This game is called 'Ryse' not 'Assassins Creed 5' or 'Skyrim 2', as beautiful as the world is, you'll have to stay on the path and fight. Marius is not on a treasure hunt or off to sniff flowers in the meadows, he's there to spill as much blood as he can handle, seeking revenge for his family's death and uncover corruption along the way of the story.
If you're looking for a fun game to showcase the hardware of the Xbox One with it's stunning graphics and cinematic scenery that blends from cut scene to gameplay in mind blowing fidelity (the cut scenes are the same models of course), then Ryse is the perfect purchase. Since getting four games on launch night I wasn't particularly concerned with anything overly time consuming, that's why I skipped Assassins Creed 4 and went for Ryse. With all the excitement of having a next-gen system, Ryse fit into my day one collection nicely. Most games I prefer to be open world, but sometimes I wanna go along for the ride, watch the story unfold and slice a few limbs off in the process. I've never been burdened with the strange idea that games need to have an amazing story, but if Ryse was a movie, I'd rate it higher than blockbusters such as Gladiator and Troy, which is what it seems to have drawn some inspiration from.
I expected this to be a Gears of War for the next gen, with amazing graphics and satisfying slaughtering of endless enemies. This is exactly what Ryse is. I'm not sure why reviewers seemed to hate it so much, perhaps they were projecting their fantasies a little too much. The voice acting was superb and I haven't found the dialog to be any more comical than a movie of it's genre, in fact it stands up as a story independent of the game.
The combat system isn't overly intricate, but I can't even think of a fighting game that has much more depth. I'm not sure reviewers even bothered to upgrade their skills, they might have found more variety if they had.
This game deserves a better score, even if just for the 'next gen wow factor' graphics. But as a game in whole, Ryse is fun, satisfying and beautiful, all with an enthralling story to guide you along (if you actually care about stories in games). So if you don't take yourself too seriously and want to enjoy yourself with an epic game experience to herald the arrival of next-gen consoles, then you'll find yourself loving the ride that Ryse is offering right now.