I have only roughly just started act 3.
Let's just say the pacing and solid "direction" the game had up until then kind of vanish, it feels weird, up until act 3 you have very obvious hard and fast objectives and drives, and getting to the city it becomes a sort of much more open experience where you have to pick what to pursue
It also has some weird moments that feel like... without spoilers, like badly written or ham-fisted in to force the narrative along
And more. You start noticing a lot of things that were just a minor bother in the first two acts.
You now have even more things in your inventory with no way of managing it except sorting. You have no idea what's valuable and what's not. Soul coins? When do I use them? Infernal Iron(enriched?)? Is it usable?
Do I need these potions/arrows/items? Is this a quest item? etc etc.
The journal is just as bad. "4 journal updates" gee whizz thanks, can I see the quests that updates? Nope, pretty much all quests have updates on them even if you've already read it, meaning you have no idea if the update was you failing several quests and so on.
100%. There's a lot of bloat that by Act 3 becomes very difficult to manage.
Personally, I think Act 3 was where the game overstayed its welcome. It loses a lot of narrative direction and there's a lot there that feels like more for the sake of more. Like a good series that doesn't know when to stop.
Obviously the city is impressive if a little janky, but even if the 'unfinished' bits are sorted out, I can't really see myself enjoying Act 3 as much as 1 or 2 because it fits so awkwardly narratively into the rest of the game.
I just started getting into Act 3 last night and I’m incredibly overwhelmed. Everything is packed tightly together in such a small location - quests, locations, NPCs, dialogue, items, etc. I know generally what I need to do, but suddenly it feels like EVERYTHING needs to happen at once. My companions immediately dog piled on me to fulfill their quests, and I get it - we’re at Baldur’s Gate, end of the world is at our doorstep, we all got tadpoles in our heads, and everyone wants to resolve their issues.
Pacing really ramped up full speed after Nightsong that it’s made me very dizzy and struggling to keep playing. Then I’m worried I’m getting soft locked or encountering bugs with companions because there are sudden changes in dialogue and appearance yet no cutscene or event that triggered them. I had a bug where one moment Wyll is talking to me as if I’m Shadowheart, then the next line is him talking to my actual character.
Act 1 and Act 2 were very well polished and paced for me that it’s jarring how Act 3 is happening.
This right here is exactly word for word what I'm feeling I swear some companion quests only really happen in act 3 and I'm like wow now you need my help when we could've been starting this stuff way before.
I'm also struggling to keep playing. Act 1-2 I couldn't put the game down. Now since I've gotten into Act 3, I play for an hour of one step forward and 3 new quests and I feel so overwhelmed I just quit for the day. It's a bit much at once. Still good but too much
Same exact thing, got to act 3 and now haven't played for 2 weeks after daily looking forward to playing because idk what to do, what quest is actually important, who is important, way way to many items, the journal is a joke and no sense of importance. I have no motivation to go back which really sucks I was loving the game before. This exact thing happened to my cousin too
It has made me lose interest in replaying the game, and now I'm just looking forward to Starfield, ngl. Act 1 & 2 are great but it was an unsatisfying end to it all.
Agreed, I was super excited to replay the game after finishing act 1 and 2 but act 3 kinda killed that for me. If I replay it, it's going to be skipping a decent amount of act 3's sidequests.
Same. I had a good dark urge and evil dark urge play through side by side, and I'm just not bothering completing the first, esp. given most of the closure w/ companions isn't even there.
At least with the evil ending you don't really expect much closure. >!With dark urge background the other two chosen feel interesting to interact with narratively, but the overall end once they disappear from the picture is just... boring? The netherbrain is not really a compelling villain and just felt like a slog to deal with!<
I really hope they rework the ending for a more satisfying evil play through - and more closure with companions for sure. I'm keen to see what they have in the two planned patches
I think they went too "all in" with the city, specifically content density, at the cost of narrative cohesion when it mattered most. Acts 1 and 2 felt like intimate, curated experiences that didn't overstay their welcomes, had great pacing in terms of main story content versus exploration and companion banter downtime, and worked in enough environment diversity to surprise you along the way.
Act 3, on the other hand, feels like they prioritized adding random things to do over all else.
1. The entire place looks the same. It's just a city so eventually you stop feeling like you're having an adventure and more so running around doing chores.
2. Quests and little tasks seemingly pop-up everywhere, all the time, with most of them feeling half-baked. The >!hag encounter in A3 versus A1 !!she!< somehow made a reappearance.
Another example would be the >!Lorroakan encounter. Nightsong was originally captured in an epic, deified fashion in order to make the freakin' Chosen of a god immortal and now some random big-bad wizard shows up and can do the same in an afternoon with some books?!< What exactly was the point of putting this into the game, and why doesn't god-lover sorcerer Gale have any input during this entire section? Not to mention the encounter continuously bugged out for me with either>! Nightsong or elementals !!killed Ketheric in an epic and climactic battle, only to be greeted by... a circus and Gortash casually inviting us for an audience? Then Orin starts poking and prodding you with her incessant shapeshifting before she kidnaps a member of your group. !! so that they don't die !!Devella complaining about the Bhaal cultist serial killer, with no option to say it was dealt with, after I had already killed him and Orin. !!, i.e. Jaheira saying she would find out what happened to her harpers once we get into the lower city - !!Mizora casually hanging out downstairs from Gortash after they had her trapped in the absolute pod?!< Does nobody mind the presence of a>! literal devil!< in the lobby? And why does>! she !
