Welcome to Baldur's Gate 3 review, you horny
bastards. What a game, eh? After a long wait Larian has finally released
a new CRPG and it has Baldur's Gate in the title. I'll try to do this review with as few spoilers
as possible and as objectively as possible. So pay attention to objective and subjective
stuff said as I'm gonna label those throughout. Note that this review is from September 2023
so things might change. To first address old BG fans and their problem
of BG3 being Divinity Original Sin 3. It is true that it is very similar but that
is to be expected. Baldur's Gate done in a different engine. People nostalgically remember the old infinity
engine which was great but easily forget that the BG license just means use of the world
and lore. Engine is the developer's vision of that world. I would argue that the Divinity engine works
better with DnD games due to all possible item interactions in the world. Something that is rarely done but it is a
good fit for DnD. I understand BG fans though and their unhappiness
cause this might be a bit too similar to DOS. For example I am a huge Fallout 1 & 2 fan
so wasn't too happy with Bethesda's version even though I enjoyed F3 and FNV in the end. Very subjective topic as I agree that BG3
is a bit too similar to DOS but don't mind it personally. BG3 is a huge game with tons of details, stories,
interactions and decision making. High replayability value game. I would advise playing it slowly when it comes
to story and quests. Don't rush and also don't overdo hours invested
per day as it can create exhaustion that can then trigger tedium. Biggest reasons for exhaustion are the engine
and slow pace at which everything is done. I don't have any issues with that as a slower
pace helps in immersing into this world better by allowing yourself to enjoy high levels
of detail but some design decisions slow the game even more to a snail's pace which ruins
overall enjoyment at times. So let's go over some negative things first
because there aren't many. Main culprit for the slower pace is no area
loot option. Baffling really how they decided not to include
it considering how tiresome it is going from body to body, bookshelf to bookshelf, searching
for specific items and similar actions. Goddamn is it tedious. Prepare yourself for a lot of boring looting
that is gonna slow down the game so much which is why exhaustion can happen. Having an engine that enables so much interaction
with the world is amazing but with so many options a more compact way of looting is required
for a smoother and more enjoyable experience. Carry weight becomes an issue quickly too. During Act 2 decided to install a mod that
takes care of carry weight as it slowed down the game at times to a crawl to offload items
by traveling back to merchants or camp constantly. It started to seriously annoy me. Overall dealing with loot and inventory is
pain in the ass. They did improve inventory with filters, option
to type item name in, special containers like Alchemy and keychains but still inventory
ends up being a mess with so many different items. Easy fix would be to add more container types
and for matching item types to automatically go into it. If I have to, which I do, open the inventory
and attach the key to the keychain myself it becomes a pain in the ass quick due to
so much stuff. Larian is on the right path to fix one of
the biggest problems in RPGs that rarely someone has succeeded in and that is making inventory
management smoother. Camera issues are persistent when dealing
with floors. Quite poorly designed floor system. If they had implemented a proper elevation
system like in Jagged Alliance 3, for example, camera would work great. BG3 uses elevation a lot which also means
camera issues are frequent. Pathfinding is not the greatest, mostly also
due to elevation even though roads walked are usually quite straightforward. Not that big of a deal but still can infuriate
at times. There are delays at times when performing
attacks. Game literally just stops and you have to
wait a couple secs for the attack to register. Dice rolls are rigged. No doubt about it. Did some tests and enemies in general get
around 20-40% better rolls, be it with karmic dice enabled or disabled. Too many critical misses followed by rolls
ranging from 2-5 for the next attack. Happens so frequently that it can't be a coincidence. Enemies for saving throws roll high numbers
way more often than low numbers and it seems that higher DC of your spells higher the chance
they will roll a higher number. I assume this is Larian's way of dealing with
mediocre balancing the game has because the more the game progresses the easier it gets. Barely had any challenging fights. My advice would be don't use strong builds. Create most horrid, nonsensical multiclasses
and enjoy the challenge that way because you won't find it otherwise. Disappointing as they made a similar mistake
with Divinity Original Sin 2 and I really don't appreciate them attempting to artificially
create tougher challenge by rigging dice roles. They still failed because the game is too
easy even with that. Over time balancing is gonna get better but
we'll see how they approach dealing with that. Larian already has solid AI unlike most AAA
games these days so hoping to see proper work on rebalancing. More enemies in encounters would be a good
start. Bit more health added too. I think that could solve it. As things stand, game is rarely going to push
you to prepare for encounters and to fight for your life. Talking about Tactician difficulty here. I am all for many different difficulty levels
but then they need to properly differentiate one from the other and to a greater degree. DnD character progression system was always
something to play around with but the game should have a difficulty option to push you
into forcing more efficient builds and party compositions. Melee attack visual effects. Subjective complaint, I know. Always disliked Larian's melee attack visual
