The guide says that you can take the sword and it is uber powerful like you mentioned. Like I said, I was a bit disappointed with the gameplay. I was expecting it to be much more open ended. I know how it's difficult to find a balance in a game... but I got 15 hours of gameplay. I wanted something a bit more.

I'm playing through again with as a bad guy. The first time I specialized in the strength stat section. This time I began to focus on skill. My bow is amazing. I kill everything. Being evil, I just sat at Greatwood Lake and shot down guards. They kept coming. I got the 144 general exp. for each kill and about 800+ skill experience for chaining so many attacks without being hit. Then I did that at Lookout Point, because the guards spawn faster. It's amazing.

I'll pray through again working as a magic user, which my friend says is fun. I can imagine it being fairly difficult, but it could be fun. Play through three times, I'll get 45-50 hours out of the game. That's decent, but they could have put a bit more into it.