Both games are currently on sale on Steam for about the same price ($59.99 CAD vs $58.49 CAD). I’ve never played either. I know they’re both supposed to be excellent games. My question is, for those who have played both, which do you prefer?
I don’t think I’ve got a ton of experience with similar games, though I don’t know for sure. I mostly play Souls games and Elder Scrolls games (Elden Ring and Skyrim are my two favourite games of all time). I don’t think there’s much carryover there but I could be wrong.
Hopefully this post could also help someone else who’s curious about the two games.
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They’re very different, so you need to figure it out for yourself. Both are great, but we don’t know your tastes. I would recommend BG3 though, for what is worth.
However, if you’re strapped for cash, I would recommend playing indie games. They’re often more interesting than these larger budget games (though these two are exceptions to large budget games being shit), and they’re usually like $20 max. Most people can get more out of Factorio or Dwarf Fortress, for example, than they can out of these games, at a much lower price.
And tbh since OP said they’re generally more into Soulslikes and such, Silksong comes out in 2 days for $20
Yeah I read about that after posting. I’ll probably pick that up honestly, but these two games are both super tempting too.
You could get GamePass and play Expedition 33 at a cheaper price.
Also, three examples you quoted are both first person based, while BG3 is not.
Elden Ring is third person and Skyrim allows for both. I’m not picky on it though, I like both.
That’s a good point about GamePass though. I also learned that BG3 had a two hour demo on PS5 which I also own. So I might look into that too.
I’d make it depend on the length. Expedition 33 is shorter. So if you want an experience that you can finish quickly you should choose that. If you want to spend weeks to months on a game choose BG3.
Both are great. Maybe play E33 first and go to BG3 after that.
I completely and utterly loved both of those games, but if I had to choose I’d go with Baldurs Gate 3, simply because it gave me many many more hours of gameplay while keeping things fresh enough for multiple playthroughs and is very fun multiplayer with up to 4 people, though also fun single player. Expedition 33 is a lot of fun but strictly single player and for 1 playthrough, replays are just the same but a little harder.
Highly recommend both when you can, each will consume a nice part of your life
If you mostly play Souls games, I have to lean towards E33 due to the real-time parry mechanic. Both games are amazing and you won’t regret playing either.
Baldurs Gate 3
If you’re strictly speaking about how many hours of playtime you will get out of it, than BG3. Both games are awesome though (in totally different ways).
They’re very different games, in my opinion. If “bang for your buck” is most important then BG3 has objectively more content. It’s way longer, has way more side content and can support many playthroughs.
I think BG3 is a very good game, but it is not perfect and it is somewhat overrated. It’s a great game, but not the best game ever. It has a fair share of flaws, and while the writing is fine it’s still very much videogamey.
Expedition 33 is more of a work of art. It still has its problems too, but at all the critical points it delivers in spades. It’s got a great cast of characters, beautiful art direction and a story with resonant themes that will hit home with most people. Plus one of the best soundtracks of all time. It’s got fantastic presentation, some incredible set pieces and moments and phenomenal voice acting, direction and facial expressions. Even though the game is turn-based, the implementation of active elements like Parry and Dodge will feel very familiar to you coming from Elden Ring. In fact, one of the gameplay designers used to be a Sekiro speedrunner, and it shows.
From your frame of reference BG3 is more like Skyrim I’d say, in that it can almost be your “forever-game”. People put thousands of hours into it over dozens of playthroughs and it has a very vivid modding scene. Expedition 33 is all about that one, cinematic impactful playthrough. Maybe you play it a second time to pick up on foreshadowing and stuff like that.
For me personally I had a great time playing BG3, but I will eventually forget about it. I spent fewer hours in Expedition 33, but the experience will stay with me way longer.
Absolutely /thread
You worded my reasoning for Clair Obscur much better than I could have.
OP: I loved Clair Obscur and highly recommend it. The story and gameplay is just so engaging, and it honestly might be the most beautiful game I’ve ever played in both art and soundtrack.
With the exception of the words “somewhat overrated”, I agree with this 100%. I have probably ~1000 hours in bg3 and just shy of 100 in expedition 33.
I wish I could play Expedition 33 for the first time again. It’s amazing. And it is very much a work of art.
With BG3 I can play it for the first time again by making different choices, adding mods, and choosing different classes. It’s a very fun video game with a lot of choices.
