Familiar and yet unlike any other RPG you've played lately
The promise I saw in this game and that it delivers on is gaming for grown-ups. I don't mean "adult" in the sense most American media means it, although there is a certain amount of content that heads in that direction. What I mean instead is that the world feels true and interesting in a way that those of us in the crowd who can now legally drink and therefore do less of it are not at all accustomed to. We see much hand-wringing about ratings on games and the effect this has on children. And side-by-side we see those in the industry shouting back in vain "gaming is not just for kids anymore!" Well this is the game that takes that message to heart and carries it out as a banner.
The complicated decisions the developers plug so reliably have not been over-sold. I found myself repeatedly caught in places where I was deeply conflicted. More than once I took a break from the game for an hour or a day just to postpone and mull over a tough decision for my character. And just as advertised, you will not see the results for many game-hours, making each decision all the more weighty. No quick-save and reload here. The key decisions are placed about 2 per Act of which there are seven (including the prologue and epilogue). This feels just right to me as its common enough to hit home but not so over-used as to feel gimmicky or cheapen the effect. They also server to greatly enhance replayability since you'll want to see the results of all the paths not traveled.
The dialog, while a bit choppy in places due to translation, is mostly well delivered and feels right. The characters are three-dimensional and talk believably. They have a mixture of motives, strengths and failings. The tone is cynical, pragmatic, and dark much of the time. Throughout it all dirty bandits come across as the scum they are, poor people on the street issue lines and sound like urchins in the gutters, and knights sound educated and pompous. The graphics complement well with the artistic style feeling gritty and lived-in. While its technical quality won't cause retinal bleeding like Crysis, it looks more than good enough and performance is stable once you get your settings tweaked to match your system.
I should say something about the gameplay. The combat takes about 30-60 minutes to really get the hang of, but it again performs as advertised. It keeps you engaged because you have to time your clicks to keep that combo rolling. I found myself much more "in-the-moment" than with NWN2 because of the close OTS view (one of three camera options) and the active combat. Still, I'm not a shooter or action player by anyone's estimation and I rarely found myself unable to manage the necessary dexterity to complete my intended butt-kicking. Its worth mentioning that an additional reward for proper handling of the system is to watch the smooth, visceral art of swordplay demonstrated by our hero, Geralt. All those hours in the mo-cap chamber paid dividends here.
The caveats are by now well-reported. Many players experience unacceptable loading times that seem to defy clear explanation in terms of hardware or configuration. Still, the first patch helped a bit and the second one is promising a very serious attempt to address it. I myself have had annoying but not devastating load times swapping between areas as a rule. The inventory system is confining by design. Its not meant to be a loot gathering game, period. But that also means that you have to spend a certain amount of time shuffling around the tiny icons in your inventory and making hard decisions about what to carry around. (I myself loved the potion and bomb-making system and so I found my inventory crammed with alchemical ingredients and a virtual Swiss Army knife of concoctions for every occasion.) As mentioned above there are also a handful of nonsensical conversations to be found as well as more than a few where you feel detail is somehow missing. All in all I find this to be a modest loss to what is top-notch writing. 15% loss of great content still beats the standard fare hands-down, in this author's opinion. The talent system is novel and the effects of most improvements can be readily seen at next use. Still, the way the game is designed and the fact that 60% of all talents are available by game's end means that at any given level your Geralt will probably look a fair bit like mine.
This is hands-down the best RPG I have played in years, warts and all. I find it all the more unbelievable that it has come to us from a first time developer in Eastern Europe where quality standards have not historically been particularly exacting. I encourage anyone who might like to dig into a serious role-playing game aimed at the mature gamer to give this one a spin. We vote with our dollars and I want my dollars to send the message that real grown-up games with real decisions to complement their tight gameplay are worth the effort to create.