Yep, I admit it: I'm a fanboi for this game. Can't wait to play it. I watched the whole 42 minute video, and it just looks FUN. It's been a long time since I let myself get caught up in hype for a game, but I find myself letting my guard down for this one. It's actually kind of refreshing....
Things that caught my eye from this video:
The talent trees and character advancement options looked dizzying. In a good way. An example from the hybrid class they were playing was a frost trap from the 'Finesse' (thief) tree getting duration and damage bonuses from choosing frost magic enhancements from the Magic tree.
The combat looked fun. Granted, this is at the expense of realism, as you are instantaneously switching between two weapons and a shield that all appear out of nowhere and disappear just as rapidly. So yes, it's game-y. But still, this is done all in favor of enhancing the fun factor, and I can't argue much with that. One thing I appreciated was how the camera panned back quite a ways when combat started, and it gave you a little bit more of a tactical view than a standard over-the-shoulder 3rd-person perspective.
I like some of the little touches that were added. For example, the lead designer talked about a large AoE attack spell that you need to power up over a few seconds before unleashing. If you get hit, then you don't get the attack off, which is completely normal. However, whoever hit you takes damage because the power of the spell gets discharged through them. I thought that was a cool idea.
Finally, I think it's worth pointing out that this demo featured a quest that starts off with a father simply asking you to find his missing daughter. At first blush, this sounds like a simple rescue mission, where you kill the mobs and the grateful damsel in distress thanks you profusely. But instead, when you find the daughter she's fighting off waves of raiders, and after you help her, she's itching to go deeper into the dungeon to shut off the raiders' access to the area, and you can either help her or go take a hike. So at least for this one quest, there's some added depth beyond just going and doing whatever the quest-giver asked.
So far, I'm sold.
