That's something I have been thinking for a while - as a RPG and immersive sim fan Larian's RPG should be right up my alley. It hasn't been quite as simple as that, though.

I decided to make this post after this Noclip interview with maker of Weird West, in which he directly referenced Divinity: Original Sin2:


I think there are couple reasons as to why I don't find enjoyment in Larian's systemic design:

1) BG3 systems don't make a goddam sense - a joy of immersive sims is that because their systems are so granual, you can find creative, logical and "immersive" solutions, rather then relying on a handful of options that devs came up with. That's not how systems in Larian games work - an example could be popular complaints: throwing healing potions at a floor will create a puddle which will heal characters who will step into it. Transitioning into combat doesn't include stealthed characters, allowing them to easily sneak into the backline as enemies are frozen in time. There has been a lot of argument about impact of those systems on games balanace, but I think the bigger offender is that they don't work as logic would dictate - this is anti-immersive design, favouring implemented game's systems over how they should work regarding their theme and function in the story.

2) BG3 quests rely heavily on scripting and don't acknowladge/reward systemic play - I just don't get many "cool" moments in BG3. Just recently I tried to use game's system to rob the body surrounded by goblin children, but game's script didn't allow for it - with kids immediately rasining alarm, even though they didn't witness the robbery. There are some cool things like an ability to poison Goblin's drink in the party, but I feel like it is deliberately set up by Larian, rather then an organic result of game's systems.

This relience on scripting leads to a problem, as players don't know what they actually can and can't do. They still are mostly allowed to follow the script set up by devs, like in more limiter RPG, except in BG3 it is not clear what path devs prepared for and for which they did not.

3) BG3 systems don't intersect - the most fun part of immersive sim is when logical, tracable but unpredictable chains of events take place. An example could be the story of father zombie the dev mentioned. I don't think BG3 has those - it has a lot of individual systems, but they don't get to speak to each other. This leads to a game that has a lot of tedium of immersive sim, but doesn't take advantage of their flexibility and doesn't generate memorable events. Lots of people complained about the amount of empty boxes in BG3. Has anyone found an interesting use for those (other then the recent Baldur's Crate).


What is your take? Do you have any cool stories to share, that resulted from game's systemic design? Do you think that tedium that comes with current design is well worth the creativity that it allows? Or do you wish BG3 were more streamlined, with more quality of life improvements, even if it would come at a cost of some systemic interactions?

EDIT: Immersive Sim is more of a set of principles then a genre. From those unfamiliar with the term, in this video Mark Brown tried to neatly define the term. Whenever BG3 tries or even wants to be an immersive sim is debatable, but I think at least some of the principles apply. Most of those titles quote Ultimas as their inspiration and I am pretty sure Larian's is also inspired by those games.

My intention of this thread isn't to discuss if BG3 is or isn't immersive sim (spoiler: it isn't), but simply what's your experience with the systemic design of the game. Changed the title to better reflect the intention.

Do you think it adds more to the game then takes away? And if you do have cool experiences that resulted from the systems, please share them.

Last edited by Wormerine; 26/08/22 02:39 PM.