The bad reviews on here boil down to two categories: -People who wanted Larian to basically remake BG2 -People who wanted Larian to make another dingy dungeon crawler replete with angst and gravelly vocal tones like what they used to make back in my day (ie, BG2, but in a less specific way). This is GoG. Anything made after 2010 with more than 3 stars is a brilliant game. The game is great, some performance issues due to early access, but solid combat, excellent sound and visual design (hitting something really feels like hitting it), and there is a whole lot of playing around with using the environment (particularly the high ground), ranged combat, and stealth that can be done here that gives it an edge over a traditional isometric RPG. It's made in a similar engine to Divinity OS2, but everything practical works very differently due to it using the D&D 5e ruleset. I am not the biggest fan of the 5e ruleset in general (I prefer 3.5e in D&D), but the rendition is faithful and the turn-based combat gives it a more tactical feel than a traditional RTwP isometric, which lend themselves towards spamming and frequent pausing. The characters are interesting enough in their own rights, but the Early Access doesn't really give them too much room to breathe. There are very few 'stock' characters, particularly your companions, who feel as if they have their own motivations and priorities, and the only thing tying them together is the whole tadpole-in-the-head issue (and your leadership). There is a lot of world reactivity to your actions and you get far more options in problem solving quests, above and beyond what was present in BG2. The setting and plot are more similar to the original BG than BG2, so sorry to the 'dark and dingy' fans. There is no fixed alignment, so you aren't locked into acting a particular way towards NPCs, which adds RP potential. Feel free to be a gnome-hater. In particular, you can be a LOT more capital-E Evil than most RPGs would permit.
