This review contains spoilers
Great CRPG , especialy if it's your first game, but the game lose a bit of it's luster if you're bit more experienced.
But it's still impressive achievement from Larian , because I HATED Divinity Original Sin 2, their previous games , but managed to get to characters to Act 3 in less than a month.
Characters are quite good , but nothing ground breaking. They actually lack quite bit in term of their own relationships with each other compared to Wrath of the Righteous where not only they talk with each other but have so many interactions between them and characters that you're currently talking. In comparasion Bg3 companions are much easier to like them due their characterization being deliver not only by text or voice, but also motion.
My personal favorite are Wyll, Shadowheart and Laezel. I just wish they had more say to each other because the party feels a bit.. too isolated from each other. It's a huge positive that I wanted more from the companions, instead of less.
The Combat is really fun probably the best part, along side with environmental interactions. It's lowkey a Immservice Sim.
The classes for most part feels good to play and having multi class being so easy to acess is good. But I wish it had more classes, especialy more Gish/hybrid classes, I miss my Magus and Inqusitor from Pathfinder and Blood Mage Fighter from Pillars 2. But at least, the environmental interactions really give a good amount of depth that DnD 5E lack.
The reacitivy is truly impressive, races , classes and dieties. Too bad some of them get a unreasonable amount compared to others and they don't change the flow of the conversations as much as something like Mythic Path in Wrath. Also the overall dialogue options are bit bland and don't allow you to play more than Good and Evil.
The exploration is probably the best in genre. There's so much to explore and you going to fail to see everything in your first three playthoughts. Yeah, it's that crazy.
The rest mechanic is terrible. It goes against the urge of urgency from the main story AND locks quite important scenes (romance , companions quest progression, personal quest progression) behind several Long Rests that you might not use a lot due the fact that you're playing a Warlock or Monk that have core abilities that only require Short Rest. And again, it fucks completely over the sense of urgency from the main story. Again Pathfinder did this much better.
The main story, it's alright. It's pretty generic and it takes like 30h+ to established the villains. And then you kill one of them way too quickly. The other two seems way better. Raphael, a antagonist, is way better shown and used than the main three. Overall the story feels kinda all over the place and unfocused.. It's about saving yourself , defeating this cult and their leaders , it also involves Gith's Lich Queen , and "false Messiah" , AND you have this backstory of the Emperor on top of it. Too much.
The companions stories are better, even if the pacing is kinda wonky sometimes (Shadowheart apparence changing for example). Also due the mocap and voice acting conversations are often short compared to most games in the genre. Most character aren't that good or interesting , but I always interested to see what Raphael has to say.
Also I didn't do the Evil path, but I struggle to find any good reason to why you would side with the Absolute in any of the occasions so far (I just started Act 3 with my Spore druid and currently playing Act 2 with my Dark Urge Monk.). It's very binary. That goes for most quest. You either have a Good options and Evil option , but the evil option generaly just lock yourself out of content instead of giving you different content. This ain't no Lich Path or Angel Path in Pathfinder , where you meet different characters , quests and unique scenes.
All in all BG3 is EASILY the best Triple A RPG to come out in the last 15 years or so.
If you want a RPG with high production value and cinematic, a successor to Dragon Age Origins that doesn't drop all RPG elements , this is the best one. Bethesda and Bioware should learn a thing or two from this game.
But it's still impressive achievement from Larian , because I HATED Divinity Original Sin 2, their previous games , but managed to get to characters to Act 3 in less than a month.
Characters are quite good , but nothing ground breaking. They actually lack quite bit in term of their own relationships with each other compared to Wrath of the Righteous where not only they talk with each other but have so many interactions between them and characters that you're currently talking. In comparasion Bg3 companions are much easier to like them due their characterization being deliver not only by text or voice, but also motion.
My personal favorite are Wyll, Shadowheart and Laezel. I just wish they had more say to each other because the party feels a bit.. too isolated from each other. It's a huge positive that I wanted more from the companions, instead of less.
The Combat is really fun probably the best part, along side with environmental interactions. It's lowkey a Immservice Sim.
The classes for most part feels good to play and having multi class being so easy to acess is good. But I wish it had more classes, especialy more Gish/hybrid classes, I miss my Magus and Inqusitor from Pathfinder and Blood Mage Fighter from Pillars 2. But at least, the environmental interactions really give a good amount of depth that DnD 5E lack.
The reacitivy is truly impressive, races , classes and dieties. Too bad some of them get a unreasonable amount compared to others and they don't change the flow of the conversations as much as something like Mythic Path in Wrath. Also the overall dialogue options are bit bland and don't allow you to play more than Good and Evil.
The exploration is probably the best in genre. There's so much to explore and you going to fail to see everything in your first three playthoughts. Yeah, it's that crazy.
The rest mechanic is terrible. It goes against the urge of urgency from the main story AND locks quite important scenes (romance , companions quest progression, personal quest progression) behind several Long Rests that you might not use a lot due the fact that you're playing a Warlock or Monk that have core abilities that only require Short Rest. And again, it fucks completely over the sense of urgency from the main story. Again Pathfinder did this much better.
The main story, it's alright. It's pretty generic and it takes like 30h+ to established the villains. And then you kill one of them way too quickly. The other two seems way better. Raphael, a antagonist, is way better shown and used than the main three. Overall the story feels kinda all over the place and unfocused.. It's about saving yourself , defeating this cult and their leaders , it also involves Gith's Lich Queen , and "false Messiah" , AND you have this backstory of the Emperor on top of it. Too much.
The companions stories are better, even if the pacing is kinda wonky sometimes (Shadowheart apparence changing for example). Also due the mocap and voice acting conversations are often short compared to most games in the genre. Most character aren't that good or interesting , but I always interested to see what Raphael has to say.
Also I didn't do the Evil path, but I struggle to find any good reason to why you would side with the Absolute in any of the occasions so far (I just started Act 3 with my Spore druid and currently playing Act 2 with my Dark Urge Monk.). It's very binary. That goes for most quest. You either have a Good options and Evil option , but the evil option generaly just lock yourself out of content instead of giving you different content. This ain't no Lich Path or Angel Path in Pathfinder , where you meet different characters , quests and unique scenes.
All in all BG3 is EASILY the best Triple A RPG to come out in the last 15 years or so.
If you want a RPG with high production value and cinematic, a successor to Dragon Age Origins that doesn't drop all RPG elements , this is the best one. Bethesda and Bioware should learn a thing or two from this game.