Thoroughly entertaining MMO, with engaging combat style and beautiful visuals.
I'm playing as a stygian Tempest of Set, but I've also tried out most of the other classes.
Character Customization
The best I've seen in an MMO to date. You get sliders for height, and a triangular slider for general build. You can then access advanced sliders for individual body dimensions (e.g. arms, legs, etc.), as well as a separate set of sliders for facial features. The face is similar to the body in that you pick a general template and then use the sliders to adjust the features. There are extensive tattoos and scars to choose from for both the body and face.
The only real racial limitations on appearance I noticed were on eye and skin color. My stygian won't be able to have blue eyes like the real me, but everything else is pretty much possible. Also, I'm pretty sure the stygians are the only ones who can access the darkest skin tones.
Besides the initial customization, the number of armor sets in the game is reportedly in the thousands; and from what I can tell so far at the lower levels, there are many equivalent sets, so you can make and bake all sorts of armor appearances without sacrificing stats.
Graphics
The graphics and animations are simply stunning. The extensive motion capture is evident right away. I was chatting the other night with Ebon about how when you're simply standing in the presence of other players, it truly feels like there is a "presence" emanating from the avatar. Even the NPCs have this to an extent. I was standing in a tavern last night and Jenny was commenting and laughing about the various "drunken" animations, because they seem so damn realistic.
Spell effects and animations are GORGEOUS! Even the low level spells have elaborate animations that clearly distinguish one spell from another. For the very first healing spell I received, an image of the torso of a woman with a snake head appears above me and makes several moves of her own as I'm making my gestures. And the lightning--OH, that sweet, sweet lightning. There's nothing quite like being able to stand back and target an ususpecting group of picts eating their lunch and then call down a column of intense, realistic lightning that fries them to a crisp. (And NO, we stygian worshippers of Set are NOT evil, I tell you--just misunderstood! )
I won't comment as much on the environmental graphics, as most of you have seen examples of it, but they lived up to my expectations in every way.
The other truly wonderful thing I noticed right away was that when you're fighting "trash" mobs in a certain area, they ALL look different. If you have 10 pirates wandering a beach, you won't be fighting a bunch of cookie-cutter pirates. This fact, combined with the combat system, make fighting the most basic mobs a non-repetitive, unique experience-in other words: it's FUN! .
Bugs/glitches
The UI needs an overhaul. It's very hard to keep track of teammates. The map, minimap, and other UI elements just need to be scrapped and reimplemented .
I put this right after graphics for a reason: the majority of the bugs I've noticed so far have been graphical glitches, some of which you'll be familiar with from other games. For instance, when performing certain animations, if one tries to move before the completion of the animation, you'll get a gliding-across-the-ground effect, much like LOTRO used to have with certain animations.
There are also problems with certain character features, such as hair and weapons which go through other parts of the character. I know they've stated fixes for the hair are coming soon, and none of this is game-breaking, so I'm glad these are the types of bugs I've noticed so far.
Overall, this game is just downright FUN! I'm a fickly gamer and I've become jaded with regard to MMOs, but this one has it all and I'm quite sure I'll be calling Hyboria home for a long time to come.