After having finished EA a few times, and after having thought a lot about feedback I could give, here are my thoughts on BG3 EA so far. (Note: all my opinions and judgments are being based on BG3 on its own, not in comparison to 5e, DOS2 or previous BG series games):
(the following contains MANY spoilers (too many to tag every single one w/ spoiler)
Bugs:
-Overall visuals/animation/text syncing problems (could be my weak computer though) That being said, I’m still very impressed with the graphics/visual quality even on my puny computer.
-after murdering/coaxing the murder of Kagha at my camp, I was surprised to see her body (with reloaded loot on it) at the druids cove. I was hoping my actions could have remained a bit more... discrete haha
-Scene w/ Gale where the player places their hand on his heart to show me his sob-story, my player glitched into Gale's body.. Looked rather unfortunate (+misc. Animation mess ups)
-Halsin continues to yell out loud “I should have you banished!†even though Kagha is a) nowhere near him and b) is dead (I may have had a little bit to do with that…)
-When I went to the beach/secluded cove area, there were harpies but no music and no entranced child) thus, no “investigate the beach†quest or subsequent quests for this area) (note: this happened in only one of my playthroughs)
-The following isn't quite a bug but I’m mentioning it anyway. I’m excited to see Karlach have one horn in the full game! Really liking her character so far!
Feedback:
Evil roleplaying:
So far I’ve enjoyed the options provided for an evil playthrough and am happy to hear that the devs are trying to target this area to make it available for players that enjoy playing evil characters (like myself, who plays almost exclusively evil characters haha). I hope to see more evil options in the future, especially since the main “evil†option available in EA is siding with Minthara and killing the tieflings doesn’t necessarily make sense for all evil characters (such as my cleric of Bhaal tiefling whose main goal was self-preservation for serving her god, thus getting Halsin and treatment for the tadpole was of the utmost priority (although I’m sure massacring her own kind would’ve still be fun for her as a cleric of Bhaal!). In fact, with that character (my first playthrough) I was so concerned with the tadpole (as it’s all anyone talks about) that I didn’t even know siding with Minthara was an option lol. Even more, I somehow got the idea into my head that camping was bad because it meant more time was passing and my tadpole condition would worsen and I’d wake up with tentacles sprouting out of my face lol! I think for the future of this game, from a roleplaying aspect, it’ll be important to have evil (as well as good and more neutral) options from different stances (ie: not every evil character is being evil to serve the absolute). I also enjoy the options of more evil-leaning companions that better suit my party (although I do understand that some players who enjoy playing the hero would prefer more good companions). As someone who plays as evil characters my thoughts are: keep it up! We want more!!
Religion, clericism, evil cleric playthrough:
As my main character is an evil cleric (trickster subclass) I’d love to see more dialogue options in the future that specify this as currently the majority of cleric/religion related dialogue option just mention that I’m religious rather than it specifying my character as an evil cleric, or better yet a cleric of Bhaal. I can’t tell you how HAPPY I was when speaking to the hooded skeleton I had a ‘cleric of Bhaal’ dialogue option about slaughtering people or something. Made me a happy lil’ tiefling! I think for all clerics, specific dialogue options and quests for their deity would be very cool to see in the full game, as well as dialogue options for your backstory and other characteristics.
Also, as a trickster cleric I’d love to see the full arsenal of cool and interesting spells we’ll eventually have access to. Only note rn on the ones available in EA is it’d be nice if the disguise self spell worked for all (or at least more) of the races we encounter in the world such as goblins, duergar, etc.
Astarion:
He’s great. Voice acting? Great. Story-line? Great. Lines? Great. I’d like to see more dialogue with him in the future, as well as with other characters like Lae’zel, Wyll (although he usually doesn’t like me) and Minthara as currently it feels like Shadowheart has twice the amount of dialogue options to the other companions. (Also why doesn’t Astarion have his own loading screen
)
Small gameplay tweaks:
The following I’m sure have been mentioned before but I figured I’d put it there just to be safe. Firstly group toggle button (for group sneaking, jumping, etc.). Second, I’d love to see some improvements in the inventory and trading system as currently it’s awkward when trying to move several items, split items, trade, etc. (maybe button/left mouse click rather than click and drag?). Lastly, I know a hide-helmet option has been suggested by almost every breathing person that bought EA but I was wondering if a semi-hide helmet option would be possible. Like, hide-helmet occurs when I’m in camp (so I can see my face in dialogue w/ companions) but when I go out into the world and into battle, I can still see my super awesome looking Shadow of Menzoberranzan :))
The most important feedback I can give:
I can *feel* the love and hard work put into this game which is really important. Given that this is only EA of the game and there’s a lot more to be added, I’m VERY impressed (glitches, messed up animations and all) and I honestly don’t know how I’m gonna wait a whole year for the full game haha
Feel free to disagree
