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Brian 18 Dec @ 4:48pm
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So, is this game just extremely overrated?
In terms of the writing (the terrible 5e rules system is a whole other discussion), I'm not very far in and already the character introductions and pacing of the story are pretty awful. First off, everything about every character (with a few exceptions) is dumped on the player right from the get-go. This means that the whole "tadpole in your head" idea is just 1 of numerous wacky problems you are faced with. You don't even really have any time to sit with it before you also have to deal with "I need to eat magic junk!" and "I'm a vampire AND I have a tadpole in my head!" and "I just got turned into a devil, and I have a tadpole in my head too!" From a writing standpoint, this is a mess. The only character that seems to be paced correctly is Shadowheart, whose personal mystery is slow-walked until later. If the writers knew what they were doing, none of the companion plot-lines would start until after you had a much better handle on the tadpole situation. That way, you can actually get to know them as people before they become just another problem for you to keep track of.

For instance, as my wife and I were playing, we are barely done exploring the first refugee encampment/town when Wyll gets turned into a devil. Now, it happened SO quickly into the game that we were both like "Wait, was he secretly a tiefling and now it's just revealed? Is this a punishment or his true nature?" You don't get enough time with Wyll the human before you have to deal with Wyll the half-devil. So we were both like "Okay, I guess he's a devil now...we have no idea what that means or why it matters to anything. Especially when we are surrounded by devil-looking characters." It's like the game can't take its time at all.

Juxtapose this to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, in which your companions' stories all play out slowly over the course of the whole game. At first you just have some people who are trying to help you fight a demon invasion. You only start to get little bits and pieces about who they really are after whole chapters go by. That way, when revelations are discovered, it's actually shocking, rather than just "Okay, this person I just meant has to eat magic...cool I guess."

Anyway, this is just first impressions but I seriously don't understand so far why people think this is a well-written game.
Last edited by Brian; 18 Dec @ 4:48pm
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Showing 1-15 of 287 comments
Angel 18 Dec @ 5:01pm 
I think it's rated just fine
#1
wtiger27 18 Dec @ 5:04pm 
2
Another one of those threads.....so I will repeat again...BG3 deserves all the awards it has got. It's a masterpiece. And the majority of players and critics, agree with me.
#2
Piperbird 18 Dec @ 5:10pm 
Originally posted by Brian:
In terms of the writing (the terrible 5e rules system is a whole other discussion), I'm not very far in and already the character introductions and pacing of the story are pretty awful. First off, everything about every character (with a few exceptions) is dumped on the player right from the get-go. This means that the whole "tadpole in your head" idea is just 1 of numerous wacky problems you are faced with. You don't even really have any time to sit with it before you also have to deal with "I need to eat magic junk!" and "I'm a vampire AND I have a tadpole in my head!" and "I just got turned into a devil, and I have a tadpole in my head too!" From a writing standpoint, this is a mess. The only character that seems to be paced correctly is Shadowheart, whose personal mystery is slow-walked until later. If the writers knew what they were doing, none of the companion plot-lines would start until after you had a much better handle on the tadpole situation. That way, you can actually get to know them as people before they become just another problem for you to keep track of.

You know them all because of the tadpole, you're sharing thoughts. The only reason you don't know anything about Shadowheart is because she doesn't know anything about herself, either. And you still only know surface level stuff. Yes Astarion is a vampire, but he still has a whole story that unfolds. Gale needs to feed the orb or he'll literally explode and end the game, so yeah, that's kind of urgent to find out about quickly.





Originally posted by Brian:

For instance, as my wife and I were playing, we are barely done exploring the first refugee encampment/town when Wyll gets turned into a devil. Now, it happened SO quickly into the game that we were both like "Wait, was he secretly a tiefling and now it's just revealed? Is this a punishment or his true nature?" You don't get enough time with Wyll the human before you have to deal with Wyll the half-devil. So we were both like "Okay, I guess he's a devil now...we have no idea what that means or why it matters to anything. Especially when we are surrounded by devil-looking characters." It's like the game can't take its time at all.

This happens as quickly or as slowly as you make it happen. The trigger is Karlach. If you rush it, then it happens sooner. If you make different choices, it doesn't happen at all. If you don't know why he turned into a devil, then you didn't pay any attention the the cut scenes explaining it. You didn't talk to Will about it. It's made VERY clear why he got turned.

