After trying the english demo, I'm sold on the game.
It has flaws, and I find the style of voice acting.... unfortunate - but overall it has quite a few strengths, and I'm surprised to see this kind of negative response. I'm usually quite critical - if you haven't noticed
- and I don't agree at all with the level of critique witnessed in this thread.
That said, this IS an action RPG (seemingly done right, mind you, unlike the pitiful Legend - HOG), and if you go in expecting anything approaching a deep CRPG, you should be disappointed.
So what's good about it?
Well, first of all, I really like the new skill system. It has a lot more depth than the one in Sacred had, and it promises endless character experimentation, which is the kind of thing I adore in this genre.
Also, my previous concerns related to the long cooldowns for special attacks, SEEMS to have been premature. When I look at the skills, there are plenty of options that deal with the specific issue of cooldowns. So I'm expecting it's possible to minimise the problem, as it should have been in Sacred. A lot more thought went into this - or so it seems.
The respawning might still be there, but the amount of creatures is A LOT smaller than last time. I don't mind respawning enemies in this genre, as it's always been the case with it and I'm conditioned to accept it without question. It seems to go well with what's essentially a powertrip with loot whoring on the side. That said, I'm definitely NOT digging the level scaling that's going on, and I'm hoping this is only a limited implementation of that particular "feature". If not, it will probably be the biggest issue for me - judging from the demo. But it likely won't keep me from enjoying it altogether, but I do carry a special hatred for the idea of auto-scaling in general.
The classes all seem to hold quite a bit of customization within them, and most of them can choose between both magic and either ranged or melee combat arts. This gives them more flexibility than is traditional with class-based systems, and I really like that as well. The ability to customize your attacks with the combo system was one of the features that originally drew me to Sacred, but I found the execution of said feature beyond terrible. But many signs indicate they've learned their lesson, but I can't be sure. But it's the most "unique" part of the game and I truly hope they've made it practical this time, as it will mean a ton of replay value, which is pretty important in a genre that's born out of the idea of replay value.
The engine is powerful for the genre, and though it's not QUITE as detailed as Titan Quest was, it does have the advantage of being seamless and seemingly more diverse. TQ had huge seamless areas - but it DID load between chapters.
The quests are definitely simplistic - or so it seems from the demo - but I wasn't expecting anything else. This genre, unfortunately, has always had the most basic and bland quests, but if you love the genre you've learned to adjust. What I do like about it, is that the interface is very flexible and it's a breeze to find your way to quests. The large area map is very easy to read, and can be zoomed and moved so there's no way you can't find your objective. This makes it all painless, and since it's basically just extra XP and loot, most people will want to do some quests just as spice. I don't know about the main storyline, but I'm not exactly expecting Tolkien here. I AM hoping for some good dungeons, and there was one in the demo that seemed to hold more, in the form of puzzles (with that T-energy stuff) - but I never really tried it. It might have been window dressing, in which case it's just another example of hollow and crappy dungeons in the genre, which is sadly par for the course.
Beyond that, it seems there's a ton of little extra touches that tells of a product that's been cared for. The interface is VERY flexible, and I was especially impressed with the ability to customize the minimap in such a powerful way - which was one thing that worried me before I realised I had that ability. Also, stuff like armor weight having such a strong influence is interesting, as it's an aspect that I find is ignored in too many games. Just a little thing, but the game seems pretty full of that kind of extra detail.
Oh, and this naturally has cooperative multiplayer - without which I wouldn't have had the slightest interest. I play these games exclusively with my GF (and/or friends), and as a singleplayer experience they just don't work - at all - for me, personally.
Anyway, as a fan of the genre I'm not getting this negative feedback. But, naturally, that might just be because you were expecting a genuine CRPG, instead of an ARPG. However, if you WERE ready for it to be an ARPG, I have to wonder what exactly you thought it would have, but that's just curiousity. There's no point in arguing over taste and obviously this left a bad one in many mouths here, and as such it's not important what genre it might be - as you just don't like it.