EX3, using it's cover title, is an immense tome of lore, systems, artwork and fiction that give us a glimpse into the massive world of Creation. There have been trials and tribulations for Onyx Path to bring this to the public, but they're worth it, the book is probably only one of a small handful of RPG books I'd happily leave out for non-RPG'ers to flick through.

Visually it's gorgeous - The original Kickstart Backer PDF had some issues with art, but following feedback these have almost all been either fully replaced and worked on. The layout is fresh and clean, not cluttered and boxed in and claustrophobic like some RPGs. Overall the entire presentation is one of high quality and would see even the most pretentionus Dynast seek a copy out for their library.

The systems presented within are solid, novel and cover all the bases yet leave room for growth for other Exalted in future supplements. Combat is quick and fun (I've run numerous sessions now) and whilst the sheer number of Charms (Exalted powers and expressions of skill) are vast they're quite quick to learn in play. There are a couple of minor queries regards specific timings of certain combinations of powers and when things occur, but these are the sorts of issues and queries that most medium-to-high crunch systems have. Again, overall, the systems are solid and where needed can be easily house-ruled to suit your individual tastes and gaming table.

The world and setting given in the book sits somewhere between 1st Edtion and 2nd Edtion - it brings back much of the wonder and awe of 1st but with the development and skill that was promised in 2nd Edition but didn't quite reach. It's clear, fun and interesting. All the nations, locales, events and beings are lovingly presented (Though obviously not detailed as much as some would want - After all detailing the totality of all things in one book would be somewhat of an undertaking! It's already 600+ pages as it is!) and offer a lot of gaming plot potentail whilst creating a strong desire for future supplements to be published quickly - EX3 has given me back a hunger for the setting of Creation!

tl:dr; This is amazing. It's few minor flaws are easily worked around (As with any TTRPG) and its strengths are numerous. This is a setting and book that'll give you years of enjoyment and games. Not for those who like minimalist systems though - This is medium-to-high crunch to me, likely heavy crunch to many!

An excellent high-crunch game with an intriguing and innovative combat system, a fantastic social interaction system, and one of the best written settings of all time. This was a facelift a long time in the making and it was well worth the wait.

Exalted 3rd edition took a long time to get here, but it was worth the wait. The combat mechanics are unique and convey the theme of high octane combat quite well.

There are a lots of charms, BUT almost no useless ones as even the first charm of a tree remains viable and useful all the way through.

Martial arts are outstanding, managing to give a lot of flavor to combat in ways I really did not think of. Each MA has a theme and is channeling a different archetype from different mythologies, fighting styles, anime etc. For example the Void Martial Arts is a clear depiction of samurai iaijutsu.

The setting really scream for more space, but of course it is not very much different from 2E, so one can just use those sourcebooks. The new locales added are quite evocative, my favorites are the Dreaming Sea in the South East, the Caul in the West and the realm of Ixcoatli in the far East. A shame some old favorites do not make an appereance yet, like The Lap or Paragon.

The Social interaction system is quite well done, battle groups are reasonable and the systems for war and leaderships are just frameworks, but they work quite nicely. We even get rules for sailing and a handful of ships! Sorcery is very much better, giving dozens of ways to reach enlightenment instead of the 5 stages from earlier editions. Sorcerous works also give you a framework of rules to do all sorts of world changing stuff.

So what's wrong with the game? Not much to be honest, crafting is quite arcane to deal with, there are only a handful of evocations in the book and when every artefacts costing 3 dots or more, that is a lot of items to make evocations for, though the evocations system in itself is quite nice, elevating the artefacts from the place of mere stat upgrades to sources of power in their own right.

Some charms are also a bit weird to understand and it will take a long time before all of them have been understood and used. But overall, I find this edition of Exalted to be the best. 5/5

Probably the best edition of the game to date (at least comparing only core books). Creation finally feels as VAST as its meant to, and the mechanics don't result in "perfect-or-die" mote attrition in combat. May be a bit too mechanics heavy for some's tastes with the massive charm list and their new paradigm of stacking with each other - but it remains a tentpole for epic fantasy roleplaying.

I've been running this game for my group since I got access to the backer .pdf a couple months ago, and I've found it to be the best version of Exalted yet. Easily my favorite RPG after about twenty years of gaming.

