My rating: 7/10
Based on: two full playthroughs, one each on normal and hard difficulty
Check out my other reviews

Pros:

(+) mature story with meaningful choices and often heart-breaking consequences in a brutal world full of greys with an interesting Norse-inspired mythology
(+) a sprawling and diverse cast of levellable characters, complete with their own backgrounds and story arcs, with occasional changes of the POV character between chapters
(+) challenging tactical combat with simple rules but complex strategic considerations and satisfying enough variety
(+) a constant struggle between progress, survival and the characters’ development with a palpable sense of urgency
(+) stunning old-cartoon-like art style (2D backgrounds with few animations)
(+) masterfully orchestrated music by Austin Wintory, the composer for the 2012 indie darling Journey
(+) oft-frustrating and emotionally draining but ultimately engaging and rewarding time sink for punishment gluttons, armchair generals, party micromanagers, completionists and lore enthusiasts
(+) amazing replay value
(+) overall a good introduction to a new IP with a lot of growth potential and quite an accomplishment for a three-person indie studio

Cons:

(−) progress can be tediously slow
(−) survival can be punishingly frustrating on higher difficulties
(−) changes of POV and story twists make it difficult to level up the characters with confidence and deliberation
(−) story twists and consequences of bad decisions can be devastating for the faint-hearted
(−) little to none voice acting (involves a lot of reading)
(−) serviceable writing at best sounding like a work of a non-native English speaker (and there’s a lot of text to read through)
(−) primarily mouse-controlled with little to none keyboard hotkeys support outside of combat
(−) occasional textual mistakes (not enough proof-reading?)

[b]My rating:[/b] 7/10 Based on: two full playthroughs, one each on normal and hard difficulty [url=steamproxy.net/id/CamAddLess/recommended/]Check out my other reviews[/url] [b]Pros:[/b] (+) mature story with meaningful choices and often heart-breaking consequences in a brutal world full of greys with an interesting Norse-inspired mythology (+) a sprawling and diverse cast of levellable characters, complete with their own backgrounds and story arcs, with occasional changes of the POV character between chapters (+) challenging tactical combat with simple rules but complex strategic considerations and satisfying enough variety (+) a constant struggle between progress, survival and the characters’ development with a palpable sense of urgency (+) stunning old-cartoon-like art style (2D backgrounds with few animations) (+) masterfully orchestrated music by Austin Wintory, the composer for the 2012 indie darling Journey (+) oft-frustrating and emotionally draining but ultimately engaging and rewarding time sink for punishment gluttons, armchair generals, party micromanagers, completionists and lore enthusiasts (+) amazing replay value (+) overall a good introduction to a new IP with a lot of growth potential and quite an accomplishment for a three-person indie studio [b]Cons:[/b] (−) progress can be tediously slow (−) survival can be punishingly frustrating on higher difficulties (−) changes of POV and story twists make it difficult to level up the characters with confidence and deliberation (−) story twists and consequences of bad decisions can be devastating for the faint-hearted (−) little to none voice acting (involves a lot of reading) (−) serviceable writing at best sounding like a work of a non-native English speaker (and there’s a lot of text to read through) (−) primarily mouse-controlled with little to none keyboard hotkeys support outside of combat (−) occasional textual mistakes (not enough proof-reading?)