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As there are plenty of reviews out there already singing the praises of this game independently, I'd figure I'd add the perspective of someone with many, many hours of Baldur's Gate and especially Baldur's Gate 2 under my belt -- and I mean the original releases that came on multiple CDs, not the remasters.
For an old fogey like me, the biggest thing to get used to is the combat. While BG and BG2 were turn-based with pause, BG3 is fully turn-based; where BG2 was based on D&D 2e and 3e, BG3 is based on 5e. Since I had no tabletop experience with it before this game, it also served as an introduction to 5e for me (or at least Larian's house-ruled version, as changes are inevitable when you're translating a game from pen and paper to computer). So a lot of this review is actually going to be about that, too.
I was skeptical when I heard that despite its length, the game topped out at 12th level (BG1's low level combat was extremely one-sided, and BG2 starts at 8-10, depending on class) and that your party had no more than 4 people (down from 6), but as it turns out this is mostly compensated for by the deepened combat system. Mobility and positioning are far more important now, since movement is restricted each turn and enemies make far better use of theirs. Spell-like abilities are far more abundant, meaning pure spellcasters are not as impressive/overpowered as they used to be. Battles are now much more an exercise into correctly applying the limited use of every character's vast pool of options, rather than the classic "mage and fighter meat shields" setup of most BG2 battles. Both systems have their pros and cons, but the 5e system is a lot more balanced between classes if nothing else. Though, if you like your fights absolutely unbalanced and unfair, BG3 has plenty of options for that as well, mostly by abusing the physics system in ways I'm sure a tabletop DM would never allow.
Speaking of classes, that's been completely overhauled too, with the ability to pick a class on every level, rather than the mechanically more complicated and restricted multiclassing and dualclassing from 2e/3e. This is a fun and versatile system that allows you to mix and match proficiencies and abilities to build a character you like without being dependent on having a specific kit designed for them. One thing that holds back the fun somewhat is that the game's length means you will be at the lower levels for a long time, so if you have a build planned that only really comes into its own at the later levels you'll be waiting on that quite a bit. You do get access to a cheap and easy way to respec your character early in the game, so switching builds depending on their viability at each stage is an option.
In terms of the actual combat in the game, the biggest hurdle is understanding the system and the action economy (there are "actions" and "bonus actions" and they are mostly not interchangeable), but once you do most fights pose little problem. There are only a handful of fights I would call challenging, and even on the highest difficulty levels you will find yourself with an inventory full of weapons, items and consumables that you don't need to win. The main thing making the game's hardest difficulty setting "honour mode" a true challenge is that you have to do it all on a single save, which enforces extreme caution. I personally prefer just having tougher but replayable battles over an ironman mode, but fortunately the game is very moddable, so there's options if you want the game harder, or trivialize combat entirely so you can focus on the story.
Combat mechanics aside, the role-playing part is where it gets really fun. Whereas the standard approach in most RPGs is fighting, or getting a quest item, or getting a quest item by fighting, BG3 leans a lot more into your character's background and proficiencies, and relies on abundant dice rolls for everything. Skipping things or doing them out of order is practically the norm, and the game is built to handle it. When it's firing on all cylinders, the game feels like an actual tabletop session of D&D, where your party pulls outrageous stunts (and/or spectacular failures) based on how the dice favored their crazy ideas, while the DM wearily looks on and rewrites campaign notes in the background. There is still plenty of combat and a few major places where fighting your way out is unavoidable, but these stand out when contrasted with how often you can talk or physically manipulate your way out of things. As with any CRPG there are still always places where you wished you had more options, but the game does a good job of accommodating you.
So is the game perfect then? Well, no, nothing is. It's very, very good, but there are blemishes. Small physics, camera and UI glitches that are fortunately mostly resolved by saving and loading the game. A classic if by now a bit antiquated approach to loot where the game showers you with magical items, but most of them are not very interesting or impressive and get chucked on the pile. Some mechanics, while adding flavor, feel tacked-on and inconsequential -- camp supplies, alchemy, dyes. There are cameos from companions in earlier games, but the story doesn't gel very well with how things were left at the end of the Bhaalspawn saga. There are weaknesses around the storyline if you want to play an "evil" character, with "good" characters definitely getting to see and do more. And while the game's immense size is surely hard to fault in terms of value for money, it does mean that by Act Three, when your course is pretty well set and it seems like things are ramping up to a confrontation, the game still throws new side quests at you like you're just starting out, which can lead to fatigue if you're not able to simply plow ahead and ignore them.
So with all that, do I recommend BG3? ...are you kidding? If the many other reviews didn't already give you an indication, BG3 is an RPG with phenomenal and probably unparalleled scope, size, depth and quality, and more importantly, the ability to pull you in and keep you hooked. I've spent many a day going to bed far later than I should have just because there was "one more quest" to finish up, "one more area" to explore, and before I knew it I was neck deep into new shenanigans. It brought me all the way back to a time where BG2 was, for a long time, the only game I played, to the point where I learned all the ins and outs of the engine and even made a few mods for it myself. I'm (probably!) not going to go that far for BG3, but it definitely gave me the same feeling of wanting to go for another playthrough almost immediately after I'd finished the first one, even knowing how many hours that was going to take, just to do things differently this time. That time commitment is definitely not for everyone, as shown by the fact that no less than half of all players don't even make it through Act One, but this game is so large that even just Act One would qualify as a full price release on its own for most studios. Not so Larian, and while they've broken many hearts by saying there won't be an expansion or sequel to BG3, by the end of this game you definitely feel the weight of all that effort and time the developers sank into it, and you can't really blame them for going "enough".
Baldur's Gate 3 is a game I think everyone should play, even if you don't complete it. Those who like CRPGs will almost certainly love it, those who have never played CRPGs may come to like the genre, and all in all this game is probably the best advertisement for Dungeons & Dragons outside of the source material. It's a ray of sunshine in a gaming industry where insidious mediocrity and shameful cash grabs have become the norm for AAA releases, and we should thank our lucky stars for the fact that it's very replayable, because unfortunately we're not likely to see its match any time soon.