BG3's Greatest Quality

[HappyThoughts]

Hello everyone !
So, this is a thread I'm starting following a few other threads on the forum calling BG3 either the greatest CRPG ever made or an overrated game of average quality.
My own stance on the matter has been that BG3 does pretty much everything at a very high level, but nothing exceptionally. So a great 9/10 game, but not a 10/10.
Indeed, when it comes to worldbulding, combat, story, characters, or other elements, I feel like BG3 does very well, but I can think of many other games that do those better. These other games, however, are sorely lacking in other areas.

So my query is the following: what do you think BG3 does better than all other CRPGS? What, in your opinion, is this game's standout element?
And what are other CRPS which you believe are the best when it comes to one specific aspect? (admittedly I'm fishing for recommendations to make the most out of the sale)
And what do you believe is BG3's greatest flaw ?

[Dork_Stalker_310]

Originally posted by HappyThoughts:

Hello everyone !

Hey.

Originally posted by HappyThoughts:

So my query is the following: what do you think BG3 does better than all other CRPGS? What, in your opinion, is this game's standout element?

Production values. I can't think of any other CRPG that looked better. The only one that came close in terms of looks and feel was Dragon Age Origins - and this game was released ages ago.

I also like the way the combat functions, with importance of positioning, surrounding elements and physics. I remember luring a bunch of goblins into a choke-point, having my character Misty step behind them and blowing them to smitherines with a barell near by. Was really fun.

I think what is really gripping are the characters. Love them or hate them, almost all of them are very memorable and charismatic, their struggles also feel quite real and impactful, which makes their arcs even more rewarding. The quests variety is also pretty damn good.

Originally posted by HappyThoughts:

And what are other CRPS which you believe are the best when it comes to one specific aspect? (admittedly I'm fishing for recommendations to make the most out of the sale)

I think KotOR 2 does companions on the same level, probably better in some instances.
Planescape: Torment and Shadowrun: Dragonfall also have GOATed dialogues, so there is that.

Originally posted by HappyThoughts:

And what do you believe is BG3's greatest flaw ?

Inventory system.

Some fights can really drag on without the speed up button.

The pathfinding can be wonky at times.

And the fact that your companions will just stand there, while you try to pass a skill-check, despite them having much better stats. This looks extremely stupid, why should my mage do a Strength check, when a party warrior would be a much better fit? It's infuriating sometimes.

Also, tying almost everything to a dice roll is a bad idea. Losing companion, for example, because you've lost a coin toss, is neither fun, nor rewarding.

[Maraxus]

I am wondering which games you feel are a 10/10.

I feel that beyond shocking attention to detail in every aspect, the one thing that makes Larian crpg's standout, which BG3 took to the next level, and which makes all other rpgs feel outdated, is the immersive sim aspect.

You are free to roam around this complex and dense world that feels alive and responsive, you can creatively come up with weird solutions and discover many unexpected interactions in the process, and the gameplay and narrative somehow adapt to your shenanigans.

BG3's greatest flaw to me is that combat is not as challenging as previous dnd and larian games, so if you have played those before it is kind of a breeze even on the highest diff. Sure make the game accessible on normal but throw a bone to your previous following perhaps. I know you can use mods but an official polished version would have been nice.

But beyond the game what I am fascinated with even more is how Larian continues to improve by leaps and bounds with every entry, it really is just mind boggling.

Can't give you other suggestions because I have played almost every big rpg and medium sized crpg since 2000 and and they never manage to impress me much, and I find myself reminiscing about the infinitiy engine/larian games, sorry.

[God Queen 158]

Cutscenes. That's what BG3 has over all other crpgs. That allowed it to grab hold of modern bioware fans despite coming from action rpgs.

I find crpgs unimmersive and unimpressive generally because I'm just staring at tiles and dated graphics.

Pillars of Eternity II was a unique experience for me because it was a gorgeous game and had a great political story that kept me hooked.

BG3's greatest flaw is it's narrative being strong for the most part until act 3. The strength of the story jumps off a cliff in a way that is jarring. The main plot writing is decent, but gets rushed. The companion stories turn into babysitting and I couldn't give less of a crap. Side quests can be bizarre and a tad too goofy and hard to follow. Everything else is pretty stellar.

[Raein]

It's a very good game for our post-covid time. It's greatest flaw (for me) is that it doesn't give a much better experience than early 2000s CRPGs, outside of its technological aspect. I used to expect so much more from gamedev, but here we are, having a very conservative gameplay-wise BG3 as one of the best games of the THIRD decade, so far, and we are almost halfway through btw.
Also there's something wrong with the storytelling aspect, I guess. I played it first on release and now I can barely remember what's going on which is unusual for me. Characters are memorable (a bit too much actually) while everything that happens around them is a vague blur of poorly conveyed off-screen situations.
I rarely say that (if ever) but this games plot needs more exposition.

[[TG] zac]

Graphics quality when you have a system that can handle it is better then most other RPG's in the genre.
But then again a lot of them use unity engine or others that are much better at a hand drawn art style instead of photo realistic.

It also tends to handle UI better, but then again a lot of its competition is from a decade or multiple decades ago.

Being voice acted is nice and the MOCAM work really let them convey feeling in what people were saying.

But then again most of the competition was made on engines or at a time when that really couldn't be done.

Any flaws the game has I would say are more tied to 5e which its based off of.

My only real complaints tied to the game itself would be

1: Pathfinding, Multiple times I have had a character point out where traps are only for another to run right into them.

2: Unlike a few other games in the genre you don't automatically use the best character for a skill check, which can lead to some failures if you don't remember that, plan ahead or know what a check is going to be.

3: For what the characters are doing they really should be higher level, hence why they had to give them a number of tadpole powers and help in numerous things.

Over all I would give the game a solid 8-8.5/10 and wish more of the game's industry would put as much love into their product as Larian has.

[Echsrick]

nothing, litteraly thats it, it pretty much has just "pretty grapics" and thats it, and i guess....filthy garbage "romance"...as if thats an actual selling point worth existing in an rpg

[The Sylvan Learning Center]

Aye romance is indeed filthy.....

I just like to collect the pieces of darth vaders armor.

In game, and in real life

[s0t3lg]

for everything that baldurs gate does exceptionally well in that same thing there are problems with in it. for example all characters are voice acted but none of the decisions are voice acted this is dumb.
another example is in and out of combat the characters can jump over hazards but flying was never fully implemented so instead of being able to fly over ground hazards the characters will fly through them and take damage which is dumb.
you can pretty much do this for almost every aspect of the game especially the story for every act.

[Northofmost]

+
The attention to tiny details that do not really matter.
Massive use of good voice acting, pity Tav is not included
You can solve many things in a creative way
Memorable personalities. Like them or not.
Turn based mode, a grace for us with old and stiff joints
Nice graphics
Despite a rather linear main story, a surprising high replay value
Evident that it is put a lot of love into it.
Buy the game, simple as that! No mini transactions, no hidden costs (but time).
A pre-release put to good use
Surprisingly bug free, taking into the account the complexity of the game.

-
Path finding can mess things up occasionally
Camera gets annoying in cramped indoor scenes
Inventory could be better

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

Combat sucks in this game. Solasta pretty much nailed it.

[zombygunner]

BG 3 is around because of D&D period. its part of forgotten realms that everyone forgot about lol. They came from a thing called a book. So when op asks a question this is my answer. The greatest quality is that they are part of D&D.