Baldur's Gate 3

-plot starts you on an abandoned beach AGAIN (lack of imagination is starting to look like laziness) -same bullshit move things with poor inventory control that gets in the way -same elemental skill system that doesn't work with D&D abilities and spells -combat is always turn based NOT the real-time that can be interrupted as needed -story (early game) relies heavily on fake emergency/urgency crapola (RED FLAG for crap story writing that cannot generate a compulsion to investigate the world) -text/dialog overlay is poor/weak/difficult to read -party limited to 4 characters (why??) -where is the alignment system? lawful/neutral/evil -over-priced -where is Minsc and Boo? Is this how games are marketed and released now, in the model of No Man's Sky? Launch a clusterfuck product as a basis for publicity that has literally none of the expected features and has the audacity to charge full price for something that stinks. Hello Larian, goodbye Larian.

Okay for an AAA slop RPG, some Finkcore elements here and there. Waiting for preggo drow update.

Dont pay attention to the reviews, a good chunk is just spaztic baldurs gate fans crying about how they cant watch their game play itself anymore. Maybe its time to take off those nostalgia glasses and admit that the original baldurs gate 1 and 2 were not that great and just let a competent studio take a crack at it. The game is taking good shape, i have very high expectations for Larian with what there is on offer

UPDATED REVIEW I awarded them three stars initially, deducting one star for a mute protagonist and one for Dungeons and Dragons background, but I have played that Early Access a few times since that time, after patch 7, patch 8 and patch 9. Each time I had to start from the beginning and that was the best part of it, because only then I realized how massive this game was. Replayability is unparalleled by anything I have seen. Pretty much every goal can be achieved in different ways. The world is visually very attractive; voice over is of theatre quality; the companions have their charm (and follies); camp followers (like Volo or Halsin) are so lively that you regret they are not your companions; and NPCs are often brilliant. Lump the Enlightened is a star, but even such irrelevant characters as for example, Abdirak or Spike are just fun. Imagine that, depending on your actions, you may never ever talk to any of them. Obviously, we do not know the final product and everything can turn into a disaster, but the Early Access itself is better than the entire other similar games. It is beautiful, it is funny, it is entertaining. Nothing more you can expect from a game. INITIAL REVIEW This may be the best game of its kind you ever played... if you can live with a mute protagonist and are not repulsed by Dungeons and Dragons dice roll based system. Larian Studios made a step forward from Divinity Original Sin 2 and finally you can see your companions face to face, when you talk to them. The immersion is so much better. They were close to creating the best game of the genre ever, but they failed. First, your main character is mute. (This could theoretically change.) Second, they have used an overexploited, cumbersome and irritating Dungeons and Dragons system with all its horrible dice rolls, boring ability checks, nightmarish inventory, long rests, slow fights and the same skills and spells you knew for years. Mute character. You may say, there are many good games with mute characters. But there are also very good games with voice over. If you character is not voiced over, you relegate yourself to the second division, before the game even starts. Here, the protagonists look like pantomime villains, which is especially embarrassing in so-called romantic scenes. But it gets worse. Their dialogues are mute, but they mumble to themselves when exploring the world. It feels and sounds like watching a youtuber presenting the gameplay. Stupid half-sentences like: 'Let's see what's there', 'Perhaps something here', 'Hope it's something interesting' mumbled with no emotions. Poor. The system. Honestly, the only reason Dungeons and Dragons work as a table top game is that there is nothing better; there should be no place for that in a modern video game. Fights are brutally slow (got much better after patch 8!), with time offer nothing more than clicking same icons and with hit points ranging from 1 to 12 or 4 to 40 plus innumerable misses, they can theoretically take minutes or hours. Now the good stuff. This is role-playing at its best. The plot seems to be fine so far. A bit of sci-fi vibe added in the prologue to a dull old fantasy world. Interactions with companions, so far, brilliant. The characters are more and more interesting with time. Their stories more attractive. And the best thing, you cannot flatter them all to make them friends, because what you do and say will be approved by some and disapproved by others at the same time. So you just need to decide who you are and to play your role. Yes, playing your role is what role-playing is about. There is plenty of details in every small plot and everything can go slightly differently each time you try (that unfortunately, you will not notice unless you repeat the same quest). Nice visuals and sounds. Great acting and voice over of your companions and of many side characters.

The worst game I ever played in my life, I started as sorc and I had trouble beating enemies even on the easiest difficulty because I wanted only a story and I couldn't even get that, never finished it, what a waste of time and money on my part.