Review based upon the full release of the game:
I've dumped about 220 hours into the game by now, most of it in early access. A lot of issues and shortcomings were addressed by the developers on a lot of things, so let me just leave what I think is left:
The game is at its core a sandbox swordfighting simulator with cool sorcery mechanics added in. There's a good degree of depth of things you can do and ways you can fight enemies that keeps things interesting.
>I haven't even gotten to all of the new magic mechanics, there's six different types each with three tiers of abilities, most of which add some kind of special move or spell you can use to kill opponents. This was done very well.
>Fighting in melee is quite engaging on its own, and for the most part enemies aren't incredibly simple to bring down. There can be a lot of nuance in how you approach an enemy or ways you might be able to disable them (stabbing the arm to disarm them, knocking the weapon away, etc).
>The game performs a lot better then it used to, though the game does tend to slow down if too many physics calculations start going on and it is rare to fight more than 3-4 opponents at a time since the game has trouble handling the physics involved
>Physics sandbox runs full tilt. Knocking people over, using props, sweeping legs, pommel strikes, are all valid options. Mods can add a much needed half-swording or mordhau support for using the hilt of a weapon as a blunt tool.
>Modding support is fully integrated and there's a good degree of extra weapons, scenarios, enemies, and such that are easily available.
>There was a few "oh ♥♥♥♥" moments I experienced like the initial reveal of the boss and your home area getting invaded after coming back from a raid. They were done well.
>I found the crystal hunt progression mode fairly underwhelming and fairly formulaic, with only one or two moments beyond the initial exposure of it that I felt like I was experiencing something new.
>The game's economy is not stellar. After the first 2-3 dungeons I found a weapon I was comfortable with and could fight with other weapons found in the dungeon, yet you don't get to keep "stolen" equipment you bring out of the dungeon, I guess to incentivize using the shop. I feel like a difficulty option to allow keeping stolen items or one that requires you to use only what's obtained in dungeons would be more engaging, with the potential for more varied loot or items to search for (higher tier weapons not currently being used by enemies for example).
>I had more money then I knew what to do with by the end of my third or fourth dungeon. I was disappointed to find the loot in the side rooms was fairly static and always consisted of sellable baubles and trinkets, nothing like health potions or unique/hidden weapons.
>Prefab rooms, including the new ones, wore out quickly and became easily recognizable. This might come from 200 hours of gameplay, but it became very clear they had little variation, including the "hidden" side rooms with a chest in them.
>Each big dungeon required slogging through 2-3 regular dungeons to get map pieces, which was kind of annoying. It was further annoying that arena matches only gave gold payout, so I couldn't change things up if I wanted to progress to a big dungeon.
>The end boss of each big dungeon was surprisingly the same boss fight and arena every time with minor variations, such as the number of weak points that needed to be attacked and some different attack patterns thrown in. For the most part, it was pretty trivial once you identified what needed to be done. The cinematic sequence for getting your new crystal imbued should have been faster or skippable after the first or second time.
>The weapons on sale seemed both random but also tied to your current overall progression. I didn't see anything but terrible makeshift weapons the first time I went through, but as I progressed I saw both those and random higher tier weapons. I think it would have been better to show the player what you would be capable of obtaining right from the start given enough resources instead of arbitrarily locking them out of good equipment by not even putting it on sale.
>Found some issues with some of the magic. The gravity ground-pound done by punching while airborne, while I also had the leaping strike from Body magic, seemed to damage me a significant amount with fall damage, meaning I couldn't really use it without risking killing myself.

Mods save a lot of things about this game and despite the rather lackluster progression, I think the game stands on its own just from mod support and the sandbox being great for swordplay. I wouldn't play it for the story, but I would still play it for cutting people in half with axes.

Review based upon the full release of the game: I've dumped about 220 hours into the game by now, most of it in early access. A lot of issues and shortcomings were addressed by the developers on a lot of things, so let me just leave what I think is left: [h1]The Good[/h1] The game is at its core a sandbox swordfighting simulator with cool sorcery mechanics added in. There's a good degree of depth of things you can do and ways you can fight enemies that keeps things interesting. >I haven't even gotten to all of the new magic mechanics, there's six different types each with three tiers of abilities, most of which add some kind of special move or spell you can use to kill opponents. This was done very well. >Fighting in melee is quite engaging on its own, and for the most part enemies aren't incredibly simple to bring down. There can be a lot of nuance in how you approach an enemy or ways you might be able to disable them (stabbing the arm to disarm them, knocking the weapon away, etc). >The game performs a lot better then it used to, though the game does tend to slow down if too many physics calculations start going on and it is rare to fight more than 3-4 opponents at a time since the game has trouble handling the physics involved >Physics sandbox runs full tilt. Knocking people over, using props, sweeping legs, pommel strikes, are all valid options. Mods can add a much needed half-swording or mordhau support for using the hilt of a weapon as a blunt tool. >Modding support is fully integrated and there's a good degree of extra weapons, scenarios, enemies, and such that are easily available. >There was a few "oh shit" moments I experienced like the initial reveal of the boss and your home area getting invaded after coming back from a raid. They were done well. [h1]The less than good[/h1] >I found the crystal hunt progression mode fairly underwhelming and fairly formulaic, with only one or two moments beyond the initial exposure of it that I felt like I was experiencing something new. >The game's economy is not stellar. After the first 2-3 dungeons I found a weapon I was comfortable with and could fight with other weapons found in the dungeon, yet you don't get to keep "stolen" equipment you bring out of the dungeon, I guess to incentivize using the shop. I feel like a difficulty option to allow keeping stolen items or one that requires you to use only what's obtained in dungeons would be more engaging, with the potential for more varied loot or items to search for (higher tier weapons not currently being used by enemies for example). >I had more money then I knew what to do with by the end of my third or fourth dungeon. I was disappointed to find the loot in the side rooms was fairly static and always consisted of sellable baubles and trinkets, nothing like health potions or unique/hidden weapons. >Prefab rooms, including the new ones, wore out quickly and became easily recognizable. This might come from 200 hours of gameplay, but it became very clear they had little variation, including the "hidden" side rooms with a chest in them. >Each big dungeon required slogging through 2-3 regular dungeons to get map pieces, which was kind of annoying. It was further annoying that arena matches only gave gold payout, so I couldn't change things up if I wanted to progress to a big dungeon. >The end boss of each big dungeon was surprisingly the same boss fight and arena every time with minor variations, such as the number of weak points that needed to be attacked and some different attack patterns thrown in. For the most part, it was pretty trivial once you identified what needed to be done. The cinematic sequence for getting your new crystal imbued should have been faster or skippable after the first or second time. >The weapons on sale seemed both random but also tied to your current overall progression. I didn't see anything but terrible makeshift weapons the first time I went through, but as I progressed I saw both those and random higher tier weapons. I think it would have been better to show the player what you would be capable of obtaining right from the start given enough resources instead of arbitrarily locking them out of good equipment by not even putting it on sale. >Found some issues with some of the magic. The gravity ground-pound done by punching while airborne, while I also had the leaping strike from Body magic, seemed to damage me a significant amount with fall damage, meaning I couldn't really use it without risking killing myself. Mods save a lot of things about this game and despite the rather lackluster progression, I think the game stands on its own just from mod support and the sandbox being great for swordplay. I wouldn't play it for the story, but I would still play it for cutting people in half with axes.