To be honest, I ADORED POE1. I played the hell out of that game, for dozens & dozens of hours.
The sequel however? I was all excited for it, backed it, same as I did POE1, and got it on launch day. I've played about 17 hours or so, but it's left me feeling cold.
I strongly dislike the Pirate theme, with all the naval stuff. I much preferred the first game's more traditional fantasy RPG feel, which was its greatest strength IMO.
POE3 would fare much better than Deadfire IMO if it returned to a more traditional fantasy RPG milieu.
Fingers crossed it's still possible, after the MS acquisition!