As someone who never played a Baldur's Gate or Divinity Original Sin game, I am eager to understand the game and DnD rules, the difficulty will make it more rewarding. The replayability factor seems INSANE, when you imagine all the options you could take, whether you will succeed with an option or not, whether you will be pulled into combat! Finally some good efing food.
Good to know what to expect! Sounds like we will need to pay attention and put the thinking caps on. Worth it to see the story and character arcs of our companions unfold 😀
You can also Mod the game. Modding is supported, and has been supported all through early access. It'll be a minute before mods catch up to the final release version, but, Nexus will have you covered for when they do.
Like I did with Divinity Original Sin 2, the "free Speak with Animals" trait will be the first I install. I'm not missing out on any of that great content because of my class xD
It probably won't come even close to being like Baldur's gate 2's mods. Surprised me, the community made quests lines, companions and all kinds of expansive stuff. Probably easier to do back then.
Life convenience mods I can get behind, but the amount of content this game has to offer, to me atleast, makes most mods feel pointless, and they'll be nowhere near on par with the content on game due to the mocap and VA's
Full of depth lmao its full of click mouse here and the character will move here click it there and it will move there. Long and boring amazing how much rubbish you can cram into a game if you strip out all the mechanics for some WoW level control
Something that makes the companions feel real is that you might not necessarily like them all as people, but they are all fully realized personalities that react as one would expect based on those personalities/motivations.
They definitely changed the first interactions with the companions. They are made being nicer... Knowing them from early access, this made me angry and disappointed
@@dominika3762 Not that much. Astarion a bit (many players seemed to not understand his initial behavior) and Shadowheart is less sassy or snarky. Otherwise, they are the same as EA (Laezel and Gale, for example, are not different).
@@Baraz_RedThey toned down Lae'zel's voice pitch a bit to make her sound not as harsh as in EA. She still says the same things but delivers them in a softer way
Agreed! At first I thought Shadowheart is a bit one note, however as I get to know her, she is actually complex and able to be vulnerable with you. I also played as a Cleric of Selune and it enhanced our interaction even more.
Something that may help with the framerate issues, I was having lots of issues when I was playing, even at the lowest settings I was having super low framerates and graphical concerns, until I turned off the "borderless window" and changed it to "full-screen". That pretty much fixed it right up for me. I was running ultra settings at around 60fps in most areas after I made that change. I don't know for others, but the borderless window was the default setting, so I did have to manually change it in the settings of the game. If you are experiencing graphics issues, I highly recommend trying out fullscreen over the window options if you haven't yet.
I'm 100% OK with, and borderline planning on, spending hours and hours and hours in the starter areas....exploring everything extensively, taking my time to read everything. Another 3 hours till it finishes downloading and then peak immersion begins!
I spent 6 hours in the starter area, Emerald Grove, running around looking and exploring, talking to NPCs, reading lore and really not even hitting level 3. There's a ton to do
Some people say it's super hard even on medium or easy, some say its super easy even on hardest difficulty. I think knowledge of how things work and what options there are make a huge difference in terms of challenge.
I can see the game feeling hard, no shame there. But if you know how D&D works, other tricks in this game in particular, it's not hard.... definitely not SUPER HARD that's just daft. Do not scare new players saying it's dark souls. Controller is very good to use in this game too. Switching between control methods is amazing and should be in every game if possible. Skipping Astarion Matty, really? Everything else I understand and forgive but why no Astarion?! 😂
@@djnorth2020 Agreed. Astarion is my favorite party member. I will be playing a run through as him when I finish with my Hulk-smash half orc barbarian.
As someone not familiar with D&D I had to check some guides on youtube to understand the basics - the tutorial in BG3 doesn't explain basic things like actions, bonus actions etc at all. After a couple of hours I had a battle against 4 enemies and it took me.. around 30 reloads before I finally managed to beat them. They hit superhard, I hardly did any damage to them.. not sure if I wasn't supposed to do that battle yet, battles after this one were much easier but yeah.. I'm on team 'This is hard' :)
@@MrEDET Agree that though there's tips and hints, it's immensely helpful to know the system. It certainly isn't a casual game even compared to Divinity Original Sin.
My buddy who doesn’t play dnd is usually a better gamer than me. But he was getting absolutely clapped on balanced while I was just chilling on Tactician lol I think you’re right a lot of 5e knowledge greatly helps
I'm a Matty fan from his Sacred Symbols x Defining Duke, which is why I chose your review-in-progress for this game over others. Keep up the great work.
Ive been having so much fun already and i havent even passed what ive done in beta lol In regards to the dialogue presentation, ive particularly liked talking to the dead. I get so excited when i see one of those green highlighted bodies and get to see that animation
And it's hilarious that you're expecting starfield to have anywhere near the same polish and depth. The only reason Starfield is going to sell is because of Bethesda fanboys. Whereas BG3 actually has soul, passion, true depth and player freedom.
Yeah, I'm really thankful for that cause I have the bare minimum knowledge of dnd lol. Do you know if you can switch difficulties at any time or do you have to keep it for the entire run?
People comparing this to Starfield are going to be surprised just how massively different they are. This is a hardcore RPG ... Starfield is much more casual friendly
lmfao that's your distinction between the 2. I got one better one is point and click character movement garbage WoW clone trying to be Diablo and the other is actually Video Game with real character control and laundry list of thing's you can do that people can't wait to play.....not even in the same atmosphere let alone league.
@@overheatedeskim054 "Wow clone trying to be Diablo" ........ Simply noticing that it has a top-down camera put you off the game I guess. If you had learned about the game at all you would know it has almost nothing in common with either of those games besides being an RPG.
