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Baldur's Gate 3 2023
Log Status
Completed
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Time Played
--
Days in Journal
3 days
Last played
November 16, 2023
First played
August 3, 2023
Platforms Played
This review contains spoilers
Baldur’s Gate 3 is an engaging and extremely vast entry-level cRPG that looks beautiful and made to appeal to even the most casual of gamers. It’s one of the most popular games at the moment and critically acclaimed, bound to win every GOTY award there is. This game is still in its honeymoon phase and it has the luxury of being a game with a developer that’s dedicated to making the game better and is receptive to criticism. However, I feel like I was largely correct in my original rant about Baldur’s Gate 3. This fantastic game has some serious flaws and as a whole it just doesn’t really resonate with me as much as I’d like it to.
This game is incredibly unique, on a surface level it feels like you’re playing the tabletop D&D 5e. A system that redefined ttrpgs and brought in a whole new wave of fans, becoming more popular than its predecessors that had their own dedicated fanbases but the systems themselves were not beginner friendly. BG3 and D&D 5e are the same in that regard.
When I first played it I would’ve easily given it a 10/10, especially when I was in Act 1 because it was the most polished. Act 2 was fun albeit not as good as Act 1. Act Three was a slog and it took me three months to fucking beat it. It seriously felt like a chore. Mustering the motivation to beat it (mind you, I got to Act 3 back in August) took a lot out of me. Acts 1 & 2 were some of the most fun and engaging gaming experiences of my life and the end of the latter was epic. However, Act 3 just fell off hard. All of that build up was for naught and nearly soured my experience for the whole game. The villains feel like an afterthought and in hindsight add nothing to the story.
The game gives the illusion of freedom, employing clever tactics to make the game seem like it isn’t linear experience. It’s all smoke and mirrors. I have no problems with linear games, in fact I love them, but this game was marketed as this expansive immersive sim when it really isn’t. The game will on occasion break your immersion if you try to roleplay a certain way e.g. if you want to be non-lethal the quests will still act as if you’re a murderer. Discovery and exploration are probably the most fun to be had. They’re done at your own leisure and aren’t required for progression which usually leads to the most memorable stuff in the game like side quests (not including the milquetoast companion quests).
The companions are designed to be as lovable and romancable as possible which is why they work on the timescale that they do. Most companions are hot, young, single, and VERY READY to mingle. Compared to even the previous Baldur’s Gate games (which I still need to beat), their companions are a lot more varied albeit cliched. All of this is bait for horny gamers (which I am one don’t get me wrong) so they’ll be manipulated to like a character when they’re pretty much a sexy plank of wood with a basic character arc, if at that. Oh how I long for the days of KOTOR or just BioWare in general when they were at their peak.
This also goes into my critique of D&D 5e in general where the characters feel like superheroes. This ends up making everything feel unearned, especially when you start out as an already accomplished person at level one. We don’t even need our own mc to illustrate this point, look at the companions. They’re all level one when you recruit them and yet Karlach, a level one barbarian who looks beautiful survives the frontlines of the Nine Hells. Gale, a level one wizard, has a deep and intimate relationship with Mystra, the goddess of magic, and one of the most powerful spellcasters in the multiverse. Wyll, with his light-skin acting ass, being this corny-ass, edgy, idiot with all this power at level one.
Here’s the thing, the things that I don’t like about 5e are what most people love about it and are literally its main selling points. It’s a matter of taste and what you like playing. BG3/5e is definitely fun to play if you’re looking for an easy-to-learn, jack of all trades, power fantasy. What I felt as a DM for 5e is that it can be frustrating, especially since most of the rules revolve around combat encounters. 5e assumes that you’re gonna punch your way out of your problems which is inherently problematic but once again it is a power fantasy. 5e isn’t my preferred system which is okay, my opinion is just as valid as those who prefer the system which is most tabletop gamers, including my friends. I like how older D&D editions are more exploration oriented rather than combat focused and they often felt like survival horror games. That’s probably why I really like OSRs or even PBTA systems over D&D.
