Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General BG3 similar to which games

I'm a new member to the forum, recently retired and hadn't played an RPG since the original Zelda on Nintendo. I've been having a great time with a few titles but I'm unsure about BG3. As a point of reference I liked and played DOS twice, and loved DOS2. I've also played Wasteland 3, which I enjoyed and Shadow Run, which was just OK. My problem is I want to try BG3 but I'm concerned about the D&D rules (dice) because I bought Pathfinder WOTR and stopped playing after 5 hours because I did not enjoy or understand the combat and became very frustrated. The world and characters looked great but I just couldn't play it. I'm not saying WOTR is a bad game but only that it wasn't for me. I did a search and found a few comparisons between BG3 and WOTR but nothing definitive enough to make me feel comfortable with the gameplay. I just need to know if the randomness of the dice is part of the BG3 combat or not. I want to play BG3 badly because of the great things I've heard but I don't want to buy it only to be frustrated by the combat.

Thanks to anyone taking the time to respond

Yes it is.

BG3 is built on the D&D ruleset which uses dice for most actions, be it picking dialogue options, trying to detect traps and combat.

There is a lot of randomness that is thus included, especially given the ruling of Natural 20 and Natural 1 rolls on the standard D20 (Whereby Nat 20 is auto success and critical hit and Nat 1 is auto fail) creating scenarios where no matter what you do there's a 5% chance for a undesirable outcome.

However, unlike WotR, BG3 is working off of D&D's 5th Edition ruleset rather than the 3.5 Edition of Pathfinder. This has a more streamlined (I.e. Simpler) approach to the overall ruleset which is easier to get used to. In addition, Larian has done a considerable amount of homebrew (Deviating from the actual ruleset) which adds some more Divinity-esk flavour to the game.

As such, it's possible you might enjoy the game despite its D&D basis and the inherent RNG from dice rolls.

BG3 is very simple and other RPGs, especially older ones, are nearly always more complicated.
Your best comparison would actually be Dragon Age Origin.

Only the randomness you only find in BG3. No other RPG I can think of is that random, even NWN1 and 2 which is also a D&D rpg from a older, more complicated edition.

If you loved DOS2, it is highly likely you'll love BG3 too because despite their different experiences, they're sharing similar foundations. Party movement, interactions, exploration, design etc...

In terms of combat DOS2 is very flashy combat with lots of freedom inspiring the player to be creative with their demigod abilities, whereas BG3 is very grounded combat within an established DND ruleset that is more about overcoming challenges as a random nobody with imposed limitations.

Personally as someone who never played a turn-based game before BG3's Early Access; I had no issue getting into it with absolute zero DND knowledge. Fell in love with its gameplay so hard during Early Access' opening month, but wanted to play something actually finished and that is how DOS2 came into the picture to scratch the itch despite being a different experience. Both games are one of my absolute favorites today.

Overall BG3 is far more simpler to get into and far easier than DOS2, one should have no issue. The dice are only a concern when it comes to dialogue choices, in combat they barely matter even in Honour Mode. Equipment and feats rule supreme.

Thanks everyone for the replies. I just may give it a chance as I did enjoy DOS so much. I'm currently playing Persona 3 Reload; maybe BG3 is next.

Well Zelda obviously is a very different game... But if you grasped Wasteland 3 and DOS, you should have no problems with this.

The least complex BG is actually the original though. Some of the rule stuff is a bit more opaque, but honestly, it's not a requirement to get much into it -- even some companions Bioware provide are subpar. Same as in Neverwinter Nights, Bioware never gave enemies inflated stats like Owlcat did (Pathfinder), so lots of leeway for "error". Else it's a low level campaign in a D&D version in which only casters had anything much to do. And this only on higher levels really. So a lot of the combat is just auto-attack, playing like an RTS, sometimes even like Diablo. There's also not much to interact with outside of NPCs, enemies and loot containers, as the Infinity Engine's main attraction was its ability to knock out pretty environments. Fallout a year earlier was a more complex game -- and makes BG almost look like a straight hack&slash.

Go even further back to Realms Of Arkania, Darklands, and all of them don't compare. So BG3 kinda is in a similar spot to what BG used to be: a suitable way to start into it all. Purely mechanically, either way. Both Pathfinders meanwhile are based on a ruleset that is dubbed as "Mathfinder" even by some of its fans.

Uh, if there is one thing I really cant complain in BG3 is that there would be too little complexity.

Sure, BG3 is based on D&D5, and the core rules of D&D5 are quite a bit simpler than D&D3, which was massively simpler than AD&D.

All the endless tables you had to have in AD&D are gone. Some of which havent even been included with BG1 and BG2.

And for example the skills you would work on in D&D3 are gone. Most of the time you just have proficiency or not, and then the bonus from the associated attribute. Only Rogue and Bard can have expertise (double proficiency), and Bard has also half proficiency (the Bard jack of all trades ability). While in D&D3 you had to distribute skillpoints over skills at every levelup, which led to the situation that you needed to know the whole game to know how much points you exactly need in every skill.

AD&D was even much worse in regards to skill. You practically have been forced in AD&D to have a Rogue (called Thief) with you. Even in D&D3 there was a rule that only Rogue can handle traps about DC 20. No matter how high you would push the traps skill on a non-Rogue. AD&D Bards only got pickpocket, AD&D Ranger only got stealth.

Another example is you dont have x% resistance. You just have resistance, which means half damage, or not.

So at the core D&D5 is simple and elegant. But the whole game isnt simple. Tons of classes, subclasses, other specialization options, feats, spells, quite a lot races and subraces, and an enormous number of items and mechanics.

So yes, this type of game is definitely for people who like complexity. And frankly also elegant design.

I havent played any other Larian games so I cant comment on that.

But if complexity turns you off then BG3 may not be for you.

I’m a bit confused. You haven’t played an RPG since original Zelda, but you list games since then that are much more RPG?

Anyway, if you liked DOS games, you probably won’t be disappointed. They have a similar look and feel, how you can approach things in different ways, how combat plays out with each encounter being very different rather than wading through hoards of the same enemies. just with a D&D rule set instead of their own system (I prefer BG3).

They also borrow a lot from classic Bioware, particularly Dragon Age Origins. With the character interactions, dialogue and cut scenes, getting to know party at camp, and of course sexy time if you want.

In short I’d say it’s a blend of DOS, original BG and Dragon Age.

The randomness of dice rolls is a big part of the combat system, but it’s very tactical in much the same way as DOS games. At the beginning, you won’t have too many option, but after a few levels, they’ll be a bunch of things you can do on any character’s turn. It’s all about deciding which spells or abilities to use when, not just taking a swing and hoping you hit.

I realize this is a dead thread but I wanted to again thank those that responded. Based on your comments I decided to give BG3 a try and happy I did. I'm currently in Act 3 in balanced mode and already thinking about a second run in tactician. The dice can be aggravating at times but most of it in combat is behind the scenes and the different checks that occur while exploring or in conversation can be overcome. I will confess to saving quite frequently. What a huge game. Main character decisions and party development took some time but the most difficulty for me is the terminology but I'm learning. My MC and party members are pretty vanilla; haven't done any multi-classing. Sometimes I agonize over choosing equipment where the differences are minor and I have to consider damage, enchantment, and the many bonuses and modifiers. I manage for the most part but I'm sure there were better choices for those that understand the details. Constantly learning and finding out things that would have been helpful earlier in the game but will make the next run easier.

Thanks again.