Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback BG3 vs Solasta

I not tried any mods in BG3 yet, and even without them i enjoyed the game for 50+ hours, only done 3 play throughs so far. Nothing has pushed me to mod yet. In solasta i felt i needed to because a lot of the classes and feats are not available with the base game. Its annoying requiring you to mod.

Well for me, in BG3, I would consider it a REQUIREMENT to use mods to: increase party size to six; fix party movement and formations; change shove to full action; disable party-lock at the end of Act 1(if that ends up in the game); give XP and loot for non-combat paths to encounters/quests that are equivalent to the combat option; many more options for good-aligned companions; make our created PC much more central to the game; just to name a few.

Solasta's UI feels net superior, snappy, intuitive, and very responsive during fights. Same with the camera. The movement squares are helpful for proper positioning, especially in hard fights.

BG3 lags behind in this by quite a lot, more obviously in fights spread across multiple elevations (say mob1 is at 5, Tav at 8, Shadowheart and mob2 at 12, mob3 at 15, etc). The UI feels cluttered & has to be reorganized for every character, every new playthrough. The camera movement can get buggy, as others have mentioned, randomly jumping elevations or not focusing properly.

Both games have some nice environments & some that feel rushed. Solasta's Dark Castle Cemetery for example, feels very atmospheric but BG3 pulls a bit ahead with the Underdark & the Sunlit Wetlands.

Solasta's characters are hideous. The cinematics are like school-assignments from bored college students. Even at ultra graphics they still look like NWN characters from over a decade ago.

BG3's characters are obviously better looking and better animated - but not necessarily faithful to DnD lore.

Solasta's group ability checks & picking the most proficient character are 2 convenient and fun to play mechanics. Teammates help each-other and it's been implemented in a way that feels natural. Everyone gets to contribute but if you want to roleplay an answer with lower odds of success, you can do that too.

BG3's solo checks are incredibly annoying. Sometimes every team member makes a world check, sometimes just the nearest person. In after-fight dialogues, only the closest person to the NPC talks so you might get stuck with someone who will fail the checks. Not to mention, even if you pick the speaker you want, all your teammates are still near you and don't help which makes no sense knowing how opinionated they all are. (Gale would jump in for History & Arcana, Lae'zel would probably try to Intimidate, Wyll to Persuade, etc)

Solasta's teammates banter but their relationships don't grow in any meaningful way. I still head-cannon the cleric and ranger having a thing (because of how they tend to finish each-other's ideas) and the sorcerer is really sleazy whenever the ranger crawls ahead... he always says smth like: "You look like you've been doing this all your life" "Spent a lot of time on your knees?" Victor, please, for the love Maraike, shut up!

BG3 has that beat because relationships develop: friendship, disdain, hate, or romance. (I'm a sucker for in-game relationships: friendships, rivalries, romance! Garrus and Shepard were best buddies all throughout the trilogy; my Trickster was probably Regill's worst nightmare but he also trusted the commander to the end; Daeran married said Commander and the nobility wanted them as the new king & queen over Galfrey; Alistair married his Warden; Hawke killed her best friend Anders; Solas must have broken the hearts of half a dozen of my Inquisitors; Gann and the Shard-Bearer brought ruin to the world, and so on) In BG3 there's a lot less party banter than in Solasta though, and I think that's such a shame. These people have so much to tell Tav but so little to tell each-other.

Solasta's combat is more fun than BG3's combat (aside from gimmicky builds and cheesing) atm. I hope that changes. BG3 is still in EA, so they can still work on it.

It's not really fair to compare stories since we only have Act 1 of BG3... but even so, BG3's story seems a bit more complex than Solasta's, with many smaller plots weaving into the overarching narrative. We'll see if it develops into something fun & interesting when the full game comes out.

And super ugly.

This part is funny to me, because one of the remarkable facts about the Solasta dialogue system is that none of these characters you are mentioning "exists" strictly speaking. The whole thing isn't "scripted", but uses a tag-based system where every single member of your party is defined by their tags (background, class, attitude, virtues and flaws, etc) and voice you choose for it.

The fact that you are talking about them as if they had pre-scripted dialogues or predefined personalities just goes to show what a good job they did for this system to create the illusion (even if the voice acting is... Uneven in a best day).

That aside, a fairly good analysis/comparison. I agree with most of it.

I find it "ugly" in terms of aesthetic choice (these guys come from Amplitude and they seem to have borrowed their same very detestable habit to make UIs that seem to be borrowed by a toolset and don't care to fit the mood and vibe of the games they are in) but in terms of functionality is WAY more intuitive and responsive of what BG3 offers.

