Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General (Spoilers) A big long ramble of thoughts and feedback

Hey all,

I finally have a bit of time to compile my thoughts on the Early Access build of the game that is currently available, my likes and my dislikes.

Firstly and certainly most importantly, I have thoroughly enjoyed the content provided and am strongly looking forward to more of Act 1 being available. I'm hoping we get the next Underdark segment as well as the overland route to Moonrise Towers soon!



So - What did I like about Baldur's Gate 3?
In no particular order:

The scale of the open world areas gives an actual sense of a larger world and there's so many hidden little pockets or ledges you can reach to find secrets, optional encounters or additional treasure. The Underdark was gorgeous, oppressive and terrifying. The amount of care and crafting that went into making these little segments of Faerun gorgeous is greatly appreciated!

I found myself talking to just about everyone I came across with my clear favorites being Alfira the Tiefling bard and Apikusis the Elven Druid and the Svirfneblin woman you can help in the Myconid encampment. I'm also a huge fan of talking to animals and corpses.
I also like that the goblins, hobgoblins and the like in the Absolute Camp were given personalities and an actual sense of identity rather than their typical representation as 8-16hp nuisances that could barely string a thought together.

I'm greatly enjoying some of the companions, too. I'm very much looking forward to seeing if my theory for Shadowheart pans out - I suspect she might've been a Selunite or even a Chosen of Selune before having her memories altered and removed by the Sharrans.
Particularly given that a few years prior to Baldur's Gate 3, the Sharrans did have their little divinity-farms across the Sword Coast and Heartlands where they rounded up suspected Chosen prior to the Sundering.
Gale is fun and grounded, even despite his personal problems. Here's hoping I don't have to keep feeding his addiction at the cost of interesting magical items.
Lae'zel is interesting but obviously problematic in keeping the aforementioned party members happy. It's going to be very interesting to see how things play out with the other Prime-dwelling Gith nearby when Act 1 gets expanded.

The music is fantastic, be it while playing or just sitting in one of the menus.





So, what didn't resonate with me?

Initially, it can be a bit off-putting to have the vast majority of the available companions be so socially hostile or emotionally guarded. I certainly understand why this is the case and I love that they do open up to you after a little while if you keep on their good sides, but it may be worth adding some extra dialog or events to 'soften them up' a little to the player character and bond in your shared trauma.

Speaking of companions - Given the currently limited number of available quest-buddies, I feel somewhat locked into a particular party composition to be effective which means that I'm almost certainly going to miss out on getting to know some of them. Playing as a rogue in my most recent playthrough, I found myself not using Astarion at all, and Wyll fell by the wayside as I ended up using Gale for my magical support. Shadowheart was a must for healing, as despite carrying a full grocery store's worth of meat and fruit with me, I still needed a bit of that divine providence. Which meant Lae'zel was my front-line hit-point sponge and ledge-pusher-offer.
I know it is something that has been mentioned daily on the forums, but I too would request considering expanding the party size limit to five or six, not only so that there's more freedom in who you take on your adventures with you, but also so that there's greater opportunity to interact with the characters you've created to share our journey.
There's also been mention of losing access to companions at the resolution of Act 1 in a similar fashion to D:OS2 - Please consider not cutting the potential party in half. Understandably some companions may elect to go their own way if you haven't built enough of a bond with them upon finding whatever resolution we get at Moonrise Towers, but please don't limit us to whoever was with us at the time.

Some elements of combat are also frustrating - None more so than losing downed characters to a forced dialogue as combat ends and 'real-time' resumes.
Beyond that, some abilities feel less rewarding to use - Shadowheart's Sacred Flame cantrip, for example, never seems to actually effect enemies, to the point where I've largely given up on using it. Whether this is due to her caster DC being too low or the enemies all having really good reflex saves isn't particularly clear.

Itemization is also in an interesting place at the moment - fully recognizing that more gear will be added in future patches - but so very many magical items have major downsides which is rather counterintuitive in the early game. Various weapons and armor pickups give largely detrimental effects when used - Increasing your vulnerabilities to certain damage types or creatures, inflicting damage to you each time you successfully attack, status effects in combat.
While cursed items have always been a part of the Dungeons and Dragons experience, even in the old Infinity Engine games, they just seem a bit too common in Act 1 and it becomes rather more difficult to appropriately equip your party for the dangers ahead.

One other quirk of combat that is very frustrating is that if you have characters in a shared initiative slot, it is far too easy to skip over one or more without them acting. It would be nice if the game recognized that you had completed your turn for Character 1 and then automatically continued to Character 2 in that same initiative slot rather than proceeding to the next slot in the round.

Presently, due to the level cap being four, there isn't much opportunity to grab many feats, however, when you do - it is possible to take feats that provide you no benefit whatsoever. Weapon and armor proficiency feats do not lock off proficiencies you already have, so it is possible to take them and select weapon or armor types that you already have to no mathematical improvement.

Finally, some conversations feel like they have too many consecutive dice rolls. Omeluum and Netti come immediately to mind as major roll-based-encounters. Worse still, Omeluum in particular doesn't seem to have any real change in the outcomes for his four consecutive rolls - Constitution, Int/Wis, Int/Wis, Int/Wis.... And that's not counting the Insight check immediately preceding it or the Int/Perform check after the fact!



What would I like to see in future updates or the full release?

More racial diversity in NPCs and companions. I know it is coming, but I'd still love to see some more gnomes, dwarves and varied elves.

More companions! - Alfira is a very popular suggestion as you've doubtlessly seen, Apikusis resonated for me in that she was one of the few druids who seemed to care about more than the immediate power struggle. Can she tag along with Halsin?
I wouldn't say no to a bubbly, friendly gnome either, though I would loudly lament their slower movement speed! Gnome Ranger when?!

I'd love to see some minor changes done around the camp and resting too - Can companions be a little more vocal and obvious if they have new dialogue options back at camp while you're out in the world. Presently, the 'I'm tired, we should rest' isn't much of an indicator that they want to unload their burdens and want to share some insight into their thoughts, worries, past and future.
Secondly - I made it through an entire playthrough without encountering my DreamPerson. Knowing now, after the fact, that it is tied to using the tadpole and heavily embracing its' abilities to your own and your party's detriment means that some people may not encounter it at all - Can we perhaps have additional dreams added for those who don't pursue those powers where our DreamPeep tries to tempt us?

There're a few things I'd also love to see come into play for Character Creation.
More Tiefling options - including the slowly re-emerging classic Tieflings with non-Baatoran bloodlines.
Freckles for everybody!
And lastly, as a minor thing, given that faith is such an important part of the Forgotten Realms setting whether you're a divine caster or not, the ability to pick a patron deity for all classes would be a nice little minor change which could grant a few new dialogue options here and there.



So, Those're my thoughts. Despite the negative part of my feedback being longer, please do not take it as any lack if enjoyment or anticipation for more. I'm loving the game, loving the work you're putting in and have absolute faith in Larian to make a great product.