The TL:DR of it is, if you're used to AAA(A) games and prefer a polished, ready-to-play experience, as of Patch 1.05 you are not going to receive that 100%. It'll be for the most part 85% playable; with the other 15% requiring you to debug via console (which, for me, was fine).

The game is heavily inspired from Piranha Bytes (Gothic, Risen) and I see some elements of Witcher in there too. It very much feels like one of those games and is overall quite enjoyable. I played 112h to wrap up the game to a fairly decent completion rate. There were a lot of side quests that I didn't complete, and a lot of content I didn't fully explore so you could easily get another several hours on top.

I think the overall gameplay deserves a fair mention here. The game is quite large and has a lot of things for you to do and explore. It has an interesting blend between skills you learn (by paying), and "passives" you learn by just playing the game (think, the more you do something, there's odds of you being rewarded for it).
Combat is fairly decent. YOU WILL get stunlocked by enemies, and often killed in this very same way; which is infuriating, yes, but at the same time makes it a bit more challenging / strategic as to how you approach combat.
I've played games with far worse combat systems than this that costed €60/70 for the title.
There's a level of crafting involved (albeit, could be enhanced with future patches) and you can eventually craft your own unique weapon as well!
The game encourages exploration and rewards it quite well too!

The design is...something you're sort of familiar with but also unique in its own way.

There are a lot of quests. and I mean like a metric f*!#ton of quests, and many have knock-on effects / impacts into how certain characters interact with you, or how you're perceived etc.
The overall storytelling and progression pacing is quite good as well!

The music is pure Gothic and Risen nostalgia to a T. Everything between city, forest and combat music is excellently executed. It's one of the things that for me, genuinely carried the game.

There are MANY aspects that can be updated and improved - and I know the devs are actively working at fixing a lot of the known bugs and issues. Some of the below are already known to them, but I hope that this also helps you in making a purchasing decision.

As the heading implies, you might finish a particular quest sequence, but the trigger simply does not activate - which can leave you with two options:
1) You can quit and return when the game is patched and fixed, or;
2) debug the quest via a mod / in-game console.
I found the debug mod a lot easier to use for this purpose

Similarly, some quest items are still broken / non-existent (even though many got fixed with the 1.05 patch) A particular case comes to mind when you're asked to fetch the compass for Leonardo. If you've already looted the chest in the Gravediggers' HQ like a cute little thief that you are, you won't have much luck with getting this item

While the fact that there is a tonne of content is one of its positives, it also comes with its downsides - namely non-intuitive / some poorly written quest descriptions.
Examples include:
> Go to "x" in the Evening. (but it's supposed to say "Night")
> Collect "Things" for "John" (without as much as any indication as to what it is you're looking for, or where you should be looking for these things)
> Check the "Warehouse" at night (but you're meant to go off a beaten alley in a nearby cave..??)

I would somewhat excuse some of these things if they were at the very least dialogued properly, but they're not.

I also highly encourage the Journal to expand into a "Quest Log" - pop a button, and show the dialogue history. They hold a lot more information than the brief quest journaling that Tristan keeps around.

When you're done with an objective - maybe a simple "hmm. I should talk to "x" " might help. Or heck, instead of VA-ing even more, update the quest (I've done x,y,z; I should talk to "x").

I can't fathom why it takes several (frozen) seconds for the game to save progress. Also, it would be extremely helpful if the auto-save logic worked hand-in-hand with your quick-saves.
I've had numerous moments where I QS, and less than 5s later the game Autosaves as well. Surely a check mechanism can be implemented.

But never mind the QS's....the loading times are somewhat obnoxious. upwards of 2 minutes for certain saves.
Note: to me, I've noticed a decline in save/load performance with patch 1.05; but that may have something to do with it checking that quest items are not broken are all fine

The crafting is straight forward for weapons and jewellery. When it comes to the Legendary weapon on the other hand - that is just baptism by fire; good luck understanding anything about it.

