Baldur's Gate 3 has become one of my favorite games after playing it almost non-stop in its now released early access form. Moving forward, it is important to keep in mind, I was not a huge mega-fan of Larian Studio's last game Divinity: Original Sin 2, I appreciated what D:OS2 was trying to do, but I just couldn't get sucked into it, and ended my playthrough at around the start of Act 2. The sparks of brilliance in DOS:2 are nearly fully realized here in Baldur's Gate 3, along with the refined systems of DnD 5e, and it is truly fantastic. This review will mostly serve as a reference for Larian Studios and will consist of two sections: Good and Janky. The Good category is defined by elements of the game that range from perfect to good. The Janky category is for elements of the game that don't feel right. They are not bad, just need some polishing. And yes, some things in this category may seem nitpicky. I originally intended to have a Bad category, for things I would've deemed not redeemable, but I have found that category would end up being empty.
GOOD:
- Origin Companions: Who you travel with in an RPG is a huge aspect of the game, and I am happy to report they are superb here. All companions feel very multifaceted and 3-dimensional, it feels like they have multiple aspects feeding into their personalities, where at times it can almost be hard to guess what a character's alignment might be. They all feel very real and grounded, not over-the-top or simple archetypes. I also think their appearance and design are all amazing. BUT, one stands out above the rest. The ultimate waifu has been born. Shadowheart is actually beyond perfect and if you ever change her Larian, I will never forgive you. Her appearance and design is so unique and iconic, I especially like her hairstyle, it is edgy and impeccable! I hope she does not have some drastic appearance overhaul when you inevitabley convince her to drop her evil goddess for Selune, which I am fairly certain she is a daughter of, seems like the obvious twist. On top of a great design, she has a superb voice actress, serious props to her. I also love how she will lie to the player to further understand the player's motives, like after you meet Raphael. It speaks volumes about her as a person, and how she values information. Given how great the companions are here, I would love more interactions with them. I think after certain events, they should all have something to say. I also would love more humorous moments with them while winding down at camp, to help break up the serious tone with some banter between them. Maybe Shadowheart wonders who ate her sweet roll, Gale didn't see her name on it, you get the idea.
- Voice Acting: Amazing voice acting, almost every line is delivered perfectly, even random civilians have good voice acting. When it comes to Astarion, Gale or Shadowheart specifically, I just love hearing those characters speak because their voice acting is so good.
- Graphics: Across the board the graphics are phenomenal. I want to get lost in the world here, it looks like a perfect fantasy setting with plenty of varied environs. The character models, especially in cutscenes look REALLY, like, crazy good (when the animations don't bug out (WIP)). The lighting is splendid, and I think all the spell animations and effects look insanely good and varied, Blessing of the Trickster and Eldritch Blast are my favorite looking.
- Locations: I love the breadth of fantasy locations we visit; all have very unique aesthetics which always piqued my curiosity and drive to explore, which is paramount in a game like this. Certainly a more open game than DOS:2, which is just what I wanted.
- Permutations: Without going into too much detail, there are a ton of different ways every little conversation or crossroads can go, which leads to wildly different playthroughs.
- Storytelling: I really like the narrator and how open the story's objectives are: you just need to go out into the world and find a healer. You are, in a way, as lost as your main characters. It is great.
- Sound Design: Instantly, I noticed the music for this game is fantastic as I am treated with a truly enchanting song while creating my character. Every song feels 10/10 perfect, and passes the soundtrack test I have for all games: "Would I listen to these songs outside of playing?". The powerful impact spells and casting has feels expertly crafted as well. The world audio seems great too. Sound is flawless in this game.
- Loot: One thing I very quickly noticed, and appreciated, was that not every crate or barrel was teeming with gold and goodies. This is a good thing. You became way too rich way too fast in DOS:2, entirely from looting random boxes. Instead, here in Baldur's Gate 3, crates and barrels are filled with accurate loot, mostly nothing, as it should be. But when I loot barrels in a kitchen, they are filled with food, valuable for healing on the road, or the crates in a den of thieves, I found they were storing weapons. There is also far less magical enchanted armors than there was in DOS:2, this is good because I found two problems with how it was in DOS:2: A) Constantly weighing the pros and cons of a new pair of magical gauntlets to replace the pair you just got was tedious. B) Steadily getting these "unique" items makes them just the opposite; it ensures they do not feel special, moreso the norm.
