We were well aware that Larian Studios next iterative step into the D&D universe was going to open in Early Access; for many, the full price of $60 has come as a surprise, making some feel as though they’re paying for the opportunity to be a quality assurance tester for the legendary studio.
A position that was once acted as an entrance into the brutal realm of the game industry is now being crowd-sourced to various effect, and while some are eager to call foul play it’s difficult to state that Larian Studios hasn’t earned a pedigree of excellence over the past decade with their releases.
Nonetheless, it has frustrated some as the title is fully priced in its partial state, and there is no guarantee that the title will end up in a promised state with full content and a lack of hard-locking bugs that won’t impede on progression. Further, regional pricing is a bit skewed for many; the price is roughly $90 in Australia, and a reported $80 for Israel.
Larian Studios has actually encouraged players that do not want to help with development, in terms of bug fixing and content tweaking, to not invest in the title as of yet: with no savings to be readily offered for buying in early, there is wisdom in staying your hand in spite of how exciting it is that the next step in Baldur’s Gate is finally available for purchase.
Currently, the content there does readily offer bugs, from a save failing (and resulting in players losing hours of progress) to players being locked into a dialogue that isn’t occurring, to the title simply failing to load and keeping players locked into screens until they Alt+F4 out of it, the Early Access title is well-deserved for Baldur’s Gate 3 in its current state.
When it works, it does so wonderfully well; the characters are well fleshed-out with their own ideas and emotions, the combat stays true to the D&D5E ruleset, environments are beautiful and filled with detail.
The multiplayer options are also fantastic, with inventory management being a cinch and offering multiplayer voting to dialogue options that can alter how your team progresses through the perilous world.
As it’s currently looking, Baldur’s Gate 3 will be pristine on launch and will whet the appetites of anyone that has scoured the world of Divinity: Original Sin II and are eager for more content.
As it is currently, the bugs are frustrating to attempt to slog through and it is very difficult to recommend for anyone that isn’t eager to explore the first act with roughly 25 hours of content that Larian Studios has offered.
In spite of this, Steam was actually brought down to its knees when Baldur’s Gate 3 launched into Early Access, and users attempting to purchase it as soon as possible had flashbacks to Nvidia check-outs. This alone is monumental; Steam typically only buckles when a large sale begins and fans are scouring for obscene sales that aren’t found anywhere else in gaming.
Regardless of opinion on precisely what Early Access is and how it fits into the modern development cycle for titles, and the skewed regional pricing, one thing is absolutely sure. Larian Studios is making a statement with their pricing in Early Access, and it will either be adopted or shunned by the rest of the industry. We’re betting on the former.
