Baldur's Gate 3

I played BG and BG2 back when they were new (I still have the four disc Baldur's Gate set in the tri-fold cardboard/plastic on a shelf by my desk). Somehow they made this game feel like a mashup of the old Baldur's Gate and Dragon's Age Origin. Other than the lack of voice acting for the PC, I have absolutely no complaints about anything so far (admittedly I'm only ~15 hours in). This game has sucked me in. And for anyone worried about the 'launcher', there's nothing stopping you from going into the bin folder and clicking the bg3.exe or bg3_dx11.exe files to bypass the launcher and start the game directly. Right click, create shortcut on desktop, no launcher required.

Balancing is terrible, always is in D&D adaptations but this is really bad. Combat is insanely slow-paced, this is how turn-based combat worked in the late 80s / early 90s. Add in the dice-rolling animations and it's a snorefest. Not much variation to character appearance and many races didn't translate properly, nor have they in any game since TSR sold out. No alignment system. Controls are over-inflated making the game feel very tedious right out the gate. First impressions instantly made me feel like the game was designed around the assumption you've played Larian's other games before. The switch between characters talking and "The Narrator" is annoying. Z-axis climbing and jumping over terrain in a top-down game is super lame, no fog of war (effectively you can see everything as if there are no walls between rooms). No edittable .ini or .cfg files for quick modification of features or removal or annoyances. Absolutely hate the soundtrack. Also, there is a Larian Launcher program you have to waste time bypassing.

I've played 15 hours so far. My impressions so far and suggestions: - It's a good game. don't get me wrong but something is missing/off. - I like the turn based combat so far but it needs more polishment. - I think the writing can be improved (espacially for companions). Maybe the companions can appear later or in another circumstances, because right now there clapped together(you meet them all quite early on but that's my impression) - Maybe tone down the color(because it gets to shiny sometines) - Miss chance should be tweaked because right now it is a bit annoying - The UI needs a rework too(something more in line with BG1 or 2) I will continue playing and finishing the First Act. There lies a great potential here but I think it needs heavy reworks in some aspects to become really a Baldurs Gate game.

I never played the old BG games, but played all of Bioware's early games and have about 50 or so hours into Divinity Orginal Sin 2 by Larian. Only experienced a crash once and switching to DirectX11 fixed that. Minor bugs here and there, but still overall a fun experience. Beautiful environments, fun DnD style combat, and interesting interactions with NPCs and Companions. Only 12 hours in and already thinking of what class I will expirement with next! If you want a more polished experience I would wait until January or so, or until Full release. It is understandable if you don't want to buy it yet.

1. Game lacks NPC variety to join our party like previous Baldur's Gates had. Also they are more evil than good, so role-playing a good guy who don't like bad guys leaves your party with two casters (and you). 2. There are still many technical problems that in rare occasions can break a game and you need to reload from last save. Those auto saves are made very rarely and you have to quick save literally after each fight and each dialogue so you won't lose any progress. That also sticks when you have bad luck and your entire party get's wiped because you didn't noticed a trap or bunch of enemies ambushed you. 3. Storyline is fine for me, very nice touch is that you can bite it on different approaches and most of the quests can be done differently. Story feels rich not only for a single playthrough but can be played multiple times. 4. Music is nice, you can hear old Baldur's Gate influence alongside Divinity Original Sin influence in it. 5. Very good adaptation of D&D 5th edition rules which is great, I really hope we will receive DM Tool and Creator Kit for own modules