This review contains spoilers
pretty good, but it didn’t ended up being the favourite i expected it to be when i played early access. a lot of wasted potential and some poor writing choices have significantly lowered my opinion of it.
positives:
- the game is visually amazing and the world feels full and alive. exploration was definitely one of my favourite parts of my playthrough, it always felt like there was more to see and do.
- the combat is a lot of fun, dynamic, and there’s a lot of builds you can play around with. probably my favourite part of the game.
- the characters are an interesting group, and i like a few of them a lot, even though i wish some of them were better written/developed.
negatives:
- i wasn’t a fan of the main story starting from the end of act 2 to the conclusion of the game. the reveal of the elder brain and chosen three felt convoluted enough, and act 3 only further complicates and overcrowds the plot with new details and revelations, leading it to feel more clumsily patched together than like a cohesive narrative.. also, certain aspects of the ending didn’t make much sense to me, like the emperor leaving to join the brain if you free orpheus, despite that going against his actions and motives the entire game up until that point. then there’s the “everything was a part of the elder brain’s plan” bit that feels like it needs a giant suspension of disbelief to make any sense...
- as for the character writing, it's pretty uneven. a few characters like astarion and lae’zel come out looking better, but others like karlach and wyll just have unfinished storylines and almost no special interactions with the player. some of the companions’ “development” feels rushed and unearned. as an example, shadowheart’s turn away from shar seemed to me to be out of character considering how hard she defends shar up until that point.
- similarly, relationships don’t feel earned. there isn’t enough interactions to realistically build-up platonic and romantic relationships. this is especially noticeable for the romances, as the companions go from barely knowing the player to being in love with them with little in-between. relationships between companions are also more told than shown. they will comment on things that happen to each other, but don’t really interact aside from some party banter. this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if it weren’t for several characters talking as if they are good friends with each other (karlach is the biggest example of this). we’re told that they’re this found family, but we’re not really given any reason to believe it.
- lastly, the favouritism is really glaring. astarion’s personal story and struggles get a lot more focus compared to the other companions, and you just generally get to spend more time with him, even though he is one of the least involved in the main plot. i understand that some characters might have a little more content, but other companions shouldn’t be neglected in favour of the fan favourite, and that unfortunately happens in bg3 with karlach and wyll especially. i also wish that the studio didn’t listen to fans so much, particularly when it came to halsin, whose addition as a companion is pretty much pointless, and wyll, who was re-written because some fans didn’t like him, and ended up being a less developed character in the full release as a result.
overall, far from the best crpg of all time in my opinion.
positives:
- the game is visually amazing and the world feels full and alive. exploration was definitely one of my favourite parts of my playthrough, it always felt like there was more to see and do.
- the combat is a lot of fun, dynamic, and there’s a lot of builds you can play around with. probably my favourite part of the game.
- the characters are an interesting group, and i like a few of them a lot, even though i wish some of them were better written/developed.
negatives:
- i wasn’t a fan of the main story starting from the end of act 2 to the conclusion of the game. the reveal of the elder brain and chosen three felt convoluted enough, and act 3 only further complicates and overcrowds the plot with new details and revelations, leading it to feel more clumsily patched together than like a cohesive narrative.. also, certain aspects of the ending didn’t make much sense to me, like the emperor leaving to join the brain if you free orpheus, despite that going against his actions and motives the entire game up until that point. then there’s the “everything was a part of the elder brain’s plan” bit that feels like it needs a giant suspension of disbelief to make any sense...
- as for the character writing, it's pretty uneven. a few characters like astarion and lae’zel come out looking better, but others like karlach and wyll just have unfinished storylines and almost no special interactions with the player. some of the companions’ “development” feels rushed and unearned. as an example, shadowheart’s turn away from shar seemed to me to be out of character considering how hard she defends shar up until that point.
- similarly, relationships don’t feel earned. there isn’t enough interactions to realistically build-up platonic and romantic relationships. this is especially noticeable for the romances, as the companions go from barely knowing the player to being in love with them with little in-between. relationships between companions are also more told than shown. they will comment on things that happen to each other, but don’t really interact aside from some party banter. this wouldn’t necessarily be a problem if it weren’t for several characters talking as if they are good friends with each other (karlach is the biggest example of this). we’re told that they’re this found family, but we’re not really given any reason to believe it.
- lastly, the favouritism is really glaring. astarion’s personal story and struggles get a lot more focus compared to the other companions, and you just generally get to spend more time with him, even though he is one of the least involved in the main plot. i understand that some characters might have a little more content, but other companions shouldn’t be neglected in favour of the fan favourite, and that unfortunately happens in bg3 with karlach and wyll especially. i also wish that the studio didn’t listen to fans so much, particularly when it came to halsin, whose addition as a companion is pretty much pointless, and wyll, who was re-written because some fans didn’t like him, and ended up being a less developed character in the full release as a result.
overall, far from the best crpg of all time in my opinion.