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.