Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Honest Feedback

First, I think it is important to provide some demographics. I was just starting college when the first Baldurs Gate came out. It was the first PC game I ever played on my then brand new Celeron computer. That was over 20-years ago. I have since played every Infinity Game RPG, all the BioWare golden age games among many others. I always come back to BG1/2. It is my favorite game series of all time by far.

With the above said, I was not going to buy BG3 initially. The reason for my hesitance was that I felt the turn based combat was the antithesis of one of Baldurs Gate’s core mechanics (RTwP). I also had read reviews of DOS 1/2, which I have never played, and was turned off by the reported emphasis on environmental factors. Nonetheless, in a moment of weakness, I decided to give it a shot. My feedback is below:

Verdict: This game is surprisingly good! I actually felt that I got my money’s worth just out of the limited gameplay available in EA. That is not to say it is perfect, but I actually like the story elements better than NWN2, which was the last RPG that really gave me a feel similar to the BG series.

The Good:

— Combat is deep and complex, with enemies actively targeting the weakest high threat character.
— Graphics are visually spectacular.
— Voice acting is fantastic (particularly the narrator).
—I appreciate the fact the game has a slow power creep. I am not being expedited to high levels and I actually like the fact that powerful equipment is rare.
—Choices actually matter.

The Bad:

— Although I don’t hate the environmental effects and use of surface effects, I do feel they are over used. A little salt makes food better but too much makes it unpleasant. Too many enemies have powerful and expensive explosive flasks, oils, arrows, etc. In my opinion, these should be reserved for rare fights, where its use would really spice things up. As it stands, I feel it is a little too core to the experience (overly salty).
— Enemies seem to have advantages that the player does not. For instance, many enemies seem to have unlimited spell uses.
— I typically play a wizard and the class needs some help. I have not played pen and paper DND since I was a teenager (AD&D), so I can’t speak intelligently to 5e balance, but it seems like the duration on spells like sleep is too short. Also, the extra HP on some mobs hurts. I really hope mages get a boost or mob HP gets set to core rules.
— I find that the information on spells is not detailed enough. I can’t read the spells and know how long it lasts, if it is concentration based, extra effects, etc. (unless I am missing something?).
— Some battles are ridiculously hard and need fine tuning. Although I avoided “barrelmancy” for the most part, the only way I could defeat the Githyanki was by suiciding Shadowheart into the main group, dropping barrels, and blowing them up. Although I can play like this, it’s not how I like to play.

What I would like to see in final game:

— More detailed item descriptions . One of the best aspects of BG 1/2 was the ability to read the history of the powerful weapons you find. Carsomyr or Staff of the Magi would just not be the same had they not had the history.
—Random encounters. The occasional random encounter would be nice. As of now, it seems like the world is empty after you clear out the preplanned battles.
—Short easy battles to break up the long complicated battles. These battles help reset the player and highlight that we are getting stronger. Also, it would be nice to se some old BG favorites. I want to see a band of diseased gibberlings or zvarts!
—A core DND mode. I would like a mode where AC, monsters, AC, are set to core.


Overall, good job! I think I am fairly reflective of a generation of RPG gamer that I think will like the game if they give it a chance. I like the game enough that I am thinking about buying a copy for my three kids so we can play together, which I have never done. This game is the real deal.

Thx for your feedback !

It's very interresting to read such positive feedback from another huge/harcore BG1/2 players.

I don't share your thoughts at all about "deep and complex" combats but like you : I find the game surprisingly good. Way more than I thought before trying it.

I have strong griefs with the game but just like you I'm here because Baldur's Gate is THE video game I'll never forget...And I really think BG3 has the potential to become a game we'll still talk about in 20 years.

I think Shadowheart also wouldn't like to play this way.

It blows down the fourth wall when a good tactic is to suicide a character for a crude but ultra efficient way like this to wipe out an overpowering encounter. It's like the characters are aware the game has an abundance of res scrolls and other cheap ways to res them and continue without any hassle or consequences.

The detailed story-like item descriptions and hand drawn illustrations are in the BG DNA that should be present in BG3 as well. Some of the magic items have really nonsensical properties (heal someone and your weapons become coated in poison, or the target gets pulled... what??) and if they had to try and explain that in a description it would be more apparent just how weird that item is.

