Recent reviews by Lorillae

As a longtime fan of the Borderlands franchise, New Tales is genuinely heartbreaking. I couldn't even finish episode 1, because after two hours of gameplay I was yet to find something I enjoyed about it. There are far better games in this franchise.

If you're looking at this review and wondering whether it's worth giving New Tales from the Borderlands a try... I paid 89p for this game, and I feel cheated out of it.

It’s official: Baldur’s Gate 3 has ruined RPGs for me. After playing through the vast majority of Larian Studios’ BG3, Starfield just feels empty and bland in comparison. I really wanted to enjoy this game. Unfortunately, in its current state, I know where I’d rather be: Faerûn.

While the top-down, click to move style of the game is very similar to what Divinity fans may be expecting from this, Baldur's Gate 3 is more than just a Divinity game with the D&D lore stuck onto it with some Blu-Tack. It is a (albeit early-access) game in it's own right and, despite the bugs expected of an early access game, it is a masterpiece of game-play and design.

Gameplay

Fans of top down games (yes, like the Divinity series) will love this. Imagine the world of Divinity: OS 2 but with beautiful cut-scenes rather than text boxes. Everything in the game hangs on dice rolls, and it definitely feels like you could be one unlucky throw away from having to fight every single inhabitant of the first act. This brings us nicely along to the combat. As mentioned previously, this is not Divinity. There are no 'action points'. All the way through to the end of Act 1, you will most likely have:

• One action
  
• One bonus action
  
• A set amount of movement

It is very much based on the Dungeons and Dragons 5e combat system. Don't expect to be using seven spells a turn and still have enough actions left to use your main hand attack.

Graphics

Stunning. Just stunning. There may be a few graphical glitches - again, early access game - but otherwise, the world of Baldur's Gate 3 is a visual marvel. Just wait till you see the Underdark. If you do encounter a visual bug, save where you are, quit the game and relaunch. This solved most serious graphical issues for me.

Support

Finally, if you have any issues with the game that you cannot resolve, Larian's support team are incredible. I contacted them for an issue with sound within the game, and received a response hours later the same day. Turns out, the game had reset my sound settings to 'Speakers' when I am using headphones - d'oh!

Conclusion

At £50, Baldur's Gate 3 is worth a purchase, even in early access. The graphics are amazing, the soundtrack is beautiful, the combat system is easy-to-learn, hard-to-master, and everything about the game exudes love from the developers. Thank you, Larian Studios and Wizards of the Coast for working on and creating this amazing game. I can't wait for the full release.

Post-Early-Access Update: This game is a MASTERPIECE. Even if the price were double what it is now, I’d be paying full price for it. I’ve bought several copies for friends. Please, do yourself a favour, buy Baldur’s Gate 3 - and nominate it for every award available!