• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Baldur's Gate III | Review Thread

What scores do you think Baldur's Gate 3 will get?

  • 50-55%

    Votes: 5 1.3%
  • 55-60%

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • 60-65%

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • 65-70%

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • 70-75%

    Votes: 1 0.3%
  • 75-80%

    Votes: 4 1.0%
  • 80-85%

    Votes: 21 5.5%
  • 85-90%

    Votes: 82 21.5%
  • 90-95%

    Votes: 194 50.8%
  • 95-100%

    Votes: 73 19.1%

  • Total voters
    382
  • Poll closed .

Guilty_AI

Member
Hmm, I didn't play the EA at all but didn't really have many issues yet. I'm ~40 hours in (though there's a decent amount of AFK time in there where I left the game running) and just made it to A2. I was pretty thorough with A1 (I think, at least - almost level 7 when I left so it feels like I hit most of the big stuff) and the worst bug I've had is the UI disappearing in battles (rectified with quick save/quick load).

that's unfortunate to here though, up to this point the game is an easy 9.5-10/10 for me. Larian games do tend to trail off a bit in the back half though.
So far, every opinion (apart from that user) i heard of act 2 was very positive, either as good or better than act 1, both from reviewers who got a code and players. Only thing that seems more of a consesus is that act 3 is somewhat buggy, though also really packed with content and very dense.
 
Last edited:

Sleepwalker

Member
I did have a bug in our coop game where in the cutscene when you fall from the ship and get saved, the character was T posing all the way while falling down and just landed on his feet. It was funny, didn't really care.
 
Last edited:

Draugoth

Gold Member
I am in act 2 currently and I genuinely don't believe that the reviewers played beyond the EA content...
Because holy shit this game is a buggy mess and unpolished past EA, especially towards the end of act 1 and then it gets worse in act 2.
It's starting to really get in the way of trying to enjoy the story imo ( which I do really like ).

Don't want to be that guy but Starfield is going to be worse, trust me

Draugoth Draugoth , I guess we need an updated first post. Insane.

Done
 

OmegaSupreme

advanced basic bitch
97? That's Elden Ring territory now. Good luck to any other game releasing this year.

Star Trek Applause GIF
 

Guilty_AI

Member
So i was checking user reviews on metacritic. Vast majority are positive, with a few negative ones complaining its not enough like older Baldurs Gates, more or less what i expected... but then i came across these:

jJrQUMZ.png

CO027cN.png


What. Bots? Sarcasm? Did they mispress the score number?
 
Last edited:

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
But it’s only 14 reviews? Isn’t it normally like 80-something before there’s a consensus
Nah there are a number of games in that list that are in that ballpark, mostly very old games like Zelda OoT for which there would be few reviews coming from the publications Metacritic tracks. But also some newer indies like Disco Elysium.

Obviously Baldur's Gate III will have more reviews pouring in over the coming days and weeks and its score may change. But it doesn't have to in order to appear on MC's all time list.
 
Last edited:

damidu

Member
wow. so this already stole “the wrpg of the year” accolade from starfield i guess, not seeing it scoring anywhere near 97

kudos to ms for making this a console exclusive for sony too.
6 dimensional chess move as usual
 
Last edited:

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
wow. so this already stole “the wrpg of the year” accolade from starfield i guess, not seeing it scoring anywhere near 97

kudos to ms for making this a console exclusive for sony too.
6 dimensional chess
I doubt Starfield will get a 97+, but I am sure it will reach a much larger audience and likely garner 90+ on MC which will still make it a hot contender for big-stage GOTY awards.
 

Ginzeen

Banned
I am in act 2 currently and I genuinely don't believe that the reviewers played beyond the EA content...
Because holy shit this game is a buggy mess and unpolished past EA, especially towards the end of act 1 and then it gets worse in act 2.
It's starting to really get in the way of trying to enjoy the story imo ( which I do really like ).

It's hard to really talk about because I would have to get into spoilers but there's even just minor things that makes it feel unpolished like character portraits not changing and reflecting how they look currently.
And it really doesn't feel play-tested, you can do really obvious and common sense decisions how to approach tasks and the game kinda just breaks or feels like they never thought of you doing what you're doing.
I have a really powerful PC too and the performance is quite bad in the highly crowded areas you get to in act 2, and the ai became a complete trainwreck post the EA content it legit has no idea how to respond and very often just does nothing for 30 sec before ending its turn.
The voice acting is also weird sometimes later into the game, the mixing is different between lines sometimes ( sounds like it was recorded into a headset mic ) and characters moods jump back and forth suddenly as if it's playing the wrong combinations.
The fact I haven't heard any reviewer mention the voice acting thing is a give-away imo because it's impossible to miss and only started happening post EA.

