Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Early Access Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Multi-headed Cow]

In terms of sheer "reactivity" the game has always been excellent. I made several posts in the past highlighting how often it surprises you taking into account actions that most games would consider "sequence-breaking".
Honestly most of the shortcomings remaining so far are in terms of broad design ("bonsai/diorama world where everything is pressed few centimeters away from anything else, no sense of distance whatsoever, no sense of passing time and no day/night cycle, poor instanced camping system rather than contextual one, etc) or at a mechanical level (apparently minor tweaks to the rule system that translate in a cascade of bad consequences on the gameplay, like Shove being a bonus action).

The lack of passing time is something that 99% of RPGs are guilty of though, sadly. Even BG1 and 2 with day and night cycles it's obviously just setdressing since nothing (Except during the underdark in BG2) actually cares about how quickly or slowly you do something. It's one of the good points about the Pathfinder games, Kingmaker more than Wrath of the Righteous, since it actually has a large number of quests that'll punish you for fucking around rather than treating things like an emergency. And since BG3's doing the standard RPG thing of time seemingly not caring about time I find I care less about the lack of day/night cycles in BG3. The instanced camping is weird though I'll fully agree, I assume they just did it for technical reasons (Wanted to have animations and scenes during camping sequences, didn't want shit to break by camping anywhere, make sure the party always camps in their pocket camping dimension) but it is a bit odd. And the world feeling too compact is a bummer and makes it feel less like you're exploring and going on an adventure which might be the biggest thing sticking out to me as DoS3 over BG3. Could change later on once we get access to Baldur's Gate itself and the world map but in early access it's a mild shame. Actually the sort of thing I'd bitch about more and miss more if the game hadn't been doing so good in other areas like all that fine reactivity. It's a bit like comparing apples to oranges since crawling over the wilderness exploring is so divorced from characters reacting to the player's actions but it's a different satisfying aspect for RPGs anyway.

Speaking of the camp, did anyone else think that zombie guy sounded slightly Irenicus-like? They're fucking with the voice of course and even if it IS supposed to be Irenicus I don't know if they would've gotten David Warner back (RIP) but I noticed some of his lines sounded a bit similar. They arguably shouldn't have him but maybe they figure if ToB can bring back Sarevok then they can have Irenicus as the camp's designated rez-bot. Or it'll be some bullshit like the bit of Bhaal essence let him worm his way out of hell similar to reanimating Sarevok or lord knows. Or it's just nothing and I've just got too much wax in my ears.

That's cool but not that impressive honestly when you recall they're making a game for co-op.

True, but they still could've just written boilerplate "Thank you kind adventurers from saving me from bugbear buggery" which would be applicable to anyone talking to her. There are some cases where taking things into account for co-op could matter but unless she suddenly turns into a big deal later (Which all signs point toward no) it's just a nice little touch for the sake of it, which the game seems loaded with.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

The lack of passing time is something that 99% of RPGs are guilty of though, sadly. Even BG1 and 2 with day and night cycles it's obviously just setdressing since nothing (Except during the underdark in BG2) actually cares about how quickly or slowly you do something.

No, no, NO, NO.
We are talking about entirely different scales of the phenomenon.
You are talking about how the world in BG1 or 2 doesn't freak out when you waste a couple of days here and there, which I frankly couldn't give less of a damn about.
Conversely, I'm talking about how the world in BG3 seems to be permanently frozen in the same moment of the day. Both because you get no variation in lighting, NPC positioning, monsters encountered, behavior or anything else and because literally no one ever refences any time frame about anything, everything is two steps away from anything else, there's no implied travel time to get anywhere, there's no dynamic weather, there's no sense of scale or distance, etc.

"It's just set dressing". Well, set dressing would be more than fine enough on itself and we are not getting that, either.

It's one of the good points about the Pathfinder games, Kingmaker more than Wrath of the Righteous, since it actually has a large number of quests that'll punish you for fucking around rather than treating things like an emergency.

Yeah, PF games manage this reasonably well (except for being occasionally a bit more obtuse about it and not letting exactly get the player get a grasp of what's a stake and in what type of time limit) but once again "getting punished for wasting time" is NOT what I was talking about and what I'm lamenting the absence of here.

The instanced camping is weird though I'll fully agree, I assume they just did it for technical reasons

We can make assumptions until the end of time, but that doesn't change the fact that it can be done, others did it and if it's a technical limitation is one where they bottled themselves in with their own hands.
Hell, once again Pathfinder manages to surpass them in this area while using a far more economical and yet more versatile solution: you can camp pretty much anywhere there's enough room for it (given no enemies in your immediate proximity), you get dialogues and interactions between companions that go way past "One companion wants to talk with you", the system is entirely dynamic and contextual and it doesn't involve expensive cinematics and shit.

Not to mention that if "cinematic dialogues" is what they were going for and were adamant about, they already have a system in place to have the same conversation in different background. They only had to polish that system (i.e. Make sure characters don't pop in the middle of a big boulder before starting the scene) rather than move the entire team in the pocket dimension and creating the weird disconnect where you are teleported back and forth.

Speaking of the camp, did anyone else think that zombie guy sounded slightly Irenicus-like? They're fucking with the voice of course and even if it IS supposed to be Irenicus

General speculation is that he's supposed to be a manifestation of Jergal.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

The lack of passing time is something that 99% of RPGs are guilty of though, sadly. Even BG1 and 2 with day and night cycles it's obviously just setdressing since nothing (Except during the underdark in BG2) actually cares about how quickly or slowly you do something.

