This game is a unique blend of roguelite and city builder mechanics. You are a viceroy, tasked to build a settlement in a short period of time, trying to balance your fledgling population's needs with the queen's demands, all the while facing the harsh elements of the unwelcoming forest. Along the way you will be forced to choose between different types of boons (and occasional curses) to expedite the process. This isn't a game about sustainability. It's not a game about building a sustainable settlement. It's a game about trying to complete goals before the elements of the game turn on you.

If all that sounds like your type of game, this is a definite recommendation. There's nothing quite like this game on the market yet.

Post-completion update: This is 2023's GOTY for me. Absolutely Recommended. A Massive Landmark RPG. Acts 1 and 2 are probably some of the best acts in narrative RPGs. Act 3 falters a tad bit due to the weight of the game, but not to the extent that it detracts significantly from the rest of the game. Looking forward to more updates in the future!

(Multiplayer is also fun and chaotic lmao)

Before a more in-depth list of features, a list of what this game is and isn't

♠ This game is NOT
Divinity Original Sin 3, a 1:1 port of D&D 5e to video game, the perfect video game, a bug-free experience, a game that will satisfy every single person's wants or preferences

♠ This game IS
A highly reactive and deep RPG, a great synthesis of some of the best elements of CRPGs updated to modern standards, a beautifully cinematic game, the closest thing to playing an actual session of D&D in video game form at the moment, one of the best games to come out in 2023, Larian's best effort to date imo
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Features and Observations:

♣ Character creation gives you analysis paralysis

♣ Game adapts the best parts of D&D 5e into video game form, while revising aspects that don't work well with video games with a Larian/Divinity flair

♣ A lot of Quality of Life improvements over DOS2, namely search bar for the inventory and freeform movement

♣ Companions AND NPCs remember things you did/said to them

♣ Companions banter with each other ala Dragon Age

♣ Character facial and body animations are astounding during cutscenes

♣ Multiple paths to solve puzzles and quests exist

♣ Dialogue options and ability checks are sometimes dependent on your class and race, making it so it feels like the world actually reacts to who you are and makes both relevant for roleplaying purposes

♣ Nested tooltips!!!

♣ Bugs so far are mostly of the Skyrim variety- either minor ones or funny ahh bugs

♣ Most importantly, trust the dice. Having bad rolls doesn't mean the end of the game, it's just a new path in the journey