This review contains spoilers
Edited review after first playthrough:
Lots of bugs in the current version on PS5, but the overall game play and story and quest lines are truly remarkable. The bugs are getting fixed slowly but surely.
Because of the current state of the game, I don't think I can't fully say this is GOTY, but it is still a contender for sure.
Some of my favorite playable characters included Lae'zel, Karlach, and Shadowheart, but OG Baldur's Gate fans, myself included, will glow in awe at the mere sight of Jaheira and Minsc, who I both love as well.
Halsin and Gale disapprove
I played over 300 hours and completed my first full playthrough, despite many bugs slowing me down, including a game-breaking bug that prevented me from finishing the final boss. Multiple reloads later, I was able to finish the game by removing a bugged character from my main party and swapping them out with another, which ended up fixing it.
Until it is patched, BE WARY of the "RESCUE ORIN'S VICTIM" quest in Act 3 where this particular game-breaking bug began to occur and continued for me into Endgame.
I added a spoiler warning so I can talk about this:
During the figt against Orin, I had to rescue a party member that she kidnaps prior. For me, this was Halsin, but can be other characters instead. During the Orin fight, I had Karlach break Halsin free from his chains. This pinned Halsin to Karlach as a temporary 5th party member. After the fight was over, I was supposed to be able to talk to Halsin to complete the quest. This prompt did not appear for me, and Halsin became a bugged character, stuck to Karlach as a summon. He couldn't be talked to at camp, and I couldn't add him to my main party. This was fine because I didn't particularly like Halsin to begin with, opting for the far superior Jaheira for all my Druid needs. However, I am a huge Karlach fan so I continued the game as her, unknowing at the time that I was then playing a bugged game to the extent that it was. I could deal with a bugged quest, but I didn't know how bad it would get.
Fast forward some, I reach the boat that takes you to the Netherbrain. Halsin was gone and not following Karlach anymore, so I thought the quest bug fixed itself. Fast forward a bit further to the final battle against the Netherbrain itself, Halsin showed up again as a 5th playable character. I thought maybe since I rescued him, he joins for the fight. Instead, I found out that once it got to Halsin's turn, I could move his character, but there was no action wheel to actually do anything, nor was I able to End Turn. This is where I realized the game was broken and could never get past this fight.
What ended up fixing this battle for me was simply switching Karlach to another playable character. I chose Minsc. Since Karlach wasn't there to have Halsin leech onto her like a bugged parasite, I was able to complete the game with my final party of level 12 Tav (Dragonborn Bard), Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Minsc.
Lots of bugs in the current version on PS5, but the overall game play and story and quest lines are truly remarkable. The bugs are getting fixed slowly but surely.
Because of the current state of the game, I don't think I can't fully say this is GOTY, but it is still a contender for sure.
Some of my favorite playable characters included Lae'zel, Karlach, and Shadowheart, but OG Baldur's Gate fans, myself included, will glow in awe at the mere sight of Jaheira and Minsc, who I both love as well.
Halsin and Gale disapprove
I played over 300 hours and completed my first full playthrough, despite many bugs slowing me down, including a game-breaking bug that prevented me from finishing the final boss. Multiple reloads later, I was able to finish the game by removing a bugged character from my main party and swapping them out with another, which ended up fixing it.
Until it is patched, BE WARY of the "RESCUE ORIN'S VICTIM" quest in Act 3 where this particular game-breaking bug began to occur and continued for me into Endgame.
I added a spoiler warning so I can talk about this:
During the figt against Orin, I had to rescue a party member that she kidnaps prior. For me, this was Halsin, but can be other characters instead. During the Orin fight, I had Karlach break Halsin free from his chains. This pinned Halsin to Karlach as a temporary 5th party member. After the fight was over, I was supposed to be able to talk to Halsin to complete the quest. This prompt did not appear for me, and Halsin became a bugged character, stuck to Karlach as a summon. He couldn't be talked to at camp, and I couldn't add him to my main party. This was fine because I didn't particularly like Halsin to begin with, opting for the far superior Jaheira for all my Druid needs. However, I am a huge Karlach fan so I continued the game as her, unknowing at the time that I was then playing a bugged game to the extent that it was. I could deal with a bugged quest, but I didn't know how bad it would get.
Fast forward some, I reach the boat that takes you to the Netherbrain. Halsin was gone and not following Karlach anymore, so I thought the quest bug fixed itself. Fast forward a bit further to the final battle against the Netherbrain itself, Halsin showed up again as a 5th playable character. I thought maybe since I rescued him, he joins for the fight. Instead, I found out that once it got to Halsin's turn, I could move his character, but there was no action wheel to actually do anything, nor was I able to End Turn. This is where I realized the game was broken and could never get past this fight.
What ended up fixing this battle for me was simply switching Karlach to another playable character. I chose Minsc. Since Karlach wasn't there to have Halsin leech onto her like a bugged parasite, I was able to complete the game with my final party of level 12 Tav (Dragonborn Bard), Shadowheart, Lae'zel, and Minsc.