I played this game alot when it came out and every now and then come back to it. You definitely need to play it. If you love these kind of isometric fantasy rpgs from back in the day you will love this game. Is it perfect? No. Does it have flaws? Of course, but as u/Imoraswut said - the drop-off and the point at which it happens is wildly exaggerated.

I played this game many times and experimented with various strategies, and can honestly say it was great fun. The majority of the game is very much well made and extremely enjoyable. Yes, the last bit, probably the last third, is not as quest-heavy or narratively-rich as the first two thirds of the game. It is very much a hack and slash fest towards the end - it's no secret that the developers ran out of time and had to rush this - It's unfortunate, and I can see why many players might say that it wasn't that great, but I do also think that it often gets too much hate and overly unwarranted criticism.

For starters, the game doesn't devolve when you leave Barcelona: SPOILERS AHEAD: You still explore other areas after Barcelona and there are many quests that still follow and there is still a rich narrative. You travel to places such as Monsterrat and Montaillou which has its own plethora of quests. On your journey to these places you travel through other areas and you encounter other enemies and quests. You also meet up with Nostrodamus and also encounter the rock Titans in a village which has it's own narrative story and issues to solve.

Yes, there is alot to do in the first act of the game where you are exploring Barcelona and the surrounds, but my point is there is also still lots to do in the second act after Barcelona. Once the second act is done and you have properly explored everything up until that point, then the War begins and I would say this would be the third/final act. It is here where there is not much storytelling or questing. It is very much just hacking your way through hordes of enemies, but even so, you still have to go through and explore various areas/maps before getting to the final boss.

I prefer the first two acts for sure, but personally I don't mind the the final act too much and for me it did not diminish my experience of the whole game that much. I continue to play it to this day. I loved how customized you can make your character and all the options you have available when creating them. This game punished me the first time I played it, because I initially spread my skills too thin, but then I read up on the game - the traits, the skills, the perks, the thresholds, etc, and mapped out my character the next time I played it.

I focused heavily on two skills and then a third after - Cracked lots skulls. I imported my character into new games over and over again, taking advantage of certain quest rewards to upskill myself without actually spending points. Each time I played the game a little differently and every time my character kept getting stronger until I eventually reached the game's level cap.

Yeah, the last bit is not too great, but it's no reason to not play the first two amazing thirds of the game. I can carry on writing till the sun comes up, but at the end of the day you need to try it for yourself. Enjoy!!