I've been playing through this game quite a bit & tbh i love it, the gameplay, story & the characters are awsome & with the new epilogue added into the mix, Larian has done a phenominal job & it definately deserves game of the year. Lae'zel is one of my top favorites, she might come off as rude at the start, but trust me if you can stick with her till act 2 to act 3, she might just surprise you how deep her character development goes.
A very hyped game that exceeds expectations is a rare and beautiful thing, best crpg I've played by a long way. It feels so good to be in the game, that's so rare in these jaded days.
Go ahead and fanboy! I've played about 15 hours of the early access and one thing I constantly found myself doing is looking at the armor of character in cutscenes instead of their faces. It was blown away with the detail on the armor and clothes. It looked layered and not painted on like you see in most games. It's okay to geek out at the little stuff like facial features because they got all the little details right and it's impressive to see that much attention to the small things that makes the overall experience extremely enjoyable and immersive.
Already have this preordered on my PS5, can’t wait to play a game worth the asking price. Especially since we haven’t had a game like that for a while.
I agree it's great to see complete games like this , or Elden Ring that don't rely on Microtransactions! But Baldur's Gate or long games like Persona 5, Dragon Quest XI, etc. it's not always for everyone. I love those game but have difficulty finishing them, as they are TOO long! For some reason, with Dark Souls, Elden Rings, etc. that are long games , I did not have this dragging experience. I also love "in an out" games like Diablo IV, Path of Exile, Rogue-Like/Lite games like Dead Cells that don't ask this level of commitment :) I will probably play it at one point, but finishing it? not sure haha!
Thank you for the review. I'm waiting for the PS5 version. Even though I started with Baldur's Gate 1-2 many years ago, I like Dragon Age Origins more now. And just like you, while I do like Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, this game feels like the new Dragon Age I've always wanted
A super simple fix for the inventory is just have tabs with each type. I know you can put everything into backpacks and pouches, but tabs would be so much easier. Weapons, armor, keys, potions, materials, and alchemy. But an inventory issue in no way makes this game anything less than a 10/10. Such an amazimg game.
Baldur's gate 3 is everything I want for the rest of the year but i may take a couple of weeks off from the game to play Starfield when it launches but return soon.
@@overheatedeskim054 actually I think Starfield feels a bit fresh and I like to play fresh games but considering it's centered around vast exploration i don't think i can survive in it beyond couple of weeks
You need three games this year - BG3 - Starfield - and one shooter probably Remnant 2- and your bank and time will bless you. Set a schedule for each and you're nice. Family and friends will also appreciate you
My game of the year for sure, not sure if the industry will see it the same way but I already know it is personally. My buddies and I start our campaign August 7 and we couldn't be more hyped.
Thanks for the pre review. You always go way more in-depth with these than most people and in listening to what you said. If I had more free time I’d probably love this game but given the time I generally have to play it would not really work out to get. I’ll probably wait for a good sale and pick it up that way if I never totally have time to dig into it I won’t be out as much.
Dos2 is the game that got me into turned based games and I can’t thank them enough. I’m not always in the mood to sit down for hours at a time but when I can, the time just disappears because I’m so enthralled in what’s going on.
As someone who has done the shadow heart quest line…. She is hands down the best story line in the game they are all great but damn her story is so good
Wow so cool to get Unexpected Spanking. @Matty, that fight with the siblings you showed during your "Hard" commentary 2:58 Kicked my ass the first time. I was playing first run and decided to go OFF the path of story.
@@nightfears3005 did I say it was anything new? No I didn't. But baldurs gate 3 does go above and beyond what any other game has done before. It does it flawlessly.
Bummed out they are having trouble putting it out on xbox. I've been into D&D for 23 years. I didn't have a computer growing up so i never played the OG baldurs gate games. I'm so excited to get into a modern dnd video game 😄
Am a console gamer so have to wait another month to play this on PS5. Never played a BG or Divinty game before but from what I’ve seen and heard this game has got me super hyped. Got Remnant 2 to keep myself occupied till then, which itself is a fantastic game
My biggest issue so far after 20 hours was the hag, she wouldn't activate her flee. So I couldn't get the hair. She wouldn't run to her lair no matter how far back I went.
It seems like they've optimised the perfomance since the press builds went out. My GPU is below recommended specs, yet I am getting a stable 60FPS on High Graphics setting.
A quick note on frame rates: Ever since the Sega Master System (separate CPU/GPU) in the mid-80s, consoles and gaming PCs have almost all operated the CPU/DSP/SIMD hardware out of synch with the GPU/VRAM/rendering hardware. The result has been that the CPU must handle variable amounts of player input, device input, enemy AI, etc. So for most games, the frame rate ends up being the LOWER refresh rate at any given time between the CPU and GPU. So if you have a nVidia 9990RTX with 30GB that COULD draw 200fps with all features turned on at 2160p, but your CPU is a classic Pentium MMX running at 133MHz capable of handling its end at just four frames per second, then you're not going to see 200fps. Even the venerable Sega Genesis/Megadrive, when people overclocked the 7.67MHz 68000 CPU to 10 or even 12.5MHz would see games like Hard Drivin go from about 6fps to 12fps because the bottleneck ("critical path through the program/hardware") was the CPU. Or we used to say that the game was "CPU limited." AMD had been great about making upgraded CPUs where someone with an older Ryzen 2700 can upgrade to a Ryzen 5700 if downgrading resolution or detail no longer improves your frame rate. Having not played BG3 yet, it looks like it's consuming a lot of CPU and/or RAM when playing. Try closing everything else first or even using AMD Ryzen Master to UNDERclock by 5-10% to see if this impacts performance at all.
