diaugupul
Despite loving the first game, I found this one to be sort of a chore to get through. The cases get too crazy and supernatural, and they’re worse for it — not because they aren’t grounded or realistic, but because they lack a certain logic or thread to follow, and in an adventure game with puzzles that’s essential for me to be engaged. There are longer cases where you’re left to wonder kinda aimlessly and way more moonlogic than in the first one. The bonus cases are also very hit or miss, which was a disappointment compared to the mostly excellent from the first game.
I admit if I hadn’t played that one first I’d have dropped ‘Fumble in the Dark’ or at least given it a 5.
I admit if I hadn’t played that one first I’d have dropped ‘Fumble in the Dark’ or at least given it a 5.
Starts kinda rough but then it hooked me! I think they tried to make a game very approachable and the tutorial is a big part of that— but for me it became too handholdy and I enjoyed the game way more once I was juggling multiple tasks, could explore freely and had all of my tools. Still, that happens fairly quickly so it’s not that big of a deal.
Played the game in Spanish and it was very refreshing to read the dialogue written in a very authentic voice and all the references to the geographic zone it’s inspired by.
Played the game in Spanish and it was very refreshing to read the dialogue written in a very authentic voice and all the references to the geographic zone it’s inspired by.
2021
This review contains spoilers
The 10 or so minutes where you’re in your house cooking dinner and calling your neighbour and son are great, but everything else is underwhelming at best and grating at worst. The art style doesn’t suit the game, the gameplay elements feel too streamlined and absent from consequence, and the overall dialogue maybe is decent for video game standards but that’s a low standard. I’ve seen the same writing hundreds of times in films and shows and it’s not interesting anymore. For a game so enamored with its writing, you’d think it’d be more novel or expressive.
2023
After my first playthrough I can safely say this is one of my favorite games of all time. It isn't surprising that it is but I was surprised at how much it exceeded my expectations.
Some context. Since the announcement of Baldur's Gate 3 in 2019, I've played Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2 (2 twice, solo and co-op), Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 plus their expansions, Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, Solasta: Crown of the Magister plus expansions, Wasteland 3, Planescape Torment, and more. These games represent the best the cRPG genre can offer, from the cinematic moments of Wasteland 3 to the thought-provoking world of Planescape, from the systemic interactions of DOS2 to the cozy-yet-epic journey of the original BG. Baldur's Gate 3 brings the best of each game into a package that feels the culmination of the genre and the studio that is Larian. It's an achievement, but also so damn fun to play.
Baldur's Gate 3 has deep and charismatic characters that I thought only BioWare could write, an incredibly presented world that rivals the best moments of The Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk 2077, a systemic, strategic and satisfying combat that is probably the most fun you can make 5e (not the most accurate, we have Solasta for that), and a scope that surprised me time and time again during my over 130-hour adventure.
I really hope it's not true, and that Larian (or someone else) will surprise me, but it's hard to imagine a better cRPG than this. Let's enjoy it.
Some context. Since the announcement of Baldur's Gate 3 in 2019, I've played Divinity: Original Sin 1 & 2 (2 twice, solo and co-op), Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 plus their expansions, Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, Solasta: Crown of the Magister plus expansions, Wasteland 3, Planescape Torment, and more. These games represent the best the cRPG genre can offer, from the cinematic moments of Wasteland 3 to the thought-provoking world of Planescape, from the systemic interactions of DOS2 to the cozy-yet-epic journey of the original BG. Baldur's Gate 3 brings the best of each game into a package that feels the culmination of the genre and the studio that is Larian. It's an achievement, but also so damn fun to play.
Baldur's Gate 3 has deep and charismatic characters that I thought only BioWare could write, an incredibly presented world that rivals the best moments of The Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk 2077, a systemic, strategic and satisfying combat that is probably the most fun you can make 5e (not the most accurate, we have Solasta for that), and a scope that surprised me time and time again during my over 130-hour adventure.
I really hope it's not true, and that Larian (or someone else) will surprise me, but it's hard to imagine a better cRPG than this. Let's enjoy it.
2018
Novel idea but the individual set pieces are very hit or miss. Some extremely easy, some stupidly hard to solve and some the right amount of challenge. Part 2 introduces a different city with plenty of potential for the visuals but you still solve puzzles around boring grey industrial zones that could be anywhere in the world.
2022
A very solid, polished and confident 7/10. The main mechanic is a great success — chaining kills with Deer never stopped being fun, and my brain loved the dopamine hit of seeing the death icon followed by the bravado glow and sound effect. Had to rely too often on the very generous auto saves to fix apparently harmless mistakes that ended with half of my party wiped out in the next turn (thanks to sometimes unclear enemy ricochet but also pure carelessness from my part). Could've switched to Normal instead of Hard but I honestly liked the stakes, and the missions seemed fair. The story is very thin but what it lacks in emotion and depth it has on spectacle and flair.
2023
Manages to be emotional even if the story is predictable and the gameplay few and far between. Its strength is how specific yet universal its themes are.
2023
It’s consistently pretty and polished, but the too vague plot you’re unraveling and the lacklustee puzzle variety made me lose interest the further I got. The extremely cute creature that follows you is easily the best part of the game.
More of the same but also worse. The art, atmosphere, music and drink system remain strong but the writing didn’t manage to be interesting at all. A shame because I really liked the concept and art of the new characters but I couldn’t be less interested in a character talking about first-world influencer problems for 5h, for example. Give me more lore of the world, and the struggles of the multiple races, or just let me explore more variety in the drinks system.
