Baldur's Gate 3

Everything I've heard and more. Playing crossplay with my friend who is using the Steam version on PC, and I have GOG version on a mac. The crossplay is flawless, 0 bugs so far and no connection issues.

First and foremost: this is not the typical "early access". This is very much an alpha test. At the time I am typing this, some enemies bug out and turn to stretch-out versions of themselves and get stuck under the floor. It's ALPHA lol! Now that the obligatory message is out of the way, let's talk about specifics. For starters, the dice system is rough. I am an actual tabletop roleplayer and game master, even I think this is rough. The way that the challenge number (the called a DC in tabletop, the number you have to beat to succeed) makes very little sense. There are times it looks like it subtracts my skill number from the difficulty to get strange numbers (like 7) and other times it doesn't seem to do that at all unless the starting difficulty of a minor task is 20. None of the math is visible. On top of that, the rolls are brutal, and they can completely derail your game to the point that you don't even know why you're playing a particular kind of character. Advantage? Not a thing, as far as I can tell. Beneficial circumstances? Also not a thing. There is almost no reason to roleplay, it's completely roll-play. Outside of the terrible dice system that forces you to roll for everything under the sun, we have the narrative. Now, some of the concepts are pretty cool. If you'e watched the trailers, you'll see them. But when you are talking to people in game, you might feel a little lost. There are parts of the lore and history that are left unexplained, so it doesn't make sense where you are, why these people are here or there, etc. and it doesn't make sense why they're arguing. It's as if your character is either a newborn who knows nothing, or the game expects you to go read up on about 2000 pages of lore before you play. Animations are solid, when they work. Bugs currently cause them to freeze or fail to activate. Textures/graphics are great. This is definitely a modern version of a game, I'm just not sure it's a roleplay game anymore.

I spent 30 hours to finish the early access. I did most of the side quests. Might have missed one or two. My overall thought is that this early access is mostly a very unenjoyable experience and I wish I never got it. I spent 30 hours on this only because I make contents on YouTube so I did it for my audience. If not for them, I would most likely have stopped playing after about 10 hours. First of all, there are way too many bugs in this early access. You can basically expect a bug in EVERY scene, EVERY situation. I really think Larian should have waited one more month before putting this out and got rid of most bugs first. I thought early access was supposed to give people a good idea of the gameplay and get feedback on that. However, this early access is filled with so many bugs that I think most feedback they get will be about the bugs. Which makes the whole early access kind of pointless IMO. Secondly, it's one thing if the bugs are just visual ones. But there are some game breaking bugs that really hurt the entire experience. For example, one particular character freezes every time it's their turn so I had to quick save/load for them to move again. But when I reload, some of my magical effects I applied on enemies disappear so it makes the game extra difficult. Another bug is where you drop your companion in camp but after you can no longer talk to them or recruit them again. These bugs are just too frustrating to deal with. Thirdly, I think the game difficult is also too hard by default. Even by the end of Act 1, I never felt like my characters are heroes. Every battle feels like I'm taking on a boss fight. This could be down to personal taste but I would prefer easier difficulty to hit that perfect "just right" spot. Overall, there are some parts I enjoyed (story, characters, some gameplay) but I will NOT recommend this early access to anyone. Just wait for the full game when most bugs are fixed. Otherwise prepare for a very frustrating experience.

I have mixed feellings about this Early Acces. I didn't disliked it, I just felt like playing a better version of DOS 2 instead of a unique tabletop experience. For one part, I do like DOS games and this game has done a really god job at making its Divinity engine better, which is great for a DOS game but not quite if the objective was to translate DnD 5e rules into a videogame experience. For the other hand I also love the Baldurs Gate games (all of them) and I have to say that this game isn't representing the dark mood that BG I-II had (at least, not for the moment). I have to say that the feeling of the Baldurs Gate games isn't in this game --but --> the DOS feeling is. I know, that's quite subjective but still, I'll just express my frustration without thinking that much: - The DnD 5e ruleset isn't implemented correctly --> the DOS system is. - The DnD lore exists but it has many inconsistencies, like the Druids being quite indiferent with all the situation in the Grove and the child moment...won't spoil any more. - Many things shouldn't exist in this game, but they do in DOS, for example the barrels. I do love them in DOS but not in a DnD universe. - The way that the storyline structure resembles the same idea as in DOS 2, feels quite convenient. - The jump mechanic is just too exagerated, may work for a DOS but not for a DnD game that wants to respect the ruleset. I'm just disappointed, I thought that this was going to be a true tactical & balanced DnD experience but rather its DOS game skinned in DnD lore. Which isn't that all bad, but not what my expecations where, guess I'll wait and comeback to the game once its trully released and see if anything has changed, though I trully doubt it.

To preface, while I do not own Baldur's Gate 3 on GOG, I do own it on Steam and have logged 120+ hours into the Early Access/In-Development state of the game. I have also played similar amounts of time in other titles that are oft compared to Baldur's Gate 3: Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, and Baldur's Gate I & II. I have also played a smattering of Larian's previous titles, namely D:OS 1 & 2 but not nearly to the same extent as the others. Before I go further, allow me to reiterate the following: DO NOT BUY THIS GAME IF YOU ARE EVEN THE LEAST BIT HESITANT. Larian has stated several times in the past that they don't want people to buy the game just because it is in Early Access, but only if they want to help give feedback to the dev team prior to launch. They prefer that you wait for the game to be complete if you are not interested in seeing the game as it is now. Caveat emptor, friends. Now, to the game itself-- Pros: + Wonderful graphics and varied environments + Stellar voice acting + Good sound design and music + Challenging combat + Rewarding exploration + Intriguing story premise + A wealth of choices and free will to play as you wish (within the bounds of the game/story) + A faithful adherance to the Forgotten Realms setting (and plentiful references the prior installments, should you find them) + Largely adherant to 5th Edition to D&D + Can pick up and play without having played prior games. Cons: - The autosave functionality isn't as frequent as it could be, leading to one retracing steps if you aren't mindful of saving/quicksaving. - Bugs are not terribly frequent, but can interrupt the flow of play. - Not all classes, rules, and races have been implemented yet. - Character customizer lacks ability to chose body types. Beyond all said here, this may not be right for you depending on your tastes. If you prefer BG I & II, WotR, and other games like them, you may not enjoy this. Or you may be pleased if you enjoy 5th Ed. D&D.