Now that all the hype has died down... Do people still think this game is "great?"

[Underprivileged White Male]

Seriously curious. I put way more of an effort to try and enjoy it than I really think I should have, or that it deserved. Even spent some time modding it myself. I gave it 4 shots in total, but ultimately, just no...

• A Coop attempt that got about halfway through Act 3 before growing bored and both of us deciding to drop it.
  
• A second Coop attempt with another friend that didn't make it properly into Act 2.
  
• A third coop attempt with the first friend with a different party, and didn't even make it to level 4.
  
• A solo attempt where I spent more time on character creation than game-play, trying to make something "interesting." (And ultimately just ended up watching some Youtube.)

It's weird because it's one of the few D&D games I've played that just doesn't catch me. I just can't seem to like any of the characters. The combat isn't great. The items aren't useful for the most part outside of a handful of standouts. Character creation in pretty limited due to 5E issues as well.

Worst of all for me is the "plot" just feels like a B super hero movie at times. Hell at times it was invoking some Power Ranger vibes. Orin straight up felt like Mystique from X-Men + Rita Repulsa from Power Rangers.... and not in the good way.

Each new attempt at the game ended sooner than the last. Which has been pretty much the opposite experience I've had with other similar titles in the genre. Usually I take a couple of test runs, then decide what I want to do my first "real" play-through with. Then I'll go back latter and try and 100% things. With BG3 the more I played it, the less I wanted to play it.

I think some of that is there is more of an illusion of choice than real choice. Once you've seen under the hood, there isn't much in the way of real decision to make. While this is more of a issue with the genre in general than just BG3, it's the path the game chose. Most of it comes down to sitting through the same voice lines again. With the combat being pretty weak... it tends to feel like watching a "meh" movie over and over with long popcorn breaks.

Normally I'd just skip all the dialogue to get to "the game" but the problem is.. there isn't a lot of GAME to it. Most characters just do the exact same things every round while you watch it play out. Sure JRPGs have done this forever, but they also tend to tell better stories, and offer more variety.

TBH I kinda of wish it would just skip the pretext of choice, and just tell a better story, with more substance and less illusion.

[Ashling]

It's still in the top 3 most played games on steam and is. right now, the top seller. Objectively, I think, that makes it a good game.

As for why the success? Idk, it reminds me of the Bethesda games and their specific feeling of like being able to do truly anything ("this mountain? You can climb it", etc.) and that kind of sandbox-y interaction is something people really love. Honestly, an event/character-driven (rather than a geographical) sandbox just sounds like something people have been wanting for years

[zero]

yeah, great game, it fufills its role as a D&D game, has a lot of longevity, and replayabiltiy, not even accounting for multiplayer.

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by Middling Cheese:

It's still in the top 3 most played games on steam and is. right now, the top seller. Objectively, I think, that makes it a good game.

As for why the success? Idk, it reminds me of the Bethesda games and their specific feeling of like being able to do truly anything ("this mountain? You can climb it", etc.) and that kind of sandbox-y interaction is something people really love. Honestly, an event/character-driven (rather than a geographical) sandbox just sounds like something people have been wanting for years

I think I might just be burned out on sandboxes. I swear it's like every game since 2011 or so. Kind of wish both the sandbox and survival genres would just die out. I guess I just prefer a better narrative to looting spoons.

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by zero:

yeah, great game, it fufills its role as a D&D game, has a lot of longevity, and replayabiltiy, not even accounting for multiplayer.

It's weird though. I get the opposite vibe out of it. The replay is whats really lacking for me. I know people replay Skyrim dozens of times but for me it got one near completion... then each future attempted was shorter, and less interesting until I'd barely make it past character creation.

Where as stuff like Borderlands, Diablo 2, or the BG1/2/IWD I've played through dozens of times.

[Moonlight Knight]

A friend of mine who's an old hand and played Baldur's Gate 2 when it came out says it feels like home for him and he's really enjoying it, and honestly that's all the recommendation I needed. What little I managed to play before my computer reminded me it sucks wet dirty noodle felt like it had earned the high praise imo.