I even explained some gameplay differences between older editions of D&D and 5e to my friends and they prefer 5e. They didn’t like how it sounded to play older editions where death is a real option and it required more forethought and longer preparation in battles which you were encouraged to avoid as opposed to 5e’s gung-ho approach to combat and storylines tailored to make your characters feel like great heroes facing insurmountable odds (which I do adore) rather than people trying to survive and explore dungeons for loot. While combat can still be dangerous in 5e, death doesn’t always mean the end of a character which is exacerbated by Withers’ inclusion in BG3.
The combat in BG3 can be monotonous and frustrating and this is coming from somebody who likes Musou games. Like the rest of the game, the combat is a mile wide but an inch deep. There are too many variables and too much RNG involved with encounters, it’s somehow worse than XCOM. There are so many terrible rolls in this game. Modifiers and enemies per encounter need rebalancing as it can often be unfair. If there’s a lot of enemies then the game not only slows down to a damn near halt but it feels like the game is just playing itself (seriously, there’s no fast forward option?). Not only that but the enemies just swarm the absolute shit out of you, making save scumming essential to progress. While I didn’t find actual combat that hard, the roll of the dice and piss poor balancing can suck the fun out of the room. Thank the gods for cheese strats. It feels like you’re being DMed by somebody who just wants to kill off your characters and do away with the campaign. There’s a lot of trial and error which despite my issues with 5e, is not an issue there at all.
The mechanical depth and build variety are nowhere close to something like Owlcat’s Pathfinder games, Pillars of Eternity, Arcanum, Arx Fatalis, etc (all of these games flawed in their own right). Combat in something like Persona 5 Royal, there’s this constant feedback loop and you have to pay attention. Having knowledge of the game’s rock-paper-scissors style turn-based combat system allows you to counter enemies in a way that makes for a very satisfying experience. Divinity: Original Sin 2, Larian’s previous game, did a better job with somewhat satisfying turn-based combat than BG3 and it wasn’t even that tactical. Hell, Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 have better combat (fight me), they played in real time which you could pause whenever you wanted, and they were based off of AD&D. The replay value for BG3 is definitely diminished by its combat. Even if you like the story/characters/dialogue/worldbuilding, the combat is not on par with any of those aspects even though sometimes you’ll get pigeonholed into combat by saying or doing the wrong thing, forcing a reload.
The UX is clunky and inventory management can be a slog, taking up a lot of precious time in this already overwhelmingly large game. If you’re anything like me, you need your items organized and sorted a certain way. The game does have the bag system where it’ll automatically sort similar items together but correct me if I’m wrong, you can’t do it manually so you’ll have to rely on your camp chest. Otherwise, your companions basically just become your mules and there aren’t really any consequences to the weight system either unless you’re a massive hoarder.
The game’s story can be summed up as just okay. It’s corny as hell, feeling like it was fan-fiction written by a DM whose knowledge of The Forgotten Realms (the least interesting setting at D&D’s disposal) comes from YouTube lore videos. While it does feel like you’re being DMed by an actual person, like people, it is flawed and often trite. I think the story should’ve been straight forward instead of making you feel like you have a choice. There’s only one real choice that matters which is the ending. The game feels heavily railroaded and despite how big everything is, it’s all very linear. Everything is an illusion of choice and freedom. Everyone will ultimately have the same experience like a rollercoaster.
The tadpole acts as a copout whenever it’s convenient in the story or in a companion’s character arc. The Emperor and the stuff with Orpheus is just awful. On top of that, the villains’ plan makes literally no sense. Harvest souls by turning people into mind flayers yet when they turn into one they lose their souls, rendering their plan utterly useless. The Elder Brain/Netherbrain takes over the reigns as the final villain and you got a few worthless choices; take its power, destroy it and the crown, or assimilate. The final arena was also just ass. After two hours of slogging I just ended up using Gale’s exploding shit but he didn’t die so there was no point in wasting that time since I didn’t want to get the bad ending anyway. Act 3 just soured the entire game for me and it just kept getting worse with unbalanced encounters that have over-leveled enemies bombard you with AoEs and force damage. Kind of a mistake making the level cap 12, especially when enemies can go over that.
