Plus that cover image is epic.

I've read some pretty mixed reviews on Silver Blades. IIRC Scorpia trashed it for being too hack-n-slash-y, too, and really linear.
I mean, I've got the game. I probably should at least go through the motions since I've never played it. But, you're probably right. I wanted something less of a soul crusher than Ultima or Wizardry. Something more familiar. And you can't get more familiar than a series of games that are all nearly identical to one another engine-wise. I did like the water-focus of Gateway, too. I think out of all of them Curse of the Azure Bonds is probably my favorite so far, but I'm rather attached to that story and those characters so I'm biased I know. I wish the stories were more tightly integrated with these games.