It works. It fixes everything that was wrong with 3E. The books are beautiful. And yes, it's still D&D.
No soul? The players provide the soul, the rules provide the mechanics.
Characters lose their uniqueness? The powers all look alike? Yeah, right. A fighter with Comeback Strike is a completely different animal than one with Villain's Menace. And how does any of his powers "feel alike", say, a Ranger's Split the Tree, a Paladin's Radiant Delirium or a Rogue's Blinding Barrage? And that's just at level 1. All the classes still do what they did in 3E, except now they get a new option every level. How can that feel more limited? If you call it a Tactical Feat, it's da bomb, but if you call it a power, it's a board game? Please...
The life sucked out of it? Tell that to my jaded group of players who had the time of their life fighting half a dozen kobolds.
No roleplay in the game? That's hilarious. Do you need the core rules to roleplay? Or would you rather have imaginative players and adventures filled with RP opportunities? How much RP was there in the 3E core books anyway? That's what I thought.
I don't care if anyone else plays this game and I'm not trying to convince anyone to switch. But please, judge these books for what they are and leave your preconceived notions (MMORPG wannabe etc) out of it.
Bottom line: it's a great game. 'Nuff said.
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