The lack of pre loading kinda sucks but that it my only complaint. I haven't been able to play since it's still downloading but, if early access was anything to go off of, I will love it.
Only played about 3 hrs last night, one of which was in the character creator, but it was fun. I didn't want to spend to much time playing since it was still early access, just wanted to get a feel for it. I'm looking forward to this being my main game till Starfield next month.
Divinity Original Sin 2 is my favorite game of all time (I was born in the late 80s and have been gaming since NES). I can't wait to try BG3 (although I don't think it'll have the same charm of DoS2).
I picked it up on Switch a while back.. I def wanna put some more time into it.. But I think this may be the one thats the cream of the crop.. I'm leaning towards it as potentially my Xmas game although the Star Ocean & Mario RPG remakes also look stellar
I loved dos2 but mate, bg3 is better. I've played so many hours on the early access alone, and it actually is better, somehow, I don't know how they did it. Buy it now and don't look back
I've been a skeptic about BG3. I did not enjoy Divinity Original Sin 1 or 2, but everythng (and I mean everything) you mentioned in this review was music to my ears. "Hard" Gameplay? Check Deep, intriguing, "BioWare-like" NPCs? Check Deep, "complicated" mechanics? Check Dice rolls for success instead of how good you are with the controller clicks? Check Good voice acting with emotive video? Check Even frame rate drops in busy areas, showing that priority went somewhere else than graphics felt like a bit of a plus. I was going to skip this game, despite being a HUGE BG1 and BG2 fan from way back, but after your review, I am officially hyped about this game. Thank you for that!
I played old-school D&D (BECMI) and my tastes (for tabletop) run to revival games like OSE, so I have no experience with or interest in tabletop 5E. Without any such experience, how accessible is the game?
It's certainly more accessible than reading through the core rulebooks for the tabletop version! Pretty much everything you do in this game revolves around your pool of resources (Main Action, Bonus Action, and Movement, with others potentially based on your choice of class.) Those are made apparent above your hotbar. But as far as stats, it's still pretty convoluted by nature, so you'll probably need to dive into that stuff if you want a better understanding of what's going on. Lots of micromanaging and different screens with boatloads of numbers, so if that's not your thing it might be a turn-off. As far as I've seen, the tutorials explain the basics, but leave a good amount for people to figure out on their own.
Unlike most games, there are few things underdone(can't think of one at this point), but some things are overdone. I love the contextual secondary NPC's, but I don't love the need to go into a complete cutscene to hear, "Boy things suck around here... if only someone would fix my problems", or "Yay, you fixed my problems. You are a god among men". I DO NOT need a fully rendered cutscene for that. If that cost more than 2 hours of development time, it wasn't worth it. I click on the NPC, I get the audio, "You fixed my problems. You are a god among men." That's brilliant.
It can't be that fucking good. Every TH-cam is saying the exact same things about it. I'm so motherfucking upset i wish this shit came out earlier this year instead of so late in the year I always piss my money away on the wrong game.
Sunk 120 hours into early access. (About 2 months ago so most patches were in effect) and I knew the gaming community was sleeping on a true wonder. Gonna download when I get home but I'm guessing you missed the secret in the abandoned chapel (may want to go back there) 😉
Being a Huge Bioware fan and not playing the original Baldurs gate is sacrilege. The orignial still holds up, and 2 is still one of the best RPGS ever made.
I've been following Larian studios since divine divinity came out. They had a few hiccups along the way imo mostly with beyond divinity and divinity 2 but overall they have created some great masterpieces and this new title seems like another to add to the list.
They are a prime example of refining your craft each time out and continuously improving your product. Yeah they are essentially just iterating in the same genre each time but why not do one thing and do it with amazing results?
i sett up planting powder barrels around, then oil as fuse, tossed my halfling at the dragon (gith patrool) and used "flame hands" i was screaming allahuakbaaar and then everything died.. best way to play is to carry barrels all the time, cause when there is gonna be a fight- you can remove the main boss b4 it even has time to react.
Good video Mr Matty. I would agree this game does have performance issues. But I was able to fix this for myself by switching from DirectX 11 to Vulkan on start-up. Doing this make fix those framerate issues you and/or others are having. But yes so far this is game of the year for me! Maybe game of the century. I have been waiting for a game exactly like this since forever. I hope it inspires other RPGs to incorporate the same amount of player agency that this game offers. It does also have a number of bugs but that is expected in a game of this scope.
Man I’m strongly considering this game. I’m not someone who’s ever played a game with this style of combat/gameplay, I come from games like Witcher 3, Skyrim, and soulsbornes. But I may give this top down style a chance because this game sounds really cool from these impressions.
If you're still on the fence, then go with the obvious. Watch a stream or 2 of people playing it, then decide. My own advice if you get it, get it for PC. There are games that cater to a controller based input, others not so much, this is in the "not so much" category hence PC version. The game is a BIG freakin' file size too, for a turn based strategy RPG (almost 90 GB YIKES).
@@Harrison11106 I have a decent gaming laptop, do you think I should be fine to run this game on it? Or is this a high spec performance required type game?
@@Harrison11106 This game actually has very, very good controller support. Much of the gameplay actually feels better on controller. Character movement and camera rotation, for example.
@@grantlawrence4600 That may be. I simply don't trust controllers for this kind of game (I've always been a KB & mouse guy for this kind of game). It helps that it's turn based to start with, but it's still a LOT of crap going on.