Thats the problem Tuco ... its only intuitive, if your mind is set the same way as theirs is ... you are as it seems one of lucky people, or on the contrary i am one of unlucky few, doesnt really matter tho. :-/

The point is, that whole intuitivity of that UI is purely subjective ... where you see order, i see chaotic mess.

I dont say i would be "unable" to use that UI, its not *that* bad ... dont get me wrong.
But in my mindset, i find BG3 much closer and therefore intuitive and functional to my prefferences. :-/

Even tho there are things that could be done better ... prime example would be turning on and off non-lethal attacks. :-/

I mean, the spell button has the submenu with spells organized for level. Same for the Power button. Attack and use item are pretty much self-explanatory.





What part of it is even supposed to be unintuitive or complicated, again?
"Opinions" can carry an argument only so far.

And that's totally fine, we all expect different things from a game.

I expect a somewhat closer adherance to the 5e rules, so I have use mods to get rid of some of Larian's homebrew. While I don't want to turn the game into Solasta 2.0 with nicer looking characters, there are certain things I want to change (just a few examples):

- Shove as an action instead of a bonus action and (hopefully) add shove to prone as a second option and limit the distance you're able to shove.
- Hide as an action. It should be a bonus action only for rogues and monks
- Wizards should be restricted in which spells they can scribe, if it isn't a wizard spell ... they can't scribe it into their grimoire.

The last two points are of particular importance to me, as they devalue certain classes if they aren't addressed. Since Larian seems to ignore the issue like they they did with certain broken mechanics in D:OS2, I'll have no choice but to mod.

There are some more, but most of them are a matter of personal preference like my utter dislike of the flashy Vfx for everything.


Then you should understand how I feel about BG3...

For one ... i dont need picture, i know exactly how that mess lookslike.

For two ... what exactly are you trying to acomplish here?

I mean even if "Opinions can carry an argument only so far" ... what is next?
Do you expect me to reveal that i secretly love it more than anything, but lied about it bcs ... ?
Or do you presume that if you push far enough something snaps in me and i finaly realize and see the beauty of this?

What is your goal here? O_o
Cant you simply accept that we have different prefferences and move on?

And finaly for three:
Exactly that ... duh. O_o

I mean come on ... you like system A, i like system B ... you described the only difference that is between them and asked me what i dislike ... can you even expect different answer?
Should be obvious in my honest opinion.

...Having a rational discussion? Rather than something based on vague feelings?

If you claim that you don't like something because it's "too complicated" you should at very least be able to point what's complicated about it.

Baldur's Gate 3 (NOW) has sub menus for spells as well, in case you missed it. Except they are way more messy (taking a separate tab for level, for a start) and come ON TOP of a generic "mixed bar" that is a bit of abomination.

About feelings? O_o
Im sory but that alone sounds like oxymoron to me. :-/

But i can try so nobody can say that i backed out.

Still im not sure i can tell you much more than what i allready did ...
I like to have my spells accesible imediately ... click through several windows, popups, or menus (whatever you wish to call it) is pain for me ...
And i also like to have my spells sorted the way i want them ...

Solasta dont provide any of those options, so i dislike its UI.
Its that simple, really.

//Edit:
Im pretty sure i didnt say that.

"Several windows, pop-ups and menus" = Literally one button.

Yeah, sure. I give up.

Plain, but minimal. BG3 UI is too long and will get even bigger with all the additional skills we need later.

I am rather new to these forums but my first impression is that you, mister Tuco while pointing fingers at the other member's JandK behavior and attitude in another thread, happen to act and post by the portrayed standards yourself. You use ALL CAPS a lot while agitating for your vision, argue a lot and show little respect to the opposing views, make some questionable assumptions and vague summaries like "this is a mess", which might be (?) a solid statement in your eyes, but it is in the end just a subjective vision of a person. Why won't you point out that the new pop-up menus are better than the previous version? Or the one even prior? Where we had 2 icons for every spell and the hotbar was teeming with icons xD

It is fair to have your own preferences, it is also fair to like how other games do things. Lets be a little more open-minded and respect different opinions! We all wish for some positive change, after all.

Will BG3 implement attunement, which solasta does? Unless its been added...been ages since I played. That is also critical to avoid (some) balance issues.

Initially I didn't like Solasta's menus (they are very bland) - but once I understood them, they provided access to exactly the game elements I needed and I had complete control and relevant info at my disposal, although the tiles are somewhat large.

If you concider it separately ...
Then yes, it may seem like one button ... but in practice it isnt:

In BG-3, when i concider my options ...
I look at my hotbar and i see all my favourite spells, all my favourite items ...

In Solasta, when i concider my options ...
If i want to see my spells i have to open spellcasting window ... if i want to see my items, i need to open item window ...

