It's something that I have problems to judge without inserting a constellation of caveats.
- There is a significant gap in tech between the two releases, so of course BG3 looks better...
- ...but I was generally speaking more fond of the type of aesthetic BG2 was striving for. Grounded look, no unnecessary cartoony effects and over the top animations, etc.
- I like turn-based combat FAR more than RTWP. The latter was more an acceptable compromise than an ideal to me. And I say this as someone who, all things considered, still values the combat one of the highlights of the old Infinity Engine games.
- I absolutely LOATHE the user interface in BG3 in some areas, especially hotbars, unity selection and movement
- I think games like POE, Solasta and Pathfinder all give glimpses of how an UPDATED BG2 interface would still work better and how the BG3 UI could be improved in many areas.
- despise what nostalgia could suggest some people, the old BG games were never a particularly high hallmark of quality writing and complex story telling, so not particular attachment in that sense...
- ...But I do appreciate that they started "small" rather than going bombastic from the get go with super high-tier scenarios.
- I'm not the biggest fan of the "diorama vibe" that the map is giving in BG3. Everything seems to be 20 meters away from everything else, areas "curl" on themselves, the "world" has a ridiculous compact feeling in it. Ironically the more abstract and technically simple approach used by other titles in the genre, where small areas are connected through a travel map, results far more effective in selling the illusion of scale for the world.
- BG3 is FAR more reactive to the player's input that the old BG games could ever dream to be. The amount of dialogue options, "triggers" tied to the race and class of the player, custom reactions to player's behavior (i.e. getting a different dialogue with NPCs according to from what direction you approach them, having someone acknowledge in dialogue if you pickpocketed an important item from them, etc, etc) is at time astonishing.
- At the same time Larian sometimes has a perplexing lack of middle grounds in its narrative scenarios, where you can (for instance) be offered the "murderhobo" and the "submissive pacifist" options without anything in-between.
- the lack of day/night cycle in BG3 remains a giant bummer and it's frankly an embarrassment for a "spiritual successor" that should be able to boast 20+ years of technological advancement on its side.
- Generally speaking, in this genre four-characters-parties suck unwashed ass.
All things considered I'm not sure it's fair to judge BG3 in its entirety before seeing what the final, complete game will have to offer.
So far I can only say that I have some perplexities about some puzzling design choices made up to this point, but I don't have particular doubts the final game will be at least a high profile title in the genre, if not necessarily the all-time favorite it could have the potential to become with some adjustments.
Last edited by Tuco; 02/03/23 07:38 AM.