@@TheBasedBalkan That's the rub, for a turn based strategy game it has fairly high requirements (due mainly to the cinematics I'm sure). Do U know the 'can you run it?' site? Check that out, pretty sure it should say whether your laptop meets the requirements or not. I hope that it does for your sake.
Great balanced review. Worth noting there are three difficulty levels, a story mode level is in place to make it so you can not be so overwhelmed by the gameplay.
I want to play this with my friends like i did DOS2 but that took us years to finish twice because of how busy we are with life. My question is is it still fun solo.
Been doing the beta for 2yrs and if you know DnD 5e, the complexity isn't actually that bad, especially character creation. The graphics are definitely improved compared to the beta. I would also say give Lazael a chance because her journey is more complex than she is, she learns a lot about life during her story.
Ive never played any crpgs or actually dnd but I’ve always been interested in dnd and so far this game is difficult at least for a brand new player and super enjoyable I am definitely modding it after playing through it in a couple classes
Installed it last evening. Hadn't played the beta version. I was quite underwhelmed with the character editor though... Hard to make a pretty elf without morphing and those presets certainly didn't impress me... As for gameplay - well I just got off the ship so nothing much to say about that.
As someone who never played a Baldur's Gate or Divinity Original Sin game, I am eager to understand the game and DnD rules, the difficulty will make it more rewarding. The replayability factor seems INSANE, when you imagine all the options you could take, whether you will succeed with an option or not, whether you will be pulled into combat! Finally some good efing food.
You're in for a (very difficult) treat if you've not played any of Larian's other stuff heading into this.
Good to know what to expect! Sounds like we will need to pay attention and put the thinking caps on. Worth it to see the story and character arcs of our companions unfold 😀
WoW clone trying to be diablo. You click the screen and character moves there no free control.
Alrighty
@@overheatedeskim054lol this isn’t Diablo. Are you high?
You can also Mod the game. Modding is supported, and has been supported all through early access. It'll be a minute before mods catch up to the final release version, but, Nexus will have you covered for when they do.
Like I did with Divinity Original Sin 2, the "free Speak with Animals" trait will be the first I install. I'm not missing out on any of that great content because of my class xD
Yeah, Larian has always been very supportive of the mod community. Even going so far as to say that they are excited to see what modders come up with
It probably won't come even close to being like Baldur's gate 2's mods. Surprised me, the community made quests lines, companions and all kinds of expansive stuff. Probably easier to do back then.
Life convenience mods I can get behind, but the amount of content this game has to offer, to me atleast, makes most mods feel pointless, and they'll be nowhere near on par with the content on game due to the mocap and VA's
@@The_winds_of_change There are a few QOL improvement mods.
It's an incredibly vast game full of depth. one of the best from Larian
@@MrBeefTot187and here you are a 'MODERN GAMER' spreading your toxic ass here.
@@MrBeefTot187guarantee you this guy only plays one or two video game genres, is in his late 20s or older, and still plays on Xbox one/ps4
Full of depth lmao its full of click mouse here and the character will move here click it there and it will move there. Long and boring amazing how much rubbish you can cram into a game if you strip out all the mechanics for some WoW level control
@@bart3736Guarantee he was talking pure facts literally WoW clone trying to be Diablo
@@overheatedeskim054okay buzzy liberal scrunt boi
Something that makes the companions feel real is that you might not necessarily like them all as people, but they are all fully realized personalities that react as one would expect based on those personalities/motivations.
They definitely changed the first interactions with the companions. They are made being nicer... Knowing them from early access, this made me angry and disappointed
@@dominika3762 Not that much. Astarion a bit (many players seemed to not understand his initial behavior) and Shadowheart is less sassy or snarky. Otherwise, they are the same as EA (Laezel and Gale, for example, are not different).
@@Baraz_RedThey toned down Lae'zel's voice pitch a bit to make her sound not as harsh as in EA. She still says the same things but delivers them in a softer way
Agreed! At first I thought Shadowheart is a bit one note, however as I get to know her, she is actually complex and able to be vulnerable with you. I also played as a Cleric of Selune and it enhanced our interaction even more.
No more profound than what other rpgs accomplished. This is not the first game with such.
Getting a well-polished complete game that's not trying to nickel and dime you to death is something of a revelation today. Nice to see.
Something that may help with the framerate issues, I was having lots of issues when I was playing, even at the lowest settings I was having super low framerates and graphical concerns, until I turned off the "borderless window" and changed it to "full-screen". That pretty much fixed it right up for me. I was running ultra settings at around 60fps in most areas after I made that change. I don't know for others, but the borderless window was the default setting, so I did have to manually change it in the settings of the game. If you are experiencing graphics issues, I highly recommend trying out fullscreen over the window options if you haven't yet.
Thanks for the tip, I'll try this.
Seems to be kind of common in games i have played. Cant get to 4k res until going to full screen in them.
Oldest trick in the book 😉
I'm 100% OK with, and borderline planning on, spending hours and hours and hours in the starter areas....exploring everything extensively, taking my time to read everything. Another 3 hours till it finishes downloading and then peak immersion begins!
Me reading this comment three hours later: Good Night Sweet Prince.
Lucky you, you seem to know how the game works. I don't even know where the heck to start😂😂
Impressions so far?
I spent 6 hours in the starter area, Emerald Grove, running around looking and exploring, talking to NPCs, reading lore and really not even hitting level 3. There's a ton to do
It’s actually such a fun part of the experience - ask any D&D player :)
Some people say it's super hard even on medium or easy, some say its super easy even on hardest difficulty.
