I've finally written a review... one for GF1 will come soon, or whenever. Sorry!

Don't let the playtime fool you -- I'm reviewing this on just one complete EA play-through, which took me approximately 20 hours or so in total. The other 16 or so hours are due to me starting over, testing out different classes, fiddling with the settings, crying inconsolably to the main theme or being blindsided by typical Spiders storytelling (this is a good thing!)...

A fair warning: most of my review has to do with storytelling, rather than gameplay. I have a little list at the end if you're intrigued to hear about the more mechanical bits.

TL;DR?
Probably.

First off: this is going to be a bit meandering, but I don't much care. It's an early access review for something that is beloved for me, so think of it as an experimental art piece. It'll be a little disjointed and a bit chaotic, but well-rounded enough. You'll pull through.

PROS
- I'm already very invested into the world of GreedFall ...
- Gorgeous game with gorgeous character design
- The game encourages exploration
- The characters!
- The lore is expanded upon greatly, including the language Yecht Fradi

CONS
- Buggy and glitchy
- The world is somewhat unoptimized, and very, very heavy in Tir Fradi
- The combat is very new, and can be irritating, especially at first and moreso if you are expecting an experience like the first game
- Animations can lag and tear, and the finer elements of textures can take way too long to load in

BUT... a caveat to all these cons? It's literally EARLY ACCESS. You can either deal with them and report them to the devs, or get upset about an early access game having early access glitches and review bomb it. The very last bit of the review has even more finely tuned observations, if you want to learn more but also skip past my screaming and crying. I won't judge, carants, go ahead.

A few words...
Firstly, don't go into the game with expectations that it will be a completed product. It's not. It's still a little rough around the edges, replete with bugs and little glitches -- all of which can be reported directly to Spiders and Nacon through the menu -- but as with any Spiders game, the story is sublime, and you can tell how much love and care went into the creation of their characters.


The combat is very, very different from the first game, perhaps even frustratingly so. I did get a little peeved with it at times, but reminded myself that it is still very much a work in progress, and Spiders is a small studio. Giving it that grace made it much more tolerable. And beyond that, if you're active in the Discord, you'd know that the finished product will be quite similar to the combat in Dragon Age: Origins . Just hang in there! It can be off-putting, and I understand that this is a huge reason as to why the game is being review bombed -- that, and I suppose deducing that it is in early access is a Herculean task for some -- but the story is worth it.


The bit where Damsel cries

Now, I need to wax poetic for a moment...

GreedFall I was my first Spiders game, and it remains my absolute favourite game of all time. It checked all the boxes for me: early modern technology, low/dark fantasy, fantastic companions, romances that weren't cringing or saccharine. When I finished it in 2022, I was immediately ready for a second game, be it the continuation of de Sardet's saga, or a completely different experience in the island of Tir Fradi or the continent of Gacane. I've been following the development of GreedFall II: The Dying World since it was announced. On 24 September, I set an alarm for 3:55am, so I could get out of bed, boot up my computer, and grab it the very second it dropped at 4am. And that I did.

We encounter some familiar faces, both at home and abroad. Mev was, as always, a terrifying and beautiful presence.

Returning to Tir Fradi was a treat, and being able to experience it as a native who actually grew up there and was becoming a doneigad was spectacular. Vriden gerr -- literally, rootless in Yecht Fradi -- is an excellent foil to de Sardet, our beloved door-destroying legate from the first opus. Vriden gerr is curious and naive where de Sardet is swaggering and confident. The several callbacks to the first game were well-received and greatly appreciated.

The companions, just like in the first game, all had very distinctive introductory scenes that immediately cemented them into my mind. Although no one's introduction was quite as bombastic as Aphra's -- with her dropping down from the trees in a swamp and shoving a pistol in our faces, only to be taunted with what essentially amounted to "try it! do it! see what happens!" -- they were all foundational and remarkable.

Perhaps my sentimentality colours more of my review than anything, but I hardly think that's a fault. The EA was worth it, and I feel honoured to be able to help Spiders develop the game, in my very minute ways. The best way to experience the EA, in my opinion, is to lean into the narrative bit, and lower your expectations for combat and general handling of the game. Spiders excel at telling stories, and even though we are missing some quests, companions, and locations at this stage in the development, it is still wonderful. At the time of my writing this, the game is barely over a week old, and it is still in early access. Check out the road map on the store page or in the Discord server. It's a work in progress!

More technical bits

If you want a more granular look at my opinion, here it is:
- Gameplay/combat: 3/5 (See above)
- Companions: 5/5 (Love them all, but still love Kurt more)
- Graphics: 4/5 (Gorgeous, gorgeous game, but poorly optimized, at least in this stage of its development)
- Atmosphere: 4/5 (Love the music, but cities, towns, and other settlements could do with some more ambience to make them feel 'lived in')
- Story/worldbuilding: 5/5 (I imagine a newcomer to the series would be very confused, but whatever.)
- Door opening animation: 4/5 (has some gusto, but doesn't have that same aggressive, rip-it-off-the-hinges-and-threaten-people-with-your-bodyguard aura)

(You also can't pull a 'Do you know who I am?!' in conversation, but it's okay.)

This would technically round itself out to about 4.5/5, but my adoration for the world of GreedFall is greater than the restrictions of mere mathematics, so it's a 5/5. If you don't like early access games, or aren't already familiar with the world, then I'd recommend you either wait for the full release, or go have your life ruined by the first game like myself. But if you're already a fan of GreedFall or don't care about EA/want to help a small studio create yet another masterpiece, then I recommend you buy it.

