Pro:
-Sailing is great
Negative:
- barely a video game, systems come and go outside of purely sailing your ship and they're all ♥♥♥♥.
- Devs are greedy little pigs

I have 2k~ hours in the first one and have probably played 90%+ of games that can be described as an aRPG.

While I'm still enjoying my time, I have never played an aRPG that has given me as many frustrating moments as this one. Basically everything good about the game is because they took it from poe1 (outside of wasd and some qol stuff).

Those things they took from poe1 they then usually made worse.

- the skill tree
- gem system
- class system

These three main pillars they took from 1 and Diablo 4-ified. The true sauce of poe1 was the ability to do absolutely anything you want with any class.

In 2 they really want you to play the game how they want you to. They say they make these changes for x but the end result when you're playing the game is still the same, the problems still there the games just shallower.

The game is so incredibly slowed and watered down with absolutely 0 loot and 0 crafting. This game would be unplayable without trade, and it's still the same archaic trade system from 1.

This game has the potential to be one of the best games in existence (not just of aRPGs), but I'm not sure the current leaders have the right vision TM

More than just a game, it's an experience

If you like cRPGs you'll like this

if dwarf fortress is too daunting for you, this is the closest you'll get

Great game 9/10, personally feel it's a little weaker than the first but at the same I enjoyed it a TON more!

• Fantastic World Building
  
• Great Character Progression
  
• Immersive AF
  
• A lot less linear than the first one
  
• PIRATES
  
• Reminiscent of BG2
  
• Incredible story
  
• Your choices actually matter
  
• IMO the per-encounter spell/ability system is a ton better than per-rest

• The main story itself is very short (you'll get lost in side quests galore though)
  
• Final boss is a dissapointment
  
• Map isn't as big as it seems
  
• Static amount of ships - once you've dealth with all the ships no more will spawn. Makes the world feel kind of dead end game

Simply an incredible cRPG, if you have enjoyed any similar titles (Divinity Original Sin, Icewind Dale, Baldurs Gate, Tyranny, Dragon Age) you should definitely pick this up and give it a try. If you've never played a top down rpg before but you like the idea of character progression, role playing, cool ass pirate fights, great character customization BUY THIS GAME!

Brought back that spark of childhood wonder when playing a game