Many try to compare it to Oblivion. Fact is you shouldn't .This game can very well stand on its own and be good at it.
Combat is fun, the adrenaline attacks. But not against the blasted spiders. It's very easy to miss a power strike on them. Probably the most annoying enemy of the whole game especially when they swarm you The weapon selection animations are nice but can take precious seconds giving the Orc enough time to stick the cleaver between your ribs The traps, the kicking and throwing of objects and setting fire to enemies is overall very good and satisfying. Overall they have made very good use of the source engine.
The game has a nice plot twist. Xana makes a pretty good companion. The demonic form reminds me of Prince of Persia(maybe Ubisoft bosses had a say). Elemental based weapons are simply cool. The skill trees in my case were selected according to the requirement of the weapon (to be able to wield the weapon) and not according to the type of character I wanted to make. Best way to get through the game is to be a warrior with support magic. Although making a stealth character is also possible.
Didn't see a character class selection. Won the game without using all the skill points so it s fairly easy too. Voice acting is not bad.
This not an open world RPG. All of it is scripted, however this is not necessarily a bad thing because any RPG fan would be willingly be taken for the ride. It should be noted that exploration is encouraged to an extent as is evident by the secret areas. Sometimes the glare messes up the dark vision (sort of night vision and a very useful spell).
Has a good and evil ending. I found Xana far better than Leannah. Cut scenes have been nicely made and rendered. There are two women companions and your preference decides the fate of the other. Sadly the ending cut scene felt not enough. The ending does explain the beginning animations but not all of it. Killing the final boss requires strength and archery so best to go along this path as it will help against the other enemies as well.