Recent reviews by I want to be your derivative

The gameplay loop, the environments, the atmosphere, the sounds, the enemies (although PvP is frustrating because i suck), the mystery behind what happened to the world, etc. It's just so damn fun! And you can team up with 1 or 2 other players and do runs together!

I love the "See a few seconds into the future" aspect of it and how that shapes the way you tactically plan your next moves. It's also just really fun to build out your mechs and change their weapons, parts, and things to create different roles for each!" It's a lot like Battletech, but not quite as overwhelming!

It's gorgeous, fun, (sometimes) demanding, and rewarding. It's got a lot of nice changes to the 'soulslike' format, such as not losing your 'souls' ('will' in this game) when you die. It TONS of boss fights, big and small, secrets galore, cool spells and abilities, many little upgrades and spirits and equipment that provides stat / ability bonuses.

The list goes on, but in a nutshell, this game is just FUN. Even when it's frustrating because the boss crushes you like a bug a dozen times, you keep wanting to come back for more. And when you finally kill that boss, oh MAN it feels good. Not just relieving, but GOOD. I think it's because the boss fights, while some are really hard, never feel like 'bullsh*t'. This game pulled off the trick of making you feel GOOD about a victory, not just "thank god that is over".

And then it has all kinds of goodies in NG+ and beyond!

I've only played for a few hours so far, but I'm already hooked. It brings back so many GOOD memories of Fallout 2's style, difficult combat, extensive dialogue with many branches/choices - especially if you have social skills! - and deep character customization, coupled with the openness and freedom of Larian Studios games. It's both nostalgic and exciting!

Let me tell you a story.
One of the first quests I got in the game had me visiting some old ex-soldier to collect some money. When I opened the door, he had a shotgun pointed at me. I had the choice to attack, or talk to him. I told him I was there to collect, but the only thing of any value he had was the shotgun pointed at my chest. I could have asked him to give me that as partial payment (skill check, iirc), or (using a different skill check) talk about how he could repay the debt.

He said he knew a very bad man who had (stolen?) enough money to cover the debt AND pay me some extra for my help. I asked about the bad guy, felt convinced that this man was telling the truth, and decided to do it.

Long story short(ish), afterward I was able to keep him as part of my party! So he went from a random quest NPC who I could have killed for the money/gun on him to a permanent (I hope) party member!

If THAT kind of gameplay/open-ended storytelling doesn't get you excited, then maybe you should just pass on this game and go play X-COM.

There were a few other quests as well with many different courses of action to take, so I don't think this was an isolated event. I love having so many choices and ways to approach quests/events!