Summary
A very engrossing RPG with some large problems
The Good
It's BIG. Strong emphasis on character development. Great sense of 'adventure' and atmosphere with some nice locales. Some parts are quite challenging and the game definetly has its moments. When the game is at its best it is a worthy successor to Wizardry 7 (which in fact it somewhat is). Of course the real Wiz8 looks to be a giant among CRPGs...
The Bad
My biggest gripe is that combat is in real-time until enemy(s) are in melee range. This renders bows useless and spells also to a certain extent. The game 'compensates' for this by making the combat generally far too easy. The interface itself is poorly designed (i.e. no 'save-game' option while in 'action' mode). The guild and promotion system is very nice in concept but poorly executed (it seems as if it was originally conceived with a single character system in mind - not a party system). There are also lots of bugs and some are show-stoppers.
The Bottom Line
If you really love big, turn-based (somewhat), combat oriented RPGs then I think you could definetly enjoy this game despite its flaws. It is after all quite an impressive game underneath it all. If not then don't bother.
