I remember liking the last 2. It's been so long though that I hardly remember the stories but I do remember liking them and that's what's important, right? If this sounds like you then you will most likely agree with this review because I'm seeing a big mix from 1 star to 5. Longtime fans seem conflicted and both make solid points that I realize while reading each. On one hand, the game is massive and just seems to keep going but I am determined to finish. I'm close to the end, I'm sure because I have all of the characters and I've fought the first main boss. But who knows? So I'm happy to play a game that keeps me entertained and captured. Which is not like me. I'm not much of a story gamer unless it's really good. That being said, it's really not the story that catches me but the lore is just incredible. I can appreciate the creativity of a complex story. The downfall to this is its almost too complex. Yes they offer a glossary to help but who really reads those? If a story needs a glossary then maybe by chance it's a little too much? Like I said, I did play the last two so I can vaguely remember characters but there's just so many details that it's a little off-putting with such a deep rich story. Or maybe it's because I'm only appreciating the creativity and not the story itself. If that makes sense. Being a writer myself, I understand the difficulty of creating an entire world of lore. And to piggy back on that, I was an avid D&D dice player so this is most likely that admiration I have for the lore being that its similar but the biggest drawback I have liking both the lore and the story is that the characters have a 'woke' tendency. I almost quit playing. I read someone's review saying it's like a story written by HR compliance which made me laugh because I know exactly what they were talking about and I did see this as a big drawback. Hence the story was boring to me.
Enough about the story...
The fighting was fun learning. Someone else said it was repetitive but I digress, there are plenty of variances to change the fighting up. I think the person just found a good combo that works and stuck with that then complained that it was the same. Games are programmed and of course they have to follow the dynamics of the program. Again though, that being said, I was a little disappointed with the boss battles. They were basically the same sequences. But I did find that changing the characters powers had a big difference on the little details that each boss did have. For example, one dragon was weak to fire damage and one to electric. This kind of forced me to change up my repertoire which took me out of that comfort zone of having perfected a devastating combo that made light work of even the biggest battles. So you really can't use the same throughout. I mean, I guess you can if you really grind and farm for leveling up but I was taking on bosses 5 to 10 levels above the recommended because I utilized the variations to my advantage. Which I think is the intended. I'm currently only level 34 and already beat 3 dragons and the archdemon.
The graphics and maps are also impressive. Maybe could be better but the sheer size is the game is why I'll give that a pass. And I'm only 1 character. There are 4 classes to choose and mini variations with those.
Overall 4 stars. I think without the woke story, it could be a 5.