It's a bit on the heavy side, mechanically, but the mechanics seem to have been effectively engineered to enhance a dramatic, epic, and fast-paced game rather than get in the way or slow things down. Most of the mechanical pitfalls of previous editions that caused some very unfortunate behavior to emerge (mote attrition, paranoia combos, violent responses to social interaction, etc.) have been addressed brilliantly, and the systems for combat and social interaction in particular are some of the most inventive and fun that I've ever seen.

The direction that the tone and setting lore are taking is also pretty great in my opinion, as someone who was never overfond of magitech, commodification of sorcery, or the feeling that every other supplement was an entry in an extended clinical treatise on the metaphysics of the game world. Creation feels big, old, and dangerous again. Hopefully this keeps up throughout the new edition, but it's off to a promising start here.

Tight crisp mechanics, well produced layout, hundreds of pages of kickass mythological heroes. This book is an amazing overhaul of the mechanics of 2nd edition. The lore is well written and engaging, the premise of the game is exciting, and it delivers an experience pretty unique among RPG's, the ability to play a living legend. If you ever wanted to perform the feats of hercules, rip bears apart with your bare hands and leave their bear friends looking on in horrified dismay, or have long and involved discussions about the economic viability of running an expansionistic empire that brings glory wherever they go, this is definitely the game for you.

Exalted is back, with a much-needed mechanical overhaul. The all-new combat system has a marvellously dramatic feel, as combatants jockey for advantage to land a finishing blow, rather than taking turns pounding on each other until somebody collapses. Sorcerers now feel more unique (or, if you prefer, freakish), with individual quirks and advantages based on the origins of their power. Crafting and social interaction are now deeper and more interesting systems with more emphasis on roleplaying. And fluff-wise, it's still one of the most intriguing settings in fantasy gaming, and it returns the mystery and wonder of the first edition. Highly recommended!

Exalted Third Edition is the glorious return of a game that I had almost given up on. It’s funny how my experience with the game mirrored a lot of the in-game history.

The first edition was my First Age, full of wonder and promise that collapsed under the weight of complexity.

The Second edition was my Age of Sorrows. I wanted to like it, but it failed to capture my imagination.

This latest edition however, brings back the feel and mood that I loved, while demonstrating a stronger mechanical rigor that helps it stand despite the complexity demanded by the setting.

Each subsystem has been carefully considered and playtested, and adds a different kind of fun to different players. But what struck me the most was the fact that a lot of the gamey mechanics actually relied on a lot of role-play to pull off.

Social Influence rules are an easy example for this, as the player must think and act like they’re really looking for social leverage before they can act, or else the odds are stacked against them.

The changes to the setting are well considered, and while there are a few add-ons that feel a bit difficult to accept at first (like the Liminals) others were things that I didn’t know I wanted until I saw them, like the Exigents.

Creation is familiar and yet feels renewed once more. Solars have arrived and there’s a stronger call for them to become heroes more than ever.

Despite the delays in production, and the myriad little things that went wrong and slowed it down, the end result is a thing of beauty. I’m glad to have backed this book, and even happier to put down money to buy a print version when it finally becomes available on PoD.

If you’ve ever wanted to play Exalted, or if you’re still on the fence on whether or not this is a good evolution of the game, don’t worry, and jump in. You won’t regret it.

Having already played a number of sessions of this (thanks to the backer preview via kickstarter) I can say this is for me, the best edition of Exalted yet. Lots of great stuff and plenty of campaigns worth of material in this first book.

This is the edition i've been waiting for. Exalted is by far my favorite rpg so i had great expectations on this version. And it's just great, as the SOLARS we play on it, gratz to eveyone involved!

This product has had somewhat of the Wratih Cruse to it. It has had plentiful delays, issues with the health of the developers and even a couple instances of art integrity problems. These issues aside, this is probably still the best edition of Exalted so far.

Setting For the setting, what stands out is a very strong return to focus. The way the wrold is described and much of how things are written try to call back to a lot of what Exalted stated as its original source material: anime and manga, yes, but also classics like Homer and Romance of the Three Kingdoms, as well as fantasy inspiration like Chronicles of the Flat Earth and Black Company, Howard's Conan and real world works on history and economics like Debt: the First 5,000 Years and Seeing Like a State. THis creates a world which feels exotic and strange, but also tries to give grounding to things which might have been as focused on before for the game. The Realm feels like the 800 lb. gorilla in the room, the lands feel far away and exotic and a lot is done to make it feel focused and flavorful.

