You get to be the bad guy, and for the most part you have a lot of leeway in how you intepret being the bad guy. You can be a power-hungry murder hobo, a selfish pragmatist that avoids confrontation whenever possible (that was me), a ruthless enforcer of the law, or anything else.

What really sold me is that while your character is certainly evil, it doesn't mean you can't be nuanced- you can grant inklings of mercy, show concern for your party members, and sometimes even allow people to appeal to your better nature.

The endings are controversial, and I'm kind of on the fence about them myself. Not every question will be answered, and there is no way to make everybody happy. At the very least, it's in line with the setting and themes. It's... bittersweet, and not in the way we're used to as RPG fans.

About the combat, I'm just not a fan of anything resembling the old Infinity engine- I loved Planescape:Torment as an interactive narrative, but hated the combat. Same here. I put the game on Easy Mode cruise control and just rolled through the fights, HOWEVER, the spellcrafting system is interesting, and I'll be happy to admit I got some satisfaction in blasting hapless trash mobs with excessive elemental firepower. Coming from someone who almost invariably builds characters that rely on athleticism and martial superiority, that says volumes about this elegant magic system.