Skill checks mean nothing when the opposing character basically just accepts whatever you’re trying to do with no pushback. I’m literally playing god(s) and there’s no drawbacks whatsoever which is pretty much The Sims. This game holds your hand every step of the way. The dialogue options are extremely limited and feels like Fallout 4 at times. People say the narrative is strong but I think it’s on par with an MCU film— like seriously, the narrative and writing is no where close to Disco Elysium, Fallout 2, or Planescape: Torment. This is not to say the writing is awful (though it definitely can be), I just don’t think it’s worthy of praise.
On my murder-hobo playthrough with my friends, despite the obvious consequences to our actions (like no longer accessing vendors we murdered) the game doesn’t react accordingly. The morality and reputation system is basically non-existent. This has been a thing that cRPGs have gotten down a long time ago and Baldur’s Gate 3 is missing a simple but very important role playing mechanic. The world is not reactive and stays stagnant aside from quest related shenanigans here and there. People aren’t afraid of you, they don’t close down shop whenever you’re nearby, you’re just an average jo-shmoe as if genocide and mass-murder isn’t noteworthy.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is basically Mass Effect all over again. This is coming from someone with a huge soft spot for the Mass Effect series as it was practically my first rpg experience. Presentation and production value are superb, rpg aspects are dumbed down in favor of appealing to a mass audience, and everything is simplified albeit done extremely well. Very linear, very railroady. As stated prior, it gives off the illusion that there’s freedom of choice especially with the ending which negates everything that came before.
Like Mass Effect for me in my teens, for many Baldur’s Gate 3 is a life-changing experience. Many experienced veterans looked down on Mass Effect back then for the aforementioned reasons but to allow for a whole new generation of fans to keep their favorite hobby alive and well they have to hold their tongues as to not discourage the newbies. While I don’t look down on BG3 (far from it), it doesn’t live up to my expectations as a cRPG. Its reception is similar to The Witcher 3; a critically acclaimed game with quality content, lots of stuff to do, and a passionate developer that kept adding in new content. However, when the honeymoon period was over it was criticized (The Witcher 3’s and Blood and Wine’s stories still go hard). At the moment, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a cultural and gaming phenomenon, its flaws be damned.
There are definitely better games, systems, etc that are more fleshed out, are more balanced, and have a better way of approaching systems in a much more in-depth fashion. However like D&D 5e, it reigns supreme not because it’s the best, specializing in what it does. It’s due to being above mediocre at everything it does. There’s no shame in that, it allows people from all walks of life to enjoy rpgs and that’s a beautiful thing. While I’m not totally convinced that Baldur’s Gate 3 deserves all of the hype, most people do and it’ll probably win all of those GOTY awards. The game is a technical masterpiece and it obviously resonated with the gaming community at large. It just wasn’t for me and that’s okay. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 need to exist, we want more devs to feel like rpgs are worth investing time and money into them. Baldur’s Gate 3 triumphs and stands tall in the sea of mtx, lootbox-filled dogshit flooding the market. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a defining game of this generation but I don’t think it’s the definitive cRPG, nowhere close, and that’s okay. It does what it needs to and does it extremely well. Happy gaming everybody!
This game is incredibly unique, on a surface level it feels like you’re playing the tabletop D&D 5e. A system that redefined ttrpgs and brought in a whole new wave of fans, becoming more popular than its predecessors that had their own dedicated fanbases but the systems themselves were not beginner friendly. BG3 and D&D 5e are the same in that regard.
When I first played it I would’ve easily given it a 10/10, especially when I was in Act 1 because it was the most polished. Act 2 was fun albeit not as good as Act 1. Act Three was a slog and it took me three months to fucking beat it. It seriously felt like a chore. Mustering the motivation to beat it (mind you, I got to Act 3 back in August) took a lot out of me. Acts 1 & 2 were some of the most fun and engaging gaming experiences of my life and the end of the latter was epic. However, Act 3 just fell off hard. All of that build up was for naught and nearly soured my experience for the whole game. The villains feel like an afterthought and in hindsight add nothing to the story.
