The wait has been long, but the new RPG from Obsidian is out, at the same time on Linux as the other platforms. Forget 3D worlds, this is made in the good old way, a la Baldur’s Gate and Planescape Torment (using the Infinity Engine of the time). And it’s released at the same time on Steam (44.99 USD) and GOG (44.99 USD), so you can go DRM-Free if you so wish (and that would probably be my recommendation as well instead of supporting locked platforms, no matter how I love what Valve does).

The early reports on /r/linux_gaming show some good performance on the Linux platform, at least for Intel / NVidia owners:

• i5, gtx660, 8Gb ram, Arch : no issue, solid FPS
• i5 with integrated Intel graphics : running just fine
• AMD Phenom II X4 965, GTX680, 16GB RAM: just fine as well

However some AMD owners are apparently facing issues:

• AMD HD6850: only 10 fps vs 48 fps on Windows with the same card
• r9 290 on Mesa 10.5, the game is not starting (kernel panic)

So if you are an AMD owner, you may want to wait a little before making a purchase. Or just grab a nVidia card instead :)

Quality wise, I’m not sure how much one can trust the big publications out there, but the commentaries are positive overall:

[IGN] It honors the classics, brings great ideas of its own, and in the process it emerges as a classic itself. Games like this are always about the journey, and it’s sure as hell a journey worth taking.

[Eurogamer] It’s an RPG with design firmly rooted in nostalgia, but one that absolutely doesn’t rely on it to be enjoyable today. Instead, it’s both a great reminder of why those games worked so well, and a brand new adventure well worth the hours upon hours (upon hours upon hours) that it takes to pick away at its secrets and its world.

I am definitely interested in picking it up at some point, probably when it’s slightly cheaper - I’m in no rush at the time as I’m still playing a lot of Bioshock Infinite and Cities:Skyline for the moment. And there’s a bunch of great other RPGs coming to Linux in this year as well, so we will have to make choices…

If you have some performance aspects to report, please share your perspective in the comments!