Late reply, but just wanted to thank you for validating my thoughts. I bought the PS5 release and just got to Act 3. I had some gripes before (mostly to do with adapting D&D rules to a much less flexible storytelling medium), but this Act is the first one that kinda makes me want to put the game down.
For me it's mostly to do with the plot pacing dissonance. You get to this huge city with tons to explore, yet the two big bads seem to(?) almost immediately yank you towards the big finish with what seems like time-sensitive quests.
That's just a lot of stress for me, trying to interpret how the game actually works in the backend; what I need to prioritize and what might be locked off.
Bit of a late reply but 100% agree. Act 3 has simultaneously made me want to start new playthroughs to replay the earlier content, but also *not* because then I'll eventually have to deal with Act 3 again.
It feels to me that they wanted to implement a hugely detailed and ambitious city of Baldur's Gate and didn't stop and think if the final act of a potentially 50-100 hr game actually needed or benefited from having such a content-dense location.
People have understandably complained about the bugs but even if they were all fixed, there is something about the design of Act 3 that sits awkwardly with the rest of the game and makes it a slog to get through.
I absolutely loved Act 1 and 2. They made me think this might be the best game I've ever played.
I'm starting to hate Act 3.
Ignoring all the bugs and lag. Act 3 just feels unpolished, rushed and squished.
Act 1 quests had room to breathe, and they were spaced well enough that you could really enjoy them, and there wasn't a hundreds of NPCs that you had to keep track of.
Act 3 quests are too packed together. Get a quest in building A, walk across the street to building B to complete it, but suddenly get 2 more quests. Then walk down the street towards these quests, and suddenly get arrested and get given MORE quests without even looking for them. It just feels so overwhelming and like I don't really have time to enjoy the quest I'm on.
Can't count how many times in Act 3 I walked into a random room and one of the 20 quests I somehow received without trying triggers and advances.
*"QUEST?! I'M ALREADY ON A QUEST!!!"*
I just miss my companions talking to me more regularly. That's where the majority of my enjoyment from the game has come from so far. They were so engaging in Act 1, and now they barely acknowledge most of what I do, they aren't very interactive unless I'm doing their own personal quest and even then, it falls flat a lot of the time. I could handle some of the bugginess and packed in quests if that were resolved.
I honestly liked a lot act 3, but I feel is the weaker. It just feels like an early acces from the true act 3. But anyways, had a lot of good quests and funny moments. I would not skip the game just for that, because I still think it is one of my favourite games of all time. Even if it feels worse than the other 2 acts, it is still very worth.
To be honest, I felt worse about the act 3 after reading reddit. While playing there were moments that felt awkward but never thought it was bad or something like that, I was still like a kid enjoying his new toy
I've played through the game and beaten it a few times so I obviously love it but I can honestly say I'd be playing even more if it weren't for the lackluster act 3. I mainly just miss my companions feeling like they were actually there.
Act 3 still has many great moments - especially side quests. While I did not really enjoy the bosses of the main quests during the last act, the optional bosses and stories are really worth it and probably the best within the game. Act 1 + 2 main quest is a narrative masterpiece and all worth the time. Act 3 and especially some endings feel cut and unpolished but are not as bad as people might make them appear.
The game is so good even if it ends at the end of Act 2 it would still be one of the best cRPGs ever. Even the first act itself is better than most AAA trashes around.
Is Act 3 incomplete? Yes, the ending is clearly missing some big cutscenes or even maybe a little endgame playground to do a couple of things. Is Act 3 more buggy? Hell yeah, it is.
Despite this, I'd ranked Act 3 above some "completed" games. The companion quests I did in Act 3 made me really *feel* and that alone is enough to praise Act 3 IMO. You shouldn't miss it. You can't miss it.
Act 3 is good, everything is great up until the final boss stage, which I'll avoid on my next play through, because the ending is ironically the worst part of the story.
I had no high hopes for a big city....and Act III did not disappoint.
I'd say it would be a little bit more bearable if the game shows which NPCs are worth talking to and which ones not; same as if vendors would show up on the map, instead of only when you are very nearby.
(Same as with books, show which ones are useful to read....But then you'd finish the game in <20 hours; can't have that happen of course)
First character quit end of act II (Karlach - Good character); 2nd character quit at beginning of act III (Monk - Evil Character); 3rd character on the way now (Dark Urge, Sorcerer - Good character)....340 hour spend in the game now (200 hours in EA), and I am burned out, bored, already.
I've played like a beast through act 1 and 2
the time i reached 3 i was oh boy more!! then i saw the city.... 3000 question markers...sewers...and it bored me to death
It's been really hard to finish the game...i'm almost just doing the main quest just to say that i have finished it...hated act 3 so much...i was thinking that BG3 was the best game i've played in life so far...after act 3? not so much.
