So I've finished the content in the early access, almost all of it, so it was about 21-22 hours total. With everything completed I can easily see how it can be up to 25 hours.
So in the ending video it was said that Larian values the feedback, and players are asked to leave their feedback wherever they feel like, so here I go.
I'm not a tabletop d&d player, I understand well what early access is and I played DOS1, 2 as well as numerous other turn based isometric RPGs that I like so much. This post will be overwhelmengly positive so things I didn't quite like I'll type with
bold letters.
The first impression is fantastic. Graphics are amazing, lighting work is absolutely stunning, music is on point and everything that has anything to do with atmosphere is made perfectly. Maps seem boring at first and I liked very much that you discover new areas the more you explore so the actual map is about double the size you see at first. The feeling of exploration and this DOS1-style feeling of mysteries everywhere is amazing. Most items being just bows and daggers instead of being magical uberweapons is quite refreshing aswell. Feeling that every level you get is deserved, they're not rushed - you won't get 10 levels in the first 20 minutes of playtime, and every level gives you either a considerable boost, or options to change your playstyle, etc. gives this old school vibe that I've long forgotten but here it is again. I know I should probably be thankful for d&d part for this one, but anyway not many games implement leveling this way. Say, recent Wasteland 3, even tho the game itself is good, one more level feels like literal "+1 here and a useless perk", while in BG3 every level feels like an event and an achievement, like it should be.
Tons of work had been done with
dialogues which have unique animations and voice acting. I
honestly think that it's an overkill, it would cost a ton to do this amount of work for every dialogue in the game, and it gets annoying when you just want to, say, trade, but you have to click through 3 dialogue screens just to have your traiding window pop up. Well, atleast they're skippable. But the quality of dialogues which are finished is very good and shows once more that graphics are indeed improved since DOS2, because Larian are not afraid to demonstrate character faces up close.
My personal favorite in BG3 is the
stealth system and the way it's implemented. It's based on creatures' sight cones, lighting and dice rolls. It feels overwhelmengly good. I like playing stealthy characters alot and in such games stealth is often implemented poorly, if at all. But here perfect lighting work combines with perfect map design and great stealth mechanics which results in overwhelmengly good experience. Even more - you can actually restealth in combat. You can actually play hit-and-run. You can actaully use stealth for something useful, not just getting a first strike off. It's so good that it's like a separate game in itself. But
please make sure that all dialogue triggers check for stealth roll first, so there won't be any of those annoying events where you're sneaking fine and suddenly you get thrown off from your stealth just because some dialogue trigger activated and now you're alone far from your team in the middle of an enemy crowd. And please let us rest just for a while so it'd be possible to utilize drow's dark vision while being on the surface. It's probably too much to ask as it'd require tons of work to implement, but it feels very weird that a rogue drow character, which is good at fighting and crawling around undetected in the dark, actually sleeps at night instead of fighting and, well, crawling around.
Next thing on the list is
quests and objectives. Maybe some of them lack options, but those we have are enough and quests can be solved in numerous ways. Be it through talking and dice rolls, stealth, combat or other means like
summoning ogres you promised to pay 1k gold to a fight which is too much for them so you can win a fight you couldn't previously, kill ogres with others' hands for vengence, save your gold and gain bonus loot all at once
.
The only real concern I see there is that it would be hard to play an evil character, not a rude one.
Maps, once again, are fantastic. They're atmospheric, they look good and consistent, they're beautiful, they take into consideration casual exploration, combat, stealth and more, give you lots of oppotrunities to utilize your charaters' strengths to play around the map, etc. The attention to details is honestly beyond anything I've seen in any game of this genre, if any game it all.
Overall, the game seems to find a nice balance between d&d (as I imagine it) and well known Larian-favorite features, has no major problems even being in EA, and has a potential to grow up to be the best game of it's genre ever made. The gameplay experience is pure extasy. I often say that no game is perfect and there is always something which will annoy the hell out of players, but BG3 seems like an exception to this rule (well, to me, atleast). Apart from some minor problems and bugs/performance issues which are expected in EA, I just want to stop breathing and wait in awe for the game to be finished.
P.S. Excuse my typos, It's late, I'm tired and english is not my first language.