The trigger for everything in this game is you.
#3
MadArtillery 18 Dec @ 5:20pm 
I'll be honest, it does sound like you aren't paying attention enough if stuff like betraying Wylls mission causing the devilyness is something you missed. What you do effects a lot of this, if you are rushing through not paying attention and just running to map markers I imagine it'll feel like things are flying way too fast.
Last edited by MadArtillery; 18 Dec @ 5:22pm
#4
Estevan Valladares 18 Dec @ 5:21pm 
3
The "peak writing choice matters" in this game:
Art is wake, you go talk to him.
If you choose to talk you ask him if he can remember anything, and he says what he remembers. If you choose to let Halsin deal with it, the guy says straight forward the exact same thing.
Like I have said before, the writing in this game is made so the "peak choice" is like a story in which you can choose a red or a black car, but to go the exact same road the exact same length.
If there wasnt so many people making threads about how "genius" this game is, there would not be so many on how dumb it is. The problem is not accepting the game is "just another game like dozens on steam".
No matter how much the fanbois try to make arguments, this game is not anything but an over costly regular game that had a nice marketing budget to cover the many "journalists" they need to give prizes.
Because it is how it works. Those prizes you talk about so much, the ones called "popular this" or "choice that" will rely 80% or sometimes 99% on the votes of game "publications" which will vote under contract.
The guy who makes these stupid "prizes" even tried to trademark generic names so no one makes a "true game award" and rob the cash cow of being paid to promote specific games.

That being said, the "poor" reasoning on OP is also a sign that even the simplistic BG3 still beyond some players, which justify not making good games. You need players to fund the business, and making good interesting games wont get you many players.

Maybe it gets you more money if the people smart enough to make more money are also interested in your game, but there is a chasm beyond a game that is "dumbed down" enough to have MANY paying players, and interesting enough to have MUCH paying players.
Last edited by Estevan Valladares; 18 Dec @ 5:26pm
#5
yahboi1988 18 Dec @ 5:21pm 
Allowing a player to miss content is not a flaw.
#6
Raz 18 Dec @ 5:39pm 
Originally posted by Brian:
First off, everything about every character (with a few exceptions) is dumped on the player right from the get-go. This means that the whole "tadpole in your head" idea is just 1 of numerous wacky problems you are faced with. You don't even really have any time to sit with it before you also have to deal with "I need to eat magic junk!" and "I'm a vampire AND I have a tadpole in my head!" and "I just got turned into a devil, and I have a tadpole in my head too!"

Did you... even speak with anyone between the ship and just hitting the Grove? Like, anyone at all? The narrative directly tells you through no uncertain terms, multiple characters (Lae'zel, Gale, Shadowheart, Nettie if you managed to talk with her, Wyll to a degree) that you are on a time table with dealing with the worm. You cannot just "sit and soak it in" because you could turn into a squid at a moments notice, or rather, should already be one (again, multiple characters talk on the fact you should be one already, including party members). Time isn't on your side, so why would you think you should have time to just soak it all in?

As for the devil bit. You definitely didn't pay attention there because Wyll tells you what he came to the Coast to do, what lead him getting captured, and implanted with the worm. You got his devil form so that means you did the thing that was against his contract, his contract holder came and directly said, "This is punishment for disobeying me and letting Karlach live" and yet you say it is out of left field? Seriously? Did you walk off to get a snack during all of this?

Since you are playing multi-player, let me ask; are you and your Spouse even noticing/bothering to join each others conversations when they start? Are you aware when one of you start a conversation with someone, a conversation bubble appears near their portrait and you have to click it to join? Are you both just aimlessly starting conversations separately, therefore you both lose out on a crap ton of context since you're doing multiple conversations at the same time?
Last edited by Raz; 18 Dec @ 5:43pm
#7
Wuorg 18 Dec @ 5:46pm 
Honestly, if you are coming at it from a perspective of comparing it to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, the game might just not be your vibe, and there's nothing wrong with that. Calling it "overrated" implies most other people are wrong when they like the game, so you are obviously getting some push back on that.

