I havent finished the game yet, but I have already a very good idea of how it is (30hr.+) because the mechanics keep on repeating.
I have to compare this game with Baldurs Gate, because it's the best reference.
This game is not nearly as good as BG2... which had a 9.0 as a general review, so I give POE a 7... and that's because Im in a good mood.
This game really made have mixed reactions because I absolutely love BG series and really was looking forward to another adventure. BG left the standards so high, that I wasnt expecting a game as freakin epic as BG2 was,.. but even though I felt disappointed with POE.
I personally dont like the character creation, cos it lets you do very weird characters that dont seem very realistic, neither attractive, neither useful to me. And feeling attached to your char is a must in a RPG.. .I just felt the Paladin, and the Rogue to be satisfying enough, as the cleric is not that good, and the mage feels just weird... the whole magic feels weird. I dont really think the spellcasting feels as overpowered as I think it should be (weak start but ending up like a killing machine).
The story is pretty started pretty good... but despite all the good, and verbose writting, I think it got weak as the time passed by... also, i felt it advanced very slow.
The worst of all the things I experienced was the enemy crowds.... It's so un-atmospheric.. There are zones that feel so uninspired,...they come always in packs, most of the time formed by the same amount and type of creature, over and over again. This game felt much more like a mixture of Icewind Dale than its big brother. The quests are just..un-epic, an many feel like out of place, and some of them are like a carbon copy of others I've seen before in other D&D games.
The graphics are good, but not awesome...reminds me of Temple of Elemental Evil with a bit of Dungeon Siege. The music score is good, but repetitive. All the story writting was obviously made with a lot of love, but I felt it was just too much writting for the kick it delivered. The map is boring and extremely uninspiring (feels like an exact copy of Baldurs Gate I map...which even though it isnt bad at all it is not original at all either).
The loot is also boring... and when you get a good weapon it just isnt that good enough to make you feel like you hitted the jackpot. (Once I opened a Mechanic 9 -plus a bunch of lockpicks- chest and it only had three common objects).
I could say more, but I dont think I should keep on punishing this game cos' ...I actually want them to keep on doing this kind of games!
To sum up... it's an ok game, super over hyped, super price-inflated, not nearly as good as BG2 or even BG1, maybe better than Icewind Dale, but at least is smth that can be worked over in order to make an awesome POE2.