Is local multiplayer fun?

[Brain Digger]

I've started playing this game with my wife. We've only gotten out of the Mind Flayer's ship and it feels like local multiplayer is a competitive experience instead of a cooperative one.
The player characters don't seem to be able to interact with each other outside of combat and whenever a player reaches a cinematic moment or a conversation, the only thing the other player can do is watch someone else doing what they should be doing or listen it to someone else's conversation. It's like the players are competing to experience the game's content instead of experiencing it together.

Local co-op multiplayer is the main reason we got this game, but we've switched to single player after having an abysmal experience. We were hoping for something that would feel like a digital equivilant of Decent: Legends of the Dark, where the player characters have conversations among each other and meaningful interactions during combat.

So, this question is for anyone who's played multiplayer for longer than us - does it get better or did I sum it up perfectly?

[Glyph]

What you experience is what you get. It's a shame you're bouncing off of it as MP is extremely fun.

[*****GameFolder]

Met with 3 friends last weekend, and we then spent 3 hours and never got it to work. Felt like we we're kids again, that's how it always was in the 90s.

10/10 - would not play again.

We ended up playing GTA2

[Svartulv]

Originally posted by Brain Digger:

does it get better or did I sum it up perfectly?

No, it does not. My wife and I experienced pretty much the same as those things you described. This part of the game feels very unfinished.

[Ryan Goo-sling]

While I love the game, I was also quite disappointed coming from the great split screen local co-op features of DoS2 to BG3. Me and my partner are still enjoying our time in the game as we are pretty much used to it now.

Still hoping that they continue to improve this aspect of the game such as screen merging when in close proximity/fights ( although i sort of understand why it has not been implemented)

[Brain Digger]

Originally posted by Glyph:

What you experience is what you get. It's a shame you're bouncing off of it as MP is extremely fun.

I guess I should elaborate. My wife isn't as video game-literate as I am. She has trouble navigating in a 3D top-donw environment and understanding the game's controls. So I ended up running ahead, getting all of the dialogue and cinematics and making all of the party's descisions during combat, then waiting for her to complete her character's turn.
When it comes to board games, my wife usually comes up with winning strategies much faster than I can. She's undefeatable in most games. I was hoping that a turn based RPG would bare enough of a similarity, but the controls may be a bit too uncomfortable for her.
When we switched to single player, she was the one holding the controller, which meant we could play the game at her pace.

Question is - Is your party similar to mine? If you're playing the game with people with a rich background in video games, they're all probably doing fine, running ahead and getting things done... But when there's a large skill gap, some players end up being left behind, having trouble following the plot and just getting all around confused and frustrated.

[Umberjack]

I'm playing it with 2 friends. We usually run around doing our own thing if we're in town, and tell each other "hey I'm going to talk to such & such" or "I'm going to kick the squirrel" so others can watch if they want.

[jonnin]

I have a very different experience. Playing with my wife, I can listen in on conversations and we always tell each other when we trigger one so the other can listen. We often discuss which option we want before selecting it. Its out of character conversations a bit -- as if our RPG party did a huddle and answer for everything which would seem very weird in reality -- but it works for us. In combat, we strategize together as well.

The biggest complaint I have about it is that so many things (like ethel's hair) are for only 1 character. We try to split such things fairly, but some items like parasite jars... its just tougher on 2 player and I would say almost game breaking to try 3-4 player mode.

[Glyph]

I've played the whole game in 4p co-op and it's the most fun we've had since doing the same in Divinity OS2.
With your skill gap you really have to stop running ahead and getting into all the trouble yourself. Let her take the lead, and inform each other when plot happens so they can listen in. Also assign one of the party members to her so you split the combat duties 2-2.