I think that the game has a very clear vision of what it wants to be in how it presents the world and focuses its comments on it. The fiction and art help in this as well. It is clear on what inspries it and I think does well in trying to emphasize what it feels are its roots.

Mechanics The mechanics reflect this want for feel as well, wtih combat, while not fast, having a nice dynamic element that results in cinematic events and good tactical depth. Social mechanics do a good job of creating things to leverage on for powerful and heroic characters to leverage on besides stabbing. And systems like Craft, projects and Lore show interesting genre-related takes of the way the world is presented above.

There are some mechanics that will not be for everyone, as has been hotly debated all over the web. I'm not going to dismiss that there are places I wish writing was tighter or that the arrangement of some things is bizarre. However, most are simply quibbles compared to other editions of Exalted or even most White Wolf products, I feel. And soem issues I think are thsoe of taste. I myself like how deep and complex Charms are. But I also think that such maximalist design might not be for everyone.

Art and Design Aesthetically I quite like the look of the book a lot. With the updated final art, I like how colorful of a book it is. Many RPGs I find tend towards a lot of use of brown, grey and dark colors about. I don't feel there ar emany pictures in this book that don't have at least one bright color to it. I love how even the pictures with lots of undead in them tend to have bright reds or deep purples to them, giving things a nice "lighted" look. My only personal complaint is that this edition probably has the least manga/anime style. I was a fan of that style and would have liked to see more of it.

I do also think that some things again, feel odd to me. Headers could have been more distinct, for instance. And I find the character sheet unispiring myself. Also, despite all the work and delays, some typos and layout mistakes seem to still be in the final product. This is unfortunate and probably reflects what should be more communication with art directors in the future if anything.

Conclusion All and all I'm quite happy with this product. I have already ran a campaign using the preview rules and have had great success with players both old and new to Exalted. I find people greatly enjoy the world and I greatly enjoy both playing games and exploring siad world through its mechanics. It is by no means perfect, but I think that for what I want out of a game, few quite match it.

The development team formerly known as "the Ink Monkeys" spent quite a long time (I think we've all heard that story) on this new edition of the Exalted role-playing game. The second edition was plagued by mechanical issues that even the really rather extensive errata couldn't really fix. Everyone's been waiting for years now to see if the Third Edition would make everything right.

Did it? Well, if you're looking for a high-crunch game of tactical action that's not apologetic about having eleventy-million options in character customization, I think you'll be pleased. Ex3 goes out of its way to make every Ability pull its weight and to make the use of Solar magic exciting again, rather than "push Solar button; receive victory." (If you were hoping that Exalted would become a rules-light game; this edition isn't going to grant that wish.)

But, the rules we do have are a lot more exciting. Social interaction is now oriented around goals and Intimacies rather than being a duel-to-the-death with mind control lasers. Combat is now based around Initiative in a system that may remind you of Final Fantasy: Dissidia, where combatants wither away initiative before making a strike for the kill. It's all very complicated and interesting and has potential to make the game's battles much less of a "defend until you die" situation.

The setting has undergone some major changes, with more land being added in the West (including a Lunar domain hotly contested by the Realm) and a giant Dreaming Sea added to the Southeast, which forms a new, sword-and-sorcery flavored, genre venue for people who wanted a bit more Elric. There's also been a shakedown to focus on the sandals-and-swords vibe and to keep cosmic weirdness as a background element. I for one am pretty happy with this change, although it was controversial.

The look of the book is very high-quality (with the hitches of the backer PDF now behind us). It's also easier to read than the page design of 2e, which had a sort of rice-paper thing going on. Artists like the amazing Melissa Uran return, as is only proper, but the book skews a bit less towards manga than previous outings. Prince Diamond's appearance on the cover is pretty great for multiple reasons.

Ultimately, I can say without hesitation that this was a book worth waiting for.

the third edition overhauls the combat system which is much needed from the mind numbingly slow one of second edition. i'm looking forward to the upcoming supplements

You want this for the rules. The rules are amazing, it's a great new balance for the game, making everything streamlined and cinematic. Combat is smoother and more fun. The balance seems a lot more correct, and the shift from virtues to intimacies is a great move. They have done a terrific job taking the original game and improving it.

Don't buy it for the art, it has, in many instances, taken a nosedive. There are some examples that are great, but, some are just terrible.

Wow! I mean wow! This is just an amazing book. Gorgeous artwork, and simply huge!