effect. It's pointless. Bombastic sound effects also don't help in
making melee attacks seem less cartoonish. Less would be more for me in this case. I prefer melee hits to be seen properly hitting
enemies with at least semi-decent impact and reactions. Especially in a game with such fantastic animations. Don't need sparks flying all over the place
accompanied by nuclear bomb sounds. On the other hand, spell VFXs SFXs are fantastic. Now let's talk about how is the game in general. BG3 uses 5th edition DnD ruleset which is
alright from my perspective but not a huge fan of it. What I love about 5th edition are added tactical
elements like high ground and low ground attacks and think that Larian surface system, although
in much lesser form here, works great with DnD. Not a fan, though, of how a bit too similar
classes feel and play. Compared to something like Pathfinder system,
5th edition has a lot of freedom for multiclassing due to very little restrictions but due to
how similar some builds can end up looking and playing actual gameplay ends up feeling
more restrictive. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to experience
in terms of classes and builds as this is still DnD. Just when comparing 5th edition to Pathfinder,
Pathfinder seems much more restrictive due to class and subclass limitations and effectiveness
but ultimately ends up producing more varied playstyles. Don't know if I've explained it correctly
but I guess some of you might understand. Maybe I don't even understand myself here. The 5th edition has its upsides and downsides. For DnD beginners 5th edition is a huge plus
as it is much easier to get into. Pathfinder is at times too complex for its
own good. As I said, every system has its positives
and negatives. Major improvement DnD 5e brings over Pathfinder
edition is less buffing. Jesus it was pain in the ass buffing before
every fight in Pathfinder. When it comes to races a lot of fantasy games
miss out on a huge potential. Same like BG3. I think there are enough races to satisfy
most players but having few unique ones and then couple half this half that in a fantasy
world is a bit subpar considering all the potential options. Goblins, basic orcs, trolls, ogres, vampires,
werewolves, elementals... So many interesting options to include but
we end up with half-orc, half-elf and such? Kinda underwhelming. Including Dragonborn race is definitely a
step in the right direction as that is exactly what I am talking about. Larian played it a bit safe here with classic
options and then some atypical like Dragonborn. Average job when it comes to races I'd say
- not great, not bad. Let's talk about presentation. Note that I don't put much value into high
budget presentation when it comes to CRPGs. I appreciate the heck out of it as an additional
beneficial factor if done right but an amazing or crappy presentation is never going to make
or break a CRPG in terms of overall game's quality. Presentation in BG3 is the best out of any
CRPG ever. I don't think there is much of an argument
for any other games that could potentially match it. Only Dragon Age Inquisition comes to mind
in terms of great high quality presentation. Dragon Age Inquisition is a good example of
a game having a high budget presentation while the game being decent at best. Thankfully not the case with BG3. Voice acting, animations, music, graphics,
world detailing, effects (except melee attack as stated before)... I don't know what else to add besides the
best ever in this genre. Facial animations have surprised me a lot
as they convey emotions really well. Sometimes it can look a bit crude but remember
this is not FPS or an action game but a CRPG so bear in mind where the focus in games like
these is. Personally I could care less for RPGs being
voiced. Just having 1 sentence voiced out of 20 is
fine with me so I could be more immersed into the character and have that voice play out
rest of the sentences in my head. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the full
voiceover though. One of the reasons why full voiceover is not
needed for me is the fact if voice acting is not good or is annoying for some reason
then after a while you don't want that person in the party anymore which affects their story
progression. Thankfully RPGs usually have more than 1 choice
outside of the full party to switch unwanted characters for wanted ones. In terms of BG3, the only one that bothered
me was Astarion after some time. His flamboyancy became irritating due to so
many things he said had to be over the top. His voice acting is amazing though. Top notch. Just the style wasn't to my liking for long
periods of time. Never removed him from the party though because
of the great backstory and whenever his angry side came out I was like 'Fuck yeah. Let it all out, mate. Bring it on!'. Anyway, just an example of why full voiceover
work can be detrimental to a character no matter how great it is but that is subjective. I would not take away anything from BG3 just
because subjectively something isn't to my liking even though it is done great. Balancing, for example, is objectively bad
as there should be no argument against that statement. Any party member's voice or character itself
no matter how great they are voiced and written might be annoying to some people and that
is subjective but we cannot take away from the game's great work just because it is not
something we prefer or like. World of BG3 is fantastic. Act 1 brings more 'get to know it' approach
with typical looking villages, outposts and a castle of sorts. Then underground places with unique monsters
and events. I love when the game mixes things and doesn't
just place the same enemy types all over the place. BG3 is careful with enemy placements so that
they make sense lore wise and I appreciate it. That adds to the sense of mystery and will
to explore. Act 2 brings out a completely different region
