Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General a review of baldure gate3

1. Introduction
I have dedicated 335 hours to this game, starting from its early access days. After such a substantial time investment, it's challenging to conclude that the game is mediocre. Larian Studio has nothing left to prove to its audience. The romances and narratives are masterfully executed. Having also extensively played their previous game, Divine Divinity 2, I consider Baldur's Gate 3 the best RPG since Baldur's Gate 1 & 2. However, my all-time favorite RPGs are still Ultima 6, 7, and 8. As a fervent fan of Dungeons & Dragons RPGs, I've been exploring the rules since the 1980s, starting with the 1.0 edition. I'm on the verge of completing Baldur's Gate 3 (or rather, I've already played for 335 hours, and it's still not finished). Unfortunately, despite this massive time investment, a lingering sense of bitterness remains.

2. Character Customization Issue
Let's delve into the character creation and customization. Initially, I was taken aback by the available character faces. During the early access phase, there seemed to be more aesthetically pleasing face options overall. Furthermore, the game now offers a variety of faces, some of which appear Asian, African, or of an undefined gender, attempting to assert themselves among those of elven or other races. At the game's launch, I spent 1.5 hours selecting a character face that would suit me. It appears that Larian Studio had to comply with diversity requirements intended to represent the 0.01% of the population, but it gave the impression that the remaining 99.99% were disregarded. This situation deeply shocked and offended me, and I felt a profound sense of anger during the first three hours of gameplay because of it. For this reason, I am no longer willing to purchase any future games from Larian Studio, regardless of their quality.

3. Combat Ease
Nevertheless, I decided to continue and relive the adventure with my wife. She greatly enjoyed the experience. However, while the combat seemed complex to her as a newcomer to this universe, I was struck by the excessive ease of combat in the game. The only times I had to restart battles were when my wife accidentally clicked on an area that she shouldn't have, causing more damage to our group than to the enemy. At this level, I ultimately didn't regret having her by my side! In summary, the game is far too easy for my taste.

4. Dungeons & Dragons 5.0 Rules
Now, let's address the various aspects contributing to this ease. With my extensive experience in RPGs, having explored all editions of Dungeons & Dragons from 1.0 to 5.0, I consider the 5.0 rules to be a blatant absurdity. While many players enjoy these rules, which offer numerous classes and subclasses, as well as convoluted calculations to transform characters into ultimate deities, what shocks me the most in these modern rules is the absence of limits. The rules have undergone a rebalancing, if one can even call it that. We've transitioned from an old-school game based on swords and capes from the 1980s to a game more reminiscent of Dragon Ball Z, with chain attacks like the Kamehameha. Personally, I find this evolution hard to accept, considering the 2.0 rules of Dungeons & Dragons as the most refined. I would have preferred Baldur's Gate 3 to follow these older rules.

5. Useless Classes
Regarding classes, professions such as monks, druids, and necromancers leave me perplexed. I wonder why these useless classes even exist; they contribute absolutely nothing.

6. Story and Game Length
One of the initial issues that bothered me is the considerable time Larian Studio had to spend adapting these complex rules for each character, recording voices, and creating different interaction choices between races and classes. The base storyline concludes far too quickly. This may be attributed to the current era, where present generations seek instant gratification and ease of access. However, it's undeniable that the game is too short and too easy. Lastly, for someone who has played Divine Divinity, it's difficult not to draw numerous parallels between its storyline and that of Baldur's Gate 3.

7. Magical Items
Lastly, the final issue that deeply concerns me pertains to magical items. Once again, the rules of Dungeons & Dragons 5.0 are responsible for this situation. The items obtained throughout the game resemble more of the trash found in a municipal dump than treasures. We always hope to discover valuable items, but ultimately realize that their place belongs in a trash can. In Baldur's Gate 3, we even have the option to sell skulls, which exemplifies the problem. Ultimately, we end up selling everything without ever experiencing genuine satisfaction.

8. Conclusion
In summary, the major issue we encounter is the incalculable number of playable classes, such as barbarians, druids, necromancers, and monks, which are pointless when opting for classes like warriors or priests. Hoping to find powerful equipment like +2 shields or +5 weapons often leads to disappointment, as magical items are primarily useless gadgets. Ultimately, reducing the number of playable classes to a few, such as warriors, paladins, mages, priests, thieves, and rangers, while allowing for a group of six players, would be preferable. More challenging and imposing battles, along with a significantly longer storyline, would have greatly enhanced the gaming experience.

