Satisfyingly old-school RPG based an interesting non-D&D ruleset.
Even in it's digital version, Drakensang offers much greater flexibility and depth to character development, on top of the wide range of character classes you get to choose from. The traits and attributes that come with each class makes them distinct, but the ability to develop the skills you want or train in new ones gives you the freedom to pretty much develop your own customised class.
The combat system similarly offers a wide range of options, with a multitude of combat abilities and magic abilities that can come into play. However to use these properly, you really have to use the pause feature to issue combat orders, which gives a stop-start feel to the otherwise real-time battles. Overall however I find the system pretty satisfying and fun.
The combat system also makes weapon choice more than simply a case of 'which does the most damage?'. Different weapon types allow different ranges of special combat moves, plus all weapons have different modifiers to attack and defence. The armor/encumbrance system also makes for some interesting choices beyond 'what's the max armor I can fit on this character class?', plus defensive combat/magic abilities offer viable alternatives to just loading up with heavy armor.
The presentation of the game is a bit of a mixed bag imo. Graphically it's pretty good, with some beautifully detailed and atmospheric areas and some nice effects. It has to be said though that the occasional voice-acting is pretty dire, and the dialogues in general are pretty unconvincing. However, it works well enough to pull you into the multitude of quests available in the game.
The control system works OK, but could really have been better. The right mouse camera control generally works pretty well, but does occasionally glitch up in confined spaces - also a continuous move from holding the left mouse would have been nice (rather than the choice of keyboard or click-to-move). Also, considering many people will be unfamiliar with Drakensang's quite complex mechanics, a bit more explanation or, even better, a full tutorial would probably have saved a lot of unnecessary frustration.
As mentioned in the main review, the setting is a smorgasboard of just about every available fantasy cliche - normally I'd hate that sort of thing, but am finding the game so absorbing and enjoyable that it actually doesn't seem to matter.