I’d highly recommend both. If someone is searching to fill between 40 and 100 hours (I like side quests, ok?) then Expedition 33 is absolutely amazing. If someone were looking to spend a couple of years before they have the money for another game then I can absolutely recommend BG3.
BG3 clearly has a lot of effort and polish put in, but overrated still resonates with me. I didn’t get out of act one because I find DnD mechanically tedious to play and the the gallery of rogues style characters more annoying than endearing.
Hey, that’s fair! Not everything speaks to everyone. World would be terribly boring if it did.
That makes me lean a bit more towards Clair Obscur. Though both sound awesome.
What makes you say BG3 is overrated? I totally understand it’s not necessarily for everyone, but it’s basically without peer in the genre if you’re huge into that style of game like I am. Now admittedly a component of why people say it’s so good is that Larian has had amazing community engagement so I guess that could be an argument. I do wish that Act 3 had gotten the more content they were thinking of but it’s better that they’ve had so much attention to detail I mean I’m not sure there’s a game that comes close in terms of how many choices you get to make.
The gameplay is good, but being shackled to D&D 5E is not ideal. I have a lot of issues with the writing of the game in general, Act 3 is also very bad. It’s still a great game, it’s just that people frequently claim it’s the best game of all time and I think that’s overrating it.
Fair points. I disagree that 5E isn’t ideal for this game specifically. Other systems are quite complex to implement in a game so less accessible. Imagine all the people who struggle with the 5e rules trying to play the game in pathfinder. I don’t play 5e anymore but I think it’s pretty decent for a crpg. I can agree that the writing isn’t perfect though. The character writing and such is quite good but the overall main plot is a bit weak I suppose. Sure there are parts of it that could be better but I don’t see why it shouldn’t be called one of the greatest games. It’s accessible for normie non crpg players, the characters are fun, there’s lots of choices and unlike say a Bethesda game they actually matter lol.
Somewhat unrelated how do you feel about divinity if you’ve played it in comparison to bg3? Do you think some of the issues with bg3 might be due to using existing IP if you like divinity better?
Admittedly it’s been a while since I played D:OS2, but I enjoyed that combat system quite a lot. No random success chance felt good, the action economy was more interesting and the skills had more freedom and interesting effects because they didn’t have to stick to existing 5E material. Magic/physical armor was an interesting strategic factor to play around and combat mostly felt good - although yes, it did frequently and infamously devolve into elemental surface spam.
Writing wise it’s all still in the patented Larian tone, which is sometimes funny but frequently unserious and sort of Marvel-esque for better or worse. I didn’t mind it as much in DOS2, but I was quite a few years younger when I played it. The romance sucked in that game too but at least one positive is I don’t remember every companion throwing themselves at you in a pathetic display of wish fulfillment protagonist-sexuality writing like they do in BG3.
I’m not usually a fan of turn based games.
Baldur’s Gate 3 hooked me. It was one of my favorite gaming experiences ever. I played through it two and a half times, consecutively.
I couldn’t get through Expedition 33. It’s very well done, but the story itself never hooked me. It just felt too abstract, like it never got me emotionally invested.
And the gameplay was too narrow. I’m sure it opened up after a while, but it would still be the same kind of turn based combat the whole time.
The story gets better, but it’s paced really weirdly and has some major issues. There’s a lot that’s not explained and the characters often just don’t react to what’s happening. The visuals and music are GORGEOUS though.
It just felt hard to relate to. The core premise is intriguing like I want to see where it goes, but it’s not intriguing like I feel personally invested in it.
Baldur’s Gate just had this perfect buildup, where you’re trying to solve a personal problem, and then it just keeps growing until you’re killing gods.
Expedition 33 is very good at what it does. It’s a great experience, well worth the money (though I found combat to be repetitive over time) and as others have already explained, a lot more artistic.
BG3 however was a mind-blowing game for me. The amount of choices you have at every point was something I’d always wanted, and I’d always been let down.
I still think about E33s story often after my ~20h playing it, but for BG3 I really wish I could play it again for the first time, after having played over 200 hours already.
my first walkthrough of E33 took 183 hours, there’s pretty huge world to explore and some optional bosses are quite challenging
That first big bad nevkron was like the asylum demon in dark souls for me. Yeah, he kills you in one hit but he’s not impossible. Also I didn’t know you could just not fight them again. I though I was stuck cause the failure screen just gives you two options of retry and something else. As a souls player I saw “retry” and nothing else. Took maybe six tries, but the combat was more intuitive afterwards(at least the parry)
which one? first chromatic or pink ball?
