Solid gameplay, good worldbuilding
Obviously graphics aren't as detailed as in AAA titles, but that doesn't detract from the game and makes it playable on modest hardware, even if a bit sluggish. Occasional crashes that seem to be related to the engine not being able to load things fast enough, or / and some resource leak that makes it become more sluggish with playtime. A reload or world travel usually fixes this.
One review claims this game to be "woke". This thought may occur because the story revolves around colonization but, contrary to most titles, showcases the mostly negative sides thereof and picks up on almost every mis-step that history proves to ba a repeating pattern, including the holy inquisition and "over-ambitious" scientists. The "most outrageously censored topics" (the word banlist prevents me from spelling them out) only appear as side-notes in a collectible and a companion dialogue, but anything else would likely have gotten this game banned in the usual overly sensitive countries. It may be assumed that most, if not all of these, occur(ed) in every comparable situation IRL.
However, contrary to that review, the natives are not entirely good and flawless, only the extent is much less, which is reasonable because it usually is the peaceful folks who are being assaulted.
What really is not typical are the many women in leading positions, on both sides of the conflict, which doesn't seem to align with colonial history and thus seems to be effects of the Zeitgeist, as is the completely random distribution of skin colors which simply doesn't make any sense, especially so in the context of a confined island population. The most extreme colors are missing, probably because even today computers have severe difficulty rendering these in a realistic way.
The abyss of human behavior definitely provides ample opportunity for interesting and unique quest lines without the need to draw upon some Sauron or other supervillain. In fact, occasionally it feels like there should have been several quests, covering separate aspects. Especially the quest where you find the aforementioned collectibles feels like it should have been split in two; budget restraints maybe.
Discovering the islands mystery is sufficiently interesting all by itself.
Therefore, one must be willing to accept the theme and be shown this side of humanity in order to enjoy this game at all.
Another reviewer claimed that magic is useless, but I find that not to be the case. All skills seem to be reasonably balanced and viable, and magic is especially handy in the later game because it bypasses armor, plus can be used for crowd control while gnawing away enemy armor, softening them up for melee attacks. In boss fights, the combination of two (or even three) skills is really great, especially since you can use your pistol at any time, while switching between your two primary weapons at will.
It is a bit sad that you cannot be overly creative with conflict resolutions on the battlefield. Especially in one quest near the end I would have fully been able to sneak past an ambush and steal the relevant item from the ambushers, but the game insists on a fight. One should note that you can only "stealth attack", which doesn't equate to "stealth kill" unless your melee damage is high enough.
Helpful hint: especially in the beginning, most areas provide extremely hard, even impossible fights, so you're best off following the proposed routes. Know that you can flee from most battles, even miniboss fights, if they are too tough for you (if you can make it far enough). With time, this becomes much less of an issue and nearly irrelevant near the end. This is close to perfect since it prevents combat from becoming a chore: in the beginning, the intricacies of the fighting style and enemy behavior matter and are new and engaging, while in the end the enjoyment comes from the creative use of the unlocked variety of skills. Don't worry about your buddies using up your ammo or potions: they have their own supplies.
The loot more or less matches your current level, which is good since there are level restrictions to items. Money is scarce in the beginning but doesn't stay this way. There are some unique items to be found in various special places, but these aren't necessarily the best, nor useless.
Crafting is locked behind a particularly expensive skill tree and doesn't give that much of an edge, so it's best to use these points elsewhere and shell out money to the crafters once in a while. The same applies to alchemy, with the exception being that you need one level in this to get to some sites (applies to most parts of this particular skill tree). Hint: there are items that give you bonus points in some of these, so if you find one, keep one instance with you all the time, even if it's worse than your current gear, so you can apply it when required. The wardrobe is similar: keep around one instance of every coat of arms so you can use them as disguise if needed. Almost every time, only De Sardet needs to be dressed appropriately, the teammates are ignored (applies to sneaking as well!).
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