The Mini-games for activities are quite good, however:
> The Fishing takes too long for what it rewards you with. There's an "easy Fishing" mod which makes it too easy, but after fishing out about 50 fishes regularly, I had enough..
> The lockpicking is easily borkable; and after a certain dex stat, there is no more need for lockpicking. It's not a "bad" lockpicking mechanic but it's not the greatest.
> Either allow us to cancel the animation of the shovel, or if no item detected, break the shovel on impact.
> The UI for the armour enhancing could be improved
> The weapon sharpening needs a better way of dealing with the corner keys.
> Scroll / amount for things being crafted in bulk.

Also, add in a "Tutorials" into the Menu / Journal somewhere so that you can refer back to the instructions provided regards.

I think there are too many assets all being loaded "dynamically" and all at once at the same time. There are several reports that less-performant PCs struggle in the City. At times the city felt like watching a slide-show (not fun).
I had a lot less of that in 1.04 than I did in 1.05 (worth noting).

The teleporting is a key thing that comes to mind. Yes, there are way around it, but they're not feasible. I believe it's one of the key things the devs are currently working on.

While this is not a super polished game (yet); it's reminiscent of Witcher 1 (and even CP2077) at release. The Vanilla 1.0 versions were riddled with bugs, performance issues and overall little QoL. But they got patched. They got fixed, and they're now really enjoyable games!

I have no doubt that OAAS will end up on this similar path and I think the guys (for a studio of a handful of people) did a fantastic job.

This game doesn't hold your hand in any way shape or form - and it's part of its lovely charm. If you want an easy-run kinda game...maybe not the one for you.
This'll hit home really well for Piranha Bytes fans - maybe not so much for more "modern" gamers :rufussmile:

Looking forward to seeing more from this studio! (maybe if u can get ur hands on Genome instead of UE; youu might be able to fix a lot of performance issues as well).

