Not bad, not great. Good, but with problems...
Anyway... The characters are great. Jason (the protagonist) is what you want him to be. Either kind, wise, calculating or a simple warrior (or all of the above). It is your choice. Of course the powers and abilities you desire to possess may have a slight impact on what you choose him to be as you receive these abilities from the favor of the gods that rule those particular aspects.
You progress in the game by achievements based on battle moves and victories, and/ or behaviors. Battle moves can be tricky since there is no real training module and you must glean the trick of some moves on your own or in case of a couple: from the on screen tip during battle at the beginning the game. These tips only show once and for only a few seconds so pay close attention. Your weapons are the spear, blade, and hammer and there are achievements attached to each one. There is a lot of character interaction within the game so you make sure and talk to everyone who will talk to you. Your dialogue choices lead you into or away from achievements of their own as well as to some new armor or weapons.
A note on the saving; you can save anywhere even when you are in dialogue! Of course if you reload you start out at your last checkpoint or autosave before your manual save, but it is still very handy if you don't like the way your dialogue choices are going. You can even save in the middle of cutscenes without skipping them like you would in other games. A neat trick if you ask me. You can still bypass scenes by hitting "A" if you like.
The environment is pretty, like the characters but it is also restrictive and nearly linear. I am not a big fan of invisible walls, in fact I hate them and this game has them in scores. Oy! the map. The map is horrible by any standard. One of the worst I have ever seen. Nearly useless. Once you leave any city you cannot return there so make sure and do everything you can there before you leave. Additionally, you are sometimes whisked away to the ship or blocked from key areas once you have completed the main storyline so make sure you complete all the substory plotlines before you finish the main one as you cannot often move around freely in this game.
The fighting is fun. You have your choice of 3 weapons each with at least 3 moves and even more combination moves so there is plenty to experiment with. I wish Jason were allowed to fight without allies just so you could prolong the battles. They seem a little thin in the game. You health bar is non-existent as far as I can tell although there is something about the HUD in the options that I didn't bother with. Learn to dodge and block and you should never have a problem with dying. If you reach the "State of Grace" where everything slows down and you hear ominous music, then concentrate on getting away from your enemy at least until the state passes.
The god powers are fun but awkward to use in the middle of action. Find them located in the "Aspects" section by using the "Start" button. The passive powers work best. Healing is a must so be nice to Apollo and purchase at least that one from him. There are some other must have passive powers (Gain health with each kill, that sort of thing), so make sure and check them all out beforehand so you know how to progress toward them. Check out the "Stars" section and look at each star in each constellation so that you know what achievements you are shooting for. You also get credit for finishing the constellations themselves. When you accomplish each feat in the description of the star you get points to use to purchase favor from the gods to use to further purchase the individual active or passive powers. It sounds complex but it really is pretty obvious once you start playing.
This game is fickle. It cannot decide whether to be roleplay or action/ adventure. It is a bit of both which is both enticing and frustrating. On the roleplay side, you have lots of dialogue and character leveling, but no inventory and very little flexibility on your choices and development. On the action side, there is too much talk and not enough action. The battles seem a little to easy with only the bosses giving you any real challenge.
Overall, I liked the game. It has some new tweaks that are interesting. If the near misses would have hit home, it could have been a great game. The linear layout is too restrictive and would have to be changed for any real recommendation. Rent it and you will be satisfied if not excited. Buy it and you will be disappointed if not crestfallen.