I think knowledge of how things work and what options there are make a huge difference in terms of challenge.
I can see the game feeling hard, no shame there. But if you know how D&D works, other tricks in this game in particular, it's not hard.... definitely not SUPER HARD that's just daft. Do not scare new players saying it's dark souls.
Controller is very good to use in this game too. Switching between control methods is amazing and should be in every game if possible.
Skipping Astarion Matty, really? Everything else I understand and forgive but why no Astarion?! 😂
@@djnorth2020 Agreed. Astarion is my favorite party member. I will be playing a run through as him when I finish with my Hulk-smash half orc barbarian.
As someone not familiar with D&D I had to check some guides on youtube to understand the basics - the tutorial in BG3 doesn't explain basic things like actions, bonus actions etc at all. After a couple of hours I had a battle against 4 enemies and it took me.. around 30 reloads before I finally managed to beat them. They hit superhard, I hardly did any damage to them.. not sure if I wasn't supposed to do that battle yet, battles after this one were much easier but yeah.. I'm on team 'This is hard' :)
@@MrEDET Agree that though there's tips and hints, it's immensely helpful to know the system. It certainly isn't a casual game even compared to Divinity Original Sin.
My buddy who doesn’t play dnd is usually a better gamer than me. But he was getting absolutely clapped on balanced while I was just chilling on Tactician lol I think you’re right a lot of 5e knowledge greatly helps
i love how you named your character Rufus Albarea! Trails is never far from your heart Matty!
HECK YEAH. Glad someone noticed ;)
@@MrMattyPlays Just finished Reverie with 101 hours playtime, i couldn't not notice hehe.
Nice was looking for this comment
I'm a Matty fan from his Sacred Symbols x Defining Duke, which is why I chose your review-in-progress for this game over others.
Keep up the great work.
Ive been having so much fun already and i havent even passed what ive done in beta lol
In regards to the dialogue presentation, ive particularly liked talking to the dead. I get so excited when i see one of those green highlighted bodies and get to see that animation
And it's hilarious that you're expecting starfield to have anywhere near the same polish and depth. The only reason Starfield is going to sell is because of Bethesda fanboys. Whereas BG3 actually has soul, passion, true depth and player freedom.
Please note which i don't think he covered in this video talking about the difficulty for new players. There is a easy mode.
Yeah, I'm really thankful for that cause I have the bare minimum knowledge of dnd lol. Do you know if you can switch difficulties at any time or do you have to keep it for the entire run?
As a huge DnD fan I'm really enjoying this game, so far it feels like a table top experience come to life.
People comparing this to Starfield are going to be surprised just how massively different they are. This is a hardcore RPG ... Starfield is much more casual friendly
I agree they are vastly different, I disagree that one is hardcore and the other casual.
lmfao that's your distinction between the 2. I got one better one is point and click character movement garbage WoW clone trying to be Diablo and the other is actually Video Game with real character control and laundry list of thing's you can do that people can't wait to play.....not even in the same atmosphere let alone league.
@@overheatedeskim054 You have to be trolling right? No one is this simple right?
One is turn based DND simulator, one is Bethesda RPG. They’re not the same game at all. Both can be good tho
@@overheatedeskim054 "Wow clone trying to be Diablo" ........ Simply noticing that it has a top-down camera put you off the game I guess. If you had learned about the game at all you would know it has almost nothing in common with either of those games besides being an RPG.
I've been playing through this game quite a bit & tbh i love it, the gameplay, story & the characters are awsome & with the new epilogue added into the mix, Larian has done a phenominal job & it definately deserves game of the year. Lae'zel is one of my top favorites, she might come off as rude at the start, but trust me if you can stick with her till act 2 to act 3, she might just surprise you how deep her character development goes.
I love the Dos 2 music at the beginning, also love the video, thanks Matty
Can’t wait to play this on my PS5 😮💨🔥
Same, me and my wife will play splitscreen
Man i feel the difficulty in my flesh, man i was spanked by a frog, a fucking FROG almost defeat me.
A very hyped game that exceeds expectations is a rare and beautiful thing, best crpg I've played by a long way. It feels so good to be in the game, that's so rare in these jaded days.
Go ahead and fanboy! I've played about 15 hours of the early access and one thing I constantly found myself doing is looking at the armor of character in cutscenes instead of their faces. It was blown away with the detail on the armor and clothes. It looked layered and not painted on like you see in most games.
It's okay to geek out at the little stuff like facial features because they got all the little details right and it's impressive to see that much attention to the small things that makes the overall experience extremely enjoyable and immersive.
Already have this preordered on my PS5, can’t wait to play a game worth the asking price. Especially since we haven’t had a game like that for a while.
Yes! We need to support ambitious games like this where they actually listen to feedback
Apparently it's so special, it's scaring other devs into saying a bunch of wild ish.
@@MrBeefTot187it’s not an rts it’s actually the opposite lol.
@@MrBeefTot187 Ah yes! Bizzard's famous RTS game since Star Craft 2! Baldur's Gate 3!
@michaelwenhold4016 what even is this comment?
@@MrBeefTot187 Huh? It isn't RTS lol. This is more like FF Tactics.
@@Wft-bu5zc Your trying to rationalize with someone who cannot tell the difference between RTS and RPG. Don't waste your time.
Had to do a double take when I saw "Rufus Albarea"... A man of quality!
Finally a video game worth the price!
I agree it's great to see complete games like this , or Elden Ring that don't rely on Microtransactions!
