Baldur's Gate 3 Review - Baldur's Gate 3 PC Gameplay Review No Spoilers

foreign ask anyone who's played Dungeons and Dragons and they will tell you any single session of d d is a beautiful chaotic thing a whole entire world opens up tea to be explored and the only limit to what you can do in it is your own imagination maybe an unlucky dice roll or two it's kind of hard to capture or explain the true feeling of a good d d campaign without having experienced it yourself the spirit of Adventure that it Fosters in a group of friends the excitement of uncovering a secret or using your Ingenuity to bypass an obstacle that had things been even slightly different might have proved impossible the incredible ripple effect that can happen when a chance encounter an offhand comment or a random find can echo through time and be the very reason that you end up triumphing over your enemies and saving the world in combat the way that you can manipulate the environment call upon your unique skills and abilities and work together as a team to bring down the most powerful monsters knowing that the tables can always turn in the blink of an eye the reason d and d and for that matter many other ttrpgs are so special is that a lot of these moments happen totally organically or at least that's what your GM would have you think so you know that no two campaigns would ever be the same and every experience that you and your party have is completely unique that's why it's so hard to recreate the DND experience in a video game I think how do you grant a player the kind of Freedom that they can have in d d where every conversation matters where there's nowhere that you can't explore on so many different paths you can take to solve a problem well just as lorian Studios because it seems like they've nailed it here's our spoiler-free Baldur's Gate 3 review oh with a little caveat however we've only had the full release a few days before launch so it is totally impossible to offer a review right now based on a full and complete playthrough of the game but this review is still based on dozens of Irish played and with many many more to come because we're absolutely loving everything so far but just so you know take the rest of the review with all that in mind soul to fight starting a new game of Boulders Gate 3 feels true to D D from the moment it begins because creating a character is a hugely overwhelming experience in a good way I mean I challenge anyone coming into the game totally fresh to spend anything less than an oyer simply going over all of their options in the character creation screen fine-tuning their race sub race class subclass background appearance it is ludicrously in-depth with over 40 subclass options alone and these choices really do make a difference to your game who you are will completely change how others react to and treat you and it will open up a whole new dialogue options for you depending on what your skills are and where you come from of course if the choices are too much you can always pick one of the Origins characters those are pre-made characters who otherwise join you on your journey as party companions the sheer replayability of Baldur's Gate 3 is Apparent from the very beginning as these very first choices have Ripple effects throughout the entire game and even if you were to play again with the same race same class choosing every single option just the same rolling dice for certain outcomes including ones you have no control over like passive perception and insight means that you're still guaranteed no two playthroughs will be the same but look multiple playthroughs are no good if the game isn't actually fun so thankfully Baldur's Gate 3 is an absolute Triumph the narrative premise to begin with is intriguing it's stressful along with the rest of your party you've been infected with a mind flare tadpole and as a result our living on borrowed time and will become a mind player yourself unless you can find a cure very soon it's a really great way to bind the party right off the bat while also pushing you forward to explore your options talk to folks you otherwise might not do make uneasy alliances and some morally great decisions you're free to do whatever and go wherever you like from the very beginning and from there everything you do or don't do will influence the path that you take through the game though all roads eventually lead as you may have guessed two-third and Final Act in Baldur's Gate no matter which way you turn or what kind of character you choose to be though the story always Rises to meet you and really how there always seems to be an option for every random thing you can think of doing how there always seems to be an interesting Avenue to explore is nothing short of amazing as anyone who's dipped their toes into Baldur's Gate 3's Early Access offerings over the years yes years will tell you the sheer amount of content here is wild have a conversation with that random rat get thrown in jail and sneak your way out seduce anyone and everyone at a party there's something to explore in every direction and you're encouraged to try it all whether you're successful or not is another matter it could very easily feel like there's too much to explore at first especially if you're not all that familiar with the Baldur's Gate series or d d as a whole or if you prefer to have a bit more guidance from your games but everything here is designed to be accessible and despite the narrative framing you're under no real time pressure so it's best to just relax take your time and explore every menu and system in depth you'll be rewarded for doing so pressing I will take you to your inventory and from there you can explore what is essentially your character sheet along with those of your companions and you can see their approval rating of you there too which is important if you decide to pursue any romances with them here you can also manage your equipment and items which to be honest can get a little fiddly as you move things between characters and light up junk to sell on it's a little bit too easy to pick up something useful and then completely forget where you've put it who's carrying it or even that you have it at all but I guess that's the price to pay to have such freedom to micromanage party members to your heart's content there are certainly players who will come to Baldur's Gate 3 for the story who will be doing as little Inventory management as possible and there will