full of dread and despair. Dark, dangerous place inhabited by shadows,
mysticism and secrets. I mean a completely different scenario and
my favorite one out of the 3. Act 3 is Baldur's Gate city. I am not a fan of city exploration in general
in RPGs but that is subjective while objectively Larian did a great job mixing in tons of interesting
stories, characters, fights and factions to make it far more exciting. World is not annoying with too many puzzles
but just enough to make it interesting and that they make sense setting wise. Maps are big enough to host many different
factions with added minor areas worth exploring. Everything is worth exploring because in most
cases there is a unique item waiting to reward the player's curiosity and effort. It is important in DnD games for skills to
play big factor in world exploration and for game to offer different options of approach. They did alright job as skills play a huge
factor but also they are not in majority of cases mandatory. If you fail, getting to the goal is gonna
be harder. Simple as that. Insight into conversations might also reveal
things otherwise hidden. Might be wrong here but there is also quite
a disbalance when it comes to useful and non-useful skills. For example History, Arcana, Religion, Medicine,
Nature didn't feel as needed aside from maybe 3 or 4 instances where each of them were actually
required to get good items but in other cases there are other options anyway. I understand that some of the skills lean
more on the role-playing side of things than practical use and it is very difficult to
balance the usefulness of every skill in a game like this. I think they did alright. Outside of exploration most of the time is
gonna be spent fighting. Due to the same engine, combat is similar
to DOS which is not a bad thing considering how good it is in DOS. So many factors, so many options through tactical
approach, use of additional actions like shove, dip weapon into fire or poison surface, jump,
disengage... This game is a masterpiece when it comes to
combat. DOS2 went too far imo with surfaces so the
scaled down surface feature works fantastic with DnD. I really like DnD combat in games but this
is another level of freedom and options. In terms of spells and playstyles it isn't
as varied as something like Pathfinder but the tactical approach combined with DnD makes
the combat play out vastly different and for me personally it is more fun as it never gets
dull. Less buffing and more hands on action. Only problem is balancing and the game being
too easy but playing around with options in every encounter has never been so much fun. Using telekinesis, for example, cannot become
boring. I would be surprised if someone says they
consider Telekinesis spell boring. Throwing enemies into instant death or telekinetically
moving them to your melee fighter that gets Advantage attack rolls while attacking Prone
enemies is next level tactical fun. I swear in BG3 you can get a bit depressed
when no fights have happened in a while. I always wanted more. Wanted to see what the next group of enemies
would await for me. What monster? What are their weaknesses? Strengths? Enemies are really varied so it is interesting
how each is going to attack during combat. Larian did alright job when it comes to strengths
and weaknesses as I do think they could have done more when it comes to damage type resistance
variations but what saves it is halved dmg resistance. It would be quite shallow and not nearly as
fun if there was no halved dmg resistance. Not gonna waste too much time with character
progression, meaning leveling, as it is DnD so 5e ruleset applies. Fun to create builds but less options than
something like Pathfinder, as stated earlier. I like it but don't love it. 5e is great for combat gameplay in games due
to tactical elements but it is a step down personally for character progression. People getting into BG3 are gonna be way more
happy to know that 5e is much simpler even when it comes to multiclassing. You'll understand it quick enough. Got a couple of builds on the channel if you
need more in depth ideas of what and how to create builds. Using a single class all the way is always
a powerful option so don't sweat it. Choose the class and enjoy it all the way
to lvl 12. No need to know all the intricacies about
multiclassing at first as the game doesn't challenge OP builds. Itemization is quite good. There are tons of unique items that can change
builds and add a ton more oomph when properly done. Multiclassing and itemization works well. Game would be less interesting in terms of
builds without so many unique items. Problem with huge game like this is that there
are never enough unique items. Especially weapons but honestly I think they
have done a good job in trying to evenly distribute uniques across weapon and armor types. Overall I am happy with build depth as it
offers enough variety to satisfy the majority of players. Now we get to writing, meaning story, characters
and quests. It is fantastic. So many decision making with instant and future
consequences. Not every decision is gonna lead to vastly
different outcomes but honestly I can't fault them due to so many being meaningful. Main story is very interesting and it kept
being that way till the end. BG3 invests players heavily into story through
decisions so that the outcome feels like something we have been actively working on. It greatly succeeds, I must say. Game starts with a player on a mindflayer
futuristic ship being attacked by a dragon riding race I've never heard of before and
then surviving the crash while meeting a druid tribe that is dealing with a lot of shit,
including tiefling refugees. Tell me that ain't a good start. What surprised me most was dark, brutal and
gory writing style. This game goes deep into shit and outcome
is usually quite serious. Can't mention anything specific because I
