Here is my many thoughts on a very long game condensed into a spoiler free review:
Gameplay: The gameplay of a CRPG is the biggest obstacle to overcome to be able to engage with the title. It is a very slow, low tech genre with de-emphasised gameplay that favours narrative and choice. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 is absolutely the most accessible of the genre. While it is still slow paced, it makes every move feel deliberate and allows for a huge amount of interactivity with the game world and for a hightened variety of moves and synergies during combat.
Companions: I measure the worth of an RPG’s writing by it’s cast list, and more specifically by the group of companions - them getting the most screentime by virtue of constantly being with you. While I missed out on three of the games later missable companions, I can confidently say that the origin characters are up there with best of the genre. They are all unique, charming, likeable, have great arcs and are amazingly voice acted. On that note, voiceacting is to a relatively high quality across the board, even among the most insignificant of characters.
Story: I really liked the unravelling mystery storyline, it is (mostly) well-paced and thouroughly engaging the entire way through. The many allies and villains are highly memorable and are all great - this genre really lives and dies on the writing and I can confidently say that even those who may not typically enjoy these high-fantasy settings will find something to latch onto here.
Act 1 - without spoiling anything, the first act doees well to engage you into both the setting and the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s all quite low stakes compared to the rest of the story, but I think that’s needed because it allows leeway for some mistakes without huge and dire consequences.
Act 2 - Easily the strongest arc of the game in my eyes. The introduced villain is masterfully built up and gratifyingly lives up to the hype. He’s intimidating and powerful, and his underlings and children make for a great cast of side villains too. The setting of the act is also very well executed.
Act 3 - This act for me is where the game slips slightly. Once you reach the city proper, all great mysteries have been revealed and now it's all down to tying up all the questlines that have been developing. However, it becomes so narratively dense that (to me) it was daunting. I think the crux of the problem is that there is a lack of focus. In one building, one questline reaches its conclusion while next door an entirely seperate story thread will wrap up. And i mean that quite literally. Add to the at least a dozen questlines that culminate here with a whole huge batch of area specific side quests and it becomes harder and harder to care. This all goes doubly as by this point my characters had reached maximum level and had basically the best gear they were going to get, meaning that a lot of this seemed completely pointless. Yes, the writing is still high quality, but when the progression loop of the RPG has ended it’s hard to strive for anything else but reaching the ending. The two main villains are solid for this act though, albeit i think slightly lesser compared to the act two antagonist. The multitude of boss fights are certainly mechanical combat peaks for the entire game too, requiring some real strategy to overcome - with the final battles being utterly ridiculous in what they demand of you.
Despite some shortcomings, this is an incredible experience that represents a step forward for the genre. We can only hope it inspires greater and more varied games across the whole medium.
(Final playtime of 72 hours on one character, with an additional 6 hours put into co-op runs so far.)
Gameplay: The gameplay of a CRPG is the biggest obstacle to overcome to be able to engage with the title. It is a very slow, low tech genre with de-emphasised gameplay that favours narrative and choice. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 is absolutely the most accessible of the genre. While it is still slow paced, it makes every move feel deliberate and allows for a huge amount of interactivity with the game world and for a hightened variety of moves and synergies during combat.
Companions: I measure the worth of an RPG’s writing by it’s cast list, and more specifically by the group of companions - them getting the most screentime by virtue of constantly being with you. While I missed out on three of the games later missable companions, I can confidently say that the origin characters are up there with best of the genre. They are all unique, charming, likeable, have great arcs and are amazingly voice acted. On that note, voiceacting is to a relatively high quality across the board, even among the most insignificant of characters.
Story: I really liked the unravelling mystery storyline, it is (mostly) well-paced and thouroughly engaging the entire way through. The many allies and villains are highly memorable and are all great - this genre really lives and dies on the writing and I can confidently say that even those who may not typically enjoy these high-fantasy settings will find something to latch onto here.
Act 1 - without spoiling anything, the first act doees well to engage you into both the setting and the mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons. It’s all quite low stakes compared to the rest of the story, but I think that’s needed because it allows leeway for some mistakes without huge and dire consequences.
Act 2 - Easily the strongest arc of the game in my eyes. The introduced villain is masterfully built up and gratifyingly lives up to the hype. He’s intimidating and powerful, and his underlings and children make for a great cast of side villains too. The setting of the act is also very well executed.
Act 3 - This act for me is where the game slips slightly. Once you reach the city proper, all great mysteries have been revealed and now it's all down to tying up all the questlines that have been developing. However, it becomes so narratively dense that (to me) it was daunting. I think the crux of the problem is that there is a lack of focus. In one building, one questline reaches its conclusion while next door an entirely seperate story thread will wrap up. And i mean that quite literally. Add to the at least a dozen questlines that culminate here with a whole huge batch of area specific side quests and it becomes harder and harder to care. This all goes doubly as by this point my characters had reached maximum level and had basically the best gear they were going to get, meaning that a lot of this seemed completely pointless. Yes, the writing is still high quality, but when the progression loop of the RPG has ended it’s hard to strive for anything else but reaching the ending. The two main villains are solid for this act though, albeit i think slightly lesser compared to the act two antagonist. The multitude of boss fights are certainly mechanical combat peaks for the entire game too, requiring some real strategy to overcome - with the final battles being utterly ridiculous in what they demand of you.
Despite some shortcomings, this is an incredible experience that represents a step forward for the genre. We can only hope it inspires greater and more varied games across the whole medium.
(Final playtime of 72 hours on one character, with an additional 6 hours put into co-op runs so far.)