[h1] Review as of Patch 1.05 [/h1] The TL:DR of it is, if you're used to AAA(A) games and prefer a polished, ready-to-play experience, as of Patch 1.05 you are not going to receive that 100%. It'll be for the most part 85% playable; with the other 15% requiring you to debug via console (which, for me, was fine). The game is heavily inspired from Piranha Bytes (Gothic, Risen) and I see some elements of Witcher in there too. It very much feels like one of those games and is overall quite enjoyable. I played 112h to wrap up the game to a fairly decent completion rate. There were [b] a lot [/b] of side quests that I didn't complete, and a lot of content I didn't fully explore so you could easily get another several hours on top. [h1] What's Good About This Game? [/h1] [h3] Overall Gameplay [/h3] I think the overall gameplay deserves a fair mention here. The game is [i] quite large [/i] and has a lot of things for you to do and explore. It has an interesting blend between skills you learn (by paying), and "passives" you learn by just playing the game (think, the more you do something, there's odds of you being rewarded for it). Combat is fairly decent. YOU WILL get stunlocked by enemies, and often killed in this very same way; which is infuriating, yes, but at the same time makes it a bit more challenging / strategic as to how you approach combat. I've played games with far worse combat systems than this that costed €60/70 for the title. There's a level of crafting involved (albeit, could be enhanced with future patches) and you can eventually craft your own unique weapon as well! The game encourages exploration and rewards it quite well too! The design is...something you're sort of familiar with but also unique in its own way. [h3] Questing and Storytelling [/h3] There are [b] a lot [/b] of quests. and I mean like a metric f*!#ton of quests, and many have knock-on effects / impacts into how certain characters interact with you, or how you're perceived etc. The overall storytelling and progression pacing is quite good as well! [h3] Soundtrack [/h3] The music is pure Gothic and Risen nostalgia to a T. Everything between city, forest and combat music is excellently executed. It's one of the things that for me, genuinely carried the game. [h1] What's [i] Not So Good [/i] About This Game? [/h1] There are MANY aspects that can be updated and improved - and I know the devs are actively working at fixing a lot of the known bugs and issues. Some of the below are already known to them, but I hope that this also helps you in making a purchasing decision. [h3] Quest Triggers and Items Are Sometimes Borked [/h3] As the heading implies, you might finish a particular quest sequence, but the trigger simply does not activate - which can leave you with two options: 1) You can quit and return when the game is patched and fixed, or; 2) debug the quest via a mod / in-game console. [i] I found the debug mod a lot easier to use for this purpose [/i] Similarly, some quest items are still broken / non-existent (even though many got fixed with the 1.05 patch) [spoiler] A particular case comes to mind when you're asked to fetch the compass for Leonardo. If you've already looted the chest in the Gravediggers' HQ like a cute little thief that you are, you won't have much luck with getting this item [/spoiler] [h3] Quest Descriptions / Prompting [/h3] While the fact that there is a tonne of content is one of its positives, it also comes with its downsides - namely non-intuitive / some poorly written quest descriptions. Examples include: > Go to "x" in the Evening. (but it's supposed to say "Night") > Collect "Things" for "John" (without as much as any indication as to what it is you're looking for, or where you should be looking for these things) > Check the "Warehouse" at night (but you're meant to go off a beaten alley in a nearby cave..??) I would somewhat excuse some of these things if they were at the very least dialogued properly, but they're not. I also highly encourage the Journal to expand into a "Quest Log" - pop a button, and show the dialogue history. They hold a lot more information than the brief quest journaling that Tristan keeps around. When you're done with an objective - maybe a simple "hmm. I should talk to "x" " might help. Or heck, instead of VA-ing even more, update the quest (I've done x,y,z; I should talk to "x"). [h3] The game save / load mechanics [/h3] I can't fathom why it takes several (frozen) seconds for the game to save progress. Also, it would be extremely helpful if the auto-save logic worked hand-in-hand with your quick-saves. I've had numerous moments where I QS, and less than 5s later the game Autosaves as well. Surely a check mechanism can be implemented. But never mind the QS's....the loading times are somewhat obnoxious. upwards of 2 minutes for certain saves. [i] Note: to me, I've noticed a decline in save/load performance with patch 1.05; but that may have something to do with it checking that quest items are not broken are all fine [/i] [h3] Better Crafting and Mini-Games (Tutorials) [/h3] The crafting is straight forward for weapons and jewellery. When it comes to the Legendary weapon on the other hand - that is just baptism by fire; good luck understanding anything about it. The Mini-games for activities are quite good, however: > The Fishing takes too long for what it rewards you with. There's an "easy Fishing" mod which makes it too easy, but after fishing out about 50 fishes regularly, I had enough.. > The lockpicking is easily borkable; and after a certain dex stat, there is no more need for lockpicking. It's not a "bad" lockpicking mechanic but it's not the greatest. > Either allow us to cancel the animation of the shovel, or if no item detected, break the shovel on impact. > The UI for the armour enhancing could be improved > The weapon sharpening needs a better way of dealing with the corner keys. > Scroll / amount for things being crafted in bulk. Also, add in a "Tutorials" into the Menu / Journal somewhere so that you can refer back to the instructions provided regards. [h3] Improve Grayshaft City Optimisation [/h3] I think there are too many assets all being loaded "dynamically" and all at once at the same time. There are several reports that less-performant PCs struggle in the City. At times the city felt like watching a slide-show (not fun). I had a lot less of that in 1.04 than I did in 1.05 (worth noting). [h3] Some vital questing / features are still borked (even in 1.05) [/h3] The teleporting is a key thing that comes to mind. Yes, there are way around it, but they're not feasible. I believe it's one of the key things the devs are currently working on. [h1] Final Thoughts [/h1] While this is not a super polished game (yet); it's reminiscent of Witcher 1 (and even CP2077) at release. The Vanilla 1.0 versions were riddled with bugs, performance issues and overall little QoL. But they got patched. They got fixed, and they're now really enjoyable games! I have no doubt that OAAS will end up on this similar path and I think the guys (for a studio of a handful of people) did a fantastic job. This game doesn't hold your hand in any way shape or form - and it's part of its lovely charm. If you want an easy-run kinda game...maybe not the one for you. This'll hit home really well for Piranha Bytes fans - maybe not so much for more "modern" gamers :rufussmile: Looking forward to seeing more from this studio! (maybe if u can get ur hands on Genome instead of UE; youu might be able to fix a lot of performance issues as well).