Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

100 or More Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Rocks"

Firstly, only a guy who rated Dark Souls a 9.5 could think this game was significantly worse than Skyrim. He definitely has a fetish for 'dark' games...quite odd.

That said, the obvious comparison here is to the last 2 Elder Scrolls, if only because of the large open-world concept. I bought an Xbox 6 months ago simply to play the 2 Elder Scrolls and this game is at least as good as those. Yes, its not as 'sophisticated', meaning dark and gloomy, but it is lightyears more fun than Skyrim...and the reviewer thought this game lacked direction?? Skyrim wasn't a tour de force on the storyline....I was never actually sure when it was over....the worst thing you can say about a game is you stopped playing because you were bored!

Now to the review:

Bad:
1. The first few hours of the game did lack direction....but its hard to remember back that far :)
2. Chests will either be locked to be picked or a ward to be dispelled....even at level 0 (of 12) picking locks is ridiculously easy...you never need to increase this skill. That said, even the easiest wards are ridiculously tough to dispel even if you're at level 12....the disparity here is hysterical....and you;ll need to go to a healer fter every chest you fail to dispel as it curses you....killjoy.
3. By about 1/2 way through the game you have more money than you could possibly spend....I can't believe I'm saying this, but there is WAY too many loot drops....it takes forever to sort through it.
4. The biggest and only real drawback to this game is that there is no real interaction with any NPC the way there is in say, a Mass Effect or Dragon's Age...that kills the immersion effect. If they would have added that even in a small way this game would have been a 10.
5. You'll need to play the game on difficult or else the combat is too easy.

Good:
1. Speaking of that combat....a lot of fun...so many weapons to choose from and the combat is so fluid....terrific job!
2. The game is WELL over 100 hours long, spent through several main story lines and many, many side quests...its terrific to find a game you like that isn't over inside 20 hours.Its a great mixture of linear play and do-it-yourself.
3. HUGE world...bigger than Skyrim...very well laid out.

That's it for the good....huge world, lts of fun, rarely boring, great combat...what more can you ask for :)