The game gives the illusion of freedom, employing clever tactics to make the game seem like it isn’t linear experience. It’s all smoke and mirrors. I have no problems with linear games, in fact I love them, but this game was marketed as this expansive immersive sim when it really isn’t. The game will on occasion break your immersion if you try to roleplay a certain way e.g. if you want to be non-lethal the quests will still act as if you’re a murderer. Discovery and exploration are probably the most fun to be had. They’re done at your own leisure and aren’t required for progression which usually leads to the most memorable stuff in the game like side quests (not including the milquetoast companion quests).
The companions are designed to be as lovable and romancable as possible which is why they work on the timescale that they do. Most companions are hot, young, single, and VERY READY to mingle. Compared to even the previous Baldur’s Gate games (which I still need to beat), their companions are a lot more varied albeit cliched. All of this is bait for horny gamers (which I am one don’t get me wrong) so they’ll be manipulated to like a character when they’re pretty much a sexy plank of wood with a basic character arc, if at that. Oh how I long for the days of KOTOR or just BioWare in general when they were at their peak.
This also goes into my critique of D&D 5e in general where the characters feel like superheroes. This ends up making everything feel unearned, especially when you start out as an already accomplished person at level one. We don’t even need our own mc to illustrate this point, look at the companions. They’re all level one when you recruit them and yet Karlach, a level one barbarian who looks beautiful survives the frontlines of the Nine Hells. Gale, a level one wizard, has a deep and intimate relationship with Mystra, the goddess of magic, and one of the most powerful spellcasters in the multiverse. Wyll, with his light-skin acting ass, being this corny-ass, edgy, idiot with all this power at level one.
Here’s the thing, the things that I don’t like about 5e are what most people love about it and are literally its main selling points. It’s a matter of taste and what you like playing. BG3/5e is definitely fun to play if you’re looking for an easy-to-learn, jack of all trades, power fantasy. What I felt as a DM for 5e is that it can be frustrating, especially since most of the rules revolve around combat encounters. 5e assumes that you’re gonna punch your way out of your problems which is inherently problematic but once again it is a power fantasy. 5e isn’t my preferred system which is okay, my opinion is just as valid as those who prefer the system which is most tabletop gamers, including my friends. I like how older D&D editions are more exploration oriented rather than combat focused and they often felt like survival horror games. That’s probably why I really like OSRs or even PBTA systems over D&D.
I even explained some gameplay differences between older editions of D&D and 5e to my friends and they prefer 5e. They didn’t like how it sounded to play older editions where death is a real option and it required more forethought and longer preparation in battles which you were encouraged to avoid as opposed to 5e’s gung-ho approach to combat and storylines tailored to make your characters feel like great heroes facing insurmountable odds (which I do adore) rather than people trying to survive and explore dungeons for loot. While combat can still be dangerous in 5e, death doesn’t always mean the end of a character which is exacerbated by Withers’ inclusion in BG3.
The combat in BG3 can be monotonous and frustrating and this is coming from somebody who likes Musou games. Like the rest of the game, the combat is a mile wide but an inch deep. There are too many variables and too much RNG involved with encounters, it’s somehow worse than XCOM. There are so many terrible rolls in this game. Modifiers and enemies per encounter need rebalancing as it can often be unfair. If there’s a lot of enemies then the game not only slows down to a damn near halt but it feels like the game is just playing itself (seriously, there’s no fast forward option?). Not only that but the enemies just swarm the absolute shit out of you, making save scumming essential to progress. While I didn’t find actual combat that hard, the roll of the dice and piss poor balancing can suck the fun out of the room. Thank the gods for cheese strats. It feels like you’re being DMed by somebody who just wants to kill off your characters and do away with the campaign. There’s a lot of trial and error which despite my issues with 5e, is not an issue there at all.
The mechanical depth and build variety are nowhere close to something like Owlcat’s Pathfinder games, Pillars of Eternity, Arcanum, Arx Fatalis, etc (all of these games flawed in their own right). Combat in something like Persona 5 Royal, there’s this constant feedback loop and you have to pay attention. Having knowledge of the game’s rock-paper-scissors style turn-based combat system allows you to counter enemies in a way that makes for a very satisfying experience. Divinity: Original Sin 2, Larian’s previous game, did a better job with somewhat satisfying turn-based combat than BG3 and it wasn’t even that tactical. Hell, Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 have better combat (fight me), they played in real time which you could pause whenever you wanted, and they were based off of AD&D. The replay value for BG3 is definitely diminished by its combat. Even if you like the story/characters/dialogue/worldbuilding, the combat is not on par with any of those aspects even though sometimes you’ll get pigeonholed into combat by saying or doing the wrong thing, forcing a reload.
