Second play through, first was on tactician, now finishing on honor mode.
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Its good, but it feels lacking in many ways. The writing is very "on the nose" and it feels like the main story is a bit of a drag that I'm just not invested in. I think I would have preferred something much more open, and maybe more impossible to do in one play through. I really think it could have been improved with a bit more compartmentalization on just how "much" of the story or world you actually get to see in a given play through. Because of the way the story is built into the play, its basically impossible to not do all or most of it. And sure, you can get some variation, but its just not a drastically different story. The choices feel glued on.
Also, the world is very "empty". Like, it just doesn't feel like a living world. Once you clear an area.. thats it. There is no random spawns. Its just empty.
There is no day night cycle (which like, with Asterion.. wouldn't it be cool if he got bonus powers at night but was weak during the day?), and very limited environmental effects.
The combat is fun, but you dont go past level 12? Like what the hell? What about my 8 more levels?
Its a great game. Don't get me wrong, I really like it. But it feels very partial and for a supposedly open world game, its very on rails. You really don't actually have much for options for how to play it differently and get to a meaningfully different ending.
If you've played The Witcher 3, that is a game where you can get totally lost in the world, and just.. be a witcher. The world is so complete and "alive". And there are so many different ways to go through the game. The BG3 world feels empty and partial, and the idea that there are multiple ways to play the game feels somewhat superficial.
at 1/4-1/3 the cost, The Witcher is much much more game in a more complete world that genuinely feels live. However, I prefer the combat style and system of BG3. I'm hoping that some fun mods come out that improve somethings.
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