Balder's Gate 3

⭐7/10

So first off, I didn't finish this game. BUT I did spend 70 hours in it, according to my file, so I feel I have some right to have an opinion. I got to part 2 of 4, and while I liked this game, I just wasn't ready to put another 70 into it. 

I feel like this review will be mostly negative, and that's only because this game has been so wildly popular that I feel like I need to explain myself for not finishing. But let's start with some positives:

First, this is the ultimate experience for deep rpg lovers. You can get absolutely lost customizing your party, your stats, your abilities, your gear. This game offers total freedom in how you want to build your squad and how you want to interact with them. The way you take on combat, the way you have your story unfold -- it's just so open in a way that is unmatched in video games. 

I also think the writing is as good as advertised. From major story beats to interactions with townspeople, you can tell every line was written with care and love. That's impressive cuz there is A LOT of writing in this game. Reams and reams a reams. 

And, well, I guess that leads to the negatives... The primary being that this game is simply too big, and in my time, I didn't love the pacing. I was 70 hours in, and the story seemed super tame. I mean think of the emotions I could have felt had I instead watched Godzilla 35 times! I dunno, I guess I just hadn't felt anything from the main story at that point. Truly, in that amount of time, I think 60 of those hours were spent in menus reading item descriptions or ability effects. Let's get moving!

I think my issue with stories like this, where you have choice, is that I get way too much choice paralysis. I was constantly reloading old saves or googling what choices led to what outcomes. I know that's a normal part of the experience, but I don't love it, and I also hate that certain bad choices that you don't really understand can totally ruin future story beats. I found I was always second guessing every choice I made. 

That also manifested in combat or other moments. I liked the combat, but also it was hard to tell who to kill, and if I sneak attack someone but actually they were a nuanced baddie with a story of their own... Well it's too late! Because I stabbed you already! I just found it consistently frustrating. 

I have other minor complaints, so I'll just run through them because this is getting long. I don't think this game looks great, and the performance was pretty janky on console. The combat is too fiddly and i felt like the risk/reward always led me towards safe damaging options rather than creative solutions. While the writing is good and sharp, I found the actual storytelling to be... Boring? I want to experience stories, not just hear about them! Aaaaand i was tired of being sexually harassed by every character I just wanted to be nice to. 

Okay that's it. Honestly i hesitate to say anything too harsh because I truly feel one day I'll come back to it and call it a masterpiece. I recognize this game is amazing. But I do think it's got some serious flaws, as well as just being the wrong game at the wrong time.