But Baldur's Gate or long games like Persona 5, Dragon Quest XI, etc. it's not always for everyone. I love those game but have difficulty finishing them, as they are TOO long! For some reason, with Dark Souls, Elden Rings, etc. that are long games , I did not have this dragging experience.
I also love "in an out" games like Diablo IV, Path of Exile, Rogue-Like/Lite games like Dead Cells that don't ask this level of commitment :)
I will probably play it at one point, but finishing it? not sure haha!
@MaigreMou I've learned just take your time and enjoy the ride and it'll finish itself eventually
Thank you for the review. I'm waiting for the PS5 version. Even though I started with Baldur's Gate 1-2 many years ago, I like Dragon Age Origins more now. And just like you, while I do like Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition, this game feels like the new Dragon Age I've always wanted
A super simple fix for the inventory is just have tabs with each type. I know you can put everything into backpacks and pouches, but tabs would be so much easier. Weapons, armor, keys, potions, materials, and alchemy. But an inventory issue in no way makes this game anything less than a 10/10. Such an amazimg game.
Baldur's gate 3 is everything I want for the rest of the year but i may take a couple of weeks off from the game to play Starfield when it launches but return soon.
You love the game so much you would abandoned it for another game release....interesting
@@overheatedeskim054everyone doesn’t think like you. Why are you acting like a child when other people are finding enjoyment in this
@@overheatedeskim054 I'm doing the same, not that strange
Doing the same here, I wanna beat both but Starfield I want to play a bit more on launch and then go back and forth
@@overheatedeskim054 actually I think Starfield feels a bit fresh and I like to play fresh games but considering it's centered around vast exploration i don't think i can survive in it beyond couple of weeks
A big smile came across my face when he said the spirit of bioware is alive and well!!
We can wait Matty 😅❤❤
You need three games this year - BG3 - Starfield - and one shooter probably Remnant 2- and your bank and time will bless you. Set a schedule for each and you're nice.
Family and friends will also appreciate you
💯
Armored Core is way more hype than Remnant
I like Karlach, too - but my "baby" is Shadowheart :) (who is a lot more useful now that I've re-specced her into a light-domain cleric!)
i am so so excited to get started with this!!!
Dude Rufus Albarea gave me such a big smile. I am getting BG3 to cope with Reverie ending.
I just got into D&D at the end of last year. This is making me want to buy the game. To give me reference for the day I try the DM role.
Haha, when I read Rufus Albarea, I tripped a little in my head. Nice Trails reference.
I didn't know Rufus Albarea was in Baldurs Gate.. The man is everywhere!
I see your character's name ;) Trying to finish Reverie before this banger drops
I was surprised how much better the textures are in the finished product. Played about 75hrs of early release and am digging all the changes so far.
Thank you for your first impressions video Matt!
What i love about this game is if you dont find withers, thats it, you dont find him. Just such a great game.
My game of the year for sure, not sure if the industry will see it the same way but I already know it is personally. My buddies and I start our campaign August 7 and we couldn't be more hyped.
Tears of the Kingdom will pretty clearly be game of the year among the critics lol
Thanks for the pre review. You always go way more in-depth with these than most people and in listening to what you said. If I had more free time I’d probably love this game but given the time I generally have to play it would not really work out to get. I’ll probably wait for a good sale and pick it up that way if I never totally have time to dig into it I won’t be out as much.
Dos2 is the game that got me into turned based games and I can’t thank them enough. I’m not always in the mood to sit down for hours at a time but when I can, the time just disappears because I’m so enthralled in what’s going on.
I played the first 2 multiple times way back when they first came out.
Seriously looking forward to this.
Can't wait for this to be released on PS5
As someone who has done the shadow heart quest line…. She is hands down the best story line in the game they are all great but damn her story is so good
Idk how im gonna divide by time between Starfield and BG3 with a friend. Plus Armored Core VI will not have been out for long lol
Wow so cool to get Unexpected Spanking. @Matty, that fight with the siblings you showed during your "Hard" commentary 2:58 Kicked my ass the first time. I was playing first run and decided to go OFF the path of story.
im tryn smash the first comp u meet after the ship crashes wish me luck
Dude BG3 is probably the best rpg I've ever played. I love that literally every decision feels like it has a major impact on the story.
Sure
Bizarre reply
Lol
@@nightfears3005 did I say it was anything new? No I didn't. But baldurs gate 3 does go above and beyond what any other game has done before. It does it flawlessly.
@@nightfears3005 So you only playedMass Effect 3 and now think you're an expert. Why am I not shocked at your ignorance?
Baldur's Gate 3 is the game of the year, nothing else can even come close, and it is one of the greatest games of all time.
Bummed out they are having trouble putting it out on xbox. I've been into D&D for 23 years. I didn't have a computer growing up so i never played the OG baldurs gate games. I'm so excited to get into a modern dnd video game 😄
Originals I played on Play Station 2 I believe.
@tomthumb3880 damn all these years, I thought it was only on PC back then 🤣
@@glenndelucia8877 I played command and conquer on PC. Fun stuff.
They should ask 343 why they couldn't get splitscreen to work for Halo Infinite. It might expedite development.
Am a console gamer so have to wait another month to play this on PS5. Never played a BG or Divinty game before but from what I’ve seen and heard this game has got me super hyped. Got Remnant 2 to keep myself occupied till then, which itself is a fantastic game
My biggest issue so far after 20 hours was the hag, she wouldn't activate her flee. So I couldn't get the hair. She wouldn't run to her lair no matter how far back I went.