This kind of thing always happens when a game gets so much praise and so many awards. There's bound to be people that play it and go "this is it? You mean it isn't literally perfect? Lame." Just try to enjoy yourself and if you can't...then you don't like the game and you wouldn't be the first.
#8
Tomibouzu 18 Dec @ 5:50pm 
Originally posted by Brian:
In terms of the writing (the terrible 5e rules system is a whole other discussion), I'm not very far in and already the character introductions and pacing of the story are pretty awful. First off, everything about every character (with a few exceptions) is dumped on the player right from the get-go. This means that the whole "tadpole in your head" idea is just 1 of numerous wacky problems you are faced with. You don't even really have any time to sit with it before you also have to deal with "I need to eat magic junk!" and "I'm a vampire AND I have a tadpole in my head!" and "I just got turned into a devil, and I have a tadpole in my head too!" From a writing standpoint, this is a mess. The only character that seems to be paced correctly is Shadowheart, whose personal mystery is slow-walked until later. If the writers knew what they were doing, none of the companion plot-lines would start until after you had a much better handle on the tadpole situation. That way, you can actually get to know them as people before they become just another problem for you to keep track of.

For instance, as my wife and I were playing, we are barely done exploring the first refugee encampment/town when Wyll gets turned into a devil. Now, it happened SO quickly into the game that we were both like "Wait, was he secretly a tiefling and now it's just revealed? Is this a punishment or his true nature?" You don't get enough time with Wyll the human before you have to deal with Wyll the half-devil. So we were both like "Okay, I guess he's a devil now...we have no idea what that means or why it matters to anything. Especially when we are surrounded by devil-looking characters." It's like the game can't take its time at all.

Juxtapose this to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, in which your companions' stories all play out slowly over the course of the whole game. At first you just have some people who are trying to help you fight a demon invasion. You only start to get little bits and pieces about who they really are after whole chapters go by. That way, when revelations are discovered, it's actually shocking, rather than just "Okay, this person I just meant has to eat magic...cool I guess."

Anyway, this is just first impressions but I seriously don't understand so far why people think this is a well-written game.
I agree. pretty overrated. The game just happened to come out during a gaming drought. thats not to say the game is bad, it has its strengths. the game is just not as great as its made out to be.
#9
Raz 18 Dec @ 6:02pm 
Originally posted by Tomibouzu:
I agree. pretty overrated. The game just happened to come out during a gaming drought. thats not to say the game is bad, it has its strengths. the game is just not as great as its made out to be.

It came out in a year with multiple good games. 2023 was not a gaming drought.
#10
Hex (Banned) 18 Dec @ 6:03pm 
Originally posted by wtiger27:
Another one of those threads.....so I will repeat again...BG3 deserves all the awards it has got. It's a masterpiece. And the majority of players and critics, agree with me.

Popularity is the worst argument for quality you can ever make.
#11
Grinch 18 Dec @ 6:17pm 
Originally posted by Brian:
For instance, as my wife and I were playing, we are barely done exploring the first refugee encampment/town when Wyll gets turned into a devil. Now, it happened SO quickly into the game that we were both like "Wait, was he secretly a tiefling and now it's just revealed? Is this a punishment or his true nature?" You don't get enough time with Wyll the human before you have to deal with Wyll the half-devil. So we were both like "Okay, I guess he's a devil now...we have no idea what that means or why it matters to anything. Especially when we are surrounded by devil-looking characters." It's like the game can't take its time at all.
maybe you should watch the cutscenes and speak to the characters, since they literally tell you what's happening.
#12
alanc9 18 Dec @ 6:17pm 
I'm not sure there are any good arguments for quality.
Last edited by alanc9; 18 Dec @ 6:17pm
#13
Psychotic_Frog 18 Dec @ 6:31pm 
D&D 5e is indeed better as a tabletop than a videogame IMO.

Writing is fine though. I've played through Pathfinder: Kingmaker and honestly all companions were pretty unlikable and extreme stereotypes "I'm a girlboss I can be strong like a man hurrdurr", "I'm a sad dwarf everything is miserable boohoo", they feel much more natural in BG3.

Main story was fine in both. Pacing was fine in both too. If you feel 'overwhelmed' I think it's a you problem.
#14
Hobocop 18 Dec @ 6:40pm 
The story arcs of each companion plays out just fine over time, often alongside events of the main plot. You know, assuming you bother to speak with them.
#15
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Date Posted: 18 Dec @ 4:48pm
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