Seeing as how I recently played the first two worlds (yes it took me several months to be able to manage it), and did enjoy it, after entering a handful of console commands every time I played it, I was quite intrigued with its sequel and have been following it closely.

I wasn't very happy when it was delayed, but apparently it was worth it, as the NA version is now version 1.1 on disc, so I suppose it's better in the end.

Where to start... Well, I've put in roughly 20 hours in it since I've picked it up. I've had a few days off and nothing to do, so it's worked out quite well.

The thing that most impressed me, right from the start, is the engine. When compared to the atrocity that was two worlds (whatever engine they called it), it's night and day. Seriously. Where did these guys get this engine? Granted, they've overdone the blur and bloom effects, but otherwise it runs well on this 6 year old piece of hardware they call an xbox 360.

There are lots of similarities to the first game, such as building your own cl4ss from archer / warrior / mage skills (along with general and crafting skills of course) and the loot is still randomized (unless it's quest rewards). The spell system has had a tremendous overhaul however, and at first I hated it, but now I don't mind it. There's a lot of flexibility, but it seems a tad convoluted; more than it had to be if you ask me.

Thankfully, balance is better than it was. You can't stack a million weapons together and become invincible really early on. I've decided for my first play-through to try the default difficulty (medium I think) and so far I haven't had much trouble. At the point I'm at now, it's even getting a little too easy.

As you may or may not know, there is no level scaling in this game, which is fine for the kind of game it is. It's not a completely open free-world RPG like Oblivion where you can just start wandering around and exploring, not doing any of the main quests.

That's not to say there is no exploration though, Two Worlds II so far is gigantic, but the game is separated into chapters (like Risen is) and moves you on different islands / areas for each chapter. Although, I did create a water walking spell and crossed over to an island (2.5 painful kilometers later) when I wasn't supposed to be there, and it didn't break anything in the game (maybe hurt my ego a bit because I got Stallowned by some nasty monsters).

So yes, you will get 1-shotted if you go in the wrong area, even right in the first chapter of the game. I've seen some people whine on the forums, and I can't help but scratch my head... Obviously, it means you have to return to said area LATER when you're MORE POWERFUL. Death is the lesson, it's not so bad! This is a good thing if you ask me, it puts the element of danger in the equation, and without that, RPGs can become quite boring and predictable.

The voice acting is good, there are a few hitches but nothing that would make me label it any lower than "good". Some of the voices seem to have been recorded much louder than the rest, and others seem like the actors were not of the same caliber as the rest. Nothing to get heartburn over though.

The music... wow. The music. Probably some of the best fantasy game music I've ever heard. Period. I'm not even kidding. I'm not sure which studio wrote the music or how much it costs, but from the sounds of it, it wasn't cheap. And there are plenty of different tunes, and the way they loop isn't annoying (i.e. sacred 2 with the battle music basically taking over every time you raise an arm).

Anyways, I just wanted to write a quick impression, I can't really think of anything else to say, other than the game has really come together well, better than I expected, and it mostly runs well on the 360 (cities tend to bog down a bit, but it's forgivable). All this talking is making me want to go back to it actually, so I'll see yaz later!