All that extra gravy we wanted from the original game.
The good:
-The combat is great, quick responsive controls let immerse you in the battle. Even just basic attacks feel gratifying to land as you swing your sword or fire magic blasts. A wide array of special moves allow you to respond and react to different enemies and situations. You and your party can coordinate attacks, hold down opponents while the other swings away, or even throw a dazed opponent off a cliff. Bosses and large opponents can be climbed to hit weak spots or different areas (such as cutting a dragons wings off, or killing different heads of a chimera). Many bosses or situations will require planning and tactics as your enemies can often overpower you (like ogres who can grab and eat you if you're careless).
-The customization of your character is flawless. You can fine tune you character's face with a plethora of options. Not only that your height, weight, overall body type, posture. In addition all these choices are more than flash, you can build your character to be a speedy lightweight shorty who climbs on foes to find a vital spot and unleash your mini fury or you can build an enormous brute who lumbers into a pack of enemies wearing the heaviest armor with a million healing items in your bag. The options and ways they affect your character are wide and diverse beyond just the cosmetic.
-The equipment and diversity of apparel is pretty wide and allows for significant customization of how your character looks.
-There are 9 different classes that you can go between during the game. You can change to any class fairly early in the game but will need to level up each individual class and spend points accordingly. Some passive skills from one class can be carried over into others. The main game can be challenging at first but becomes easier as monsters don't scale with you. Fortunately the Dark Arisen expansion is exponentially more difficult giving all the challenge you can desire.
-Dark Arisen brings quite a bit of difficulty that was lacking in the original with new monsters and a subterranean maze filled with treasure and goodies in every nook and cranny encouraging exploration. New equipment and gear is added to help you look awesome and keep up with the strength of your new foes.
The bad: the story and characters are pretty bland, except for the dragon who is pretty amazing to look at with an awesome voice. The Dark Arisen expansion actually has more character to it than the entire original.
Bottom-Line: immerse in the deep combat system, enjoy what you can from the story