Recent reviews by Zane

There are some incredibly well done Parts in this game but it really never manages to put them together into a motivating experience. I really liked the predecessor and the added element of exploration made me excited for PoE2 but it proved to be a dissapointment, the world feels fractured, you only got a handful of proper questlines and those tend to be short and not very memorable, aside from conquering the pirate-base and exploring the undercity i never got a feeling of adventure from those. Side quests and mini-dungeons are plentyful but ultimately all come down to one or two brawls and thats it.
The game is also too easy, leveling happens very fast and if you refuse to use the level-scaling mechanic (like i do because its just bad game-design) you will soon run out of any challenging encounters.

The main Questline is just visiting 4 different isles and its over.

The ending also proved to be a massive dissapointment and the summarization just reminded me how uninterresting and focussed on politics every questline was.

Its a shame really because the basics of an incredible RPG experience sure are present.

I guess after 2 playthroughs its time to give this game a rating and some words.

Being hailed as a successor to the old infinity-engine games i think Obsidian succeeded on all points. The Maps feature among the prettiest landscapes, dungeons and buildings you will ever see in an RPG, the characters are well animated and equipped armor, cloaks and weapons are all visible.
the story is interresting and features a neat twist, all your party npcs got a complex backstory you can unravel and the quests usually feature some surprises as well although they can be a little to straightforward for my taste, generally the writing is a lot more subtle and "realistic" than in other fantasy RPGs, dont expect cartoonish characters or plots, there is also a strong focus on giving every conflict 2 sides but thats kinda expected of Obsidian these days.
What I feel really stands out is the class-system with a lot of races, subraces and classes to choose from and a lot of room for customization, playing around with stats and skills allows for a lot of viable playstyles, want your mage to be a crossbow sniper? You can do that just as you can make your rogue a heavy armored brute that hits people with a club and there are enough skills to make almost everything work.
The only real problem i feel this game has involves the combat. Its generally to fast (the slow-down mode only helps a little) and it can be very chaotic as single spell effects get drained out in the fireworks and you are often left wondering what the hell is damaging your entire party right now.
There is also a problem with the design of the encounters as you are often forced to fight long fights against the same groups of foes (this especially annoyed me in the endless paths as every group on the lower levels seemed to have 3-4 banshees that are just a pain to fight).
This doesnt mean that its all bad, just that it can get pretty frustrating in some cases, especially on the highest difficulty.
Overall the variety of skills and spells do make up for these shortcomings and result in a very rewarding tactical gameplay experience.

If you like RPGs and good writing you cant pass this up.

Doesnt work anymore due to Microsoft being horrible people.

I played Shadow Warrior first and loved it, this in comparison is a huge letdown, No quicksaving, the regenerating shield system from Halo and worst of all masses of hitscan-enemies that make higher difficulty a chore. I got frustrated at the parking garage part where you have to fight 2 waves of Cyborgs with no proper cover in a minefield of explosive environment items.

Just a pretty fast-paced shooter with tons of weapons and upgrades, a good story and oldschool enough to know to focus on gameplay above all else.

Levels might be a little repetitive here and there and even the higher difficulties are barely a challenge but who cares? Its fun!