How is it compared to the second game? I really wanted to like it but found the combat to be a bit dull, and there was too much of it.
Haven't played the second one, but W3 is still combat-centric. Though, according to reviews many things have been improved and simplified comparing to Wasteland 2.
At least for me their formula works. After a couple of playthroughs you start to think more about preparing for combat rather than combat itself. Character development, tight skill specialization, and loadouts matter a lot. And once you get accustomed to how things work, you usually end up beating each encounter in 2-3 full turns anyways (except for highest difficulty, but even then it's not that tedious).
I think the only game from inXile that I've played in the past was The Bard's Tale(2004). But I spent my happy student years playing the s$%t out of Fallout, Arcanum, Desperados etc.
Don't feel bad, I was only able to balance about half in half of non-lethal to lethal playthrough of Dishonored. It is hard to do full stealth.
Dunno, the first game was super-easy. I think I only messed up Brigmore Witches on my first attempt, but both main campaign and Knife of Dunwall - first try.
Dishonored 2 was much harder in that regard.
....which reminds me... I still have 5 more achievements to get in this one (all from DLC challenge maps). Probably next on my playlist.