A buggy, janky, wonderful mess.
I went into Rogue Trader knowing very little about Warhammer 40K beyond playing a few licensed RTS games back in the late '90s.
After over 100 hours, I can confidently say this:
This game is jank. But it's fun jank.
Will you run into immersion-breaking bugs where a character talks about someone as though you've personally sent them to meet the Emperor, while that exact person is literally standing beside them?
Yes.
Will your party suddenly decide that displaying some of their portraits is beneath them, preventing you from leveling those characters until you reload?
Yes.
Will Owlcat make you wonder if Bethesda has finally found worthy competition in the "release the game and we'll fix it eventually" Olympics?
YES
And then there's leveling.
I normally LOVE character progression. Give me stats. Give me talents. Give me abilities. Let me spend a day agonizing over what to pick.
But Rogue Trader has your party leveling up so often it starts feeling less like a reward and more like administrative work.
Congratulations its been over two minutes, time to level up again!
Now please spend the next 15 minutes doing your taxes.
On to the story. It's fantastic.
The game gives you a ridiculous number of choices, and more importantly, those choices actually matter. The game remembers things you've done and makes you live with the consequences.
The writing is great, the voice acting is amazing, and exploring the galaxy is genuinely fun.
Combat is paint by numbers. The AI isn't exactly going to be winning any tactical genius awards, but it works.
The soundtrack?
It's... fine.
It fits the setting. It does its job.
My biggest criticism is how Owlcat handles DLC.
I generally prefer DLC to feel like additional content rather than something that feels like it was carved out of the core experience.
The Witcher 3 is a good example of what I mean. Its expansions felt like proper expansion packs, substantial additions that gave you new stories, characters, areas and experiences.
I'm not a fan of putting characters who should have been available from the beginning, particularly when they add meaningful narrative content, behind a separate paywall. That approach just doesn't sit well with me.
"Here's a character who adds a lot to the start of the game. That'll be extra."
But outside of that, and the fact that this game occasionally feels like it escaped Early Access before anyone could stop it, I really enjoyed Rogue Trader.
It's buggy.
It's janky.
The leveling system will make you question your life choices.
Occasionally the game will remind you that your last quicksave was, in fact, a very important decision.
But underneath all of that is an excellent RPG with a great story, meaningful choices, fantastic voice acting, enjoyable exploration, and a whole lot of wonderfully grimdark Warhammer fun.
I'd recommend picking it up on a proper sale.
You'll have a great time.
Just remember to save often,
The Emperor protects.
A quicksave protects more.
