One-line summary: Exalted = high-level D&D + (old) World of Darkness + stunts
Slightly longer summary: Exalted features super-powered fantasy heroes who can whomp battalions of mooks, or leap tall buildings in a single bound, or talk their way into taking over a kingdom. It's kinda like D&D past 15th level that way. The closest analogue in non-gaming terms might be wuxia movies like CTHD. The keyword is over-the-top; while the setting itself offers opportunities for gritty, down-to-earth gaming, if you don't like OTT, chances are you won't like a lot about Exalted.
The setting is a pastiche of anime, generic fantasy, Chinese myth/folklore and riffs/easter eggs based on the WoD. You have a decadent empire in the middle called the Realm, a scattering of city-states and alliances, and lots of wilderness at the edges and in between. At the bottom, you have the Underworld, which is the land of the dead. On top, you have Yu-Shan, which is like a heavenly bureaucracy. At right angles to it all is Malfeas, which is like hell, where demons come from.
The theme is that the whole place has gone to pot in the last few hundred years, including the Underworld and Yu-Shan. Your characters have the power to set things right, if they so choose. Or they might fail, but still perform mighty deeds. Or you might just want to kick ass with super-powered kung fu.
The main PC race is the Solars, who are like reincarnations of an elder race of god-kings and semi-divine warriors. You ruled the world a long time ago, and it's time to take it back. Unfortunately a lot of people are suspicious of you due to how your empire went bad, but that's nothing you can't handle.
Then there's the Dragon-Blooded, who toppled the Solars way back when, and created the Realm in its place. You've done a pretty good job of keeping the world from disintegrating completely, and you're not going to take lip from any two-bit demigod who says otherwise.
Then there's the Abyssals, who are Solars corrupted by the Deathlords, rulers of the Underworld. You are the Sith: angst and asskicking rolled up in one. Your bosses want to destroy the world, but it's not like it's worth saving anyway. You can even have a literal raincloud following behind you if you want.
Then there's the Sidereals, who are agents of Fate who work behind the scenes to keep the world from falling apart. You engineered the fall of the Solars when they went bad, and have been secretly directing things ever since. You're celestial MiBs with kung fu.
Then there's the Lunars, who are, um, werewolves. As in Werewolf: the Apocalypse. You, um, hunt and stuff. You also have a hate-on for civilisation, like in Werewolf: the Apocalypse.
Then there's the Raksha Fair Folk, who are creatures of primal chaos from Rakshastan outside Creation. You don't really care about what goes on inside Creation, except there's pretty people with souls to eat. You are Changeling: the Dreaming with a silly name.
Then there's the Autocth Autohtc Autocho Autochthonians, who are like a race of cyborg men. Magitech is a feature of the setting (think Escaflowne), so cyborgs aren't as out of place as you might think. Anyway, if Eberron can have warforged, then Exalted can have autobots.
Most of the standard elements of the White Wolf game design recipe are present: if you've played any WW game in the last few years, you'll probably recognise them straight away. In keeping with the White Wolf tradition, the fluff is detailed to an extent you'll find hard to match in WotC's products. It gets a bit overblown in places, but that's just the perspective of someone not used to the WW schtick.
The rules are fairly complicated, about on par with D&D 3E, in fact. The underlying mindset or zeitgeist is rather different, though: there's less overall emphasis on technical rules detail, and more on drama and swashbuckling, fast-paced action. The setting is also much more intertwined with the rules than in D&D, so arguments/discussions about canon tend to see more air time.
Oh yeah, Exalted 2nd Edition is due in Feb next year.