I get that this is a massive game but I really think the game gets noticeably jankier and feels unfinished and unpolished the problem is that it probably takes like 30 hours or something for most people to get there ( maybe even longer for many ), act 1 is really long.
The game really needed more time in the oven I have no idea how people could play beyond the EA and still give it nothing but praise there's no way people didn't run into the same issues I am having because it's quite constant and the dip in quality is very noticeable.

It's especially apparent when I hear people say '' it's amazing best game in a long time '' and then in the next breath they say they've played like 2-3 hours or something or are still in act 1.
im 65 hours in and im not even half way done with Act 3. I encountered minor bugs but nothing game breaking.
 
Holy crap, at 97 on Meta, others 10/10 from IGN Portugal, Gfinity and Guardian.
It's not exactly many reviews, 14 is a very low number given most games have 50 or more. Given the law of averages the more reviews the lower the score. For instance Elden Ring is rated 96 with 19 reviews on Xbox but 94 on PC with 60 reviews.
 

V1LÆM

Gold Member
I'd guess it's going to get 97-98.
Fuck yeah I was right!

2nd highest rated game of all time on PC!

it deserves #1. How the fuck is Disco Elysium the best game lmao.

Great reception for Larian, good for them. Divinity deserved more love when it was released, hopefully this will compensate them.
What do you mean? the older Divinity games or Original Sin games? Because they got a lot of love…

Those games being so good is probably the reason Larian landed Baldurs Gate.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

STARSBarry

Gold Member
So i was checking user reviews on metacritic. Vast majority are positive, with a few negative ones complaining its not enough like older Baldurs Gates, more or less what i expected... but then i came across these:

jJrQUMZ.png

CO027cN.png


What. Bots? Sarcasm? Did they mispress the score number?
No the game is just so good that it gets a +1 to initiative and since no 11/10 exists it loops back round to 0/10.

Meta critic should have updated the scores to allow for a natural 20/10
 

Skifi28

Member
So i was checking user reviews on metacritic. Vast majority are positive, with a few negative ones complaining its not enough like older Baldurs Gates, more or less what i expected... but then i came across these:

jJrQUMZ.png

CO027cN.png


What. Bots? Sarcasm? Did they mispress the score number?
Probably rolled a d10 to decide the score while having a - 1 intelligence bonus. The dice giveth and the dice taketh away.
 

Ivory Samoan

Gold Member
Like as stoked as I am for BG3, and I am, 50 hours deep, loving every second, solid 9.8 for me thus far.....I kind of feel for Todd at al, this is going to create a comparison they probably weren't banking on, I can't see Starfield getting near these scores.

Happy af to be proved wrong though, pls based (again?) Bethesda. lol.
 

peish

Member
Like as stoked as I am for BG3, and I am, 50 hours deep, loving every second, solid 9.8 for me thus far.....I kind of feel for Todd at al, this is going to create a comparison they probably weren't banking on, I can't see Starfield getting near these scores.

Happy af to be proved wrong though, pls based (again?) Bethesda. lol.

doubt starfield still feels fresh by the 50 hour mark. you will be just farming to reach that BGS god mode. routine vs curated experience is how i see SF vs BG3 playing out for their endgame
 

mxbison

Member
So i was checking user reviews on metacritic. Vast majority are positive, with a few negative ones complaining its not enough like older Baldurs Gates, more or less what i expected... but then i came across these:

jJrQUMZ.png

CO027cN.png


What. Bots? Sarcasm? Did they mispress the score number?

The page shows a selection (or the latest) highest and lowest reviews. Since there are so many 10's they rate 0 so they get attention and people can see the comment.


Finished Act 1 and right now I'm sitting at 9/10.

Combat hasn't been that exciting for me compared to some of my favorite turn based games, but I can see that changing with getting more options at higher levels.

Also lacking some polish here and there. Like a character talking normal to you and in the next moment a trigger from an event before comes up and suddenly they are mad, then back to normal.

Overall it's a great experience though and I'm looking forward to the rest of it. Can definitely see this ending up as a 10/10 for me and doing more playthroughs.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
doubt starfield still feels fresh by the 50 hour mark. you will be just farming to reach that BGS god mode. routine vs curated experience is how i see SF vs BG3 playing out for their endgame.