As the development with Larian's homebrew continues, it is starting to look like a D&D RAW difficulty mode is becoming the most important addition to the game. Solasta is a good reference as it's 5e RAW tactical combat and resting system are immensely more satisfying than BG3's weird hybrid ruleset with an unhealthy focus on consumables and environment.

I share many of your first impressions of the game, but I'd have to say that your first point, that the combat is deep and complex, well, it felt that way for me for the first 2 characters, probably. But it slowly began to dawn on me, and especially now that I have started playing Solasta, that the combat in BG3 is the furthest from being deep and complex, because it doesn't matter what class you play, be it a caster or a martial - the only tactics you need to know is:

High ground + backstab = win

If you're caster, any caster, just get to high ground and pew pew.

If you're a martial, doesn't matter if it's a fighter or a rogue, just walk behind the enemy and stab stab.

That's all there is to the combat here. You don't have to know the in-depth mechanics of the class you're playing. You just need to look around for high ground to park your characters, and then surprise attack the enemies.

I didn't see what the big deal was with sticking to the core 5E rules that so many here were asking for during the first month or so of playing the game. But now, I only start the game if I want to look at my beautiful characters (and Shadowheart, of course). For tactical game play, it's Solasta I go to.

Thanks for your feedback. I agree with all of the following
I'll extend your first point to everything. From tutorial messages, to key terms, to spell and item descriptions, everything needs more explanations. I should be able to hover over or click a term that I might not fully understand (concentration, prone, bonus action, Faerun, Waterdeep, tiefling) and it will take me to its definition or some type of lore page.

Sleep
A few patches ago, I believe that sleep only lasted 1 turn. I'm not sure how long it lasts now, but it should last 1 minute (which is effectively the entire combat). Otherwise, enemies should only be woken up if attacked or helped by their allies. Namely, they should not get saves against it to wake up early.
Also, sleep is only useful against low-level enemies (e.g., goblins), which means it has significantly been nerfed by the goblins' increased HP (even though most other enemies in the game don't have inflated HP)
5e: Sleep affects 5d8=22.5 HP of enemies, goblins have 7 hp -> sleep typically affects 2-4 goblins
BG3: Sleep affects 24HP(28?) of enemies, standard goblins have 10-13 HP -> sleep affects 2 goblins

Ive been playing Icewindale again, and it has reminded me how stupid enemies would be in the old games. They target the first character they see and chase them around the screen. So all I have to do is arm my party with bows and hit from a distance while 1 character aggros the enemy and plays ring around he rosey.

So, BG3 has a far better combat system going with more intelligent and challenging enemies...when it works right that's is.

So do I think it can improve? Absolutely. I just think that sometimes we forget how NOT good the old games could be too at times. They had their gimmicks too.

I guess when it all comes down to it, I have cheesed enough BG 1/2 battles that I can’t really hold it against BG 3. I mean honestly who ever beats Kangaax first try? With meta game knowledge, I now just buy the staff of wrynn, protection from magic, and take him out without a care in the world. Staff of the Magi? Wand of Cloud kill handles that. It’s not that I have never beaten the above battles without cheese, but once you realize the best weapons in the game are easily at your grasp, it is hard to wait until you have leveled enough.

With that said, I do realize that jumping behind the enemy is almost a prerequisite for BG3 right now (or climbing). It probably needs a nerf. The battles are still fun but variety in combat will make the game better. I have only ran one play through, so I will have to see how my next iteration goes.

You ever fight a cave bear low level and realize that you can just run in circles around your party members while they thrash him to death? For whatever reason they would not break off the first party member they saw. I love BG 1/2, but I recognize that the games are 20 years old. What I don’t think BG 3 has quite captured is the need to use my actual characters abilities. The battle for advantage is king, but I am confident this is more an issue of tuning.

Excuse me, you mean jump behind.

Actually, you can avoid AoO if you walk carefully around the enemy. Jumping is necessary if there are two enemies on you, as you will trigger AoO from the other one otherwise. But I prefer walking around to the back if it's just one, especially on my Thief, so he can stab twice with his offhand.

Still probably better to shove than stab twice.