Like a big version of the first couple you come across. He gave me a “first attack his harder” attachment. After the second big shield jumping guy.
I enjoyed both, but members of my family who are into souls like games enjoyed E33 more.
That’s where I am. I loved bg 1&2. For some reason 3 just isn’t clicking for me. I can’t get past the first goblin cave and have the difficulty low. I’m no slouch either as I’ve gone through every single one of the fromsoft library. I even beat pre patch balteus ffs. I know there’s something simple I’m missing but bg 1&2, icewind Dale, shit even planescape never gave me a problem! I’m absolutely love Clair obscura though. It’s giving me huge ff VIII vibes which I loved.
BG3 is a master class in RPG fwiw.
BG3 never goes much below it’s current sale. It’s slowly going lower, but it’s going to stay that prices for a while because it’s worth the money and it’s in high demand.
Both games are on sale on resellers as well which might get you some better prices:
https://isthereanydeal.com/game/baldurs-gate-3/info/
https://isthereanydeal.com/game/clair-obscur-expedition-33/info/
BG3 is the only game I can think of that’s worth an $80 price tag and the moniker of “AAAA.” There is a frankly ludicrous amount of stuff in this game. The amount of effort it just have taken, let alone to ship 8 fully featured patches, borders on lunacy.
That’s a good argument. I appreciate your insight.
If you’re worried about it, bg3 will give you more bang for your buck. Easy to get near 100 hours in the first playthrough and it has a ton of replay value. 33 you’ll prob get 20-40 hours depending on side content you do and it doesn’t have much replay value.
Speaking as someone who loved both and got 100% achievements in 33. Should do both though.
I got about 30 hours doing most stuff. The thing is that there is more of the game after the story is done, about double the content or so i have read. I did not do that part myself so can’t say much about it.
For expedition? Side content about doubles the length of the game, and all of it is doable before completing the story. NG+ is a thing and massively cranks the level of all enemies, but nothing else changes
Ironically much like BG3, the third act of E33 is a mess. There is a ton of important side content with character moments and lore, particularly relating to Clea but also the whole Maelle relationship quest. But the pacing is completely off, it’s all presented as optional and it just feels very rushed. A “Definitive Edition” type patch or DLC that retools and restructures Act 3 would do E33 a world of good.
Agreed. The game was an 11/10 for me until I got to the third act and spent an hour going “what now?”
Up until then the pacing and level design was immaculate.
What others have failed to mention is how Expedition 33 is much more of a linear story where BG3 is comprised of a multitude of non-linear branching paths where “save-scumming” is important for new players.
Skyrim has the non-linear branching paths, but Bethesda doesn’t like cutting you off from content based on the path you choose so usually you can still continue to pursue other paths. Baldur’s Gate 3 is much much less forgiving and makes your choices matter and impact the paths you can take deeply. This can be daunting for new players.
I personally love games in the style of BG3 with non-linear branching paths and decisions that force specific paths, but they can be tricky to get used to if you haven’t experienced them before.
If you are more comfortable with the more linear stories, Expedition 33 is probably closer to what you’ll be comfortable with. However they are both worthwhile in many differing regards.
What I would also note is that the story in BG3 is still very linear. The branching paths are small deviations along the main path and can affect the ending, but the story doesn’t really change a whole lot so it’s not as daunting as it sounds.
The differences in choices in BG3 are more like flavor so that the story doesn’t railroad you into a certain character archetype. Replaying BG3 and making different choices mainly just rewards you with different companions and cutscenes, new paths through the 3 main areas, and more or less different side quests or even parallel main quests.
Yeah, BG3 isn’t a truly branching path game in the way something like Witcher 2 for example is.
I appreciate this input, though I actually like both styles as long as it’s executed well, so unfortunately that doesn’t seal the deal for me. Thank you for the extra info though.
No wrong choice. Though if you like Skyrim so much I’d say you’d prefer BG3, ever so slightly
That’s where I was leaning at first too, but now I’m not so sure after reading some other comments. Tough decision.
