Ever played Gothic? Well this game is just like it:
Clunky melee that lets you dominate with hit and run tactics, a large map to explore with enemies that don’t respawn, a difficult beginning until you pick up a level or two, a forced male MC with slightly jokey voice acting, the ability to attack/kill NPCs, a wide variety of skills to customize your character with, and tons of stat-boosting herbs scattered around the map to collect.
Been playing for a while now, reached level 33 and just got around to entering the first town to max out Alchemy in order to use all the permanent stat boosters I’ve been collecting from the ground and NPCs’ pockets (the Steal skill is actually good since it lets you find stat/damage boosters instead of just gold). Other good all-around early skills would be Lockpick (get it up to level 8 and keep it there) and Set Trap (traps do tons of damage). I haven’t used much magic (mainly just Heal) or any archery yet, but for melee you don’t really need anything more than Strong Hand and Critical Hit; I have Parry up pretty high but it never seems to do anything… and you shouldn’t be getting hit in the first place.
So yeah, if you’ve played Gothic II or III before you should feel right at home. If you haven’t, then it might be better to start with this since it’s more forgiving of character building mistakes (there’s a repeatable respec option available in towns that can reset your stat/skill points).