as I can, it doesn't really matter, the AI will run past two of my waiting melee characters, tank the reaction hits and just run at my wizard to kill him. I spend more time face down than casting spells. The opening of combat is always a nightmare. A lot of encounters will open from dialogue, so the party is grouped, and the first that happens is a ton of AoE damage. It's not uncommon for a party member to be down, and the rest pretty damaged before I can even get a shot in. The enemy feels like it's balanced for a 6 person party, because they always out number me and really smash the party every encounter. There isn't any concept of threat either, so you have attackers just firing off at my wizard, ignoring the three melee right by them who are bearing down on them and will wipe them out in a turn.
It doesn't help that there is so many enemies in combat when you also consider how densely packed the map seems to be with combat encounters. There isn't really any trash past the opening section either. Casters come at you right off the bat, back up with a ton of ranged attackers all in favourable positons. My eyebrows nearly flew off my face when I saw phase spiders in the first few hours of gameplay! I have to commend the variety, but every battle demanding high level strategy and play at level 2/3 is too much to be enjoyable.
Graphics:
The game is stunning. The environments frequently stop be in my tracks so I can just push the camera in and look at them. I love the detail that is present too, like how you'll have the road, then a worn path next to it where traders and travellers will just walk the fastest route. I love exploring the map, and seeing towns or forts in the distance, or following the rivers as it cuts through the rocks. The characters all look incredible, and I love the varied designs. The druids feel very different in style which complements their otherness feel. I was surprised at even the level of care and detail given to lowly goblins, with a varied set of unique armour and faces. I often feel like everyone I meet is bespoke. The only thing I'd like is some more open areas, as the play areas can be quite narrow.
Camera:
As incredible as the environments look, the camera is a huge issue. The first thing I had to do was bind Q/E to rotate. The environments don't feel like they were made for a fixed perspective, but they also don't really account for where the camera could be. I spend most of my playtime moving the camera or spinning it around to see where I'm going. It actually felt like it has a learning curve to get used to it. In the end I actually craved for more control of it, like manual tilting, because if the camera is my job to get it in the right place, and not stuck behind a rock or building or anything else, then I want more control. The environments are very vertical, and the camera can really struggle with moving up buildings.
I don't think the camera is bad in anyway, just the design of the environments and the lack of a third person DAO/NWN2 style cam makes using the cam a full time job.
Characters:
The companion cast so far are all feel very unique and developed. With a clear tone, speech style and motivations. I just don't like any of them. Except maybe the Warlock, as he's the only person who isn't either berating me or telling me where I can stick it. I get we don't need another game with companions who instantly love you, but the sheer hostility of the party loses my investment in them fairly quickly. I wonder if the origin system, or the idea of MP, or each character having the ability to control dialogue makes me feel like my PC isn't important, because I really feel like he isn't. I also have no idea about his back story most of the time, as dialogue will pop up saying this or that as his history and I found out about it then.
Having the parties opinions pop up when making dialogue choices I find off putting too. I'm happy for a companion to cut in, but a ticker judging me every time I say something is wearisome.
Final thoughts.
So far I feel like I want to follow the story on, to see how the druids and the tadpoles all shake out, and see what's going on with the goblin camp , but I just dread the endless grind of the combat, and the hostility of my party members.
