Avowed

Played this to completion on gamepass last year, bought it to finally do another playthrough, which I literally never do with games outside BG3 co-op. The simple fact that it supports 1st and 3rd person perspective really helps making a second playthough feel different. I found the story and lore really engrossing, to the point I was actively reading about half the books I found because I clicked with the PoE lore so well, despite never touching the series before. The characters are great, the side quests are on the whole fun and feel well integrated into the overall story, or at least the lore. Combat has some good variety, and exploration is a delight. This isn't a sandbox type game where every NPC is interactable, but the ones that are are usually very interesting, and a lot of the banter you can eavesdrop on while wandering a city can be just as engaging. The banter at camp between your companions is particularly stellar. I only have two real gripes with the game, but they were never dealbreakers. First, exploration can be hampered by some areas looking accessible in some way but are just set dressing, such as the "edges" of the map or certain buildings (Thirdborn is particularly egregious). Second, NPC reactivity is frustratingly inconsistent; you'll realize early on nobody gives a damn if you loot something in front of them, only to once in a great while be addressed/confronted by an NPC about it while on kleptomanic autopilot.

Fantastic, combat is a lot of fun and lots of playstyles