Hello everybody! So I've really been enjoying BG3, but I do have some concerns i'd like to share. I don't think my concerns are all that unique but i just wanted to offer my perspective.

Combat:

So first, I think combat as it is, is pretty damn fun and well implemented. There are some things about combat that bother me, I agree with folks who would like the rules to be closer to 5e in regards to cantrips not creating surface effects, shove being an action not a bonus action, and some other issues, but ultimately i'm not worried about that. I think a lot of that can be tweaked in EA, and i'll still enjoy the game if combat stays mostly the same.
I am a fan of combat remaining turn based. I'm not interested in playing an action game, i want turns and rounds just like in 5e. When i played BG1-2 i was one of the people with auto-pause turned on for almost every condition, lol.

The hot bar is currently a pain to manage, and gets full of icons really quick. I'm definitely not into scrolling through pages of hot bar to find the thing i want to use. But again, I'm confident this can be improved in EA.

I can't even figure out how reactions are supposed to work, so that obviously has to be sorted out. I switched out hellish rebuke from my warlock PC because i couldn't figure out how to get it to work at all. I picked riposte for a fighter and similarly couldn't figure it out. There has to be some kind of way to pick a reaction when the conditions for one is met or we're going to miss out on a lot of very cool stuff in the 5e rules.


But here's what really worries me. These things I don't think can be easily addressed at this point, and they are in the exploration and social part of the game.

Exploration: The maps feel like standard video game maps to me and I don't particularly like that. There are few areas where i can just start walking in any direction and explore. It all feels very railroaded and makes the scope seem cramped. I think it would be ridiculous to expect larian to change the map to have the huge open world scope of something like skyrim or red dead redemption 2, but maybe a solution is to make maps that are basically tactical battle maps, and have a world map that links them. The travel time between them could have possible random encounters (combat or social) and would make the world seem bigger and more realistic.

Also, as many others have expressed, the camp doesn't make much sense. I understand its purpose as a story hub, but how am i going from being in a hostile goblin encampment or the underdark to my cute little campground and back? Not realistic and makes it feel more like a standard video game than d&d. Make me have to camp inside the dungeons. Maybe the party can find a good room to barricade for safety, or maybe their rest is interrupted by being discovered by enemies.

Social: I'm only on my 2nd playthrough, but i've saved/reloaded and tried a bunch of different dialogue options and choices. I have to say the writing doesn't feel as good as BG2 or another comparable classic, Planescape Torment. The things that made those games so great was the writing. You really felt invested in the characters and NPCs, and sometimes there were multiple paragraphs of dialog at a time. I know there's likely to be more added, but this doesn't feel like something that can really be fixed in EA. The commitment to voice acting for every line makes this seem extra hard. Anyway, I wish more focus had been placed here. Look at how well a game like Disco Elysium did making writing the absolute primary concern. There's only like a city block, a tiny village, and a little island, but the game is extremely fun and replayable because of the depth of writing. And honestly, that's why most of us who play TTRPGs play them, to collaboratively write a story with the other players and DM. Obviously a video game can't be as collaborative, but BG 1-2 and planescape torment did a great job of making something that felt like playing d&d. When neverwinter nights came an switched the focus to more video game concerns of graphics and real time multiplayer, it was a major bummer for me. I was hoping for a return to that writing focused form with BG3, but it doesn't seem like that's what we're going to get.

also i can't really figure out if guidance is working on my skill checks in dialogue. And like others have said, it would be nice to be able to have all the party members participate in dialogue so you don't end up being forced to make a skill check with a pc that is really bad at it when there's another party member that's proficient.


Anyway, the game is fun, and i'm sure it's going to be improved during EA. I'm satisfied with my purchase, and i'll definitely play through the the EA a couple more times and look forward to the final release.