Baldur's Gate 3

First I am a huge fan of Larian Studios and Baldur's gate both, so when I heard about this collab I was very excited. Larian is the only studio that has pushed this genre along by MILES - compared to any other studio or work. When I say genre I mean RPG's. So I love the story so far, although I am only 16 hours in and taking my time. Making a ton of different characters and really poking at some stuff. So the story does have me hooked. The graphics look great, and the game runs smoothly for an early release. The sound quality is excellent, you can tell they didn't scrimp on the score or transitional music. The characters are all VERY different and interesting with a lot of unknowns in regard to motive. The combat is easy to understand but allows for complex set ups and strategy - each combat will be its own ordeal. I cna tell its going to be a challenge. One big thing I do not like so much is the dice rolls all over the place. They dominate the game, and result in a lot of save scrumming. I get that its largely unavoidable and Divinity had stuff along these lines but its also somewhat annoying - MAINLY because the Dice rolls only apply to your selected character and not the party. In a regular DND game everyone gets a chance at a dice roll (which does sometimes happen here when you are all wandering around) but it doens't happen in scripted conversations where the person you are talking to may be doing something you can catch with an ability check -or someone in your party should be able to catch it if you miss it. A fair compromise would be to use the party member with the highest stat, instead of doing 4 checks. Anyway, I can deal with it, but I do not love it. ALTHOUGH - I could see it being way more fun in multiplayer. Got to try that. So yeah, great game so far, obviously a lot of work needs to be done. You can still see the scaffolding here and there but I look forward to the finished product. Love it, great game!

They got the atmosphere so right. The story and characters are interesting. Action packed start then on to solving mysteries and problems. Very enjoyable game!!!

Every aspect of this game is phenomenal! The graphics and attention to detail are so well done, that I find myself pausing the game, just to dwell on it (and take the time to write this review). The music fits each area perfectly, and is beautiful. Dialogue choices are fitting and feel natural. The zoomable perspective is unique, allowing the player to zoom out to see the wider angle, and for combat, but zooming in to see the subtle details of a first person view draws one into the experience. There is a learning curve for first time players, but even riding that roller coaster is fun, and I'm still on the ride. As a long time player of D&D (since 2nd Edition), this game far surpasses my inadequate imagination, and brings to "life" the adventures we had. It's been a long time since a game affected (and effected) my dreams, but that's a valuable bonus that didn't cost a dime. This game comes complete, with no micro-transactions, and you don't have to pay to win. It's well worth the money!

I can see why are people criticizing new Baldur's Gate, and some of their reasons are legit. It's not a perfect game. I'm still giving it a maximum score, because of the amount of pure enjoyment I got from the new Sword Coast. It's a great story in a beautiful and responsive world. Combat is fun, characters are interesting and typical Larian humor works well with lighthearted tone of the original Baldur’s Gate. I know that the game becomes buggier over time, and some of the cameos aren’t that great. Also it’s obvious that third act could use some more work. But the overall experience is so great, that I can’t give this one anything less than 5 stars. Word of advice, if you’re just starting, don’t treat Act 1 and 2 as the interlude to Act 3 and Baldur’s Gate. The story is divided pretty evenly between all three parts, and you’ll get disappointed.

On the Bioware side, it has charming companion characters with interesting stories. Some of it can feel a little formulaic or forced, but the characters are so likable and their voice performances / character animations are so good that it all just works. It reminds me of how I felt about my Mass Effect crew way back when. The real magic is that it combines this with systems that are flexible enough to recreate a lot of the fun of in-person D&D. Plans that I can imagine a group having both out of combat (I'll distract the guards by playing my lute, you misty step into the cell to help the prisoners while the others take out the sentries) or in combat (you set them on fire and then I'll Donkey Kong a barrel of gunpowder at them) can actually work and feel right. When I think back on my time playing this game, I think I'll remember it similarly to an actual Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Nothing can replace actually sitting around a table with your friends, but I've never seen anything that came closer.