- Combat: Turn-based, verticality-focused, combat feels very open-ended and challenging, transitively engaging. This leads to every combat going wildly different each time. Additionally, when fun systems combine with glowing elements previously mentioned such as the music, voice acting, visual effects and environments, it creates this gripping drama in each fight. Every battle feels impactful and pulls you in.
- Stealth Sections: The Arcane Tower in the Underdark felt so cool to infiltrate as a Rogue. I left my party behind while I try to sneak past the guards and find a way in around the side. As I explore this incredible-looking lost tower I am dealing with the story of this place while also sneaking and managing lines of sight and shadows to find a way to let my party in. There are plenty of stealth playgrounds in the game that still work fine if you are not sneaky and just want to crash through.
JANKY:
- Character Creation: I found elements of the character creator to be very good, especially for female characters, but I have some issues with it. I think there needs to be more face variety, you could add some faces to multiple races, for instance, I would love some of the dwarf female heads for other female human or elf characters, and I would like half-elf male face options for most of the other male race options. Other than half-elf, I found most of the male face options just ugly, couldn't get the character I wanted to create on other races. I also had my hopes up for different body options, as I really wanted to make a very muscular strong barbarian female character. I also think another voice option or two would not hurt. If someone wanted to make an older male character, like a storied druid, there is not a rugged old male voice option, which I could see disappointing some. Also, the first female voice had really bad delivery on the spell casting lines, to the point where I remade my character and changed her voice.
- Underdark Fights: I really loved how every fight felt above ground or in the spider caves area, they felt challenging and engaging. But upon reaching the Underdark, I found most fights were insanely, annoyingly, hard, this is with me at the current level cap of 4. Because there are sometimes multiple enemies that can take several actions all of which hit like a truck, easily one-shotting (a) party members(s). To beat these, you usually had to get lucky, shoving an enemy off a cliff or some such. I DO NOT want a cake walk for the Underdark, it should be hard. But I would not mind some minor tweaking here.
- Pathfinding: sometimes characters will take a weird path to get where you select, sometimes hoping down from rooftops, possibly damaging themselves.
- Shadowheart's new armor they gave her starting in early access, I think, looks quite ugly on her, giving her some sort of giraffe neck. I think the old armor they had for her pre-early access or this one, would fit her much more:
https://imgur.com/a/HdbOdPB- Mage Hand: My class of choice was Arcane Trickster Rogue, one of their touting features is the ability to cast an invisible advanced mage hand. This is completely buggy in the current state of the game. This would often not join combat even after being spotted, it would allow me to constantly attempt to shove enemies I was in combat with. It was stated Mage Hand would be great at shoving and throwing, and as of right now he only has around 50% to shove, this should be buffed. Also, it currently cannot lockpick or loot, which it should absolutely be able to.
- Obscured Enemies: I would often have disadvantage on enemies because they were "obscured by shadows" despite being either right next to me or a light source I created. On top of this, I think things like throwing a Fire Bolt on the ground should provide enough light to un-obscure nearby enemies.
- Targeting: The targeting needs work as sometimes it will suggest your character move to hit a target with a spell when you could still hit them without having to move. My main issue with targeting is how it can affect jumping, sometimes you have to target a specific sliver of land on a platform otherwise it will not let you jump, even though you should be able to easily reach.
- Some spells for custom characters do not have voice lines such as Eldritch Blast or Tasha's Hideous Laughter. I think the latter having some indiscernible eldritch Cthulhu-speak would be thematic.
- Height restrictions on spells should be adjusted as there have been several times I can clearly see an enemy and they are within my range, but I cannot use the spell because an indicator will say the enemy is "Too high". If I understand correctly, DnD does not have a heigh restriction on spell casting anyways.
In conclusion, I appreciate anyone who took the time to read through this feedback for one of my new favorite games. Baldur's Gate 3 has the potential to be one of the greatest RPGs of all time, and I have the utmost faith in Larain (so long as they don't ruin my one true love Shadowheart). Thank you guys!
