...and lastly: The world, the story and the characters. Wow, what a mess. I mean, sure, some of it has to be put down to game's status as EA, but also - sadly - to writing. First and foremost: The whole Ilithid tadpole gimmick is shaky from minute one, because... how to put that: Aside the fact that it highly convoluted and probably could be solved in a few, quick and easy ways by a competent group and DM, if it came along in a proper campaign, it completely roots the story in something outside of the world you are supposed to play in. Ilithids are creatures of the planes and Underdark, not Fearun proper. You are a first level adventurer. You shouldn't deal with stuff like that until level 10 plus. Heck, your companions (aside maybe La'zel) and you shouldn't even know about stuff like that without extensive research into obscure lore. It's like if in BG1, you not only immediately got the info that you are a Baal spawn, but also got a party of other god choosen and spawns together, jumped through portal to the plane of fire, and dealt with a conflict between a group of thieflings and Azers... that's D&D "campaign whiplash". So, right after you took that gut punch, and met a possy of the most convoluted adventuring buddies ever, you are reproached by a f-ing demi-fiend/cambion/whatever who immediately offers you an infernal deal! No adventuring down the Sword Coast for a few days/months, solving problems for local hamlets, making a name for yourself, learning to know your companions... instead you have tee with motherf-ing Volo, 5 hours in... and no, that's not the same as meeting Elmister on you way to the Friendly Arm.That one was a nice nod, the other is a lore sledgehammer to the face. See where I'm going with that?
Bottom line: You know who does stories like we got in BG3 right now? Larian, in their Divinity games...
This is spot on.
And to some extent, the use of the Divinity engine (albeit modified) is a problem too : instead of having a world map with areas we select, which branch out to smaller maps for us to explore, we're stuck on one huge map per act (just as in DOS) which gives me kind of a claustrophobic feeling. The camera doesn't help either (if compared to non tactical solo rpg's like the Witcher, where staring at the sky and the distant landscape gives you a feeling of being free in a huge world).
Faerun is huge, BG, IWD and NWN felt so epic because you actually travelled to so many locations, you visited places far away, with different settings and vibes.
Even if they are making maps bigger than DOS2, it still feels to me like I'm trapped in a small map and not on a huge epic journey.