[zero]

Originally posted by Underprivileged White Male:

Originally posted by zero:

yeah, great game, it fufills its role as a D&D game, has a lot of longevity, and replayabiltiy, not even accounting for multiplayer.

It's weird though. I get the opposite vibe out of it. They replay is whats really lacking for me.

everyone will have their own opinion, the fact that its a D&D game with a dozen classes and lots of multiclassing can lead to a ton of replaybility for me

i've played curse of stradh hald a dozen times at this point cause going through it with different characters is always fun, especially considering that is also "multiplayer" in this context.

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by zero:

Originally posted by Underprivileged White Male:

It's weird though. I get the opposite vibe out of it. They replay is whats really lacking for me.

everyone will have their own opinion, the fact that its a D&D game with a dozen classes and lots of multiclassing can lead to a ton of replaybility for me

i've played curse of stradh hald a dozen times at this point cause going through it with different characters is always fun, especially considering that is also "multiplayer" in this context.

I guess ultimately it's going to help if you like 5E as a system. I'm 100% a 3.5 guy. I just feels like I can make dozens of unique characters in something like NWN, with BG3 they kind of all just feel the same.

It's not like you can make cool stuff like Bard/RDD/BG, Monk/Rogue/SD, Singing dragon shifters, Lich Form Scythe Weaponmasters, or really even a basic Fighter/WM/Rogue.

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by Morsk:

It's a huge improvement over Larian's previous games, which were already innovative for bringing coop to CRPG, but had annoying loot and class systems BG3 improved by being D&D. The UI is also much improved.

As for writing, I got bored in Act 3 but before that I was captivated. I especially liked the gradual revealing of which villains were involved and how.

Yeah I mostly liked the story up until Wyrm's Bridge, after that and some mindflayer sex I lost all investment. Act 1 I did like. Act 2... ehh passable. Act 3 though.... just dunno.

I liked Divinity OS 1 better personally, didn't care for OS 2 though. Hated the armor system too much to like the game mechanically.

I also don't know if I'd call Larian "innovative" for adding Coop. I mean hell BG1 had coop in the 90's. :P The arguing between characters was neat.. but they scrapped that for BG3 so... Coop is now mostly back to one person doing all the talking cause he has more CHA.. and the other person just standing around watching dialogues.

[zero]

Originally posted by Underprivileged White Male:

Originally posted by zero:

everyone will have their own opinion, the fact that its a D&D game with a dozen classes and lots of multiclassing can lead to a ton of replaybility for me

i've played curse of stradh hald a dozen times at this point cause going through it with different characters is always fun, especially considering that is also "multiplayer" in this context.

I guess ultimately it's going to help if you like 5E as a system. I'm 100% a 3.5 guy. I just feels like I can make dozens of unique characters in something like NWN, with BG3 they kind of all just feel the same.

It's not like you can make cool stuff like Bard/RDD/BG, Monk/Rogue/SD, Singing dragon shifters, Lich Form Scythe Weaponmasters, or really even a basic Fighter/WM/Rogue.

im more of a pathfinder person, personally, i like the crunch, but i can still do it in bg3, especially since they got rid of the magic item rules.

even though i prefer pf i still have no real complaints about this one.

[Sleepwalker]

I have 600 hours in and I have to say I dislike the main story and quests a lot. Just a bunch of people needing my help, all they do is take take and take, I have no room for character development even as durge, very minimal because its all about finding my past, the struggle with violence is present but doesn't really go anywhere till act 3. i do care for the companions, but their content dies down in act 3 due to its obvious unfinished state. eventually it just not worth it to put up with the tedious combat and repetitive dialogue. oh and how unserious the story is. power ranger villains that don't feel real or menacing at all.

[Gentoo]

It captures the same magic that Dragon Age Origins did, except I would say the story is deeper in BG3 (and longer) and that the characters are more memorable and charming in DAO. There is no equivalent to Alistair or Morrigan here.

