They got the atmosphere so right. The story and characters are interesting. Action packed start then on to solving mysteries and problems. Very enjoyable game!!!
Every aspect of this game is phenomenal! The graphics and attention to detail are so well done, that I find myself pausing the game, just to dwell on it (and take the time to write this review). The music fits each area perfectly, and is beautiful. Dialogue choices are fitting and feel natural. The zoomable perspective is unique, allowing the player to zoom out to see the wider angle, and for combat, but zooming in to see the subtle details of a first person view draws one into the experience. There is a learning curve for first time players, but even riding that roller coaster is fun, and I'm still on the ride.
As a long time player of D&D (since 2nd Edition), this game far surpasses my inadequate imagination, and brings to "life" the adventures we had. It's been a long time since a game affected (and effected) my dreams, but that's a valuable bonus that didn't cost a dime.
This game comes complete, with no micro-transactions, and you don't have to pay to win. It's well worth the money!
I can see why are people criticizing new Baldur's Gate, and some of their reasons are legit. It's not a perfect game. I'm still giving it a maximum score, because of the amount of pure enjoyment I got from the new Sword Coast. It's a great story in a beautiful and responsive world. Combat is fun, characters are interesting and typical Larian humor works well with lighthearted tone of the original Baldur’s Gate. I know that the game becomes buggier over time, and some of the cameos aren’t that great. Also it’s obvious that third act could use some more work. But the overall experience is so great, that I can’t give this one anything less than 5 stars.
Word of advice, if you’re just starting, don’t treat Act 1 and 2 as the interlude to Act 3 and Baldur’s Gate. The story is divided pretty evenly between all three parts, and you’ll get disappointed.
On the Bioware side, it has charming companion characters with interesting stories. Some of it can feel a little formulaic or forced, but the characters are so likable and their voice performances / character animations are so good that it all just works. It reminds me of how I felt about my Mass Effect crew way back when.
The real magic is that it combines this with systems that are flexible enough to recreate a lot of the fun of in-person D&D. Plans that I can imagine a group having both out of combat (I'll distract the guards by playing my lute, you misty step into the cell to help the prisoners while the others take out the sentries) or in combat (you set them on fire and then I'll Donkey Kong a barrel of gunpowder at them) can actually work and feel right.
When I think back on my time playing this game, I think I'll remember it similarly to an actual Dungeons and Dragons campaign. Nothing can replace actually sitting around a table with your friends, but I've never seen anything that came closer.
I would give it 2.5 stars if I could. If it weren't for the bugs, I might give this game 5 stars. It is very well voice acted and all the characters feel meaningful and believable. The story is there until act 3 when they decide to introduce questionable characters and show weird cutscenes that are inconsistent with the rest of the game, such as villains talking in a room you are not in, very un-immersive and cliche IMO. I know BG3 has been in developments for a couple years now in early access, and recently had a "full release" but frankly it is unfinished (noticeable once you get to act 3) and communication from the developers has fallen off a cliff. They have been releasing random "hotfixes" which don't address most of the main issues and there is no communication as to whether they plan on fixing major issues or not. Some very random questionable decisions that no one asked for like Astarion's airbrushed abs for god sakes. At it's core, they made some questionable decisions with the development of the game like implementing DirectX 11 and not 12, lack of Nvidia frame generation, adding AMD FSR but only version 2.1 and not 3.0 etc. making us 4000 RTX owners look like we wasted our money on our cards when we get 40 FPS in the city! Once you get to act 3 there are game-breaking bugs as others have pointed out. SPOILER: I had a bug where I could not talk to Wyll's father because I destroyed the steel watch before confronting Gortash (because the draw-bridge was up) and when I did there was no cutscene and I felt like there should have at least been one. Tried everything from knocking him out to using necromancy with no luck in getting him on my side. Had to go back 8 hours just to fix it! The order I was supposed to do things was super unclear. I cannot believe this game has not gone on sale, even 20% off is something new buyers deserve. Overall avoid for a while until they release the actual final game.