The UX is clunky and inventory management can be a slog, taking up a lot of precious time in this already overwhelmingly large game. If you’re anything like me, you need your items organized and sorted a certain way. The game does have the bag system where it’ll automatically sort similar items together but correct me if I’m wrong, you can’t do it manually so you’ll have to rely on your camp chest. Otherwise, your companions basically just become your mules and there aren’t really any consequences to the weight system either unless you’re a massive hoarder.
The game’s story can be summed up as just okay. It’s corny as hell, feeling like it was fan-fiction written by a DM whose knowledge of The Forgotten Realms (the least interesting setting at D&D’s disposal) comes from YouTube lore videos. While it does feel like you’re being DMed by an actual person, like people, it is flawed and often trite. I think the story should’ve been straight forward instead of making you feel like you have a choice. There’s only one real choice that matters which is the ending. The game feels heavily railroaded and despite how big everything is, it’s all very linear. Everything is an illusion of choice and freedom. Everyone will ultimately have the same experience like a rollercoaster.
The tadpole acts as a copout whenever it’s convenient in the story or in a companion’s character arc. The Emperor and the stuff with Orpheus is just awful. On top of that, the villains’ plan makes literally no sense. Harvest souls by turning people into mind flayers yet when they turn into one they lose their souls, rendering their plan utterly useless. The Elder Brain/Netherbrain takes over the reigns as the final villain and you got a few worthless choices; take its power, destroy it and the crown, or assimilate. The final arena was also just ass. After two hours of slogging I just ended up using Gale’s exploding shit but he didn’t die so there was no point in wasting that time since I didn’t want to get the bad ending anyway. Act 3 just soured the entire game for me and it just kept getting worse with unbalanced encounters that have over-leveled enemies bombard you with AoEs and force damage. Kind of a mistake making the level cap 12, especially when enemies can go over that.
Skill checks mean nothing when the opposing character basically just accepts whatever you’re trying to do with no pushback. I’m literally playing god(s) and there’s no drawbacks whatsoever which is pretty much The Sims. This game holds your hand every step of the way. The dialogue options are extremely limited and feels like Fallout 4 at times. People say the narrative is strong but I think it’s on par with an MCU film— like seriously, the narrative and writing is no where close to Disco Elysium, Fallout 2, or Planescape: Torment. This is not to say the writing is awful (though it definitely can be), I just don’t think it’s worthy of praise.
On my murder-hobo playthrough with my friends, despite the obvious consequences to our actions (like no longer accessing vendors we murdered) the game doesn’t react accordingly. The morality and reputation system is basically non-existent. This has been a thing that cRPGs have gotten down a long time ago and Baldur’s Gate 3 is missing a simple but very important role playing mechanic. The world is not reactive and stays stagnant aside from quest related shenanigans here and there. People aren’t afraid of you, they don’t close down shop whenever you’re nearby, you’re just an average jo-shmoe as if genocide and mass-murder isn’t noteworthy.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is basically Mass Effect all over again. This is coming from someone with a huge soft spot for the Mass Effect series as it was practically my first rpg experience. Presentation and production value are superb, rpg aspects are dumbed down in favor of appealing to a mass audience, and everything is simplified albeit done extremely well. Very linear, very railroady. As stated prior, it gives off the illusion that there’s freedom of choice especially with the ending which negates everything that came before.
Like Mass Effect for me in my teens, for many Baldur’s Gate 3 is a life-changing experience. Many experienced veterans looked down on Mass Effect back then for the aforementioned reasons but to allow for a whole new generation of fans to keep their favorite hobby alive and well they have to hold their tongues as to not discourage the newbies. While I don’t look down on BG3 (far from it), it doesn’t live up to my expectations as a cRPG. Its reception is similar to The Witcher 3; a critically acclaimed game with quality content, lots of stuff to do, and a passionate developer that kept adding in new content. However, when the honeymoon period was over it was criticized (The Witcher 3’s and Blood and Wine’s stories still go hard). At the moment, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a cultural and gaming phenomenon, its flaws be damned.