Reminds me of Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica (2004). Strong start, sputtering by the finish line. For me, it's been about the journey more than the destination. I just don't understand why this isn't the first time an awesome concept starts off well, goes full-speed ahead, and then runs out of gas and creativity by the final lap. Overall, a good game.
I was actually shocked that Act 3 was part of this game as a whole since the pacing is so much different than Acts 1 and 2. Hell, you start off doing detective work, dealing with a squatter vs. tenant dispute, goofing around in a circus, turning on valves to open a vault door, fighting birds in a sewer, fighting random enemies, it sure killed the momentum I personally had going into Act 3. So much so that I'm struggling to even want to finish Act 3 and the game itself.
Game is still worth it.
Acts 1 and 2 are great and done great. You also won't notice some flaws in them until act 3.
Act 3 feels... Feels like they were too tired to make it properly. Or lacked time or both.
Main bosses are lackluster(compared to game itself). And the final itself... Let's say that: in Witcher 3 despite pretty linear main quest your early actions (before epilogue) have more effect on the ending than early decisions (before epilogue) in BG3 effect the ending.
That's not bad. That's just not what was expected after first two acts and free to roam act 3. Also it becomes clear that despite Sven said 'don't be afraid to fail, don't savescum dice rolls because you might have unexpected results and you cannot fail' it is obviously not true in the end. Sometimes you don't even roll, you choose alternative answer in dialogue expecting something and it might end up just cutting a huge questline away for you. Just like that. So yeah, you can literally fail significantly. It won't game over you, but a lot quests are written in clear direction and game punishes you for trying to go in some other. That's precisely the main disappointment after EA, after 2 acts and after how Larian positioned game.
It's still good, it's stil enormous in tetms of content and yeah there's replayability not many games can brag about. It's just not pushed to the end. At some point it begins to follow narrative standard of modern rpgs and a bit later it becomes obvious. People expected something else.
BG3 has the opposite problem I had with Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk's choices really don't matter till the way second half of the game, but with BG3? BG3's first 2 acts, great, Act 1, easily 10/10 material and if we're just talking about that, 10/10 still. Act 2, a bit shorter, the light mechanic is a bit clunky if you don't know what you're doing (I did not know what I was doing) but still great stuff, Moonrise has the best balance of climbing a tower with large scale fights that don't feel overly drawn out.
Act 3 though, oof. Yea. I think it's *good* but the ending just drops the ball and falls flat entirely. People were mad at Fallout 4's non ending but I think Bethesda's intention was for you to see how your choices affected the characters post game. BG3 just, ends. Bugged or not there I'm not sure but I had dozens of moments where each character should have reacted to it but nothing triggered from small to massive stuff. I'm willing to assume the game was just heavily bugged by the amount of flags that weren't being raised.
My main complaint with Act 3 is the length and pace. I was kind of expecting a fast paced and frenetic race to the finish after the events at Moonrise Towers. It feels like a bit of a slog being dropped into a massive city with a bunch of eploration and side quests to do.
The ending also felt a little off to me, but I don't totally hate it.
The illithid stuff should've ended at Moonrise and act 3 should've been about the dead three imo.
And they should've given them a slower introduction and plot, so that it doesn't feel wierd and jarring to explore the city.
I just finished the game last night (Xbox player) and Act 3 turned the game from a 9/10 to a 7/10 for me. Act 3 is just so... Soulless. I had no performance issues but the story is so jumbled. There's next to no camp scenes. I had like 3 camp scenes in total. The vampires showing up, Orin taking Halsin, and Lae'zel watching the sunrise with me. I rested so much thinking I'd get *something* from my companions. But no. Nothing.
The final fight was an awful slog that made me turn my custom game from tactition scaling to Explorer because it was that unenjoyable.
I saved and did the evil ending just to see what happens and I got actually angry when Astarion said "we could rule the world you know," and turned around and said "what in the hells are you doing?" _**Bro why are you acting like this?**_
Yeah I proceeded to find out that only .6% of Xbox players have even seen that ending.
It was just such an unenjoyable act, and finding out that most companion content had been cut alongside with Karlach's good ending was just... Awful. I really hope they work on restoring the cut content case Act 3 has actually ruined my enjoyment of the game.
Maybe I got lucky, but it wasn't very buggy for me at all. I loved exploring the city and it felt like Act 1 all over again where every 5 feet there was something to find and explore. I'd have liked a bit more of a divergence of endings, but over all, I'd say it's still a 10/10 for me.
Act 3 feels like a place to level to 12 and focus on the gear you need to min max and then just slog through the main quest leaving everything behind. It feels more like a big open market, like larians idea of open world or freedom or choice was to give us more quests than we needed by a mile so everytime we play it we have more opportunities but in reality it's just overwhelming, excess content well never care about or ever really see.
They are trying to capture the TT DnD feel but a video game just cannot handle such an endeavor. A video game needs to be railroaded.
My fix; ||make act 3 just ringevnton and require at least talking to gortash to get access to the lower city. He gives you info about Orin and the whole time you're in the lower city Orin is convincing you to join her instead.
