Imagine jumping on here to give a 1-star review to a game you’ve never played, simply because you’re upset about pricing that had been known in advance for months.
Yes, it’s expensive. No, that’s not what reviews are for.
I've played this game about three years ago in early access. About 25 hours overall. Now an additionaly 3 hours or so after release and I will never touch it again.
Everything I didn't care for three years ago is still in the game: Bad UI and GUI, boringly slow combat, skill checks that for some god damned reason need to take upwards of 10 seconds to roll (I know I can skip it, but that should have been a toggleable option, not something I have to do every time), companions that I dislike immediately. A story setup that seems utterly bonkers for a relatively low level adventure.
I also dislike the voice casting immensly. Everything feels overacted. Especially the narrator and Astarion, who you still don't get to kill immediately after he put a knife to your throat (because Larian really wants you to take him into your party, no matter how little sense it makes, he's an origin character, don't you know).
However: If you enjoyed DOS 1 + 2, you are absolutely in luck, because that is exactly what this game feels like. It's a sequel to DOS 1+2 in all but in setting. And not a sequel to BG 1+2 in all but in setting.
In short: If this is the future of RPGs I don't want any part in it. This is the last Larian title I'll ever get, their idea of what makes a good CRPG experience simply does not aling with mine. If I could have given a zero star rating I would have.
The story and the system reminded me of old school RPGs, its telling is very modern. Its a long game too so you are getting a lot for your money. The game lacks a manual, i recommend clicking on everything to learn how it works.
Pros:
- Very good story with depth
- Good combat system
- Fun Companions
- Outstanding voice acting
- Devs keep fixing it
- Good graphics
- Runs well on older PCs and the Steam Deck
Cons:
- tutorial is not enough to learn everything
- THERE IS NO MANUAL
So many positive reviews and so much gushing over this game, I really don't get it. It has good graphics and voice acting, and that's about all the positives I can say.
If you liked the original, real BG games, well this is absolutely nothing to do those. It could be any DnD adventure, it's completely unrelated to the Bhaalspawn that all the prior BG games were all about. They threw in a few minor references to the old events and a couple companion characters from the original series and that's the only tie-in. It's not even real-time combat like the originals. It's their Divinity games with the BG name unabashedly slapped on.
I found the story and your character's predicament boring. I couldn't care less about infiltrating evil goblin camps that think I'm on their side, which is what you do for a huge part of the game. I did the quests there, then slaughtered them all. The companions have back stories that make no sense for low level characters.
The camera and character movement are possibly the worst in any major game I've played. I had to install two mods to make it bearable. And the turn based combat is not exciting in the least.
So combat, world setting, and story are misses here. What else is wrong? It's dials the woke up to 11. All the companions, including same sex companions, presumptuously hit on you even when you made no dialog choices to solicit it, and it'll happen even if you're already romancing someone else. And the game often gives you a cringe scene when you reject them. Then there are the gnomes. How do they survive as a species when they are all gay? In fact, most of the couples you meet in the game are gay.
For your companions, all the front line warriors are female and the physically weak spell casters are the men. The feminists at Larian don't care about realism or balance.
While the game had a few decent moments, overall it was just a boring slog to get through. I will never have any desire to play it again.