There are definitely better games, systems, etc that are more fleshed out, are more balanced, and have a better way of approaching systems in a much more in-depth fashion. However like D&D 5e, it reigns supreme not because it’s the best, specializing in what it does. It’s due to being above mediocre at everything it does. There’s no shame in that, it allows people from all walks of life to enjoy rpgs and that’s a beautiful thing. While I’m not totally convinced that Baldur’s Gate 3 deserves all of the hype, most people do and it’ll probably win all of those GOTY awards. The game is a technical masterpiece and it obviously resonated with the gaming community at large. It just wasn’t for me and that’s okay. Games like Baldur’s Gate 3 need to exist, we want more devs to feel like rpgs are worth investing time and money into them. Baldur’s Gate 3 triumphs and stands tall in the sea of mtx, lootbox-filled dogshit flooding the market. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a defining game of this generation but I don’t think it’s the definitive cRPG, nowhere close, and that’s okay. It does what it needs to and does it extremely well. Happy gaming everybody!
Just a disclaimer, I am still playing this game so this is not a definitive review but my opinion probably won’t change much.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game based off of the 5e of D&D which is my least favorite version (that I played*). You feel like a superhero a lot of the time and there’s useless classes like Monk and the balancing is atrocious. A lot of those problems carry over to this game but Larian managed to make it more enjoyable with some QoL improvements. Does it fix 5e? Hell fucking no but it does make it much more fun imo but that could also be because I’m a forever DM lol.
I burnt myself out playing this game. The first two weeks of release I no-lifed BG3 and got 80 hours in that time (I didn’t have a job at the time lol). I got up to act three and I was just not feeling the game anymore. Around that time I started a playthrough with my best friends (who are also my pcs) and we were doing a murder-hobo play through. It was fun to go through everything and there was a lot that I missed on my solo run.
The game is huge despite having the illusion of choice half the time. The characters are hit or miss and I don’t really care much for the story. The world is fine, your average D&D fare. The best part about this game is that there’s so much to do and there aren’t really any shitty quests or side quests.
The combat is pretty solid aside from large scale battles which is a 5e issue in general. I like how a lot of the arenas allow for variations in movement which a lot of DMs (me) forget to utilize in the ttrpg. However like I stated before there are lot of unbalanced builds, useless class/subclasses. A single character run isn’t viable with most classes.
The game got a lot of improvements via updates in the past few months which shows Larian’s love and dedication to the game. The game is definitely great but for me it’s not the best game ever made or even the best rpg. While Larian is channeling old-school Bioware and Black Isle studios, I don’t think this is on the same level as Fallout 2 or Planescape: Torment. You can argue that this game exceeds those two gameplay-wise which I wouldn’t contest but you gotta remember that this is a 2023 video game so technology has progressed drastically since the 90s. Story wise BG3 has nothing on the aforementioned titles.
I am excited for the future of this game and Larian Studios. Larian is a promising studio and for many they have made some of the best crpgs that rival the greats of the golden age. I liked the bits of Divinity: Originally Sin 2 that I played and with BG3 I think I’ll eventually beat my main play through (I have another roleplaying as the Nameless One (dark urge)) but I have been putting it off since. I just don’t really care enough to beat it but I do want to continue my play through with my friends. Overall the game is pretty good but I think it’s a lil overhyped. It’s probably gonna get goty which is fine, it deserves a lot of the rewards. I still need to play the other giants from this year like TOTK, AC6, RE4R, and of course all of the great indies from this year.
