Finally returned to the game after the most recent update with a fresh mind.
Redid the section of your first fist fight - I'm still able to kill the man outright and then have him magically reappear alive for me and my friends to beat him to death again.
Stealth choked numerous citizens to death since they're gonna die anyway and managed not to get caught. Nobody had anything of value, although one chap near the border wall (wooden fence?) had some pants worth 60 dolla. I robbed them all of their house keys but didn't find any houses the keys matched up to. Bit disappointed there.
Got to the same section with the three soldiers, only this time I twatted one of them round the head with a sword and then legged it onto the closest horse. Started galloping away in a random direction and fell inside a small stream about 1 foot high. Horse was unable to get out of said stream for unknown reasons, I eventually died to a flurry of no more than two dozen arrow hits.
Consulted RPS's guide and figured out which road to follow, got there eventually, entered the keep and had to stand guard. I stood guard, wandered around the walls and then had no idea what I was supposed to do. Again, I consulted the guide. Turns out you're supposed to talk to a soldier and he'll tell you how to use the "wait" function.
Stuff happened, I drank some schnapps and exited the game.
I returned the following day, began to figure out how to obtain a guards uniform to exit the main gate, only I was then immediately clonked on the head and thrown in jail. I had inexplicably obtained a bounty between save games. I completed the quest with... no inventory.
I reloaded from the previous save and decided to just run around like a headless chicken while five guards chased me for no discernable reason. I eventually evaded their sight and found a guard on the wall... unawares. I choked the sucker out, robbed his uniform and filled my inventory with what I was wearing and eighteen onions. 82lbs/82lbs. That's inconvenient.
Proceeded to evade guards for a while, tried to jump off the drawbridge and was met by an invisible wall. Consulted the guide again. Apparently in the event you have a bounty and can't exit the main gate by bribing the guard, you jump off the draw bridge. Go figure. Why the hell can't I jump off it then? Turns out you gotta slip under the chain and can't jump over the two foot high hand rails...
Pretty much sums up my thoughts on the game so far, well intentioned but clunky as all hell.
I've got the hang of most stuff, althought the archery is absolutely terrible. I can hit bullseye's no problem but that doesn't change the fact that the whole system is poignently badly designed. It's infuriating for infuriating's sake.
I'm now at the point where I need to meet the bailiff. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have played this far if I weren't finding some enjoyment out of it but... Jesus Christ, the clunkiness is extremely jarring. I'm glad they taught me advanced combat before this stage or I'd have torn my eyes out without a feignt or parry option. Also how in god's green earth do I increase my carrying capacity? I've spent what few skill points I've earnt so far on sensible bits, but I literally can't loot a carrot without throwing off my coif or something.