I've finally written a review... one for GF1 will come soon, or whenever. Sorry! Don't let the playtime fool you -- I'm reviewing this on just one complete EA play-through, which took me approximately 20 hours or so in total. The other 16 or so hours are due to me starting over, testing out different classes, fiddling with the settings, crying inconsolably to the main theme or being blindsided by typical Spiders storytelling (this is a good thing!)... A fair warning: most of my review has to do with storytelling, rather than gameplay. I have a little list at the end if you're intrigued to hear about the more mechanical bits. [b] TL;DR? [/b] Probably. First off: this is going to be a bit meandering, but I don't much care. It's an early access review for something that is beloved for me, so think of it as an experimental art piece. It'll be a little disjointed and a bit chaotic, but well-rounded enough. You'll pull through. [b] PROS [/b] - I'm already very invested into the world of [b] GreedFall [/b]... - Gorgeous game with gorgeous character design - The game encourages exploration - The characters! - The lore is expanded upon greatly, including the language Yecht Fradi [b] CONS [/b] - Buggy and glitchy - The world is somewhat unoptimized, and very, very heavy in Tir Fradi - The combat is very new, and can be irritating, especially at first and moreso if you are expecting an experience like the first game - Animations can lag and tear, and the finer elements of textures can take way too long to load in BUT... a caveat to all these cons? It's literally [b]EARLY ACCESS.[/b] You can either deal with them and report them to the devs, or get upset about an early access game having early access glitches and review bomb it. The very last bit of the review has even more finely tuned observations, if you want to learn more but also skip past my screaming and crying. I won't judge, [i]carants[/i], go ahead. [b] A few words... [/b] Firstly, don't go into the game with expectations that it will be a completed product. It's not. It's still a little rough around the edges, replete with bugs and little glitches -- all of which can be reported directly to Spiders and Nacon through the menu -- but as with any Spiders game, the story is sublime, and you can tell how much love and care went into the creation of their characters. The combat is very, very different from the first game, perhaps even frustratingly so. I did get a little peeved with it at times, but reminded myself that it is still very much a work in progress, and Spiders is a small studio. Giving it that grace made it much more tolerable. And beyond that, if you're active in the Discord, you'd know that the finished product will be quite similar to the combat in [i] Dragon Age: Origins [/i]. Just hang in there! It can be off-putting, and I understand that this is a huge reason as to why the game is being review bombed -- that, and I suppose deducing that it is in early access is a Herculean task for some -- but the story is worth it. [b] The bit where Damsel cries [/b] Now, I need to wax poetic for a moment... [i] GreedFall I [/i] was my first Spiders game, and it remains my absolute favourite game of all time. It checked all the boxes for me: early modern technology, low/dark fantasy, fantastic companions, romances that weren't cringing or saccharine. When I finished it in 2022, I was immediately ready for a second game, be it the continuation of de Sardet's saga, or a completely different experience in the island of Tir Fradi or the continent of Gacane. I've been following the development of [i] GreedFall II: The Dying World [/i] since it was announced. On 24 September, I set an alarm for 3:55am, so I could get out of bed, boot up my computer, and grab it the very second it dropped at 4am. And that I did. We encounter some familiar faces, both at home and abroad. Mev was, as always, a terrifying and beautiful presence. Returning to Tir Fradi was a treat, and being able to experience it as a native who actually grew up there and was becoming a doneigad was spectacular. Vriden gerr -- literally, rootless in Yecht Fradi -- is an excellent foil to de Sardet, our beloved door-destroying legate from the first opus. Vriden gerr is curious and naive where de Sardet is swaggering and confident. The several callbacks to the first game were well-received and greatly appreciated. The companions, just like in the first game, all had very distinctive introductory scenes that immediately cemented them into my mind. Although no one's introduction was quite as bombastic as Aphra's -- with her dropping down from the trees in a swamp and shoving a pistol in our faces, only to be taunted with what essentially amounted to "try it! do it! see what happens!" -- they were all foundational and remarkable. Perhaps my sentimentality colours more of my review than anything, but I hardly think that's a fault. The EA was worth it, and I feel honoured to be able to help Spiders develop the game, in my very minute ways. The best way to experience the EA, in my opinion, is to [b]lean into the narrative bit, and lower your expectations for combat and general handling of the game.[/b] Spiders excel at telling stories, and even though we are missing some quests, companions, and locations at this stage in the development, it is still wonderful. At the time of my writing this, the game is barely over a week old, and it is still in early access. Check out the road map on the store page or in the Discord server. It's a work in progress! [b] More technical bits [/b] If you want a more granular look at my opinion, here it is: - Gameplay/combat: 3/5 (See above) - Companions: 5/5 (Love them all, but still love Kurt more) - Graphics: 4/5 (Gorgeous, gorgeous game, but poorly optimized, at least in this stage of its development) - Atmosphere: 4/5 (Love the music, but cities, towns, and other settlements could do with some more ambience to make them feel 'lived in') - Story/worldbuilding: 5/5 (I imagine a newcomer to the series would be very confused, but whatever.) - Door opening animation: 4/5 (has some gusto, but doesn't have that same aggressive, rip-it-off-the-hinges-and-threaten-people-with-your-bodyguard aura) (You also can't pull a 'Do you know who I am?!' in conversation, but it's okay.) This would technically round itself out to about 4.5/5, but my adoration for the world of [i] GreedFall [/i] is greater than the restrictions of mere mathematics, so it's a 5/5. If you don't like early access games, or aren't already familiar with the world, then I'd recommend you either wait for the full release, or go have your life ruined by the first game like myself. But if you're already a fan of [i] GreedFall [/i] or don't care about EA/want to help a small studio create yet another masterpiece, then I recommend you buy it.