Baldur's Gate 3

People seem to think this game isn't Baldur's Gate because it has combat that isn't the outdated real time with pause that hasn't evolved in years that they seem to love so much, this game isn't just DOS 2 because it has amazing combat, if you've been waiting for Baldur's Gate 3 for decades then yeah it probably isn't going to be everything you imagined it to be. From what I've played it seems like this game is going to live up to the Larian quality we expect from them: the combat is well made and has a lot of interesting ways to kill your enemies, the characters are well written and have their own reasons to join you on your quest, from what I've played of the story so far it's pretty good. BUT I do not enjoy the $60 price tage for an early access game but a p[art of my feels Wizards of the Coast is responsible for that and not Larian, one of the developers also said some outdated bullshit about white men, and the way the early access for this game is it feels like we're "beta testing" and they're developing the game as they go along, it doesn't feel like the early access for DOS 2 which was meant for the community to give their feedback on what they have already made so they could change things before the final release so they could release the best version of the game, and then gave us a free definitive edition upgrade with some neat free content, also that game is $40. If you have faith in Larian then go ahead and buy it now, but I recommend waiting for the full realease jsut in case.

I'm gonna keep it as short as possible.. overall it's pretty incredible, writing, what story there is, characters, absolutely outstanding despite the bugs and issues currently present. Gameplay is.. well it's turn-based, it's pretty much the same as D:OS 2, with the big difference being you only have one action point, and there's no way of increasing that, like there was in D:OS 2. Now.. I get that this is based off of some D&D rule-set or w/e, but holy fuck the dice-roll mechanic. Yeah it's probably great when you're playing at a table with a group of friends, messing around or having fun with whatever happens, but in an environment like this? With an epic over-arching plot, and interesting characters that you might grow to love? Hundreds of interactions just in the first act alone? No. Just no. The randomness of a dice roll deciding basically EVERYTHING of import in dialogue and outcomes is a TERRIBLE mechanic for an RPG. I sincerely hope there will be an option to turn off the dice-mechanic and play with stat checks instead, because there was only one thing that prevented me from fully enjoying act 1, and having legitimately zero complaints, and it wasn't the obvious bugs, unfinished cutscenes, non-existant animations, awkward camera angles.. all expected things in an early access state.. no it wasn't any of that, it was the dumb pure RNG mechanic present in every single interaction, it drove me mad. This is a completionists nightmare plain and simple. Please Larian, if it isn't already something you're going to do, I beg you to consider letting people swap the dice-roll mechanic for a stat-check like in D:OS 2 instead, or at least something similar.

The way they adapted DnD rules is very balanced and interesting. I'd say I prefer the old ''pause'' turn by turn from BG2 ... BUT this new turn by turn has it's little quirks that I appreciate. Especially the bonus actions jump/hide/throw ect. that makes it feel a lot more DnD. I really like the setting so far. The characters you recruit may seem a bit more stern at first, ( I do miss Minsc and Boo), however it makes it even more interesting to get to know them. The npc also react vividly to you depending on your class and race. It's truly a great RPG so far. For an early access I was surprised how much time of gameplay I could have in a single playthrough. Of course we can't help but have Divinity vibes when playing, but we do get BG vibes as well obviously and I'd say this game is like the child of Divinity2 and BG2.... and that mix makes a great game.

Baldurs Gate 3 has been in early access for over a year and we still have 1 more year to go. If you can't stand paying $60 for early access then I suggest waiting untill the game fully releases. If you aren't bothered by paying for early access then I would highly recommend giving this game a go. The quality of this game is on another level. I never played an early access game that has so much content and polish. Everything from the gorgeous graphics to the incredible voice acting is of an outstanding quality. The world and the characters inhabiting it are richly detailed and crafted with pure passion. The characters especially are what stand out to me the most. Each of them have some amount of mystery behind them and their dialogues are very well written. The facial animation is top notch and the cinematic perspective the game uses when in conversations with other characters look incredible and is a huge step up from DOS 2. The combat is turn based which might not be for everyone but I appreciate the strategy it adds to the combat. Every single fight can turn out horribly bad for you if you don't strategise properly. The music is also exceptional, honestly sometimes I just wait in the main menu and listen to the glorious OST it's just that good. The game also runs very well, at least on my rig and I haven't encountered any crashes or massive frame dips yet. At the moment the early access build contains about 30 hours of content and it is very replayable. Oh and how can I forget the character creation? The character creation is exceptional and it gives players a lot of choice when designing their character. You can easily spend a couple of hours just in the character creation menu. Honestly I don't have anything negative to say about this game except that it has some bugs, but then again it's early access so it is expected. Overall I highly recommend this game to any RPG fan. P.S I never played the previous Baldurs Gate games, this was my first BG experience.

There is not much more to say that hasn't been said already in plenty of reviews and tests - this game is a milestone in many ways, a new benchmark for role playing games and a true adventure. One can leave one's real life behind and get fully immersed and forget about everything elso going on around. Fabulous soundtrack, great graphics, superb story-writing / character-building / group-dynamics and with great developer support (patches, communication etc.). Best purchase in ages and hundreds of hours of enjoyment ahead. Thank you Larian Studios for all the work & effort you have put in it.