I don’t tend to play games like Baldur’s Gate 3 but I choose it so I could play multiplayer with my friend. The first time I played I didn’t do so well, but I started over with a new character and doing much better.
Why am I sharing this? I try to avoid games that feel like they are going to be overwhelming and deep time sinks. That’s why I play casual games. I can fit a casual game in my life easily, but something that I have to commit to can be overwhelming.
I might have made a mistake because it clearly offers a deep and complex setup. However it does have lots of guides, and walks you through things in a nice way. I used to watch Dungeons & Dragons as a kid, so I have a passing familiarity with the genre. I also had a friend in high school who was part of a D&D group so I picked up some things from him and did some research on my own. I don’t think that I want to do the number crunching that game implies manually, but in this automatic video game format I think casual players like I find it approachable.
Many of the games that I have loved like Red Dead Redemption and Control were complex and overwhelming at first. I stuck with it because I had a friend who said they were excellent games and I trusted his judgment. It turned out that the little bit of effort was well worth it. They were an experience, and so far BG3 has been an experience as well. I like that it allows you to make meaningful choices, and that there is an element of chance.
I have to be honest that it feels like it might be one of the first true games to offer an open-world environment. You can go anywhere, and with the chance system you don’t feel you are being pushed into a certain path. Even at the start I had two very different games when I played, and I can’t say that for any other game I have played. While I am not ready to say I love it it, I can see why it has excellent reviews and I am glad that I am giving it a chance.
If you do like complexity, or have played D&D in the past, this is an easy choice for you. You will love it I am sure.