Which, fwiw, for that firstish playtrough perspective he doesn't have, I do find it to be very rough (possibly morso because I've chosen to play on Hard, so possible skill issue... but still);
Definitely very dry, the slow and somewhat off pacing, the combat being abit of a mixed bag and the rather subdued soundtrack doesn't help either.
Oh, man, I do love PoE soundtrack. It’s probably the video game OST I tend to come back the most. Main theme is lovely, with a nice arc and growing instrumentation.
Even though I ended up a big PoE fan my first playthrough took a long time. Individual adventures aren’t always most riveting, and there is a lot of reading rather than experiencing. I found a lot of its stories frustratingly unresolved on completion. There was a narrative payoff that the game was going towards and once I got there I was fully satisfied. Second playthrough was very rewarding as I was reading with interest every interaction, and every lore tidbit that I could find.
Though after multiple playthroughs, I find the middle act (Defience Bay and investigation) to just not be great. It’s spread so very thin, and plot progression really slows down. I mean not nearly as bad as the narrative black whole of half act1 and 2 in BG3, but it’s side adventures are more engaging, even if somewhat disposable in the big picture narrative.
I don’t remember combat being though in PoEs outside the Master Below. That was the encounter that forced me to sit down and learn the systems.
