In terms of gameplay, I'd give it an 8/10 for the *lower level combat* right now. 9/10 for act 1 combat if they fixed the bugs. By act 3, I think the combat degrades to like a 5-6/10 because of broken homebrew rules, ridiculous items, etc. making the combat trivial and boring.
In terms of writing....well, it depends. Character writing, the characters are pretty likable and have some fantastic VAs that really help them out in that regard, despite some of their background writing being weak imo. Plot writing...I like their writing for the sidequests. I think the hag sidequest in act 1 is very well done. The game feels the best in the early moments - before the main plot begins to unravel - and in the moments where you can almost forget about the main quest. I have to be honest, I think the whole main plot is a real stinker. Someone in another thread said itbest (can't remember which one right now unfortunately): The main plot would have been far better if it leaned more into being a story about personal salvation fighting against the tadpole, but instead it turned into a dumb, generic save the world plot. Which is weird, because all the "origins" characters have themes of personal salvation in their own personal lives that could easily have mirrored the struggle against the tadpole, but it never meshes because there's no consequences to using the tadpoles for a huge chunk of the game.
Characters I'd give a 8/10: Great VAs and likable, which is the most important thing. But they feel a little dead (they mostly interact with MC, not each other), romances seem kind of half-assed, and the backstory writing for some of them, ehhhhhh....
But the main plot? Right now? Especially with the way it falls apart atrociously in the last act? 3-4/10. It just seems so disjointed to me and it starts being disjointed *right away*. You start out on EPIC ALIEN SHIP that TELEPORTS TO HELL and then you're helping some druids with some goblins BUT THEN AN ARCHDEVIL COMES TO PERSONALLY MEET YOU TO MAKE YOU A DEAL (randomly, on the beach)...it's all over the place. And I defintiely notice this more when I was trying to get myself into a second playthrough, but uh....people have a pretty muted reaction to the fact that an alien spaceship just crashlanded down the road from them in Act 1. It's actually a little jarring how little people seem to care. LIke, Nautiloids are not a common thing.
To me, BG3 right now is very much like DOS2: It has some really fun moments where the gameplay genuinely shines, and it's *so good* that it really charms you (I must have replayed the first 2 acts of DOS2 dozens of times), but the plot is always kinda dumb, and the gameplay eventually falters hard in the latter half of the game.
I think the combat is great all through imo (except maybe a few of the bigger fights, they need to be sped up somehow). Tbh in RPGs I always have to use some self imposed limits otherwise the game becomes to easy.
Some things I like to do:
- rarely use scrolls, rarely use potions (maybe max 1-2 times in a single combat, and only every 10-20 combat encounter or so) because come on, the enemies barely use them so why should you?
- I generally just use cool looking gear over effective gear that fits the character, and so on.
- If I come in unprepared I usually save and force myself to deal with it (instead of save scumming)
Combat: 9/10
The Plot is, not properly QAed and I struggle to see if any of the developers have played through it all themselves. Because there are way too many inconsistencies. It can easily be remade into something good if they are willing to put in the effort( alot of effort). I don't see why games can't start epic, the problem for me is not starting in hell on a nautiloid, it is more how the game doesn't step back after the beginning and just keep spamming epic at you through all the lower levels. It should have been a taste of what is to come, not the way it is now.
Story: Eh.. maybe 9/10 until the Emperor shows up and then in a steep fall until 4/10.
Characters are better than people give them credit for , 9/10 - 10/10 imo. Though in act 3 they all died inside because, rush. They all feel more human than most I can remember on the spot. My reasoning is this: what the hell kinda characters are you comparing them to? Yes Gale(for example) being a former lover of Mystra seems like another "epic" crammed in, but he feels believable and is properly developed with his own motivations, his own personality and so on. If they just patch out the MYstra excess he is an amazing character imo. The others also feel human and well written ( I can not speak for Astarion because I sent him away after the bite incident, and Laezel because she died in act 1). The other companions are also well done. Maybe Wyll is a bit one dimensional.
- In retrospect maybe you need to tone down the "epic" a bit on some of them and (they all suffer in act 3 for obvious reasons) for it to be a 10/10.
Characters: 9/10 (may I also add, fantastic VAs)
