This is a semi-sequel to 'planescape torment', so there's two ways to approach it. Making a comparison against the first game for those who are familiar with it, and then a basic review for those who aren't.
Either way I think this sequel is quite wanting in many areas. It's a CRPG that has hardly any combat and is bland in the action when it does. In 13 hours of playing it there has been maybe 5 enemy encounters, and the rest of the time it was tons of dialogue.
Said dialogue really, really, reaaaaaally wants to be mysterious, enigmatic and trippy, but just ends up being bewildering 50% of the time and slightly tedious for the rest.
Now, it takes place in a universe that is meant to be bizarre and unknowable, but still...the first game was far more accessible whilst being just as weird. If you've played 'planescape torment' then this can feel like it's a reskinned version of that without the charm or wit.
You're an amnesiac who can't die, and even though there's a different explanation as to why that is, it to me feels like the story of the nameless one all over again.
If you're new to the world of Torment: it can be simultaneously the strangest world for an RPG to take place in, and yet the driest and dullest until they eventually start sprinkling in some droll humour and characters with some personality as the game goes on.
This is a place where mad science, fantasy, the supernatural and the superliminal all merge; with robots, demons, monsters, gods and mortals all converging into one realm. It can cover anything it wants to, yet somehow manages to make it all rather boring for long stretches.
The first game was kooky right from the start; with a compelling premise, oddball characters, amusing humour and a subversive approach to tropes. Whereas here it's pompous, verbose and has it's head up it's own behind for way too long to be particularly engaging.
Eventually it does get intriguing, but if you don't have the patience (oodles and oodles of it) to get to that point, then there isn't much else here of interest.
Basically it goes like this: a brief bit of bog-standard combat, lots of dialogue, some more dialogue, even more dialogue, a brief bit of bog-standard combat, several hours of dialogue, some combat that is still dull, dialogue, dialogue, dialogue etc etc etc.
The combat fails because you either (a) fight and it's dull due to a lack of tactical depth and synergies between your parties abilities.
Or (b) it's been designed as a "stealth" sequence and consequently nothing happens of interest as you simply distract the enemy and walk past them.
Or (c) use an "exciting" feature in the environment to do some damage, only it's just as underwhelming as every other option on offer.
Every now and again there's a quest or character that is entertaining, but the mechanics behind it all are super basic and generally fall quite flat. I haven't played baldurs gate 3, but from what I've heard this is like a puddle to that games ocean when it comes to the depth, and even something like 'divinity original sin' makes this feel like it's simplistic pap from a bygone era.
Truthfully the game is kind of awful. Depending on your tastes (as someone who has persevered with it) it's boring and the "walking simulator" of RPGs, with far more story than action and the action is pretty basic when you do get some.
If (IF!!!!) you can get into it, then there is some modest spark here that can pass the time and occasionally deliver something rewarding, but otherwise it feels like it can't even beat an almost 30 year old title for the writing, story and game-play.
I almost gave this a thumbs-up, albeit with the massive caveat of it being marmite-y and only just scraping by into "meh" territory. But thinking about my time with it, it's not something I can recommend when even I (who will most likely finish it out of a mixture of masochism and some very mild appeal) have at times found it only marginally more appealing than watching paint dry.
