Anyhow up to level 4 with a party of 5 now. Feels very much like Baldurs Gate 1. Not nearly as polished as the BG2 but still a very good feel to the game/genre that has been absent for many years.
I think it's a decent step up from BG1 in that it has much more substantive dialogs and less trash mobs.
My impressions so far - Level 7.
The pros:
Pacing: It might have the best pacing of any RPG. Content is dense and there is always something interesting to do. Downtime is usually welcome and not a chore.
Defiance Bay is fun to explore with tons of quests and NPCs. A decent amount of choices&consequences here, more than I've run into elsewhere so far.
The variety of non-combat and combat quest resolutions is very nice and much greater than any of the IE games not named Planescape Torment.
The Meh:
Combat is pretty routine. It can be interesting when you run into something over your level and there are a few enemies out there with abilities that throw you off. But for the most part you can do the same things every combat and get away with it.
Classes/Skills - Some good good just on a curio level where others are just flat boring. Wizards are yawn inducing and too many of their highest damage dealing spells are Full AoE instead of FOE AoE unlike Ciphers. There is little of interest in the skills since it's pretty obvious which ones you want for which characters.
Wilderness areas - They are dense comparatively but a little small so it takes away from the exploration aspects. Maybe an engine limitation or just a poor design decision but it would have been better if a few of the early ones were combined.
Dialogs - When they are good they are dynamic in a conversational style using all the tools like attributes, skills, and reputations. But most of them time they are massive lore dumps. (I am not talking about the backer characters).
My biggest gripes ATM:
Some of the quest logic is really easy to break. Don't talk to NPC X but explore an area anyway. Go back and talk to that NPC and all the sudden some fancy plot stuffins shows up. A lot less systemic than a couple other KS RPGs.
They really did a poor job balancing experience rewards. They give experience as if they expect you to play maybe 65% of the content when I think they underestimate just how many CRPG players are completionists. Makes the game too easy.
I really don't like how detecting traps/items is tied in with sneaking as a catch all in scouting.
Too many of the quests are easily solved by walking up to X and pressing some dialog option. Would have preferred fewer but more intricate quests.