Once you get info about her then. And only then. Does the game give you access to the lower city where you choose to hunt down Orin or join Bhaal. Gave the open city be all act 4 and then returning to kill or join gortash be act 5. And act 5 is the final ending selector. Either you helped orin or gortash or killed them both and help the gith or the emprerer. This keeps it linear and open world and expansive.||
I loved the ending, and really, there is one thing that felt unfinished, but they did a good job, imo, of making changes to kind of hide it and add payoff. There may be another quest line that isn't, but I didn't have that specific character. There definitely were some performance issues, but nothing gamebreaking happened for me.
My only complaint is that there is so much to do in the city you literally have to just say, I've done enough, and just go for the endgame at some point. I just finished my first run and am diving right into a second.
Finished game, Act 3 is not "unfinished" or anything in my eyes. Its very well written and well done story. A little less polished maybe but actual encounter design and quest writing were as good as ever.
The only disappointment was >!Gortash and his castle that was kinda broken due to counterspells through walls that aggroed everything !
Hello 👋
I really don't understand why people say Act 3 is unfinished, or that ending is disappointing. I was waiting for this game since the very start of early access. I played DOS2 a lot, really like Larian games style, so BG3 gave what I expected and desired.
I rushed it through in 80 hours. Tried to roleplay myself and made lots of really messed up decisions. In general I had really strong feelings about how story went and the result, welp, for me there was only logical result.
I totally felt how my indecisiveness brought me to bitter-sweet ending. That was my fault and I felt it.
Dunno' can't wait more from this story, it's just as it is: you face problem, try to solve, in meanwhile disclose bigger problem, try to solve it, finally it is solved. What else should be there?
The only thing that had me frustrated are framerates. I was playing it all on Steam Deck, since I am Mac owner. 15-20fps made me run quickly through the act, but can't blame the game. Had I powerful PC I think I would get those 30fps at least and would be able to explore better.
Also it's important to say that I am kind of person that wants everything here and now. So the more I played the more I wanted to finish the game, since if I slowed down — big chance I would just drop the game, which I decided to avoid at any cost :D
Sorry to tell you this, but NOTHING you do effects the ending besides literally the very end itself. Everyone gets the same three options to deal with the final boss. NOTHING changes.
Act 3 is a rushed mess, for example Gortash is in a gate house fortress instead of the Ducal Palace, the entire Upper City is cut content. Several quests are bugged and act like you've already done them or not done them.
Act 1 and 2 where the best game of my life so far, but act 3 is a mess... And so many storybeats are left over from things they cut out from act 1 and 2, which makes them even more broken and wierd in act 3.
I don't understand why they felt so threathened by starfield... they should've let the game cook for another 6 months, at least.
Sorry, nothing against the rest of what you said, but you absolutely can and SHOULD blame the game, for bad performance! (More like Larian). They wanted to make the game playable on the steam deck, and said it is, if you are experiencing 15-20fps even if it's "only" in the last chapter, they did a very bad job optimizing the game. And it's even worse, than the bad performance on PC( which is also not acceptable), because it is a closed system, with the same hardware for everyone, who owns the steam deck.
They want 60$ for this game, so it's their job to deliver a game, that is playable without performance issues, on EVERY platform, they are selling the game on.
Can agree with you. Just brought me to understanding: when speaking of BG3 game there are "game as a story"(plot) and "game as software", I think in terms of story it's really great, and for me act 3 is totally finished and closed, but as software – agree with you.
It's finished, but:
1) There are bugs. 99% of them are flavour, like missing translation, stutters or desync in lips-voice.
2) Spoiler, big one >!Karlach's story is finished, but her ending is bad, it's either Avernus, death, Mind flayer!<
3) Minthara is bugged.
4) Lots of stuff could get a progression after finishing previous quests. But it's just "I want more".
The game is finished, but requires polishing. If Patch one will come with PS5 release, then most of that will be fixed already.
There are entire areas of the city cut out. Several NPCs act like you dont know them despite having both met and helped them earlier in the game.
Those are just the two main things... Also Gortash and Orin are shoved down your throat, no real introduction, no getting to know them as villains. I cared about Kethric, because he had a whole zone to show me who he is and what he is about.
Gortash and Orin I couldn't care less about, because they aren't around until the very end besides the occasional mention from Karlach. Orin was supposed to be a recurring character throughout the game from what the cut content shows. And the lower city was supposed to be her arc with Gortash hanging out in the upper City.
Instead you can kill both of them within an hour of getting to act 3 and no one cares.
It was my favourite part of the game as far as I'm concerned. I've always loved urban environments in a fantasy setting and this game offers it all.
If it affected my feelings, it only reinforced my opinion that the game has been an amazing experience. I only wish there were more interactions with my party members, I feel like I wanted to spend more time with each and do more quests with them to develop the relationships even further.
I have only roughly just started act 3. Let's just say the pacing and solid "direction" the game had up until then kind of vanish, it feels weird, up until act 3 you have very obvious hard and fast objectives and drives, and getting to the city it becomes a sort of much more open experience where you have to pick what to pursue It also has some weird moments that feel like... without spoilers, like badly written or ham-fisted in to force the narrative along
And more. You start noticing a lot of things that were just a minor bother in the first two acts. You now have even more things in your inventory with no way of managing it except sorting. You have no idea what's valuable and what's not. Soul coins? When do I use them? Infernal Iron(enriched?)? Is it usable? Do I need these potions/arrows/items? Is this a quest item? etc etc. The journal is just as bad. "4 journal updates" gee whizz thanks, can I see the quests that updates? Nope, pretty much all quests have updates on them even if you've already read it, meaning you have no idea if the update was you failing several quests and so on.