Edit: After some consideration, I did find this game to be extremely engaging and despite my issues and nitpicks with it’s story, characters, world building (typical fantasy racism and uninspired deities; since D&D started off by ripping off Tolkien, Conan, and Lovecraft lol), class/spells system, and villains (they’re straight garbage), I think the amount of stuff that you can do just makes one salivate like a kid at a candy store. Again, most of the issues are just baked into D&D 5e and WoTC’s world building. Larian did fix the issues with racial essentialism in character creation by allowing you to allocate the racial bonuses which is a plus. More options are always better, especially in a roleplay heavy game. You can’t help but be awed by the sheer magnitude of the game and how well it does stuff. Plus as my friends said, you can make your characters nude which is just great for simple minded plebs like us.
I also don’t want to make it sound like I hated D&D 5e. It’s a great system for beginners (despite it not knowing if it wants to be crunchy or not and WoTC being a shitty company) and it really drives home that fantasy of being this medieval superhero like let’s say Skyrim. However, I personally prefer more of a challenge in these types of games or at least synergy between gameplay and narrative where progression isn’t cookie-cutter nor extremely quick (another example where BG3 is better than base 5e). I do like the level cap being at 12 because it’s hard to balance any higher than that in 5e. While BG3 definitely can be a bitch if you’re underleveled and/or are not used to the tactical nature of these kind of games (or have one of those aforementioned unbalanced classes/subclasses because you suck at min/maxing which disincentivizes you from roleplaying a specific character). However you can respec for really cheap with in-game currency so you’re not entirely screwed. I didn’t think it was too hard as I could always come back to a section to grind levels doing some side quests, plus the game doesn’t really disincentivize save scumming. So the only real consequences would come from self imposed limitations.
I actually like this game more than the first Baldur’s Gate (AD&D is really hard but also satisfying once you get the hang of it) which I do got to get back into. The gameplay here is some of the most engaging and tactical that gaming has to offer.
The music is great, the visuals are superb, and the customization is expansive. This game is pretty much for everyone and it welcomes all types of players with open arms. It’s a beautiful thing and I realize that this game resonates with many people deeply (just look at the scores and whenever you’ve read this it prolly won many goty awards) but for me it misses the mark in a lot of areas.
I also wanted to say that despite my issues and nitpicks, this is one of my favorite games but it’s not the expansive immersive sim that a lot of people make it out to be (it gets close). It is an extremely impressive game there’s no doubt about that but for me, a lot of the choices ring hollow. Some choices are not really choices and many are inconsequential or are out of your control. Regardless, I think giving this game an 8/10 rather than the initial 7/10 I gave it is fair but I don’t think I can go any higher, at least not until I finish my main play through or do a whole new one with all of the knowledge I have now. I do recognize that some of my nitpicks/criticisms are present in some of my other favorite games and I sometimes hand wave those issues and I won’t lie, that’s entirely due to bias since I may resonate with those games more. BG3 is a fantastic game that has an okay story that gets rushed in act three and annoying to tolerable companions (I do like Shadowheart and Karlach though). Here’s to me actually getting the motivation to beat the play through I started this game with.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is a game based off of the 5e of D&D which is my least favorite version (that I played*). You feel like a superhero a lot of the time and there’s useless classes like Monk and the balancing is atrocious. A lot of those problems carry over to this game but Larian managed to make it more enjoyable with some QoL improvements. Does it fix 5e? Hell fucking no but it does make it much more fun imo but that could also be because I’m a forever DM lol.
I burnt myself out playing this game. The first two weeks of release I no-lifed BG3 and got 80 hours in that time (I didn’t have a job at the time lol). I got up to act three and I was just not feeling the game anymore. Around that time I started a playthrough with my best friends (who are also my pcs) and we were doing a murder-hobo play through. It was fun to go through everything and there was a lot that I missed on my solo run.
The game is huge despite having the illusion of choice half the time. The characters are hit or miss and I don’t really care much for the story. The world is fine, your average D&D fare. The best part about this game is that there’s so much to do and there aren’t really any shitty quests or side quests.
The combat is pretty solid aside from large scale battles which is a 5e issue in general. I like how a lot of the arenas allow for variations in movement which a lot of DMs (me) forget to utilize in the ttrpg. However like I stated before there are lot of unbalanced builds, useless class/subclasses. A single character run isn’t viable with most classes.
