A masterpiece in every sense of the word, Larian have really outdone themselves with Baldur's Gate 3. Rooted firmly in DnD game systems and lore, it is a spectacular adventure from start to finish. The level of character expression through character progression/creation, dialogue choices, exploration, and combat is something that I haven't really encountered since well, Divinity Original Sin 2.
My playthrough was as a high-elf bard with a criminal background, and so as a result I ended up being a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. I could pass all persuasion/deception checks, a large pool of spells to utilize in and out of battle, and proficient with rapiers and crossbows as well. For your companions, each and every one of them has a compelling story arc (if they choose to stick around and you don't get them killed in battle). They may approve or disapprove of your actions throughout the game, but with all the variation of events there is high replay value even at ~100 hours in length.
This variation however can be hit or miss. While I have no doubt there are plenty of events I did not see throughout the game due to my choices (cool), there are some objectives that feel pretty obtuse. Either far out of the way, or requiring specific NPCs to talk to, needing to be done in a specific order, or just time sensitive. Some hidden stuff is all well and good, but some things almost feel like they require a guide to know how to do "properly". A fine line had to be walked for balancing long rests (which pass time in the world, but also restore all your character's health, spells, and trigger certain events).
Baldur's Gate 3 is a long adventure, but not a moment feels wasted. Each area is tightly designed and sprinkled with enough fast travel points and events where the player spends very little time just running around wasting time. Though the final act has its fair share of bugs, it is still a well crafted game that encompasses everything an RPG should be. The voice acting, the high-fantasy music, the atmosphere, the character and creature designs, the writing - BG3 is a treat that may just inspire me to give DnD yet another shot. In a year of plenty of tremendous video games, this is almost certainly going to be my game of the year.
My playthrough was as a high-elf bard with a criminal background, and so as a result I ended up being a bit of a jack-of-all-trades. I could pass all persuasion/deception checks, a large pool of spells to utilize in and out of battle, and proficient with rapiers and crossbows as well. For your companions, each and every one of them has a compelling story arc (if they choose to stick around and you don't get them killed in battle). They may approve or disapprove of your actions throughout the game, but with all the variation of events there is high replay value even at ~100 hours in length.
This variation however can be hit or miss. While I have no doubt there are plenty of events I did not see throughout the game due to my choices (cool), there are some objectives that feel pretty obtuse. Either far out of the way, or requiring specific NPCs to talk to, needing to be done in a specific order, or just time sensitive. Some hidden stuff is all well and good, but some things almost feel like they require a guide to know how to do "properly". A fine line had to be walked for balancing long rests (which pass time in the world, but also restore all your character's health, spells, and trigger certain events).
Baldur's Gate 3 is a long adventure, but not a moment feels wasted. Each area is tightly designed and sprinkled with enough fast travel points and events where the player spends very little time just running around wasting time. Though the final act has its fair share of bugs, it is still a well crafted game that encompasses everything an RPG should be. The voice acting, the high-fantasy music, the atmosphere, the character and creature designs, the writing - BG3 is a treat that may just inspire me to give DnD yet another shot. In a year of plenty of tremendous video games, this is almost certainly going to be my game of the year.
Piparooni
1 month ago