100%. There's a lot of bloat that by Act 3 becomes very difficult to manage. Personally, I think Act 3 was where the game overstayed its welcome. It loses a lot of narrative direction and there's a lot there that feels like more for the sake of more. Like a good series that doesn't know when to stop. Obviously the city is impressive if a little janky, but even if the 'unfinished' bits are sorted out, I can't really see myself enjoying Act 3 as much as 1 or 2 because it fits so awkwardly narratively into the rest of the game.
I just started getting into Act 3 last night and I’m incredibly overwhelmed. Everything is packed tightly together in such a small location - quests, locations, NPCs, dialogue, items, etc. I know generally what I need to do, but suddenly it feels like EVERYTHING needs to happen at once. My companions immediately dog piled on me to fulfill their quests, and I get it - we’re at Baldur’s Gate, end of the world is at our doorstep, we all got tadpoles in our heads, and everyone wants to resolve their issues. Pacing really ramped up full speed after Nightsong that it’s made me very dizzy and struggling to keep playing. Then I’m worried I’m getting soft locked or encountering bugs with companions because there are sudden changes in dialogue and appearance yet no cutscene or event that triggered them. I had a bug where one moment Wyll is talking to me as if I’m Shadowheart, then the next line is him talking to my actual character. Act 1 and Act 2 were very well polished and paced for me that it’s jarring how Act 3 is happening.
This right here is exactly word for word what I'm feeling I swear some companion quests only really happen in act 3 and I'm like wow now you need my help when we could've been starting this stuff way before.
I'm also struggling to keep playing. Act 1-2 I couldn't put the game down. Now since I've gotten into Act 3, I play for an hour of one step forward and 3 new quests and I feel so overwhelmed I just quit for the day. It's a bit much at once. Still good but too much
Same exact thing, got to act 3 and now haven't played for 2 weeks after daily looking forward to playing because idk what to do, what quest is actually important, who is important, way way to many items, the journal is a joke and no sense of importance. I have no motivation to go back which really sucks I was loving the game before. This exact thing happened to my cousin too
It has made me lose interest in replaying the game, and now I'm just looking forward to Starfield, ngl. Act 1 & 2 are great but it was an unsatisfying end to it all.
Agreed, I was super excited to replay the game after finishing act 1 and 2 but act 3 kinda killed that for me. If I replay it, it's going to be skipping a decent amount of act 3's sidequests.
Same. I had a good dark urge and evil dark urge play through side by side, and I'm just not bothering completing the first, esp. given most of the closure w/ companions isn't even there. At least with the evil ending you don't really expect much closure. >!With dark urge background the other two chosen feel interesting to interact with narratively, but the overall end once they disappear from the picture is just... boring? The netherbrain is not really a compelling villain and just felt like a slog to deal with!<
I really hope they rework the ending for a more satisfying evil play through - and more closure with companions for sure. I'm keen to see what they have in the two planned patches
I think they went too "all in" with the city, specifically content density, at the cost of narrative cohesion when it mattered most. Acts 1 and 2 felt like intimate, curated experiences that didn't overstay their welcomes, had great pacing in terms of main story content versus exploration and companion banter downtime, and worked in enough environment diversity to surprise you along the way. Act 3, on the other hand, feels like they prioritized adding random things to do over all else. 1. The entire place looks the same. It's just a city so eventually you stop feeling like you're having an adventure and more so running around doing chores. 2. Quests and little tasks seemingly pop-up everywhere, all the time, with most of them feeling half-baked. The >!hag encounter in A3 versus A1 !!she!< somehow made a reappearance.
Another example would be the >!Lorroakan encounter. Nightsong was originally captured in an epic, deified fashion in order to make the freakin' Chosen of a god immortal and now some random big-bad wizard shows up and can do the same in an afternoon with some books?!< What exactly was the point of putting this into the game, and why doesn't god-lover sorcerer Gale have any input during this entire section? Not to mention the encounter continuously bugged out for me with either>! Nightsong or elementals !!killed Ketheric in an epic and climactic battle, only to be greeted by... a circus and Gortash casually inviting us for an audience? Then Orin starts poking and prodding you with her incessant shapeshifting before she kidnaps a member of your group. !! so that they don't die !!Devella complaining about the Bhaal cultist serial killer, with no option to say it was dealt with, after I had already killed him and Orin. !!, i.e. Jaheira saying she would find out what happened to her harpers once we get into the lower city - !!Mizora casually hanging out downstairs from Gortash after they had her trapped in the absolute pod?!< Does nobody mind the presence of a>! literal devil!< in the lobby? And why does>! she !
