Hi all
Wanted to share my initial feedback having completed my first playthrough.
I played tabletop pre BG1 and 2 so am fully sold on the DND universe. Time permitting, replayability should be good given the setting. Not overly familiar with 5e rules yet though.
Overall impression - this has the capacity to be really great, I enjoyed it. The storyline, visuals, music etc were all good and I was keen to keep playing. On a good day I’d give it an 8/10 so far. On a day where I spent 2 hours stuck on the same encounter before working out the winning strategy it’s more of a 6 or 7.
The following are my observations to help lift the game towards a 10/10.
Camera needs work - lost count of the number of times something was only just beyond the screen which would have been readily accessible if you could change the camera angle rather than just rotate (eg combat with enemies further away).
The hot bar is too cluttered - having spells, potions, scrolls, other items etc all in one place doesn’t work. The BG2 template for controls was nice and intuitive - eg want a spell, click on spell icon then select what you want to cast.
Inventory - unlimited slots is conceptually ok but you shouldn’t be able to carry twice your weight capacity before there’s an impact. Stuff regularly got lost in my inventory by late game too so if you go with unlimited slots better sorting is needed.
Party selection/movement - kinda clunky. The BG2 movement system should be the template, the current system is a retrograde step. Character selection needs streamlining too - like if I move something to an npcs inventory and click equip it should equip for that npc not the character who is leading the party movement which at that moment is unrelated.
Character creation - needs more flexibility, particularly with body shapes and sizes (eg sliders). I had a half elf wizard whose arms/shoulders/chest were just disproportionately large for his head size and his character. It bothered me in every cut scene.
Skills/proficiencies - many of these seem to be redundant. I got my wizard insight and investigation as they fit my character concept and I don’t recall using either once. Also felt there was insufficient reward for having certain skills and insufficient penalty for not having them. Eg I could still get by with occasional deception even though I didn’t have that proficiency.
Spells - not that familiar with 5e but it kinda felt wrong to be able to cast 8 magic missiles at level 4 if I felt like it, rather than use the diverse range of spells I’d actually memorised. I also found concentration slightly annoying - I could cast one buff per combat and couldn’t stack things, that could be 5e but I felt it neutered the variety of spells actually used, particularly cleric ones. Oh and of course a wizard has no business learning cleric spells from scrolls.
Jump - cartoon sounds and animations ought to be dialled down.
Attacking from range at height - I love the concept of verticality and the possibilities of that but attacking from height was way too powerful. Classic example being the harpy fight - stand in the right high ground spot and get everyone to shoot down and it’s over in 3 rounds with every shot >90% chance to hit. Play it as you actually would the first time and you get annihilated with every chance to hit <45%. Tactics should absolutely matter but one tactic should not be that powerful or it negates all others.
Combat balance - I found combat was usually either too hard or too easy. I often used magic missile and avoided spells that had a chance to hit. Because once I understood the mechanics it was easier to just get high ground advantage and use a crossbow than bother with any spells that were more nuanced. The balance isn’t quite right there. Also found the attack of opportunity a bit confusing, I rarely seemed to get it even when enemies would wander past all the time.
Origin characters - npc back stories seem ok so far. Never played the dos games but the origin character concept is silly in my view - I play dnd to create my own vision for a character not somebody else’s, that’s a huge part of the attraction of the game for me.
Have a lovely day!
