it's the most open-ended game ever

you've got your main quest, but there's no pressure (or even reminders) to do it. you can just walk from town to town, picking up random quests, joining guilds, breaking into ppl's houses, etc.

there's all kinds of skills to learn and improve. for instance, alchemy. you literally come across items (fauna, mostly) you can alchemize just walking thru the countryside. pick a mushroom cap here and a flower there, throw them in your petsle and mortar, grind that shit up and make a potion of healing or restore fatigue or even a poison

there are burgs and houses scattered all over the countryside an addition to the dozen or so main cities/towns, and each of them has dozens of quests (like slay a monster, or deliver this here, or steal this from that person) for you to do

i've lost count on all the different npc's i've met, all the character models i've seen, all the voices i've heard, all the roads i've been down, etc... it really feels like a living a breathing world. i think that's the best way to describe it: alive