In recent days, Highguard has come under harsh criticism. Despite public support from Geoff Keighley and Baldur's Gate 3 development lead Swen Vincke, the overall tone of the discussion remains sharply negative.
It is enough to look at the many negative reviews across different platforms to understand: right now, it has become fashionable to mock Highguard.
However, amid the negativity, there is also reason for cautious optimism for the developers at Wildlight Entertainment. If you filter Steam reviews by time spent in the game, the picture changes. It turns out that players who have spent a noticeable number of hours in Highguard rate it significantly more leniently.
As GamesRadar noted, when filtering Steam reviews for a minimum of three hours played, Highguard’s rating changes from "Mostly Negative" to "Mostly Positive." This assessment is based on roughly 5,000 reviews. In them, users write that "people are drawing conclusions too quickly" and that "the game is fun, but needs improvements." Criticism from such players appears less aggressive and far more constructive.
At the same time, a significant share of the negative reviews is tied to performance issues and login problems at launch, because of which many users simply did not manage to log enough hours. Nevertheless, the very existence of a more loyal audience looks encouraging.
Highguard is not making it into Steam’s top charts, but perhaps the game has a foundation on which the project can still be developed.