2022
Very confident game. The town is extremely well realised, with beautiful 2D art, subtle animations and great use of sound and music. The dialogue is always delightful to read and in very few instances it overstays its welcome (very remarkable for a game that is 90% dialogue). The choices and overall story arc are clearly very well thought out and the ending —while not super suprising— manages to feel logical and satisfying.
2023
Highlights for me were the inventive art direction and some mind-blowing moments in the later half. The puzzles were the right amount of difficult and you feel how polished and playtested they were in that you can't never "break" the game or be soft-locked, and the next step is always intuitive yet not too obvious. Still, the puzzles were a bit too mundane for the world they created — they were never a chore, but they became a routine.
2021
I don't recommend playing it unless you check out the demo and you’re extremely into it — because sadly the game gets worse the further you get.
The positives are a very good art direction, and some stunning environmental work. The game serves as a great showcase of what the studio can build in Unreal, and it almost seems intentional that by building different games inside of Gamedec, Anshar is basically proving their versatility and attention to detail in creating unique levels. It's a great "hire us" pitch, I'll admit.
The negatives are the narrative, the dialogue and some very basic quest design. The lore is so unnecessarily complicated for a game that has very little new to say. The main ideas of each level are explained in one line in a trailer they made 3 years ago. Everything else is filler, and it increases in quantity and stupidity the further you're in the game. By the end I couldn't care less about the main plot and the protagonist. There's also a lack of good secondary characters, so it's very hard to stay invested.
Gamedec is disappointing because it had a good premise and the art and production chops to pull it off. A narrative game lives and dies by its writing, though, and here it went from basic but serviceable to bad and boring.
The positives are a very good art direction, and some stunning environmental work. The game serves as a great showcase of what the studio can build in Unreal, and it almost seems intentional that by building different games inside of Gamedec, Anshar is basically proving their versatility and attention to detail in creating unique levels. It's a great "hire us" pitch, I'll admit.
The negatives are the narrative, the dialogue and some very basic quest design. The lore is so unnecessarily complicated for a game that has very little new to say. The main ideas of each level are explained in one line in a trailer they made 3 years ago. Everything else is filler, and it increases in quantity and stupidity the further you're in the game. By the end I couldn't care less about the main plot and the protagonist. There's also a lack of good secondary characters, so it's very hard to stay invested.
Gamedec is disappointing because it had a good premise and the art and production chops to pull it off. A narrative game lives and dies by its writing, though, and here it went from basic but serviceable to bad and boring.
2012
Obviously a great achievement for how it brought the tactics genre to a new generation, but playing it in 2022 wasn’t as enjoyable or fun as I expected.
I loved the tension and atmosphere of most missions inside a city. Slowly dissipating the fog of war of the suburbs knowing that discovering a new group of aliens at the end of your turn could mess you up extremely bad is one of the best things the game offers. I also enjoyed how different the classes felt and getting attached to my top officers and bringing them all the way to the last mission.
What I didn’t enjoy is mostly the pacing, the repetitiveness of missions and a very poor job of stoytelling and progression. There are bullshit difficulty spikes, plenty of bugs that will make you lose progress and overall a lack of polish that always prevents you from fully trusting the game.
Overall I enjoyed my time with it but around the 20 hour mark I was ready for it to end. It has some great ideas that I haven’t seen anywhere else but I expected more from one of the classics of the genre.
I loved the tension and atmosphere of most missions inside a city. Slowly dissipating the fog of war of the suburbs knowing that discovering a new group of aliens at the end of your turn could mess you up extremely bad is one of the best things the game offers. I also enjoyed how different the classes felt and getting attached to my top officers and bringing them all the way to the last mission.
What I didn’t enjoy is mostly the pacing, the repetitiveness of missions and a very poor job of stoytelling and progression. There are bullshit difficulty spikes, plenty of bugs that will make you lose progress and overall a lack of polish that always prevents you from fully trusting the game.
Overall I enjoyed my time with it but around the 20 hour mark I was ready for it to end. It has some great ideas that I haven’t seen anywhere else but I expected more from one of the classics of the genre.
2016
The Lion’s Song is so underrated. Beautiful art direction with amazing attention to detail, plenty of decisions to make and a very unique setting. You play as three different characters (a violinist, a painter, and a mathematician) in early 20th century Austria and, even though the ending chapter was a bit of a let down, there's so much unique to unpack in the previous three, that I know for sure someday I'll revisit it to relive it again.
2016
First, the good stuff. The game is gorgeous, with beautifully painted backgrounds and small lighting flourishes that really elevate the presentation. The voice acting is also strong, and paired up with the amount of text and the chaotic but innovative dialogue system really makes the characters come to life.
Having said all of that, I never clicked with it. The story gets sidetracked constantly by all the "noise" - dialogue that doesn't matter, clever visual tricks, map backtracking, long loading screens. I couldn't care for any of it. When the ending came and the game showed me the impact of my decisions, they felt unearned and pointless, like someone had been playing for the previous 4 hours.
Having said all of that, I never clicked with it. The story gets sidetracked constantly by all the "noise" - dialogue that doesn't matter, clever visual tricks, map backtracking, long loading screens. I couldn't care for any of it. When the ending came and the game showed me the impact of my decisions, they felt unearned and pointless, like someone had been playing for the previous 4 hours.