i despised this game at first because i made the foolish mistake of having the difficulty setting at Normal. it's not even that the combat was hard -- although i certainly died plenty and relied on save scumming -- but that it was extremely tedious. at some point i was watching my character and a random wolf in the overworld repeatedly miss each other for like i swear a half a minute and felt a deep hatred for baldur's gate 1. so then i had the idea of simply starting the game over and putting it on Easy this time, and my experience improved

i guess to me that is the game's biggest failing. i find the combat and equipment management of this game severely annoying at worst and unengaging at best. i have absolutely no knowledge and experience with dnd, so maybe that's why.

my opinion on the story, the side quests, and the companions is only marginally better. there isnt terribly much to any of those three things. i cant say i found the story or any of the side quests very interesting, although there is a twist later on in the game about you and the main villain that i thought was pretty cool. i dont particularly like any of the companions and i dont think any of them have much depth, although i do find some of them endearing in a way (like imoen, who ironically has like next to no unique dialogue or party banter. or at least i didn't get any. i just think shes neat!)

but still, the game must have done SOMETHING right or i wouldnt have kept playing it. 5/10 isnt quite right for the game -- it's more of a 5.5/10. but i cant give it a 6/10 because there is too much about the game i couldnt engage with

oh also i may as well mention The Black Pits. there isnt terribly much to it, just a few combat arenas with extremely minor story elements. it was ok. if you really like the game's combat or baeloth, you'll probably get more out of it