I'd buy this at a discount, only based on the fact that Act 3 is not very good. Going through the first two acts, I commented to myself that the game was writing some very big checks it would need to cash in the immediate future. Unfortunately, those checks bounced in Act 3.

In truth, it's not a terrible game. The real problem I have with BG3 is the drop in quality once you reach the latter half of the game.

Both Acts 1 & 2 are fairly linear stories with a lot of time and passion in them, including many hidden nooks, tiny details and a good handful of interesting character interactions, as well as a surprising amount of attention paid to character details like race-specific responses for the MC. They have decent storytelling, pacing and direction and you generally always know what your immediate goal is, even if you don't have the tools to make it happen in just that moment.

Fights and zones feel like they were meticulously planned, and crafted by a large team, to the point that the transition from each fairly fight is smooth, despite the gnawing reminder that your resources in each fight are finite. Going back to play through them a second time, I found myself hesitating to do the "evil" action, despite having commited to an evil playthrough.

However, the thing that made me want to start a 2nd playthrough wasn't the fact that I had completed the game: It was Act 3. Act 3 departs from the quality and linear direction of the previous two acts, feeling like a sandtrap with limited direction and limited depth. It was bad enough to the point that I felt as if I would have more fun starting from the beginning.

The antagonists in the 3rd act are boring and uncompelling, some of their evil actions being nonsensical to the point of comedic. The city itself has some considerable performance issues and a few oddities with its pathing, as well as a somewhat uncomfortable layout. And worst of all, the city itself doesn't feel cohesive in any way, very much at odds with the previous acts.

Many people have brought up the fact that Lariat was forced to cut an area known as the "Upper City", and it shows. Much of that content seems to have been aggressively jammed into the available parts of the lower city, to a point where certain mechanics are broken, certain events don't trigger and much of the narrative feels disjointed.

On the whole, the city itself feels like an assembled tapestry of parts of other stories that were never really meant to be joined together except with the most roughshod of efforts.

Strangely, however, Act 3 was the first time I saw class-specific responses for my character. At the outset of act 3, I started seeing lots of Wizard-specific replies as a wizard. Beforehand I had only seen the aforementioned class-specific replies, so the sudden relevance of my wizarding ways was ... weird.

Buyer beware, I suppose. I played this godforsaken game for almost 60 hours before its flaws became painfully obvious. For relevance, I played the whole game on Tactician and it is fairly easy.

I'd buy this at a discount, only based on the fact that Act 3 is not very good. Going through the first two acts, I commented to myself that the game was writing some very big checks it would need to cash in the immediate future. Unfortunately, those checks bounced in Act 3. In truth, it's not a terrible game. The real problem I have with BG3 is the drop in quality once you reach the latter half of the game. Both Acts 1 & 2 are fairly linear stories with a lot of time and passion in them, including many hidden nooks, tiny details and a good handful of interesting character interactions, as well as a surprising amount of attention paid to character details like race-specific responses for the MC. They have decent storytelling, pacing and direction and you generally always know what your immediate goal is, even if you don't have the tools to make it happen in just that moment. Fights and zones feel like they were meticulously planned, and crafted by a large team, to the point that the transition from each fairly fight is smooth, despite the gnawing reminder that your resources in each fight are finite. Going back to play through them a second time, I found myself hesitating to do the "evil" action, despite having commited to an evil playthrough. However, the thing that made me want to start a 2nd playthrough wasn't the fact that I had completed the game: It was Act 3. Act 3 departs from the quality and linear direction of the previous two acts, feeling like a sandtrap with limited direction and limited depth. It was bad enough to the point that I felt as if I would have more fun starting from the beginning. The antagonists in the 3rd act are boring and uncompelling, some of their evil actions being nonsensical to the point of comedic. The city itself has some considerable performance issues and a few oddities with its pathing, as well as a somewhat uncomfortable layout. And worst of all, the city itself doesn't feel cohesive in any way, very much at odds with the previous acts. Many people have brought up the fact that Lariat was forced to cut an area known as the "Upper City", and it shows. Much of that content seems to have been aggressively jammed into the available parts of the lower city, to a point where certain mechanics are broken, certain events don't trigger and much of the narrative feels disjointed. On the whole, the city itself feels like an assembled tapestry of parts of other stories that were never really meant to be joined together except with the most roughshod of efforts. Strangely, however, Act 3 was the first time I saw class-specific responses for my character. At the outset of act 3, I started seeing lots of Wizard-specific replies as a wizard. Beforehand I had only seen the aforementioned class-specific replies, so the sudden relevance of my wizarding ways was ... weird. Buyer beware, I suppose. I played this godforsaken game for almost 60 hours before its flaws became painfully obvious. For relevance, I played the whole game on Tactician and it is fairly easy.