This was my first turn based CRPG that I have played, and I loved it.

I played the game on Easy and it kicked my ass more times than not, really only after level 15 could I take on big fights without reloading a couple times. The early game is infuriating, you wont hit any attack, you are very weak, and you are going to have to figure out how to kill 5 enemies by yourself for almost every encounter. But like a battered housewife, I just kept coming back for more. If you can stick it out past Depot A to around level 10 your abilities will begin catch up to your ambition.

That being said their are some downright sadistic enemies, and the game seems to have an infatuation with stunning my character every chance it gets. You do have the power cheese on your side: the classic reality bending power of quicksave and quickload, as well as numerous traps, grenades, and psionics you are going to need to use to stay alive.

The story is good, a classic lost mcguffin plot, but the world building is very good. At the beginning you only get glimpses of the horrors that the Underrail holds, and slowly the game shows more and more of it. The Deep Caverns, the last area you will explore, is spectacular and truly inhospitable. The story has ideas similar to the Metro books and S.T.A.L.K.E.R games, but is I think decidedly more pessimistic.

I lost an uncomfortable amount of time to this game, it's great!

- Look up character builds, you really can't waste points at the beginning.
- Don't be afraid to use the wiki for some things, directions in the game are not very descriptive and if you get lost or stuck on a quest just look it up.
- Kill the Rat King and get his armor, a low weight +15 stealth armor is amazing for a class that does not put many points into stealth.
- Take Jack Quicksilver's quest at the beginning, when he leaves SGS you cannot do the rest of his questline.
- If you have the Expedition DLC I recommend starting it at level 15, and know there is a soft time limit to the main questline (you can come back to the Black Sea once the expedition is over)
- Gimme Juice
- You can't exit the Deep Cavern until you deal with the mcguffin, Make manual saves often.
- Napalm Grenades exist

[h1] Review [/h1] This was my first turn based CRPG that I have played, and I loved it. I played the game on Easy and it kicked my ass more times than not, really only after level 15 could I take on big fights without reloading a couple times. The early game is infuriating, you wont hit any attack, you are very weak, and you are going to have to figure out how to kill 5 enemies by yourself for almost every encounter. But like a battered housewife, I just kept coming back for more. If you can stick it out past Depot A to around level 10 your abilities will begin catch up to your ambition. That being said their are some downright sadistic enemies, and the game seems to have an infatuation with stunning my character every chance it gets. You do have the power cheese on your side: the classic reality bending power of quicksave and quickload, as well as numerous traps, grenades, and psionics you are going to need to use to stay alive. The story is good, a classic lost mcguffin plot, but the world building is very good. At the beginning you only get glimpses of the horrors that the Underrail holds, and slowly the game shows more and more of it. The Deep Caverns, the last area you will explore, is spectacular and truly inhospitable. The story has ideas similar to the Metro books and S.T.A.L.K.E.R games, but is I think decidedly more pessimistic. I lost an uncomfortable amount of time to this game, it's great! [h1] Tips [/h1] - Look up character builds, you really can't waste points at the beginning. - Don't be afraid to use the wiki for some things, directions in the game are not very descriptive and if you get lost or stuck on a quest just look it up. - Kill the Rat King and get his armor, a low weight +15 stealth armor is amazing for a class that does not put many points into stealth. - Take Jack Quicksilver's quest at the beginning, when he leaves SGS you cannot do the rest of his questline. - If you have the Expedition DLC I recommend starting it at level 15, and know there is a soft time limit to the main questline (you can come back to the Black Sea once the expedition is over) - [spoiler] Gimme Juice [/spoiler] - You can't exit the Deep Cavern until you deal with the mcguffin, Make manual saves often. - Napalm Grenades exist