So i look at my hotbar and see nothing ... that frustrates me.
Also checking it alone is allready two unnecesary clicks ...

> Ergo: BG-3 is clearer for me.


Then i decide to cast a spell ... first i need to find it, and maybe that is bcs i spend so much time in BG-3, maybe its bcs their icons resonate with me so well, but i really concider BG-3 icons MUCH better compared to Solasta.
Also there is just that ugly fact that those spells are sorting by some key i dont really grab ... when i have seen spells in Solasta for the first time i didnt even notice that small space between spell levels, so i concidered whole row to be whole spellbook just thrown at you with "search silly" attitude ...
Now i know there are those spaces that separate particular spell levels, but still that huge bar full of things i would not need, since im going to cast only that single spell im searching for, feels owerwhelming.

In BG-3 i have spells sorted the way i want them ... if i wish to skip one (or more) positions on hotbar to separate them, i can.
Then i know that this is cantrip group, this is damaging group, this is CC group, this is healing group, and this is utility group.
This may once again be my compulsiveness, but that is how i work on my bar ... then, every single time im searching for spell i allready know where to look, bcs i have intention in mind.
And yes, it pisses me off beyond measure when Druid Wild Shape (or other shit) messes my hotbar ... the fact that you cant adjust hotbar of Lae'zel and Shadowheart in tutorial included. -_-

> Ergo: BG-3 is clearer for me.


And quite honestly ... concidering how little those buttons in Solasta do, i extremely dislike how INCREDIBLY HUGE they are. :-/
I mean just look how big part of screen takes Hotbar for itself ...

Once again, in BG-3 hotbar dont take so much space (or it didnt feel that way to me) but that can be caused by camera aswell.
Anyway if i put those UIs side by side ... i know its not true, but BG-3 hotbar feels like it takes half the space Solasta do. :-/

I dont really want to be too harsh about it ... but one must wonder if that isnt intentional, after all, Graphic really isnt Solasta strongest side. :P
Nah, just kidding.

> Anyway Ergo: BG-3 is clearer for me once again.


I most certainly hope so ...
That is something im asking for ... well, since my first post on this forum maybe.

Yeah, you are.

Ok?
I have nothing to share with JandK or the specific things I criticized about his behavior, but I can't stop you from getting your own *wrong* impressions.
Not to say that I'm without fault.
What ANY of this as to do with the exchange I just had with Ragnarok is not clear, but, whatever.

No, I don't? I use caps only on the selected words I want to deliberately put emphasis on, which is something that I started doing specifically here, since this forum is not exactly the smoothest thing on the eyes when you want to put something in evidenc

Ok, what points are you questioning, exactly? Aside for "I don't like that you are not too accommodating", I mean.

Yeah, no shit.
I always argue my point, not other people's one.

What are you even asking here? Why I don't praise fairly mediocre improvements the UI in BG3 got in the recent updates? Because I don't think they are worthy of any praises. They turned a bad UI into serviceable.
This is still far from my ideal point of arrival.

Fat chance.
Larian never said a single word about attunement and item identification and for the past two years most of us here have been busy arguing for the sake of salvaging far more broken basic systems to start making noise about that, too.
You know what they say... At some point "You have to pick your battle".

I also suspect that Swen consider the unrestricted piling up of unlimited magic items the pinnacle of game design, even looking at what they did with DOS 2.

I'd be all in favor of adding it, for the record.

Yes, I am!


I am free to share my impression, as you've mentioned it! I meant no offense and might be terribly wrong, thats why I didn't make any statements, just shared my thoughts. And my thoughts come from what I see and read.


The ALL CAPS is settled. By arguing a lot I meant, well, pointless arguing? You've already made a point in this thread. Do you need that much reassurance? When you read something that is different from your comfort zone, you react, and, IMO, put too much unhealthy passion in your responses. Please spare me the busywork of reading through all of your posts - I don't want to tear anything out of the context to work in my favor and I am not even sure if I can find anything. I just share my first impression, once again. I might be wrong, I know that I don't have enough intel and right to judge anyone here. But your exchange with RagnarokCzD and comments about JandK just felt kinda unhealthy so I decided to make a statement. I am sorry for making it sound personal! By assumptions I meant "If you claim that you don't like something because it's "too complicated" you should at very least be able to point what's complicated about it." and things "What part of it is even supposed to be unintuitive or complicated, again?". Why would you ask a question like that? Someone shares a subjective impression. Are you trying to prove an impression(!) wrong? Or do you assume someone is stating it like a fact of sorts?


I am not asking, just poorly making a point through these questions, that UI in BG3 is not a mess anymore. It used to be much worse and it has some positive dynamics to its development.