Just Love for Larian and there Games!!
Ive been playing it on my laptop! And it runs amazingly! Shocking!
It seems like they've optimised the perfomance since the press builds went out. My GPU is below recommended specs, yet I am getting a stable 60FPS on High Graphics setting.
A quick note on frame rates: Ever since the Sega Master System (separate CPU/GPU) in the mid-80s, consoles and gaming PCs have almost all operated the CPU/DSP/SIMD hardware out of synch with the GPU/VRAM/rendering hardware. The result has been that the CPU must handle variable amounts of player input, device input, enemy AI, etc. So for most games, the frame rate ends up being the LOWER refresh rate at any given time between the CPU and GPU. So if you have a nVidia 9990RTX with 30GB that COULD draw 200fps with all features turned on at 2160p, but your CPU is a classic Pentium MMX running at 133MHz capable of handling its end at just four frames per second, then you're not going to see 200fps.
Even the venerable Sega Genesis/Megadrive, when people overclocked the 7.67MHz 68000 CPU to 10 or even 12.5MHz would see games like Hard Drivin go from about 6fps to 12fps because the bottleneck ("critical path through the program/hardware") was the CPU. Or we used to say that the game was "CPU limited." AMD had been great about making upgraded CPUs where someone with an older Ryzen 2700 can upgrade to a Ryzen 5700 if downgrading resolution or detail no longer improves your frame rate.
Having not played BG3 yet, it looks like it's consuming a lot of CPU and/or RAM when playing. Try closing everything else first or even using AMD Ryzen Master to UNDERclock by 5-10% to see if this impacts performance at all.
So if this is your honest opinion does this mean sometimes you're not honest?
Everyone lie 😭
Not how that works not everything is binary guy
That brain works different
Bro’s never heard a figure of speech before
Gottem
The lack of pre loading kinda sucks but that it my only complaint. I haven't been able to play since it's still downloading but, if early access was anything to go off of, I will love it.
Starfield and Baldur's Gate 3? Absolute cinema. We're eating good Matthew
Baldur's Gate III will win game of the year
@victory7763 Yea, in my opinion, it's between Starfield and Baldur's Gate.
Only played about 3 hrs last night, one of which was in the character creator, but it was fun. I didn't want to spend to much time playing since it was still early access, just wanted to get a feel for it. I'm looking forward to this being my main game till Starfield next month.
Divinity Original Sin 2 is my favorite game of all time (I was born in the late 80s and have been gaming since NES). I can't wait to try BG3 (although I don't think it'll have the same charm of DoS2).
I picked it up on Switch a while back.. I def wanna put some more time into it.. But I think this may be the one thats the cream of the crop.. I'm leaning towards it as potentially my Xmas game although the Star Ocean & Mario RPG remakes also look stellar
I loved dos2 but mate, bg3 is better. I've played so many hours on the early access alone, and it actually is better, somehow, I don't know how they did it. Buy it now and don't look back
@@Butterfliesandzebras My gut tells me both are keepers.. I have a penchant for collecting the good stuff
I've been a skeptic about BG3. I did not enjoy Divinity Original Sin 1 or 2, but everythng (and I mean everything) you mentioned in this review was music to my ears.
"Hard" Gameplay? Check
Deep, intriguing, "BioWare-like" NPCs? Check
Deep, "complicated" mechanics? Check
Dice rolls for success instead of how good you are with the controller clicks? Check
Good voice acting with emotive video? Check
Even frame rate drops in busy areas, showing that priority went somewhere else than graphics felt like a bit of a plus.
I was going to skip this game, despite being a HUGE BG1 and BG2 fan from way back, but after your review, I am officially hyped about this game. Thank you for that!
I got to end of divinity 2 and stopped because the puzzle before the last boss was trash. I hope this one is better
I played old-school D&D (BECMI) and my tastes (for tabletop) run to revival games like OSE, so I have no experience with or interest in tabletop 5E. Without any such experience, how accessible is the game?
It's certainly more accessible than reading through the core rulebooks for the tabletop version! Pretty much everything you do in this game revolves around your pool of resources (Main Action, Bonus Action, and Movement, with others potentially based on your choice of class.) Those are made apparent above your hotbar.
But as far as stats, it's still pretty convoluted by nature, so you'll probably need to dive into that stuff if you want a better understanding of what's going on. Lots of micromanaging and different screens with boatloads of numbers, so if that's not your thing it might be a turn-off. As far as I've seen, the tutorials explain the basics, but leave a good amount for people to figure out on their own.
After 20 years, can't believe. There is only Baldur's Gate it's the main reason why are we 25+ years in gaming more than 6h/day
the check system reminds me of those Choose Your Own Adventure books
Does the game allow me to cast Magic Missile to attack the darkness though?
It's easily beyond game of the year. It's one of the greatest games ever produced easily.
The explorer mode has been a lot of fun and not very difficult
This could potentially be the game that finally knocks Dragon Age: Origins off of my top spot for all-time favourite game
Unlike most games, there are few things underdone(can't think of one at this point), but some things are overdone. I love the contextual secondary NPC's, but I don't love the need to go into a complete cutscene to hear, "Boy things suck around here... if only someone would fix my problems", or "Yay, you fixed my problems. You are a god among men". I DO NOT need a fully rendered cutscene for that. If that cost more than 2 hours of development time, it wasn't worth it. I click on the NPC, I get the audio, "You fixed my problems. You are a god among men." That's brilliant.
Never played a game where I saved so much before doing anything.