Being shocked and angry that a game gives non-binary options is pretty pathetic.

O.01%?

LOL. Your numbers are hilarious. I can�t take anything you said after that seriously.

I love BG3 for what it WANTS to be but hate for what it HAS to be for 2023 gamers.

In the name of "fun" make everything easy, "accessible" and flexible. This impacts everything in the game. Exactly the same for D&D 5th.
I would have ZERO issues if the game was not called "Baldur's Gate" and be its own thing. But like people who love Rings of Power....or the Star Wars prequels/modern crap...the Snow-white debacle...
Who the hell cares anymore for anything as long as it makes money and people are happy.

Original creative game and movie making is a lost art. Why I'm into indie stuff now.
Sea of Stars is frickin amazing. Play that.

Funny review.

Heh, I agree with pretty much nothing in your review.
Sure, the character creation is a bit overwhelming, especially for players that are new to this kind of games. But it is hard to criticise having a lot of options as long as they are all good and well balanced.

I also think the game has a good amount of content compared to other games in the genre. I'm pretty sure there will be more content added as well in DLCs or expansions. I would happily pay for that considering that they haven't littered the game with micro transactions and in-game purchases.

If I could make such a game, I would probably add a few useless meme classes for fun.

Like loads of people always ask for dual wielded shields. I would offer not just dual wield, but QUADRUPLE SHIELD WIELD CLASS! Wear a shield in each arm, on your torso and on your head.

You cannot attack, cast spells, or equip any other item except for shields.

Wait for tasty salty tears from the players.

Wtf ?!?!?!? Seriously ????

So you're saying:

Its a great game, but it has to be somehow something else, because reasons. Look a threee headed monkey over there !! *runs*

And your evidence for this is what?

I mean guys. This review is so self-contradictory, with so many bizarre and outright just incorrect statements, that I think we can assume that OP is just having a little fun being a troll.

You are asking for evidence that more than 0.01% of the population are Asian or African?

Folks, I think we all know that this is the kind of discussion that can go downhill. Let�s be careful.

It's not like it started from a very high point to begin with.

I feel like OP must be trolling.

Fair comment. My mistake I read the OP incorrectly, I thought he was talking about just the 'undefined gender' part.

Even then, about 1.6% of US adults identity as trans or non-binary, and that number is much higher for people under 30.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-r...ferent-from-their-sex-assigned-at-birth/

I think this is generally meaningless to discuss such numbers, but just because it's 1.6% of adults in the USA, it doesn't mean his statement is wrong. If you think worldwide, in case it's only 1.6% even in the US, you might actually get close proving him correct if you take worldwide numbers (he said population, not population in the USA). But it doesn't matter, they could still offer those options. Not many people enjoy playing haflings or gnomes and still great to have those in the game. And if he was someone who wanted to play as a gnome he'd likely appreciate the devs giving him that option. One of the things this game does really well is that it generally tries to provide options of possibilities.

Generally, it looks like the OP is an older guy like me, who has to cope with games basically not being made specifically for our tastes anymore. And if you don't like DnD 5, there are probably just better games out there for you. And if you don't like druids, they are even in ADnD (2nd edd), so "shrug".

I personally also think it's unnecessary to have elves with those features, elves aren't humans and already have established subraces in the Forgotten Realms. Half-elves would make much more sense. I think it makes elves less special to do so, because it "humanizes" them. Same is true how they mostly behave as humans in the game. It's not only the looks.

On the other hand, for other people, they had exactly the same problem the OP and I have now, in the past - they might never have had an elf face option they felt good taking. Previously games didn't really care about them, now they don't only cater to someone like myself anymore, so compromises have to be made. That's fine in the end. I don't think Larian was forced to "comply with diversity requirements" (by whom exactly?), to me it looks much more like they themselves just think it's good to do so.

I'm much more annoyed that there isn't actually one really good male elf option at all. But then, it's all not that important in comparison to all the things the game does do really well (for me at least).

I think this review is trash and should be ignored.

That number isn't relevant in any case, because what gender people prefer to play in games does not align with their rl gender.

I like to play characters of the opposite gender as well as non-binary and trans characters.

Larian could easily pull the numbers on how many people choose to use the they/them pronoun for their characters, and I am quite sure this number is a lot higher than 1.6%

The OP was talking about the audience, not which options people choose to play as.