really want for you to experience everything this game has to offer when it comes to writing
as it is going to shock so frequently. People, it is brutal and I love it! Here is just one tiny example that is not
really connected to the main story and where I am omitting purposefully some info. A side thing. Reaching a specific building starts a dialogue
with a person playing with body parts on the table. Mad scientist with his zealous beliefs. Then through conversation options I have persuaded
him to kill himself and offer his body to scientific purposes by letting his underlings
tear him to pieces. There are quite a few WTF moments in the game
and that comes from someone that has played games for almost 30y now. Goddamn I'm old. Fucking math. Characters are amazing. Be it party members or notable NPCs. Almost everyone has certain characteristics
and feel real and different enough. This is where high quality presentation helps
a bit due to graphical fidelity of facial expressions and many voice actors doing wonderful
jobs. Party member stories are something else. Absolutely amazing. I just felt like Halsin was not as deep and
as well done as others as his story felt flat unlike others. However, everyone else they have pretty much
nailed. Touching, brutal, heavy decisions, casualties,
gods, pacts... Larian really went all in. Gotta say one party member's story teared
me up at the end. I was invested into everyone's story as they
were that bloody interesting. Easy to be invested as we get to have a lot
of influence on party members as to which path to follow. Then fantastically done characters like Raphael
that bring their own convincing persona to get what they need. He is so freaking well done that he fooled
me with that silver tongue way of talking. As I said, almost everyone has a convincing
persona due to heavy character detailing. Gotta appreciate that. Side quests are all unique and usually have
satisfying endings with at least decent backstories. They are also closely connected to what is
going on in the region at that moment and can go through all acts. I like that a lot. Side quests feel meaningful enough to keep
me invested and not just doing it to get XP. What I don't like about writing is focus on
sexuality. I just don't like that in games in general. A lot of conversations, not just with party
members, have that sexual tension so it became annoying to me after a while. Seems like important characters gotta have
romancing backstories too. Feels forced a lot. Thankfully there are options not to proceed
with any of it which I gladly took. This is, of course, a subjective stance but
I do think romance writing is not up to par with the rest of the game which is one of
the reasons why relationships in games are a big no for me. Gotta deal with it in real life so now we
have that in games too? Why? I mean I know a couple reasons why but not
gonna go on an offensive rant. Now we get to last part which is difficult
to assess and is controversial so just gonna share my thoughts and you can think of it
what you will. It is, of course, politics in BG3. Gay, feminism, pronouns... It's all there but I think they have done
a decent job at it. I would be easily pissed off if these were
mostly quota fillers without much thought behind it, like in the case of TLOU 2, but
instead they have managed to not bother me personally almost at all. Reason is that characters feel real enough
with things mentioned being just a part of them. Sometimes smaller, sometimes bigger. That's what she said. BG3 doesn't do things like 'Here is a gay
character, it's just there and you have to like it cause it's gay'. No, they actually give characters a well written
background and personality. Larian way is one of the best ways I've seen
so far on how to approach sensitive issues that divide people. Talking about sensitive issues, here is my
biggest problem, which honestly is not that big but I've noticed it plenty in the game. That is feminism by forcefully battling preconceived
notions. Started to get on my nerves after a couple
hundred hours. Fantasy world this is but fantasy world always
draws from real life. So what they did here is turn things upside
down when it comes to men and women. Act 2 onwards it is especially felt. Basically scales of power are leaning towards
women due to at least 65% of the time (random number, not based on proof but by observation)
being in dominant roles such as captains of the guard, guild leaders, patrol leaders,
gods visually presented in the game... Also there isn't a single all powerful and
morally good male character in the game. Only a couple of them I can remember off the
top of my head and all of them are under a female domination, be it by gods or rulers. Or incapable enough so that a female takes
their place. Kagha for Halsin and Counsellor Florrick takes
charge after Duke gets screwed. Just to name a few. There are, however, all powerful and evil
male characters. Few of them. Also if we really want to nitpick there is
a thing about frontline roles being carried by La'zel and Karlach as Warrior and Barbarian
while males are predominantly mages. I get it, it's a fantasy world so anyone can
do what they want. As I said it's not that bad tbh. Never really made me uncomfortable, pissed
off or anything like that which would affect quality time spent with the game but just
annoyed a bit occasionally. I still think if you want to introduce politics
by intentionally doing things like these then Larian has done a decent job as it never really
really bothered me. Just annoyed occasionally. Now for the final verdict. Baldur's Gate 3 is an amazing game with fantastic
writing, great combat, good character progression, good itemization, fantastic world blablabla. Needs a lot more balancing, area loot option,
a bit better inventory management and camera fixes and it is going to be a 10. As things stand it is a 9 for me. Hope you enjoyed the review and thanks for
watching, you excited bastards.
