I vehemently dissagree. Presenting information clearly is the game’s responsability.
How much clearer can the game be that you don't have one of your companions in the combat initiative with you? The character literally isn't in the combat line up. It's also evident on the side section of character portraits.
The absence of a portrait isn’t a great indicator. If the absent character is invisible, just looking at the screen doesn’t help much. And if they’re a summon to boot, nothing onscreen will signal their absence from combat. The player has to know to look for the absence of icons when the game could actively announce it.
Maybe I’m just thick, but if I haven’t played Wyll in a while, I’ll usually forget about the imp in the first combat before I get into the correct mindset again.
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Again, just pay attention to your characters. Where they're at. What they're doing. This isn't an issue of the game obfuscating information. It's a matter of not looking at what's clearly happening on the screen.
Back to the Minthara invasion of the grove, picking out which goblins on the battlefield haven’t joined initiative yet is difficult even with great attention.
The party could also be split into to two or more seperate combat bubbles. The UI doesn’t make it easy to tell who’s involved in what, especially if the combats are near each other.
You’re not wrong to say that players need to pay attention. I still feel the UI needs polish in regards to the initiative track and overall battlefield clarity. I expect these things to get some love from Larian, along with the combat log.
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Just out of curiosity, do you play the game very often or are you waiting for full release?
It feels like you’re wondering whether I’ve played the game enough to have an informed opinion…
I’ve played BG3 enough that I have no desire to keep playing until full release. I’ve run Tav with every class and every companion permutation. Though I’ve missed some cutscenes, especially as I like to play long rest golf, I’ve no desire to plow another 30 hours in BG3 for 2 minutes of unseen dialogue.
To keep playing beyond 200 hours (ish) I’d need the pure mechanics of the game to be satisfying in and of themselves, which I don’t find them to be. There’s a chance a combat update could bring me back during EA, but for now I’m holding out for full release to once again have that sense of discovery and wonder.
