"BG3" stands for Baldur's Gate 3, yeah? There are plenty of other concepts that can potentially turn out to be "great" games; I want this to be a Baldur's Gate game. I want to immerse myself in the Realms when I play a Forgotten Realms title. So far, I'm not feeling the fidelity.
Incidentally, I found a great comment of yours ->
Originally Posted by GM4Him
I think this all goes back to just how UN-Forgotten Realms this game is. Elves are humans with pointy ears, Drow aren't Sunlight Sensitive, Phase Spiders teleport around like they all know a super version of Misty Step, Intellect Devourers don't devour intellect or use body thief or pounce on single individuals but act like standard mins flayer thugs, imps have no resistance and are easy, level 1 noob enemies, mud mephits and their allies don't have proper stats or act like they should, the First Druid of the grove is a weak level 5 noob scrub who can't handle a bunch of goblins and needs you to rescue him, even though he's supposed to be a super awesome accomplished healer and everybody acts like he's an incredible fighter who saved a bunch of tieflings on the road against a pack of gnolls all by hisself, the hobgoblin warlord isn't a hobgoblin warlord, the drow cleric of the Absolute (Minthara) is a pretty weak piece of nothing who can easily be beaten, minotaurs don't act like minotaurs, and hook horrors don't act like hook horrors or have proper stats, and everyone jumps around like super heroes and shoves people three hundred feet off cliffs.
I'd say that sums up the issue. The whole game needs some serious Forgotten Realms infused into it. Right now, it's a great game, and I love it, but it is so UN-Forgotten Realms. The more I play it and analyze it, the more I can understand why so many feel it is a DOS 3 as opposed to a Baldur's Gate 3. Story and settings say it is Baldur's Gate 3, but mechanics and models say something else.
I'd like to bring this up as well because THIS is what Larian needs to pay close attention to.
The game does not feel like Forgotten Realms. It's all over the place. The direction isn't clear.
To add to the list above:
In Forgotten Realms, death is not a trivial inconvenience. When someone is (repeatedly) pushed into a river of lava, they actually get incinerated beyond resurrection rather than get teleported to camp for a cheap res. If you don't want to deal with permanent death situations, why place rivers of lava and bottomless pits everywhere and buff Shove with insane range and basically every other aspect of it? Other games have the PC's just get knocked out in combat and avoid permanent death scenarios for this reason, suspension of disbelief. Larian don't give a rats ass about suspension of disbelief, they are openly shouting at every turn how BG3 is just a video game instead of an immersive fantasy world.
Speak with Animals lets you communicate with animals. But it doesn't turn them into intelligent eloquent speakers or Forgotten Realms into a Disney cartoon.
Yes, it's a game and it needs good gameplay elements too. But Larian are taking everything too far to the point where it doesn't feel like Forgotten Realms anymore. And I haven't had this problem with any previous Forgotten Realms titles. BG1, BG2, IWD, IWD2, NWN, NWN2.. all of those other games feel like Forgotten Realms.
People now-days care more for conveniences, silly comedy, cartoony graphics and <quality of life> rather than being immersed in a complex, dark , mature and atmospheric RPG world. Bunch of softy whining pokemon gamers who wants their cringy <<sex>> scene in games is what we have now.
Its so incredibly ironic because the gen that made these amazing Crpgs three decades ago are now retired and their childrens, US, who played these now have to deal with this modern easy to buy and swallow junk WE CREATED for the current young generation of gamers to get hooked on.
I wouldn't be that cynical yet.
Game of Thrones became a massive mainstream hit because it was dark, gritty and is set in a realistic and believable fantasy world. There certainly is a demand for such. D&D sort of fulfills that same demand while being more magical fantasy. But it doesn't have to be as silly and tongue-in-cheek as Larian is making it.