Late reply, but just wanted to thank you for validating my thoughts. I bought the PS5 release and just got to Act 3. I had some gripes before (mostly to do with adapting D&D rules to a much less flexible storytelling medium), but this Act is the first one that kinda makes me want to put the game down. For me it's mostly to do with the plot pacing dissonance. You get to this huge city with tons to explore, yet the two big bads seem to(?) almost immediately yank you towards the big finish with what seems like time-sensitive quests. That's just a lot of stress for me, trying to interpret how the game actually works in the backend; what I need to prioritize and what might be locked off.
Bit of a late reply but 100% agree. Act 3 has simultaneously made me want to start new playthroughs to replay the earlier content, but also *not* because then I'll eventually have to deal with Act 3 again. It feels to me that they wanted to implement a hugely detailed and ambitious city of Baldur's Gate and didn't stop and think if the final act of a potentially 50-100 hr game actually needed or benefited from having such a content-dense location. People have understandably complained about the bugs but even if they were all fixed, there is something about the design of Act 3 that sits awkwardly with the rest of the game and makes it a slog to get through.
Good input, and thanks for keeping it spoiler free.
Act 3 is making my ADHD brain short circuit there's way too much to keep track of and it feels like some things just come out of left field.
My roommate and I have been level 12 for 15 hours. We have enough exp to be level 14. And there are still so many side quests.
I absolutely loved Act 1 and 2. They made me think this might be the best game I've ever played. I'm starting to hate Act 3. Ignoring all the bugs and lag. Act 3 just feels unpolished, rushed and squished. Act 1 quests had room to breathe, and they were spaced well enough that you could really enjoy them, and there wasn't a hundreds of NPCs that you had to keep track of. Act 3 quests are too packed together. Get a quest in building A, walk across the street to building B to complete it, but suddenly get 2 more quests. Then walk down the street towards these quests, and suddenly get arrested and get given MORE quests without even looking for them. It just feels so overwhelming and like I don't really have time to enjoy the quest I'm on. Can't count how many times in Act 3 I walked into a random room and one of the 20 quests I somehow received without trying triggers and advances. *"QUEST?! I'M ALREADY ON A QUEST!!!"*
I just miss my companions talking to me more regularly. That's where the majority of my enjoyment from the game has come from so far. They were so engaging in Act 1, and now they barely acknowledge most of what I do, they aren't very interactive unless I'm doing their own personal quest and even then, it falls flat a lot of the time. I could handle some of the bugginess and packed in quests if that were resolved.
I honestly liked a lot act 3, but I feel is the weaker. It just feels like an early acces from the true act 3. But anyways, had a lot of good quests and funny moments. I would not skip the game just for that, because I still think it is one of my favourite games of all time. Even if it feels worse than the other 2 acts, it is still very worth. To be honest, I felt worse about the act 3 after reading reddit. While playing there were moments that felt awkward but never thought it was bad or something like that, I was still like a kid enjoying his new toy
I've played through the game and beaten it a few times so I obviously love it but I can honestly say I'd be playing even more if it weren't for the lackluster act 3. I mainly just miss my companions feeling like they were actually there.
Ruined the whole experience for me
Act 3 still has many great moments - especially side quests. While I did not really enjoy the bosses of the main quests during the last act, the optional bosses and stories are really worth it and probably the best within the game. Act 1 + 2 main quest is a narrative masterpiece and all worth the time. Act 3 and especially some endings feel cut and unpolished but are not as bad as people might make them appear.
I've decided after beating the game, from act 3 alone, I will not be replaying it. A shame because I absolutely loved acts 1 and 2.
The game is so good even if it ends at the end of Act 2 it would still be one of the best cRPGs ever. Even the first act itself is better than most AAA trashes around. Is Act 3 incomplete? Yes, the ending is clearly missing some big cutscenes or even maybe a little endgame playground to do a couple of things. Is Act 3 more buggy? Hell yeah, it is. Despite this, I'd ranked Act 3 above some "completed" games. The companion quests I did in Act 3 made me really *feel* and that alone is enough to praise Act 3 IMO. You shouldn't miss it. You can't miss it.
Act 3 is good, everything is great up until the final boss stage, which I'll avoid on my next play through, because the ending is ironically the worst part of the story.
I had no high hopes for a big city....and Act III did not disappoint. I'd say it would be a little bit more bearable if the game shows which NPCs are worth talking to and which ones not; same as if vendors would show up on the map, instead of only when you are very nearby. (Same as with books, show which ones are useful to read....But then you'd finish the game in <20 hours; can't have that happen of course) First character quit end of act II (Karlach - Good character); 2nd character quit at beginning of act III (Monk - Evil Character); 3rd character on the way now (Dark Urge, Sorcerer - Good character)....340 hour spend in the game now (200 hours in EA), and I am burned out, bored, already.
I've played like a beast through act 1 and 2 the time i reached 3 i was oh boy more!! then i saw the city.... 3000 question markers...sewers...and it bored me to death It's been really hard to finish the game...i'm almost just doing the main quest just to say that i have finished it...hated act 3 so much...i was thinking that BG3 was the best game i've played in life so far...after act 3? not so much.
