Over the years Baldur's Gate series has been my go to series to make me feel like I'm in high school again. The nostalgia in these titles, and especially the first one, is real. The importance of these games on a personal level can't be overstated. So I'm afraid that if you are looking for an objective review, you should look elsewhere.

Larian does most things in this game competently. The presentation is top notch, visually it looks stunning and the voice acting is evocative, albeit a bit over the top sometimes. If you want to show off a stunning game on your brand new PC, fire up Baldur's Gate III. The first Chapter in early access has the polish of a finished game after more than 2 years of tinkering.

Unfortunately for an RPG this is a sideshow to the main draws: the story and the mechanics. All this competence does not translate to the writing of the NPC's and the main story.
*spoilers* The story starts with the mistake many new DM's make: it goes too big and completely over the top from the start. It throws mind flayers, intellect devourers, spelljamming vessels, Githyanki and even that kitchen sink at the player. As the player, you are thrown in a story that goes way over your head with a ticking time bomb attached to it. It is just too much to swallow with no build up or backstory for yourself. Remember Baldur's Gate 1? The Prologue told you everything about your character. You were a nobody in Candlekeep. From your interactions with others there, you figured out who you were and were supposed to be. That's the RP part in RPG. The stakes didn't seem to be that high too. There was an iron crisis in the background, but it was mostly about you fleeing impending personal danger. How you would fit into the story would unfold gradually and masterfully. There were no elven semi-vampires accompanying you on the road, it was you and a whole bunch of nobodies whose stories still had to be written.
So for me the entirety of the BG3 is off putting from the get go sadly. And the very very slow turn based combat, lack of immersion and just weird lore/world building decisions does not help at all.
Great if you love the game, I am just burned out and now disappointed knowing that things would most likely not change at all until release.
Its been a fun ride though, time to move on wink

It just reminded me of the bowl of goat's milk that old Winthrop used to put outside his door every evening for the dust demons. He said the dust demons could never resist goat's milk, and that they would always drink themselves into a stupor and then be too tired to enter his room..