Lives up to my sky high expectations as fan of original series. Highly addictive - I'm on my fifth play through and over 650 hours played after a year. Still finding new things.
For many years the "Baldur's Gate" was THE gold standard for CRPGs. I spent countless hours playing it and its expansion packs and sequels. There has been a mini-renaissance of CRPG's with Kickstarter games. "Pillars of Eternity" was ok but hobbled by a depressing story, and irritating dialogue that made it seem like learning a new language (fampyrs? really?), and just overall missing some spark of magic. "Divinity Original Sin" - and especially its sequel - came along to satisfy the exciting part combat of the BG series. But nothing matched that BG magic... until now! Look past early reviews of bugs for this game - they've long been patched! Read deeper into the comments of those who complain about the game. Many of the things they complain about are the things that made BG great!!! Go back and play BG - guess what... it is hard! Your newb characters die when something sneezes at them! And if you don't take time to study certain monsters strengths & weaknesses, you're gonna be in trouble. The same is true here, but that is part of what makes the game fun! It is not a game that can be played on autopilot - it is deep and rich and well worth the effort to invest in it! The companions / NPCs are well written and fun. The depth of character creation is incredible - races, classes, feats, spells, ability modifiers, etc. - it is all here! The story and the dialogue is well written. And the kingdom building is intense - a fun twist that adds to the game. It is exciting to actually watch your decisions and the very real results it has on the people of your kingdom. The combat is exceptional and brings the best of what BG had to offer into the modern age. You can't just turn a blind eye and expect your party to annihilate everything they encounter. This makes combat exciting and fun. If you loved the Baldur's Gate, you owe it to yourself to try this game. Over 350 hours in & I'm still enjoying it. 3rd play through now and expect I won't stop until the sequel comes out.
