While I am recommending this game, it comes with the caveat that you should probably wait to purchase it for a few more weeks. By then, they will have hopefully worked out the bugs.


Cons

Bugs: Especially a most annoying one that happens in combat. Occasionally, characters will freeze mid animation. About 75% of the time they will finally work themselves out of it, but the other 25% usually requires that player to reload their game. Save often.

Graphics: Not horrible at all, but if you're coming from something like BG3 or Divinity, you'll notice it.

Camera: the camera can be a pain at times, especially in the urban worlds. While annoying, I think it was purposefully done to give the impression of how cluttered and packed Imperial worlds can be.

Fight difficulty: for the most part, it's pretty straightforward. Every now and again, though, you'll run into something that throws in a new mechanic. This can range from things like a certain enemy able to put out insane damage in two shots to a vox caster spitting out an insanely powerful buff to the enemies. The game won't explain these things for you, so everything is very much a trial-by-error event. Use cover, be aware of your surroundings, and recon by fire as much as possible.

Lack of customization: this is mostly towards the character appearance/equipment and your voidship. Neither are huge deals, but I'm always fond of games which let you look the way you want, without restricting equipment usage (aka visuals tied to equipped items and not a wardrobe feature).


Pros

It's 40k.

Lore: right now, this is probably the very best 40k title that lets you experience what actual life in the Imperium is. Granted, you sit at the top of the pyramid, but you'll be the one making the decisions on how your little slice of humanity deals with things. You'll see a large range of issues and individuals from the IP.

Character Builds: probably one of the deepest character trees, I've seen with many avenues to craft a unique style avatar. The amount of abilities, the way the work, and most importantly, how they combo off each other, is something really special. I also love the way they handle buffing classes like the Officer, Master Tactician, and Grand Strategist. One of the few games that can really make you feel like a tactical genius by controlling the field properly.

Tone: this could probably fall under lore or storytelling as well, but the tone is perfect in this game. This is life in 40k. The devs have to be major fans of the IP because that passion comes through in every instance. Which is a rarity these days due to the fact the wider world realized there was money in video gaming.

Space Combat: basically a real simplified version of Battlefleet Gothic. But what I love is that through proper maneuvering and tactics, you can win against things that seem impossible. Controlling distance and angles is vastly important, and once again, when you are flying circles around a battle group that has four times the firepower your ship has and are dropping them through hit-and-run attacks, it feels really good.

Companions: Nice grouping from across the 40k IP. Additionally, they gave us the ability to create custom characters as well. Most of the in-game companions are really well done, although I feel like the Interrogator from the Inquisition is a little too lenient on the heretical choices the MC may make. Also, the small amount of voice acting the game does have is well done and fits the tone.

Wealth and the Economy: The economy and wealth accumulation works a little differently here than most video games. There is no gold, no credits, no coins. Instead, you have 'profit factor'. Which is basically the combined worth of the worlds the RT controls. What that means is that all items require only two things. A high enough profit factor and a good relationship standing with the faction you're purchasing from. I like this mechanic for two reasons. One, it gives the idea that you're ridiculously wealthy, which plays well into the storytelling and RP aspect. Two, you don't have to juggle buying one item or another due to funding. If your profit factor is high enough, you can simply purchase everything at that level and below without 'losing' cash. This means you can experiment with a lot of equipment and not be worried about the loss of revenue.


Overall, this is a solid game and one I recommend at full price. While there are more than a few bugs, once those get sorted this is a great title with some good replay value. The different build styles and story paths alone would make this close to a 100 hours in a single play through. Can't wait to see where they go from here.