Also player freedom, for example I can walk around a town in Baldurs gate III and see a child I could strike up a conversation, I can then pull out a great sword and slaughter them.

I doubt starfield is going to let people do that
 

Caio

Member
It's not exactly many reviews, 14 is a very low number given most games have 50 or more. Given the law of averages the more reviews the lower the score. For instance Elden Ring is rated 96 with 19 reviews on Xbox but 94 on PC with 60 reviews.
Yep, not so many reviews so far, but it appears this could end very well, and it got 10 from the reviewers I do care :)
When the total reviews will be around 50-60, the score will be much more consistent.
 

peish

Member
Also player freedom, for example I can walk around a town in Baldurs gate III and see a child I could strike up a conversation, I can then pull out a great sword and slaughter them.

I doubt starfield is going to let people do that

tbf to SF, killing children is more a taboo than gameplay decision.

my concerns with SF is how will they make each curated planets feels fresh and big? without inteligent alien lifeforms to interact? how much scifi ideas are presented?

it's a big ask to keep me hook for 50 hours, playing as a powerful space jesus is not enough
 

Gorgon

Member
tbf to SF, killing children is more a taboo than gameplay decision.

my concerns with SF is how will they make each curated planets feels fresh and big? without inteligent alien lifeforms to interact? how much scifi ideas are presented?

it's a big ask to keep me hook for 50 hours, playing as a powerful space jesus is not enough

Not to get into a Starfield discussion, since this thread is not about SF, but my worry about SF is that the game will make you grind for ore across multiple planets etc and then force you into base-building mode, and the whole thing may end up feeling like a chore. Hope I'm wrong.
 
Last edited:

RyRy93

Member
It's not exactly many reviews, 14 is a very low number given most games have 50 or more. Given the law of averages the more reviews the lower the score. For instance Elden Ring is rated 96 with 19 reviews on Xbox but 94 on PC with 60 reviews.
Multiplats on Xbox are often higher, I always put it down to Xbox review sites having lower standards due to a poor first party output over the last decade.
 
Last edited:

AlphaMale

Member
Quick question..
Can I play couch co-op on PS5 while also multiplayer with someone online?
(Borderlands 3 does this)
 

Caio

Member
""Baldur’s Gate 3 is a watershed moment for RPGs and gaming. It represents one of the closest approximations of true freedom, creativity, and player choice available, evolving concepts and mechanics that have been tinkered with for decades. Using Dungeons & Dragons as its catalyst, Larian has honored the past and forged a new future for a genre that has allowed increased agency for players to put their thoughts, feelings, hopes, and wants inside of a digital realm and live. Like every other player, my experience with Baldur’s Gate 3 is significantly anecdotal, ripe with unique stories about what happened to me that would take hours to share. But why listen to me when you can become lost in one of the most richly beautiful worlds ever created and make up your own tale ?""

10/10 from Digital Chumps.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Draugoth Draugoth

Open critic is averaging 96/100 now... it appears the scores are only increasing.

I never dreamed the game would be this fantastic when paid for early access, but it truly is turned into something game changing.
 
Last edited:

Caio

Member
Baldur's Gate 3 is a reminder of why we love RPGs : 10/10
""What really makes combat shine, however, brings us back to the incredible writing and narrative design team. Almost every fight has context and it’s rare that you stumble into one just because. There’s a little story behind almost every character and creature in the game, and that makes you care more about every seemingly innocuous encounter. It’s genius. Baldur’s Gate 3 is exactly what we’ve been missing and the best game of 2023 so far.""
 

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
Also player freedom, for example I can walk around a town in Baldurs gate III and see a child I could strike up a conversation, I can then pull out a great sword and slaughter them.

I doubt starfield is going to let people do that

Unlikely, but mods can correct all of that. Skyrim was the same way, when you hit a kid, they just run and are invincible lol One of the first mods I gave a fuck about was the killable children lol

Open City Mod
Khajiit Children
Killable Children
Elderly people
Forest Mod
larger population NPC mod etc


The choice for kids to be killable in Baldur's Gate 3 is indeed a culture thing, a taboo thing if you will.

tbf to SF, killing children is more a taboo than gameplay decision.

Correct.

I never understood the issue with this. Its a fake video game already rated M. Who the fuck cares? lol
 
Top Bottom