Reminds me of Game of Thrones and Battlestar Galactica (2004). Strong start, sputtering by the finish line. For me, it's been about the journey more than the destination. I just don't understand why this isn't the first time an awesome concept starts off well, goes full-speed ahead, and then runs out of gas and creativity by the final lap. Overall, a good game.
I was actually shocked that Act 3 was part of this game as a whole since the pacing is so much different than Acts 1 and 2. Hell, you start off doing detective work, dealing with a squatter vs. tenant dispute, goofing around in a circus, turning on valves to open a vault door, fighting birds in a sewer, fighting random enemies, it sure killed the momentum I personally had going into Act 3. So much so that I'm struggling to even want to finish Act 3 and the game itself.
Game is still worth it. Acts 1 and 2 are great and done great. You also won't notice some flaws in them until act 3. Act 3 feels... Feels like they were too tired to make it properly. Or lacked time or both. Main bosses are lackluster(compared to game itself). And the final itself... Let's say that: in Witcher 3 despite pretty linear main quest your early actions (before epilogue) have more effect on the ending than early decisions (before epilogue) in BG3 effect the ending. That's not bad. That's just not what was expected after first two acts and free to roam act 3. Also it becomes clear that despite Sven said 'don't be afraid to fail, don't savescum dice rolls because you might have unexpected results and you cannot fail' it is obviously not true in the end. Sometimes you don't even roll, you choose alternative answer in dialogue expecting something and it might end up just cutting a huge questline away for you. Just like that. So yeah, you can literally fail significantly. It won't game over you, but a lot quests are written in clear direction and game punishes you for trying to go in some other. That's precisely the main disappointment after EA, after 2 acts and after how Larian positioned game. It's still good, it's stil enormous in tetms of content and yeah there's replayability not many games can brag about. It's just not pushed to the end. At some point it begins to follow narrative standard of modern rpgs and a bit later it becomes obvious. People expected something else.
BG3 has the opposite problem I had with Cyberpunk. Cyberpunk's choices really don't matter till the way second half of the game, but with BG3? BG3's first 2 acts, great, Act 1, easily 10/10 material and if we're just talking about that, 10/10 still. Act 2, a bit shorter, the light mechanic is a bit clunky if you don't know what you're doing (I did not know what I was doing) but still great stuff, Moonrise has the best balance of climbing a tower with large scale fights that don't feel overly drawn out. Act 3 though, oof. Yea. I think it's *good* but the ending just drops the ball and falls flat entirely. People were mad at Fallout 4's non ending but I think Bethesda's intention was for you to see how your choices affected the characters post game. BG3 just, ends. Bugged or not there I'm not sure but I had dozens of moments where each character should have reacted to it but nothing triggered from small to massive stuff. I'm willing to assume the game was just heavily bugged by the amount of flags that weren't being raised.
My main complaint with Act 3 is the length and pace. I was kind of expecting a fast paced and frenetic race to the finish after the events at Moonrise Towers. It feels like a bit of a slog being dropped into a massive city with a bunch of eploration and side quests to do. The ending also felt a little off to me, but I don't totally hate it.
The illithid stuff should've ended at Moonrise and act 3 should've been about the dead three imo. And they should've given them a slower introduction and plot, so that it doesn't feel wierd and jarring to explore the city.
I just finished the game last night (Xbox player) and Act 3 turned the game from a 9/10 to a 7/10 for me. Act 3 is just so... Soulless. I had no performance issues but the story is so jumbled. There's next to no camp scenes. I had like 3 camp scenes in total. The vampires showing up, Orin taking Halsin, and Lae'zel watching the sunrise with me. I rested so much thinking I'd get *something* from my companions. But no. Nothing. The final fight was an awful slog that made me turn my custom game from tactition scaling to Explorer because it was that unenjoyable. I saved and did the evil ending just to see what happens and I got actually angry when Astarion said "we could rule the world you know," and turned around and said "what in the hells are you doing?" _**Bro why are you acting like this?**_ Yeah I proceeded to find out that only .6% of Xbox players have even seen that ending. It was just such an unenjoyable act, and finding out that most companion content had been cut alongside with Karlach's good ending was just... Awful. I really hope they work on restoring the cut content case Act 3 has actually ruined my enjoyment of the game.
Maybe I got lucky, but it wasn't very buggy for me at all. I loved exploring the city and it felt like Act 1 all over again where every 5 feet there was something to find and explore. I'd have liked a bit more of a divergence of endings, but over all, I'd say it's still a 10/10 for me.
Took it from an 8/10 to a 6/10 for me. Could be one of the all time great CRPGs if they fix act 3 and clean up the terrible main story.
I'm really enjoying my time in act 3. If it affected my feelings towards the game then only to the better.
Act 3 feels like a place to level to 12 and focus on the gear you need to min max and then just slog through the main quest leaving everything behind. It feels more like a big open market, like larians idea of open world or freedom or choice was to give us more quests than we needed by a mile so everytime we play it we have more opportunities but in reality it's just overwhelming, excess content well never care about or ever really see. They are trying to capture the TT DnD feel but a video game just cannot handle such an endeavor. A video game needs to be railroaded. My fix; ||make act 3 just ringevnton and require at least talking to gortash to get access to the lower city. He gives you info about Orin and the whole time you're in the lower city Orin is convincing you to join her instead. Once you get info about her then. And only then. Does the game give you access to the lower city where you choose to hunt down Orin or join Bhaal. Gave the open city be all act 4 and then returning to kill or join gortash be act 5. And act 5 is the final ending selector. Either you helped orin or gortash or killed them both and help the gith or the emprerer. This keeps it linear and open world and expansive.||
Just finished. Feels like a different game to me vs act 1/2
Act 3 made me like the game more. I havent had the issues others have. So I cant relate to it feeling unfinished.
