Totally agree 100% 1varangian. Solasta's story is weak. There were too many plot holes for me. The story has a lot of potential, but the execution was not quite so grand. I could go into said details, but that might spoil it for others. Besides, don't get me wrong, I like Solasta and the story. I just think that it could have been way better. Who knows, though, maybe with the finished product in May it will be.
But yes. The main point that I totally agree with is that I really want BG3 to play more like Solasta. Maybe not 100% like Solasta, but pretty close to it. The UI is simple and easy to understand, though as some have pointed out before they could have given it some hotkeys to make it less point and clicky. Their UI is also quite large, so they could have made menus smaller to take up less space. The camera was still an issue for me in that game too. I like free camera modes in tactical games. I also like in Drive Mode being able to tilt the camera so I can see better where I'm going. BG3 has this issue too. In order to really see where I'm going, I have to constantly zoom out, and that kinda ruins some of the immersion value for me. I also think that in Drive Mode the WASD keys would be SO helpful for both games. Especially zoomed in in Baldurs, party members will suddenly run in the way and get under my mouse cursor and the next thing I know I'm having a dialogue with them while I'm running down the road.
But Solasta does so many gameplay things right. The game is balanced because they follow 5e rules more strictly. Therefore, all items have meaning and purpose and value. Long Rests cannot be spammed. They have specific long rest zones, and food is required to receive a long rest. You can't just fight a battle, long rest, fight the next battle and rinse and repeat. Actions are Actions and Bonuses are Bonuses. You can't just switch from your sword and shield to bow and then back to sword and shield at the end of your turn just so that you can maintain your shield's AC bonus to defense. They restrict it so that if you switch to Ranged, you can't switch back to Melee. (I suggested to them, though, that if a person didn't actually use an Action after switching that maybe they could switch back. That way, if you make a mistake, you can undo your mistake. As long as you didn't take an Action, I think they should let you switch back.) Spells are easy to locate, easy to know which are Actions versus Bonus Actions, and Special Actions have their own places as well. There is no backstab advantage nerf rules in Solasta. There are no high ground advantage nerf rules. There is a cover bonus rule where if you have cover you get like a +2 to your AC. There is not jumping like super heroes.
I mean, they just do so many rules right, and it really makes the game so much more enjoyable from a game mechanics perspective. I REALLY REALLY hope Larian takes a cue from them.
