I've been a D&D nerd for about three decades and I'm not sure I've ever really felt so seen as a D&D nerd as by this game. It lives up to my childhood experience playing my first D&D CRPG (SSI's Dark Sun: Shattered Lands) based on the (unfortunately poorly aged) 2nd edition AD&D rule set but with the richness and polish of a modern game.

The well-crafted story helps bring the land of Faerun to life and that also gets to me as a nerdy girl who read probably 50+ of the Forgotten Realms novels in the 90s and early 00s and played in games in that setting as well (plus previous CRPGs). It definitely brings that world to life in a way a lot of previous D&D CRPGs have attempted with varying success. A lot of the major factions of the continent of Faerun have some involvement which I really appreciate, it really feels like there are a lot of different choices you can make to influence the story in various ways based on who you want to side with and who you want to stand against while not always keeping things to absolutes (pun unintended). Meanwhile it doesn't require you to have any prior knowledge of the setting and I think you can learn a lot from just interacting with characters and reading the short in-game books. It's very well voice acted and the beautifully composed soundtrack really emphasize the story here and the character arcs are well done as well.

Some of the changes Larian made from the tabletop 5th edition D&D rule set are a little frustrating at times, but the heart is there. And mods definitely help, there's a ton of great 5e subclasses and minor changes you can do to make the game feel a little bit closer to the tabletop experience. I have other nitpicks as well, but overall they are pretty minor compared to all the great work Larian has put into this game. (It's just a shame that a lot of the Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro employees who helped liaison with Larian to make this game so great are no longer with WotC.)

Overall I heartily recommend BG3 to anyone who loves D&D and wants a well crafted story that provides some semblance to a tabletop campaign, or anyone who loves an in-depth RPG. Don't feel the need to play BG1&2 first (though they are possibly worth going back to if you enjoy this, just be warned the game system is very different and they are well over 20 years old at this point), there are connections but with this taking place over 100 years later due to changes of editions of the D&D system I think this game stands on its own as well.

ETA: Larian's continued support of this game really is commendable, I appreciate them continuing to work on new features to make this game better for everyone including native mod support even on consoles and soon cross-play between all platforms. So much better than some games that get released and then barely updated or even fixed from launch.

I've been a D&D nerd for about three decades and I'm not sure I've ever really felt so seen as a D&D nerd as by this game. It lives up to my childhood experience playing my first D&D CRPG (SSI's Dark Sun: Shattered Lands) based on the (unfortunately poorly aged) 2nd edition AD&D rule set but with the richness and polish of a modern game. The well-crafted story helps bring the land of Faerun to life and that also gets to me as a nerdy girl who read probably 50+ of the Forgotten Realms novels in the 90s and early 00s and played in games in that setting as well (plus previous CRPGs). It definitely brings that world to life in a way a lot of previous D&D CRPGs have attempted with varying success. A lot of the major factions of the continent of Faerun have some involvement which I really appreciate, it really feels like there are a lot of different choices you can make to influence the story in various ways based on who you want to side with and who you want to stand against while not always keeping things to absolutes (pun unintended). Meanwhile it doesn't require you to have any prior knowledge of the setting and I think you can learn a lot from just interacting with characters and reading the short in-game books. It's very well voice acted and the beautifully composed soundtrack really emphasize the story here and the character arcs are well done as well. Some of the changes Larian made from the tabletop 5th edition D&D rule set are a little frustrating at times, but the heart is there. And mods definitely help, there's a ton of great 5e subclasses and minor changes you can do to make the game feel a little bit closer to the tabletop experience. I have other nitpicks as well, but overall they are pretty minor compared to all the great work Larian has put into this game. (It's just a shame that a lot of the Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro employees who helped liaison with Larian to make this game so great are no longer with WotC.) Overall I heartily recommend BG3 to anyone who loves D&D and wants a well crafted story that provides some semblance to a tabletop campaign, or anyone who loves an in-depth RPG. Don't feel the need to play BG1&2 first (though they are possibly worth going back to if you enjoy this, just be warned the game system is very different and they are well over 20 years old at this point), there are connections but with this taking place over 100 years later due to changes of editions of the D&D system I think this game stands on its own as well. ETA: Larian's continued support of this game really is commendable, I appreciate them continuing to work on new features to make this game better for everyone including native mod support even on consoles and soon cross-play between all platforms. So much better than some games that get released and then barely updated or even fixed from launch.