Charles “TTV Karlbannsonr” Phillips

I love this game! I’ve played BG 1 & 2 along with the expansions. I’ve probably bought them half a dozen times on various releases / systems. BG3, at the moment, has few ties to the original two. The developers have stated that the Dead 3 are at the center. We will see connections. Larian Studios did a fantastic job with Divinity 1 & 2, and they know how to do early access. I’ve been a part of the Larian forums. They have ABSOLUTELY listened to the comments/issues/suggestions of the community. The game closely follows 5th Edition D&D. That means if you don’t like turn-based combat, if you don’t like class-based abilities, and if you like having cool down meters…..this game might not be up you alley. The things Larian has done that deviate from 5E are things that need to be done in order to program a video game (such as summoning spells that let you choose from hundreds of options at a D&D table), or just make sense for a computer game that don’t happen at the table (like a Druid not having anyone that can go up that ladder for them because they’re a badger right now). There are still things that need to be fixed, rules that need to line up better, missing spells, missing classes, missing subclasses, etc. Here’s the thing though, IT’S EARLY ACCESS! Those things WILL be in the full release of the game. If you don’t want to play without those things….WAIT. Larian Studies have said from the very beginning to not buy the Early Access version if you don’t want bugs and/or missing features. They aren’t trying to rob you…..they’re trying to help you. The graphics are fantastic, the spell flair they added is perfect, the dialogue is robust, the attention to detail (down to animating and providing dialogue for random squirrels!) is astounding, and the amount of work Larian is putting into this title is staggering. If you see a 1-star review, please understand that the majority of complaints are easily addressed with 3 words: IT’S EARLY ACCESS! People generally don’t understand what that means. Most folks with genuine worthwhile complaints rate the game highly, and Larian actually wants to hear those complaints. Some of them will end up being part of patches. Head over to their BG3 Forum and let them know. I bought the Early Access on Stadia so I don’t have to download a ton of patches along the way. I can also play from pert’near everywhere. Once the full release drops, I plan on spending another $60 on this title so I can manipulate display settings. Amazing job, Larian Studios