This forum appears to be overrun with the vocal minority of haters which somehow always happens when a truly great game is released. I want to do what little I can to restore justice.

First of all, I'd like to thank the development team! I happen to know a thing or two about software development, just enough to understand how difficult it is to implement something so ambitious so flawlessly. I loved pretty much everything about D:OS2, so I knew I could expect a high quality game, yet BG3 is still mind-blowing. It is the new standard, and - like it or not - many people including myself will compare all future CRPGs to it.

I've been playing video games for nearly 30 years. I've touched hundreds of titles old and new (particularly, did multiple playthroughs of every Infinity Engine game), and here's my verdict: BG3 is one of the best games in history.


I don't feel like I need to write yet another complete review. There are dozens of those already. However, since the haters constantly push certain myths, I'd like to debunk some of those:


Myth #1) BG3 isn't D&D.

As any DM worth their salt will confirm, BG3 is the very essence of D&D. D&D encourages DMs to interpret the rules creatively and employ house rules when it suits their needs. Blasting a game for not blindly following source books is one of the stupidest and most anti-D&D things one can do. Let me remind you: Black Isle Studios and BioWare were very liberal with their implementation of the ruleset as well. The Infinity Engine games weren't even turn-based. These days they are recognized as timeless classics and must-plays for anyone interested in D&D-based video games. Ironically, even now after 20+ years of fame, there are still haters that claim that BIS and BioWare were wrong. And that's the worst thing about haters. They don't know when to shut up. They never admit defeat even when it's completely obvious.


Myth #2) Solasta is better.

Solasta is best described as a modern turn-based remake of Icewind Dale. It's a very linear very combat-heavy heroic good-alignment adventure with no free exploration (everything is 100% story-driven), no consequences (no real choices either) and no interaction between party members. I did a complete playthrough. If it were bad, I'd quit, but it was OK. Much like IWD and IWD2 were OK games but most definitely not better than BG or BG2.


Myth #3) Pathfinder games are better.

I've only played Kingmaker thus far. From what I've seen, I doubt that WotR is too different. Kingmaker was a very solid experience (or should I say a very buggy release thoroughly fixed by many, many patches). It's mostly the middle ground between the rigid linearity of Solasta and the unbridled freedom of BG3.

Pros:
- Adjustable difficulty. You can make it really challenging by pushing the sliders all the way to the right. Then you have to find unconventional and creative solutions to beat combat encounters where the odds are very much against you.
- Lots of exploration. It would feel even better if the main quest wasn't on a timer, but there is enough time to visit all optional zones.
- Nice and rich story (it's one of the Pathfinder official adventure paths).

Cons:
- Boring companions. A free tip to Owlcat: it's good to make a story based on a P&P campaign, it's bad to make companions based on the examples from Player's Handbook. A bunch of walking tropes and cardboard cutouts isn't exactly what people dream of traveling with.
- Repetitive gameplay. Yes, it's something unavoidable in a huge game, but there are ways to keep things interesting. Kingdom-building is supposed to be your refuge from the endless prebuff-fight-fight-fight-rest routine, but it's not quite enough. The game could benefit from having more non-combat RP content.
- Shallow side-quests. BG3 just hands down wins in this category.

Overall, Kingmaker is close to BG3 in terms of overall quality. It has different strong and weak sides (and I very much suspect that the same applies to WotR). My point is: those who say "Owlcat good, Larian bad" deliberately choose to ignore the strong sides of BG3: unparalleled player freedom (in and out of combat) for a non-sandbox game, origins, meaningful exploration, impactful choices and fantastic itemization that results in even more freedom.

Last edited by prodigydancer; 28/10/23 11:02 AM.