Larian Studios has made a really awesome game and a really amazing system. The gameplay, the graphics, etc etc are all great and the game is really obviously a contender for best CRPG.

The biggest flaw this game has is the TTRPG system it is based on. DnD 5E's pass/fail Difficulty Checks, which make up about 50% of the game, are not fun and make save-scumming an essential part of the game.

Pass/Fail effectively means that on a lot of checks it's possible to get unlucky and get nothing out of a situation - not a mixed result or even real consequences for failing. You try to convince a guard and they say "no it didn't work" and you have to move on or reload a save. I do not know a single person who has played this game and hasn't reloaded a save state so they can access content that the game locks behind a dice roll.

This works out ok (if a little frustrating) when 5E is played at a table in real life because there is no save scumming and a DM running the game can keep things interesting. Any game based entirely on a system that's meant to be run by people for people at a table is going to have this problem.

Reviewed on Sep 29, 2023


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