Mano777 said:
In terms of storytelling/writing it's a lot closer to BG than Divinity. While there's still some comic relief, the game takes itself pretty seriously. Characters have a lot more depth and the tone is pretty close to the old BG games. In terms of gameplay, it's not really that similar to old BG games though. This isn't just the fact that it's using 5e instead of adnd2e or that combat is full turn based instead of rtwp now, but that the gameplay design and structure is way different than the BG1/2 and is instead a lot closer to DOS2. the level/world design is probably the best example of this since instead of having multiple standalone maps connected through a world map, you now have one large pseudo open-world where all areas are connected together where you use fast travel to get around easily. This isn't the only example of such a difference though, there's so many things related to the overall game design that are very different from BG1/2 (some of which are a result of going with this style of world design such as the lack of a day/night cycle). The overall gameplay design and structure is practically identical to DOS2 (albeit using the 5e ruleset as a base and with certain gameplay elements such as surfaces modified to be less important). To give some more examples, quest design and progression are very different and are instead a lot more open-ended and less "tightly scripted". Exploration and interaction with the world is more heavily encouraged. Environmental interaction is also a larger factor in combat than it was before. There's also no random encounters, and encounters are unique and will never respawn. If liked BG because of the storytelling, I think you'd probably like this game since it's not that far from it in this aspect . If liked BG for that general style of gameplay and want something that is as close to it as possible I'd recommend going with something like Pathfinder Kingmaker or Pillars of Eternity. |
Eventually I will write that point bullet review I said I would, after spending 175 hours in BG3, but overall it is a product of its times - a high budget, gorgeous looking, yet cookie cutter narrative smoke and mirrors closed matrix RPG that much more resembles megadungeon crawl with a lot of interesting set pieces and "levels" than actual world you explore, all built on 5e foundation, but homebrewed so much that actually diminishes 5e ruleset (which is not that great to begin with), augmented with some of Ultima 7 ideas about interactive environments, and heavily marketed by mega corporation behind it.
I agree, for actual BG feel, something like Pathfinder Kingmaker would be a much better choice (and overall better game), for actual 5e game Solasta nailed that ruleset pretty good (and in doing so it has actually better and more tactical combat than BG3), although official campaign is pretty weak, but luckily there are a lot of user campaigns that are really good.