[fulf]

It's like a 7/10 for me personally

I hate the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ story and find every single character unlikeable, the cinematic production values and a lot of the writing/dialogue just makes me roll my eyes, the combat is fun to ♥♥♥♥ around with but not as good as DOS2's, 5e is a boring simplistic ruleset, and Larian still isn't that good at the actual roleplay side of their roleplaying games compared to other cRPGs like the Pathfinder games or Pillars

Then again I haven't had my expectations lowered by the Triple A slop that's been shoveled out over the past decade because I... haven't really played much of that? So I can get why people who're used to that trash would immediately just assume this is something brand-new and revolutionary just because it's actually got some mainstream attention for once. But when I look at this against- again- DOS2 it's hard for me to really see what makes one "Double A" and the other "Triple A" aside from ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ cutscenes I don't give a ♥♥♥♥ about and an artificially inflated sense of scale, and it feels like jingling keys in front of a toddler

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by tinyoceandrops:

I have 600 hours in and I have to say I dislike the main story and quests a lot. Just a bunch of people needing my help, all they do is take take and take, I have no room for character development even as durge, very minimal because its all about finding my past, the struggle with violence is present but doesn't really go anywhere till act 3. i do care for the companions, but their content dies down in act 3 due to its obvious unfinished state. eventually it just not worth it to put up with the tedious combat and repetitive dialogue. oh and how unserious the story is. power ranger villains that don't feel real or menacing at all.

I managed just short of 200 hours total, so not nearly 600, but it was just a weird experience. I don't think I've ever sank quite that much time into a game I wasn't overly fond of other than Skyrim. There is a certain parallel to the two games I think. It's almost like you can see the promise in both games, but you just can't seem to find the fulfillment of that promise no matter how hard you look.

Honestly I kept looking for that Mass Effect moment of "being" Shepard, and getting immersed in the world regardless of it's flaws in combat or systems, and it just never happened. The story just wasn't up to that level, and at the end of the day your character is just another "nameless hero" type with no real importance. I rather missed the whole "Child of Baal" approach from BG 1/2. It felt weird in BG3 that your character was the least interesting piece of the puzzle. I actually found myself considering my own character as basically on the same tier as the hirelings.

The bigger issues whoever was I also didn't really care much for the companions. Shadowheart was annoyingly indecisive and functionally just the "pretty girl who wanted you to tell her what to do." Wyll was a weak willed (ironically) guy that was way too "goody two-shoes" for a warlock. Karlath was a "live for the day" frat boy-girl, person. Lae'zel just tried her best to be an annoying Klingon knockoff. Gale was a mechanical limitation to the party, and better replaced with a hireling, and otherwise just snarky and obnoxius. The others were either dead, or unused for me. So no real comment there. Other than Astarion who I immediately killed because I HATE that voice stereotype, well and he pulled a knife on me, so ♥♥♥♥ that guy.

Hell I found Sazza, Glut, and Alfira way more interesting than any of the actual companions and would have gladly ran them over the rest.

[Renlish]

TL:DNR: 8.5/10 for me, endlessly replayable but will admit some things are not perfect - Act 3 is a little convoluted, some of the quest lines are a bit meh. Just under 400 hours in (will probably bust that today) since September '23. Enjoyed the storylines and the characters immensely.

---

Speaking from personal experience with this game... I haven't been into a game this much since I started playing the Sims4 10 years ago and Sim City a couple decades before that. I'm a simulation game girly so turn-based RPG was absolutely NOT in my wheelhouse. I am familiar with titles like Neverwinter and Morrowind and might have seen the ex-hubby play the earlier BG games too but never had an interest in them personally. (For the record, I'm 45 and have been PC gaming since the mid 90s.)

Just finished a complete play-through with a good friend on balanced. It was my first co-op in this style of game. LOVED IT. We were both into the story and did our best not to ruin it by searching ahead of time for the most part unless we were really stuck. As soon as we finished we started a new save in Tactician mode with dark urge characters and the intention of multi-classing. The runs I've been having on my own do go a little bit faster but only by virtue of the fact that I know the story and most of the progression points. Some of the fights still kick my butt because I'm still learning stuff.

I personally think the game is endlessly re-playable but it all depends on the person playing it and what they are looking for. I can see where folks would get bored with it after a bit.

I am quietly hoping for some DLC.

[KingOfFriedChicken]

I got 500 hours and still enjoy vanilla so I would say so for me.