Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General To those who played BG2…

I recently did a rerun of the BG2 with some balance-tweaking mods installed, and definitely disagree that it ‘hadn’t aged well’. The core mechanics are identical to the likes of WOTR and other similar ‘modern’ games such as POE etc. The only difference is it’s hand-drawn, rather than 3D – and I happen to prefer the hand-drawn assets over pillars and WOTR.

I’d agree that what BG3 is mostly missing is what you might call a ‘soul’. Athkatla was immersive from the get-go – the clang of the blacksmith’s hammer, the rumble of the medieval crowd. It’s amazing how effective simple sound effects are in luring you into the world they created.

I don’t even hear anything authentic in BG3’s overly elaborate villages, such as the Druid Grove, which looks almost comically implausible in its setup. This place seems to rely more on special effects, such as the swirly glowing effects at the centre. It would be more interesting if it was less in-your-face about the fantasy aspect and more grounded in the art. Then let the sound effects carry the rest: the bustle of the place and these druids murmuring and conversing in the background. We seem to be missing all of these ‘little touches’.

Likewise, the ambience of the world outside the villages seems quite dead compared to BG2. There doesn’t appear to be any life going on in the place.

In general, the whole thing seems very plastic and shallow, over-workshopped and more than a little fake.

I don’t like any of the OTT characters.

The gameplay is well-designed – I haven’t had any issues with this. But the story is so weak that I don’t know if I could bring myself to commit to the inevitable 200 hours (or whatever it will be in the end) to see it through. I had this same problem with DOS2.

I would have preferred a proper indie company to have made BG3. A company less eager to please. But too late now, I guess. We’re stuck with what we’ve got.