also be those who just want to lose themselves in strategy sizing and maxing their way to Victory via the turn-based combat and the good news is it's all very satisfying no matter what you prefer the script and performances are incredibly good so much of the enjoyment of a game like this rests on how much you buy into the people you meet and the relationships you forge and all of your core party are intriguing in their own ways with each of them hiding a dark secret that you may or may not coax out of them over the course of your time together these performances make you look forward to Long rests at camp where you can relax unwind slip into something a little bit sexier and have a bit of a flirt and it can be seriously flirty throw a party and a few drinks at the grip and it's like a Christmas office due out there some of the options you have when chatting to people to make you blush and that's before you have sex with them but of course it's not all about sex and romance these are exceptionally well-constructed characters and it's just really interesting to get to know them see what makes them tick and see how they react to your decisions in the world thank you Oak father preserve you child you're infected aren't you the Mind flares spawn [Music] you sound a bit hang on while I find the key let's talk about Combat turn-based gameplay is simply not for everyone and that is okay but if you're the type of person that prefers a little bit more Pace than Baldur's Gate 3 is probably not for you fights here take time and careful planning and even then a bad dice roll can set you up for a tpk and thus a swift reload from your last Save which reminds us actually even if you don't plan to save scum you should get into the habit of pressing F5 to quick save all the time you know just in case something happens at a quick death suddenly finds you but yes combat takes a while just like in a tabletop campaign of d d when a fight is triggered every character involved including enemies Will Roll initiative which determines the order in which you get to attack the outcome of this alone is enough to turn the tide of a battle not counting instances where you can Ambush foes or be surprised yourself then everyone will take their turn to use movement use their available actions and bonus actions and then there are reactions such as opportunity attacks when an enemy decides to move out of your melee reach and vice versa all of this takes a while and if this is the kind of gameplay that you enjoy as it is for me then you're gonna have so much fun you have so many different skills spells and abilities at your disposal thanks to your party and the game environment is also there to lend a hand if you're perceptive enough to take advantage of it and we really recommend that you do Baldur's Gate 3's combat can be really challenging if you Barrel around doing whatever you want all the time there will be instances where you anger the wrong person and suddenly be thrown into a fight that you are extremely unlikely to win but even aside from that triggering a fight without properly planning without fully resting or without thinking of an approach beforehand getting your characters to higher groin for example can lead to a very quick death and I really think you want that the high risk slash reward approach feels very Dungeons and Dragons and it makes success feel all the more earned when it does eventually happen but of course if you're really clever you can often avoid a fight altogether as well assessing your mind forcing you to love it like we said at the start of this video this is more like a review in progress because we've only had the full game for a few days prior to launch the early hours of Boulders Gate 3 have been explored quite extensively already of course thanks to its lengthy time in Early Access for the last few years but it's a testament to how big and exciting this game feels that all of that available content really only seems to scratch the surface of the adventure that awaits and it captures the spirit of d d and that I'm thinking about it even when I'm not playing I'm imagining what I might do with this spell or how I could approach this Fortress from a different direction maybe with a bit of inspiration I can reroll that persuasion check and that conversation could go differently has anyone tried chatting with that rat again I think the community is going to have so much fun with this game for a long time to come sharing stories of what they did to approach certain problems who they spoke to who they romanced I can see all the fan art already and it's very exciting and it's not to say that the game isn't totally without any problems I mean something of this size it's obviously going to run into a few bugs and we had some frame rate issues early on as well but certainly nothing game breaking and nothing that we can't see being patched very very soon foreign the greatest compliment that you can give a game based on the DND 5e rule set I think is that it inspires imagination a hand anyone what could happen if I follow my guts and go down this path what will my allies think of me if I do this could this absurd plan that I just had actually work what about that dialogue option that I didn't pick where would that have lattice I want to play a true to my character but I'm already imagining what I could do with a different class in a future game even while I imagine what lies ahead of us in this one and I'm already super attached to my party while knowing that they're hiding quite a few dark secrets from me but there is no one right way to do everything there can't be all I can do is throw myself in take a chance and roll the dice and enjoy it's beautiful chaos it's D and D through and through have loads more Baldur's Gate 3 videos on the way very soon as we continue to play through the game we have tips streams and guides on the way as we speak so subscribe if you haven't already to make sure you don't miss anything let us know what class and race combo you're planning on playing us as well as who you have your eyes on to romance I still haven't quite decided on that one myself see you in favor and thanks for watching bye [Music] [Music]

Channel: Eurogamer

Views: 119,073

Keywords: baldurs gate, baldurs gate 3, baldurs gate 3 review, dnd, baldurs gate 3 dnd, baldurs gate 3 pc gameplay

Id: KqJVj-pVbhg

Length: 13min 22sec (802 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 03 2023