* general gameplay is good but entirely turn-and-tile based. No running past hordes of enemies to a late-stage town or secret chest you know contains goodies. If you can't fight your way there, you ain't getting there until you can. This also makes the game somewhat linear as many areas are locked off until you complete other areas* tile-based also means that you need to step on every tile in the game if you don't want to miss anything - some signs, chests etc you only notice when you step on the tile
* graphics are easily best of any MM game so far IMO. Quite beautiful in parts actually. I'd love to see a real-time and free-world MM game on this engine
* game isn't necessary short in & of itself (partially because the linearity forces you to take your time to some extent) but you will complete the game with far fewer levels than past MM games. You won't even get to max out all your skills, which is a shame, even with the bonus Act 5 that was added after release. Further, all of Act 4 and Act 5 are played without being able to return to towns and train, so if you don't have it by the end of Act 3, you won't have it. This is also partially because.....
* many promo quests are locked unless you have that particular character class in your party. This means that in any one game, as many as 8 quests/dungeons will be inaccessible. This is even worse because...
* one school of magic (Dark) is only usable by a single class, the Human Freemage. As absurd as this would be normally, it's even worse because the Dark Magic school contains the spell which allows you to discover hidden doors/rooms/chests etc, many of which are required for finishing particular dungeons. It is possible to keep this spell active via scrolls if you want to keep spending your money, running out, returning to town, and resting for 3 x periods for the stores to restock - at least until you get other options for the spell later in the game, But honestly the very thought of that aggravates me so much that I've never played without a Freemage, which limits replayability significantly
* there are relics which are given fairly continually throughout the game even at early stages, but there's only one of each "type" of item: medium armour, axe, necklace etc. They can be cool and they gain experience with you which increases their powers (up to item level 4), which is a cool idea, but if you don't have a character able to use it you won't be getting any joy. Other magic items are relatively standard & you won't be getting attached to them
* you are forced to play the game through Ubi's Uplay client, despite it being a single-player game with zero need to be online
* most crucially, I experienced two mainline quest-killing bugs which I believe were never fixed, as support for the game was withdrawn within 6 months of release. These last two points are unforgivable sins which have made me pledge to never pay for a Ubi title again
So all in all, a mixed bag. If you avoid the bugs, it's a neat little game for one or two playthroughs, which could have been significantly better with a couple of common-sense tweaks: allowing honorary promos to increase the level the characters can attain and therefore the skills they can use (not to mention play parts of the game you otherwise can't); give another class access to Dark Magic (it's only a normal-level spell you need, for Ancient's sake). If you can get it cheap, it'll occupy you for a month or so