I cant wait to play this game. I hope it runs good on the Playstation 5 when it comes out
Why do you have a picture of the PS5 cover? That's a bit misleading since your playing the PC version
Doesn't make a difference tbh. He's still talking about the game.
Coming out on Ps5 either way
lookin forward to this one 80 percent downloaded. Will be on it by tonight 🤙
It can't be that fucking good. Every TH-cam is saying the exact same things about it. I'm so motherfucking upset i wish this shit came out earlier this year instead of so late in the year I always piss my money away on the wrong game.
Sunk 120 hours into early access. (About 2 months ago so most patches were in effect) and I knew the gaming community was sleeping on a true wonder. Gonna download when I get home but I'm guessing you missed the secret in the abandoned chapel (may want to go back there) 😉
Are you talking about the room with all the traps? Where you get a spear from the tomb
Well, we slept because we wanted a finished product. And they delivered. More than half a million active players at the moment on steam only. :)
Your characters name is Rufus Albarea? Love it!
Love the DOS2 music in the video! (Not sarcasm)
Being a Huge Bioware fan and not playing the original Baldurs gate is sacrilege. The orignial still holds up, and 2 is still one of the best RPGS ever made.
I've been following Larian studios since divine divinity came out. They had a few hiccups along the way imo mostly with beyond divinity and divinity 2 but overall they have created some great masterpieces and this new title seems like another to add to the list.
Divinity 2 was better than the first one in every way lol.
@@FrakBeats Yeah i didn't like the first game or beyond divinity that much, Divinity 2 was really good though.
@@Spr1ggan87 Same.
@@FrakBeats In my opinion, and it doesn't mean I didn't enjoy divinity 2.
They are a prime example of refining your craft each time out and continuously improving your product. Yeah they are essentially just iterating in the same genre each time but why not do one thing and do it with amazing results?
Just finished downloading it and cant wait to hop on after work
i sett up planting powder barrels around, then oil as fuse,
tossed my halfling at the dragon (gith patrool) and used "flame hands"
i was screaming allahuakbaaar and then everything died..
best way to play is to carry barrels all the time, cause when there is gonna be a fight-
you can remove the main boss b4 it even has time to react.
Good video Mr Matty. I would agree this game does have performance issues. But I was able to fix this for myself by switching from DirectX 11 to Vulkan on start-up. Doing this make fix those framerate issues you and/or others are having. But yes so far this is game of the year for me! Maybe game of the century. I have been waiting for a game exactly like this since forever. I hope it inspires other RPGs to incorporate the same amount of player agency that this game offers. It does also have a number of bugs but that is expected in a game of this scope.
rufus albarea? we got a legend of heroes fan here, nice to see!
Can't wait for my new pc to play this.
Man I’m strongly considering this game. I’m not someone who’s ever played a game with this style of combat/gameplay, I come from games like Witcher 3, Skyrim, and soulsbornes. But I may give this top down style a chance because this game sounds really cool from these impressions.
If you're still on the fence, then go with the obvious. Watch a stream or 2 of people playing it, then decide. My own advice if you get it, get it for PC. There are games that cater to a controller based input, others not so much, this is in the "not so much" category hence PC version. The game is a BIG freakin' file size too, for a turn based strategy RPG (almost 90 GB YIKES).
@@Harrison11106 I have a decent gaming laptop, do you think I should be fine to run this game on it? Or is this a high spec performance required type game?
@@Harrison11106 This game actually has very, very good controller support. Much of the gameplay actually feels better on controller. Character movement and camera rotation, for example.
@@grantlawrence4600 That may be. I simply don't trust controllers for this kind of game (I've always been a KB & mouse guy for this kind of game). It helps that it's turn based to start with, but it's still a LOT of crap going on.
@@TheBasedBalkan That's the rub, for a turn based strategy game it has fairly high requirements (due mainly to the cinematics I'm sure). Do U know the 'can you run it?' site? Check that out, pretty sure it should say whether your laptop meets the requirements or not. I hope that it does for your sake.
Male pattern baldness is brutal in this game! 😂
I’ve never been big on turn-based combat, but might have to give this one a try!
Nice video. Chapters next time please? 🙂
I was slightly bored by divinity ngl. It was good but idk. Baldurs gate is dnd gold tho i will love it
About performance, what you mention it looking not as GPU problem, but CPUI/RAM problem, did you monitor this?
Great balanced review. Worth noting there are three difficulty levels, a story mode level is in place to make it so you can not be so overwhelmed by the gameplay.
What’s funny is even on story mode I was having trouble but I did some reading and restarted with a better class so I’ll see how it goes now
I want to play this with my friends like i did DOS2 but that took us years to finish twice because of how busy we are with life. My question is is it still fun solo.
It’s made for solo play. Larian did well integrating multiplayer but it was written as a single player game.
@@ReplicatorFifth That doesn't sound right.
Been doing the beta for 2yrs and if you know DnD 5e, the complexity isn't actually that bad, especially character creation. The graphics are definitely improved compared to the beta. I would also say give Lazael a chance because her journey is more complex than she is, she learns a lot about life during her story.
Ive never played any crpgs or actually dnd but I’ve always been interested in dnd and so far this game is difficult at least for a brand new player and super enjoyable I am definitely modding it after playing through it in a couple classes
Cant believe I have to wait until September for this. It looks fucking fantastic
Installed it last evening. Hadn't played the beta version. I was quite underwhelmed with the character editor though... Hard to make a pretty elf without morphing and those presets certainly didn't impress me... As for gameplay - well I just got off the ship so nothing much to say about that.