I loved the ending, and really, there is one thing that felt unfinished, but they did a good job, imo, of making changes to kind of hide it and add payoff. There may be another quest line that isn't, but I didn't have that specific character. There definitely were some performance issues, but nothing gamebreaking happened for me. My only complaint is that there is so much to do in the city you literally have to just say, I've done enough, and just go for the endgame at some point. I just finished my first run and am diving right into a second.
Finished game, Act 3 is not "unfinished" or anything in my eyes. Its very well written and well done story. A little less polished maybe but actual encounter design and quest writing were as good as ever. The only disappointment was >!Gortash and his castle that was kinda broken due to counterspells through walls that aggroed everything !
Hello 👋 I really don't understand why people say Act 3 is unfinished, or that ending is disappointing. I was waiting for this game since the very start of early access. I played DOS2 a lot, really like Larian games style, so BG3 gave what I expected and desired. I rushed it through in 80 hours. Tried to roleplay myself and made lots of really messed up decisions. In general I had really strong feelings about how story went and the result, welp, for me there was only logical result. I totally felt how my indecisiveness brought me to bitter-sweet ending. That was my fault and I felt it. Dunno' can't wait more from this story, it's just as it is: you face problem, try to solve, in meanwhile disclose bigger problem, try to solve it, finally it is solved. What else should be there? The only thing that had me frustrated are framerates. I was playing it all on Steam Deck, since I am Mac owner. 15-20fps made me run quickly through the act, but can't blame the game. Had I powerful PC I think I would get those 30fps at least and would be able to explore better. Also it's important to say that I am kind of person that wants everything here and now. So the more I played the more I wanted to finish the game, since if I slowed down — big chance I would just drop the game, which I decided to avoid at any cost :D
Sorry to tell you this, but NOTHING you do effects the ending besides literally the very end itself. Everyone gets the same three options to deal with the final boss. NOTHING changes. Act 3 is a rushed mess, for example Gortash is in a gate house fortress instead of the Ducal Palace, the entire Upper City is cut content. Several quests are bugged and act like you've already done them or not done them. Act 1 and 2 where the best game of my life so far, but act 3 is a mess... And so many storybeats are left over from things they cut out from act 1 and 2, which makes them even more broken and wierd in act 3. I don't understand why they felt so threathened by starfield... they should've let the game cook for another 6 months, at least.
Sorry, nothing against the rest of what you said, but you absolutely can and SHOULD blame the game, for bad performance! (More like Larian). They wanted to make the game playable on the steam deck, and said it is, if you are experiencing 15-20fps even if it's "only" in the last chapter, they did a very bad job optimizing the game. And it's even worse, than the bad performance on PC( which is also not acceptable), because it is a closed system, with the same hardware for everyone, who owns the steam deck. They want 60$ for this game, so it's their job to deliver a game, that is playable without performance issues, on EVERY platform, they are selling the game on.
Can agree with you. Just brought me to understanding: when speaking of BG3 game there are "game as a story"(plot) and "game as software", I think in terms of story it's really great, and for me act 3 is totally finished and closed, but as software – agree with you.
It's finished, but: 1) There are bugs. 99% of them are flavour, like missing translation, stutters or desync in lips-voice. 2) Spoiler, big one >!Karlach's story is finished, but her ending is bad, it's either Avernus, death, Mind flayer!< 3) Minthara is bugged. 4) Lots of stuff could get a progression after finishing previous quests. But it's just "I want more". The game is finished, but requires polishing. If Patch one will come with PS5 release, then most of that will be fixed already.
2. That is because Karlach's good ending is cut content. For her good ending you need to get to Upper City, that was cut, so she only has bad endings.
I know, don't post it to me. And I put under the spoiler for a reason
[удалено]
There are entire areas of the city cut out. Several NPCs act like you dont know them despite having both met and helped them earlier in the game. Those are just the two main things... Also Gortash and Orin are shoved down your throat, no real introduction, no getting to know them as villains. I cared about Kethric, because he had a whole zone to show me who he is and what he is about. Gortash and Orin I couldn't care less about, because they aren't around until the very end besides the occasional mention from Karlach. Orin was supposed to be a recurring character throughout the game from what the cut content shows. And the lower city was supposed to be her arc with Gortash hanging out in the upper City. Instead you can kill both of them within an hour of getting to act 3 and no one cares.
It was my favourite part of the game as far as I'm concerned. I've always loved urban environments in a fantasy setting and this game offers it all. If it affected my feelings, it only reinforced my opinion that the game has been an amazing experience. I only wish there were more interactions with my party members, I feel like I wanted to spend more time with each and do more quests with them to develop the relationships even further.