First of all, I would like to preface this post by saying I am not a hardcore Larian fan. I did not enjoy Divinity: Original Sin 2 too much, though I appreciate it as a game and a piece of artistic medium, and I enjoy the earlier entries in that world.
Secondly, I would like to consider myself as a fan of Dungeons and Dragons.
With that out of the way, I have several praises to list, as well as some complaints. I believe that the game mechanics as they are currently implemented are on point for an early access. I enjoy the combat and gameplay, the UI is sleek and comfy, and customization of appearance is great, compared to other cRPGs. I enjoy a good majority of the companions.
Some graphical glitches and performance issues that I am sure will be optimized in time are the least of my concerns, but I'd like to focus on a specific set of topics.
1) Shadowheart: She does not feel like a Sharran Cleric. At all. Even in the art of this forum's banner (where she looks like a very Banite/Tempuran/otherwise flashy deity-follower [I think she would have the best look in a dark robe that veils her features and not mention that she's in any way involved with Shar at all, but that is just my preference and not what I am about to touch on]), she does not resemble anything like what she should be resembling. The characterization here seems way off and lacking of research for what this deity and Her clerics are like and what their missions are; sure, she is evil and unpleasant and uncouth and uses the player character to get back to her coven, and while you could make the point to argue for creative license, I do not see how her behavior and rationales depict the dogma or expected behavior of a Sharran. It only takes a few pages of research to figure out the general feel for such a character, and I cannot help but feel this research was not done. Which leads me to my second topic,
2) The Missing, Inaccurate, and Outlandish: I am not sure why there are several types of Half Drow when Moon Elves have yet to be implemented, and I am unsure why High Elves are not called Sun Elves. It is a minor complaint, but the former are rather important, and High Elves is a colloquial nickname rather than a correct term. The background system, from what I can tell, is aimed at making your character someone exceptional - which is not a problem! Games are made to be power fantasies. But I feel like these take it a bit too far. All in all, there are a lot of things that I'd like elaborated, toned down, or made to fit what Dungeons and Dragons is at its core. Research should be done adequately.
And what happened to Gnomes?
3) Features: I would like to know what the plans are for classes and specializations, because as they are right now is fairly limited. I'd hope to see the full scope of 5e classes with at least more than 2-3 specializations each; I am sure that this is in the works, as is the alignment system.
4) Level Cap: I read somewhere the plan is for it to be 10. Why? The story throws you into such high magic, high fantasy scenarios within the first 20 minutes and continues on that agenda throughout insofar as I could see; why limit yourselves at level 10? I feel like this story would be more well rounded out at a cap of 15, with the elements that are at play. This lets characters shine and also become appropriately powerful for the powers involved.
All in all, this game has a great potential. It seems like it has a good future, but I cannot help but feel it was made for a very specific crowd of D&D players and not for the umbrella of all D&D players, and I am pretty sure that is why this game is so... sultry. Not that it is a bad thing, necessarily, but the narrator, and some of the modelling work (specifically on the privates of your customizable romantic partner...?), along with everything else I have outlined in my particular concerns, make me think that this game was tailored for the new wave of D&D players. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with this, and it is a sound business choice... but that's all it is. It's not something soulful, it's not even close to being Larian's best, and ultimately feels like a corporate cash-grab co-oped with Wizards of the Coast.
tl;dr game is very barebones but looks promising, though I can't shake the feeling that a slew of decisions were made to pander to new wave D&D players with everyone else left to chew on something lacking in Larian's creative soul.
Last edited by pavvles; 09/10/20 07:32 AM.