The game got a lot of improvements via updates in the past few months which shows Larian’s love and dedication to the game. The game is definitely great but for me it’s not the best game ever made or even the best rpg. While Larian is channeling old-school Bioware and Black Isle studios, I don’t think this is on the same level as Fallout 2 or Planescape: Torment. You can argue that this game exceeds those two gameplay-wise which I wouldn’t contest but you gotta remember that this is a 2023 video game so technology has progressed drastically since the 90s. Story wise BG3 has nothing on the aforementioned titles.
I am excited for the future of this game and Larian Studios. Larian is a promising studio and for many they have made some of the best crpgs that rival the greats of the golden age. I liked the bits of Divinity: Originally Sin 2 that I played and with BG3 I think I’ll eventually beat my main play through (I have another roleplaying as the Nameless One (dark urge)) but I have been putting it off since. I just don’t really care enough to beat it but I do want to continue my play through with my friends. Overall the game is pretty good but I think it’s a lil overhyped. It’s probably gonna get goty which is fine, it deserves a lot of the rewards. I still need to play the other giants from this year like TOTK, AC6, RE4R, and of course all of the great indies from this year.
Edit: After some consideration, I did find this game to be extremely engaging and despite my issues and nitpicks with it’s story, characters, world building (typical fantasy racism and uninspired deities; since D&D started off by ripping off Tolkien, Conan, and Lovecraft lol), class/spells system, and villains (they’re straight garbage), I think the amount of stuff that you can do just makes one salivate like a kid at a candy store. Again, most of the issues are just baked into D&D 5e and WoTC’s world building. Larian did fix the issues with racial essentialism in character creation by allowing you to allocate the racial bonuses which is a plus. More options are always better, especially in a roleplay heavy game. You can’t help but be awed by the sheer magnitude of the game and how well it does stuff. Plus as my friends said, you can make your characters nude which is just great for simple minded plebs like us.
I also don’t want to make it sound like I hated D&D 5e. It’s a great system for beginners (despite it not knowing if it wants to be crunchy or not and WoTC being a shitty company) and it really drives home that fantasy of being this medieval superhero like let’s say Skyrim. However, I personally prefer more of a challenge in these types of games or at least synergy between gameplay and narrative where progression isn’t cookie-cutter nor extremely quick (another example where BG3 is better than base 5e). I do like the level cap being at 12 because it’s hard to balance any higher than that in 5e. While BG3 definitely can be a bitch if you’re underleveled and/or are not used to the tactical nature of these kind of games (or have one of those aforementioned unbalanced classes/subclasses because you suck at min/maxing which disincentivizes you from roleplaying a specific character). However you can respec for really cheap with in-game currency so you’re not entirely screwed. I didn’t think it was too hard as I could always come back to a section to grind levels doing some side quests, plus the game doesn’t really disincentivize save scumming. So the only real consequences would come from self imposed limitations.
I actually like this game more than the first Baldur’s Gate (AD&D is really hard but also satisfying once you get the hang of it) which I do got to get back into. The gameplay here is some of the most engaging and tactical that gaming has to offer.
The music is great, the visuals are superb, and the customization is expansive. This game is pretty much for everyone and it welcomes all types of players with open arms. It’s a beautiful thing and I realize that this game resonates with many people deeply (just look at the scores and whenever you’ve read this it prolly won many goty awards) but for me it misses the mark in a lot of areas.
I also wanted to say that despite my issues and nitpicks, this is one of my favorite games but it’s not the expansive immersive sim that a lot of people make it out to be (it gets close). It is an extremely impressive game there’s no doubt about that but for me, a lot of the choices ring hollow. Some choices are not really choices and many are inconsequential or are out of your control. Regardless, I think giving this game an 8/10 rather than the initial 7/10 I gave it is fair but I don’t think I can go any higher, at least not until I finish my main play through or do a whole new one with all of the knowledge I have now. I do recognize that some of my nitpicks/criticisms are present in some of my other favorite games and I sometimes hand wave those issues and I won’t lie, that’s entirely due to bias since I may resonate with those games more. BG3 is a fantastic game that has an okay story that gets rushed in act three and annoying to tolerable companions (I do like Shadowheart and Karlach though). Here’s to me actually getting the motivation to beat the play through I started this game with.