Let’s talk Divinity 3, I mean, Baldur’s Gate III.
To clarify on some cases here, by no means am I trying to judge BGIII as a full game, because to do so would be inherently unfair to the development team. Instead, what I aim to do here is bring to bear the number of shortfalls I feel are integral to the game itself and, without action taken by the development team itself, will likely go unanswered. Likewise, I understand if some complaints I bring up might be considered redundant in a few areas, but I feel a full-scope address of the game as it sits is the most effective.
Being forthright? As somebody who is an avid fan of the original Baldur’s Gate PC games, I can say, without a doubt, that this is not a Baldur’s Gate game, by any stretch of the imagination. While I understand that this game was not marketed to be, nor intended to be a direct continuation of the Bhallspawn storyline, I would hope there to be a reasonable tie-in. On the overall, though, as a game, BGIII feels separated in every form and fashion from the actual Baldur’s Gate franchise, which leads me into what is undoubtedly my biggest overall complaint. BGIII is not a Baldur’s Gate game, it is “Larian Studios brings you Dungeons and Dragons: The Forgotten Realms”. From storyline to gameplay, the only thing in common I see between this game and the originals is that it takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting and is labeled under the Baldur’s Gate franchise.
Avoiding mechanics for the time being, I feel the part of this game most lacking is the story. The scripting and flow of both characters and story makes the pacing seem overly clunky, as if it were an afterthought. And, again, while I understand this game is still early development, I would hope that the story, as it is released, is done so in a polished fashion. Thus far, both the scripts and the characters themselves feel as if they were just thrown into the world, with no real thought of who they are, or how they interact. Character dialogue reminds me of what I hear on my Friday night D&D sessions and, while those are fun, I do not want to pay $60 for dialogue I can get on a Friday night for the low low cost of some chips and soda.
Tying into the story and characters, comes my frustration with the available companions, and how utterly forgettable they are. I hope that there is not only a plan to add significantly more party member options, but also a goal to refine those ones which currently exist, because it feels as if I’m swimming in a sea of tropes. After coming up on now two whole playthroughs, I’ve found no love for any of the current supporting characters. Along with this is my irritation for what feels like being railroaded into having to play a mean or obnoxious character myself in order to establish friendly ties with my party if wanting to run a balanced party. The fact that the only two “Good aligned” companion characters thus far are arcane casters, makes it impossible to run a “Good aligned” party at this time. As I said, I hope this will be fleshed out with new companions in later updates, but, as it sits, I feel even the current companions are generally shallow, and uninspiring in any capacity. I’d say the only palatable companion at this stage is everyone’s malignant neighborhood vampire spawn, who is a trope unto himself.
Gameplay? I won’t gripe about the occasional CTD, or animation glitch too heavily. Why? Because this is early access, I don’t expect everything to function, and will happily submit reports as I come across But, mechanics-wise? This game plays like I expect a 1980 Monte Carlo with a shot suspension and misaligned front end would handle a mountain road. The turn-based initiative system is fine, but the fact that there is no real-time pause and command function is beyond frustrating. Lacking the ability to stage an effective ambush or full surprise round with my party by pausing, issuing commands from stealth, and then letting the surprise round run is beyond irritating. Amusingly enough, if this single feature were added to the game, I am certain I would be much more amicable towards the functionality of the gameplay itself. Though, admittedly, I find the constant dice rolling to be annoyingly prevalent, but, I can live with it, provided the algorithm which “Rolls” does so fairly and accurately represents an actual roll of the dice.
On the overall? As the game currently sits, it plays a great deal unlike a PC Baldur’s Gate game. The scripting seems an afterthought, the characters undeveloped, and the story largely uninteresting. The characters you find yourself surrounded by appear as mundane and rudimentary as one might expect to find in the unimaginative “Sample character” section in the PHB for a given race or class. The gameplay itself is not my cup of tea, courtesy the clunky mechanics and a lack of pause to command feature to set up ambushes and surprise rounds in your favor. It’s pretty to look at, and I appreciate the effort at bringing the world of Forgotten Realms into modern PC gaming, but the manner in which it is done cannot be mistaken for a Baldur’s Gate game. As I said, the most apt descriptor/title for this game would be “Dungeons and Dragons: The Forgotten Realms” by Larian Studios. I appreciate the effort, and what will undoubtedly be a beautiful game with a much more polished mechanic come full-scale release of the game. Unfortunately, it is so dissimilar in every capacity that I just cannot stomach calling it a Baldur’s Gate game. I saw an article title which said, to the effect, that the author would like their 15 hours of gameplay back, and while I will not say something so extreme, I will say that, had I played a demo beforehand, I would have likely just not purchased this game at all.
With that in mind, what’s the recap as to what I’d like to see be done to improve the game?
• Refine the storyline so that it is more compelling
• Polish the scripts of existing characters to make dialogue more interesting and rewarding
• Polish existing and future characters to provide depth, rather than generic character concepts
• Encourage the story to develop in a way which actually draws the player in, rather than pushes them away with constant minor annoyances
• Add a pause and command feature to better facilitate party ambushes on the player’s behalf
Cheers
Last edited by ZubDub; 14/10/20 04:08 PM.
