Now that we have had a chance to play through the early access offering of Baldur’s Gate 3, we have a better idea of what to expect when the full version is released. The series has taken a huge departure from the previous two games, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
There are many parts of the game that have garnered criticism for one reason or another. There are also aspects of Baldur’s Gate 3 that Larian Studios got right. This game has some big shoes to fill considering the legacy of the previous two games as being among the best Dungeons & Dragons video game adaptations, and in a lot of ways, Baldur’s Gate 3 fills those shoes nicely.
10 The Terrain
Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 had extremely beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds. Though, as beautiful as the backgrounds were, they were still static 2D images. It was like moving figurines around on a poster – albeit a very nice poster.
Baldur’s Gate 3 doesn’t have backgrounds. Baldur’s Gate 3 has fully 3D environments with which the player can interact and use in battle for an advantage. Players can even move objects around the battlefield; like moving crates to form a barrier between the party and the enemy. This is a huge improvement, and even Baldur’s Gate purists would agree with that statement.
9 The Viewpoint
Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 gave players a static overhead-ish view. Zooming in and out was not possible, which was corrected with the Enhanced Editions from Beamdog. With Baldur’s Gate 3, you can pan around the maps as much as you wish, and the game even zooms in and out when a character changes elevation.
This allows you to get the most advantageous vantage of the battlefield. Giving you more options in perspective works hand-in-hand with the 3D terrain by allowing players to spot beneficial areas from which to attack and defend. One example would be identifying and moving to higher ground during battle – Obi-Wan would approve.
8 Character Creation
The character creation system in Baldur’s Gate 3 has its detractors. Overall though, Larian did a good job with this part of the game. Sure, there could be more options; from the way characters look to including classes like Monks and races like orcs or half-orcs. Keep in mind though that the game is still in early access.
Larian has also stated that the character creation system will be more robust in the full game. While it would be better to have a character creation system more like those found in the Fallout or Mass Effect games, what Baldur’s Gate 3 provides is hardly something to complain about. There are other parts of the game more deserving of our criticism.
7 Bridging The Gap
Baldur’s Gate 3 faces the tough task of bridging the gap between tabletop Dungeons & Dragons players, fans of the Baldur’s Gate series, and fans of the Divinity: Original Sin series (from Larian).
Baldur’s Gate 3 seems to have hit a happy medium between the three camps; however, there are plenty of Baldur’s Gate fans that feel the game feels more like Divinity: Original Sin 3. Once the final version is available and all the kinks are worked out, Baldur’s Gate 3 will almost certainly appeal to everyone, including the Baldur’s Gate purists.
6 Skill Checks
In the previous Baldur’s Gate games, most of the skill checks were done in secret. Players that failed were simply told something like, “You fail to pick the lock.” Baldur’s Gate 3 visually rolls a virtual 20 sided dice when performing skill checks.
For what it’s worth, the game also lets players know by how much they passed or failed a roll via displaying the target number when the dice is rolled; this is something the previous two games in the series did not do. This really helps the player feel like they are participating in a digital version of a traditional tabletop game, rather than just another video game.
5 Character Models
The character models in Baldur’s Gate 3 look fantastic – a little generic in some regards, but fantastic nonetheless. The different races, especially the githyanki, are very well portrayed. The game also does an excellent job of syncing a character’s lips to their spoken dialogue (most of the time).
Additionally, the different armors are well made and fit the character models well. The character models of the enemies look quite good too. It gives one hope that perhaps some of the creatures used as enemies, like goblins and illithids, might be playable races in future updates.
4 The Battles
One of the biggest complaints about Baldur’s Gate 3 is the switch from real-time battles that can be paused at any time to a turn-based system. The former method definitely makes for more exciting battles, but the turn-based method has its benefits.
First, turn-based battles is the method used in tabletop Dungeons & Dragons; this makes Baldur’s Gate 3 closer to the genuine article. Also, the 3D terrain and game engine give players options not found in the first two Baldur’s Gate games. An example of this is the ability to pick up and throw objects at enemies at a lower elevation, or even make a diving attack.
3 Play Options
This entry is less about the flow of battle and more about what a player is able to do during battle. Much of these expanded options come from using D&D’s 5th Edition rules instead of the 2nd Edition rules of the previous two games.
Fighters were little more than armored attacks drones in the first two games due to 2nd Edition rules. In Baldur’s Gate 3, the Fighter class has quite a few more options than just swinging a sword. This game also makes spells like Feather Fall and Animal Friendship useful. There were animals to befriend in Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2, but they were not that useful in battle and didn’t have dialogue.
2 Spellcasting
Baldur’s Gate 3 handles spells very well. Spells like Fireball can (and will) set any flammable materials in the area of effect on fire to deal a little extra damage to enemies that remain in the area. Fire spells can also get rid of small bodies of water.
Feather Fall wasn’t even an available spell in Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 due to the game world being flat. In Baldur’s Gate 3, players would be smart to keep this spell memorized once they have some surplus spell slots. As a side note, the visual effects of the spells are also very pleasing to the eye.
1 Dialogue Options
This entry is more for the different options available to players than the dialogue itself. To be honest, much of the dialogue seems as though it was all written with one character in mind – specifically a sardonic character. However, Baldur’s Gate 3 gives players seemingly countless special dialogue options depending on the speaker’s class, race, and any skills or active spell effects.
To a fighter, that bear you encounter is just a beast. For a character with access to the Speak With Animals spell, that bear (or owlbear) might give some valuable information, join the player, or help in a fight. This is a major improvement over Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2.
NEXT: 10 Things We Hope Are Included In Baldur’s Gate 3
