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.
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.