Baldur's Gate 3

First the positives. If you liked Divinity Original Sin 1/2, then you will definitely like this game as well. It has similar mechanics, turn-based combat, nicely written origin characters, and a good story with a bit of humor. On the tactical difficulty you can get much satisfaction from combining different skills, spells, scrolls, items and whatnot to your advantage. However, if you played Baldur's Gate most of your childhood, you are nostalgic about it, and you hoped for another good story from Forgotten Realms, the game doesn't offer that.

This is NOT Baldurs Gate, it is Divinity Original Sin 3 with a Dragon Age Skin and D&D Mechanics. Larian is a proven RPG developer and can certainly be a good choice to develop a game in the D&D universe for a broad spectrum of gamers, however its debatable whether this is a good choice for making Baldurs Gate. The Divinity games (good in their own right) and Larians style are polar opposites of Baldurs Gate in feel, characters and story writing. It does not mean they are not up to the task but it is a big ask for them to make so many changes to their usual offerings, there are other companies (Owlcat Games or Obsidian) that would be more naturally inclined to continue those elements achieved by the original developers and wanted by the fans. The problem is they are using the name of a franchise that is much more than its D&D roots. Its popularity as perhaps one of if not the best CRPG in history, has created a huge following. I understand that some changes are normal due to the large timespan since the last game but Larian have ignored what made those games unique from other D&D games. If they use the name Baldurs Gate one would assume they want to draw the attention of new players as well as the followers of the series. They have ignored and alienated the latter part of the consumer base completely which is not very intelligent. Larian show they do not care, they only want to make money with a broader younger audience with the reputation of other peoples visions and hard work just like the trash Disney made with the new Star Wars movies (thank God for Mandalorian). P.S. Even Beamdogs Siege from Dragonspear (BG 1.5) stayed truer to the source material. To this day I still maintain that Pathfinder Kingmaker, NOT Dragon Age is the spiritual successor to BG. Larian just took advantage of the name to maximise sales. If you do not care about the originals and simply want an enjoyable RPG then as a stand alone game it will appeal to those that like DOS and DA.

Its beta, but christ ol mighty the complaints. its 60 and you dont pay for it ever again. when it comes out full release you already have it. Just like most games, you pay full price for pre order just to play beta. People are dumb

During the early stage of EA cycle I posted a two-star review here. Then the game got progressively better during the later stages of the cycle. The finished product is a fine game. Surely not the classic to end all classics, as one might imply from the over-hyped reviews, though. Let's be honest: a new BG2 it isn't. When the dust settles, I think that much will be seen clearly. I believe a more fitting description would be a new Dragon Age: Origins of sorts, different universe notwithstanding. The general atmosphere (minus the universe), the presentation, the better parts of the game script strongly remind me of DAO, which by itself is quite a complimentary remark. The mechanics, the combat (though it's a wee bit too easy even on Tactical for an oldschooler like me: for one, I think beating Commander Zhalk in the prologue should not be so trivial), the music, and the visuals/the VO are the main selling points for me. Companions are well-designed, but evil alignment is (again!) underrepresented: two origin NPCs and one Act 2 companion as opposed to a horde of do-gooders. This disbalance is somewhat redeemed by an introduction of The Dark Urge origin, which is indeed very interesting. The plot is passable, decent at times, as long as one is fine with the writing being not exactly Bioware-tier. Mind you, it's surely not horrible, and quite immersive. Just a bit generic and, well, mostly devoid of literary merit. Even so, I suggest focusing on the stronger aspects of this games, of which there is a lot. The bugs: have no fear, in this respect it's a worthy successor of both BG2 and DAO! :) Invisible NPCs and faulty event triggers FTW. This was anticipated, though - hell, I would have felt cheated if it wasn't buggy at times! - and nothing was game-breaking. Larian are quick to patch the bugs, too. Overall, it's a good RPG totally worth experiencing. There is a lot to enjoy in BG3, just don't expect some kind of timeless classic, and you are going to love it.

The Game will be released later in 2023 and is very polished at this point in time. It has been early access for quite some time and the progress is very visible. Graphics and Sound are excellent and many crucial aspects (like the rolling of dice for certain challenges) are solved in a really great way, allowing for a very hardcore play as well as a more forgiving route. One thing I totally fail to understand is critisism that "this is no BG anymore but Divinity OS 3" This is simply not true. The World, the gamerules, the Character Building, all of this is entirely Baldurs Gate. And on top you get some innovations that made the Divinity Series so awesome to play. +Interactable Terrain +Different groups in one Area with different interests that you can navigate +Playable Characters with unique background stories integrated in the main story It would be crazy and a severe loss for the Game if Larian did not bring the strong points of their previous games into it. A must buy for any roleplayer.