Untrue. For the cycle itself, there are some events that only occur at night, and for timed quests, there are all sorts of hidden timers. For example, Nalia will leave the party if you don't go to her keep in an appropriate timeframe, iirc. I think the same for Korgan. It may not spell out "you have this many days to do this in" in every case, but marking the passage of time helps.

Though, I will agree that it is too lax in its concept of time. Imoen can wait in Spellhold for years if you want and it won't make a difference.

It's one of the good points about the Pathfinder games, Kingmaker more than Wrath of the Righteous, since it actually has a large number of quests that'll punish you for fucking around rather than treating things like an emergency.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker does it the boring and stupid way. There are all sorts of timed events that just become a headache to manage. Wrath of the Tranny, I still haven't had to inclination to suffer through yet.

And since BG3's doing the standard RPG thing of time seemingly not caring about time I find I care less about the lack of day/night cycles in BG3.

Technically, there are day/night cycles in BG3, and time does matter there as well. It's just not real-time cycles. A day lasts however long you can stay awake, and night happens when you rest at camp. This cycle is actually pretty important at the start, as it has to do with your tadpoles and how quickly they are eating your brain. But (bigger spoiler) later you find out that they're special tadpoles and they may not be eating too much of your brain. Yet. Hopefully.

Conversely, I'm talking about how the world in BG3 seems to be permanently frozen in the same moment of the day.

Aesthetically, yeah, that's an issue, but again, time does pass as far as the game is concerned, and it's tracked in terms of the amount of days.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Technically, there are day/night cycles in BG3, and time does matter there as well. It's just not real-time cycles. A day lasts however long you can stay awake, and night happens when you rest at camp.

Which is a problem in itself, because if you aren't one of these pushovers that rest every time they use a single spell slot, you can currently go through the almost entirety of Act 1 in basically a single day.
Which is shit for immersion, made worse by the fact that there's no exhaustion mechanic whatsoever and exacerbated even more by the way the game basically expects you to rest every five steps to keep pace with the way they distributed their "story progression scenes".

In one playthrough during the previous patch I remember finishing EA before even learning that Astarion was supposed to bea vampire (big fucking surprise, I know).
The game currently has systems that are simply at odds with each other.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

The lack of passing time is something that 99% of RPGs are guilty of though, sadly. Even BG1 and 2 with day and night cycles it's obviously just setdressing since nothing (Except during the underdark in BG2) actually cares about how quickly or slowly you do something.

Untrue. For the cycle itself, there are some events that only occur at night, and for timed quests, there are all sorts of hidden timers. For example, Nalia will leave the party if you don't go to her keep in an appropriate timeframe, iirc. I think the same for Korgan. It may not spell out "you have this many days to do this in" in every case, but marking the passage of time helps.

Though, I will agree that it is too lax in its concept of time. Imoen can wait in Spellhold for years if you want and it won't make a difference.

I did completely space out on the companions, most BG1 and 2 companions will bitch at you and/or leave the party if you ignore their goals for too long. And I want to say Jaheira can die if you let her curse go too far but I can't remember if she dies or you just have to drag her around in her crippled state. I also can't remember off the top of my head if that's a regular companion quest with her or only happens if you romance her, I want to say companion quest since it's more harper-related but Jaheira's such a big mess in BG2 it all kind of blobs together in my memory.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Which is a problem in itself, because if you aren't one of these pushovers that rest every time they use a single spell slot, you can currently go through the almost entirety of Act 1 in basically a single day.

This is true, and the game basically encourages you to go without sleep for as long as possible.

Which is shit for immersion

Yes, but mainly due to the world size thing. Technically, the map areas are pretty large when you compare them to BG2 areas. But without an exhaustion mechanic, as you say, they feel small, since you can go from map to map with no issues other than needing to recharge your spells and abilities.

In one playthrough during the previous patch I remember finishing EA before even learning that Astarion was supposed to bea vampire (big fucking surprise, I know).
The game currently has systems that are simply at odds with each other.

I think it's pretty unlikely that a player would get that far without a rest or two. And there may be other ways to learn he's a vampire apart from resting, but I don't recall. Thought I remembered a confession via influence.

 

[BruceVC]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

 

[BruceVC]

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/th...ming-to-baldurs-gate-3-including-a-big-secret

There's "a lot of stuff" still coming to Baldur's Gate 3 - including a big secret​

Larian's founder and director Swen Vincke reveals he's still got a special something up his sleeve

it's bhaalspawn related
(can't wait for the people who cried about BG3 having nothing to do with bhaalspawn now crying it will feature bhaalspawn)

I posted this link and then realized you posted it already so I deleted it

BG3 is becoming more and more exciting and promising as each week goes on, its easily my most anticipated game of all time. I wonder what the big secret is? Interacting with Bhaalspawn would be a great idea but I am not sure if I would classify that as a " big " secret?

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

 

[BruceVC]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!! There is no such thing as a porn whore, they adult film actresses

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!!

Look nobody has the time and patience to type adult entertainment paid actress when they can just type porn whore.

 

[BruceVC]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!!

Look nobody has the time and patience to type adult entertainment paid actress when they can just type porn whore.

I edited my post

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!!

Look nobody has the time and patience to type adult entertainment paid actress when they can just type porn whore.

I edited my post

My point still stands.
Porn. Whore.

 

[BruceVC]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!!

Look nobody has the time and patience to type adult entertainment paid actress when they can just type porn whore.

I edited my post

My point still stands.
Porn. Whore.

Last point from me on this, how do you refer to a male porn actor?

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Porn. Whore.

Alternatively: "fornicating photographic slutbag", "financially compensated sex hole", "paid semen enthusiast", or simply, "skank".

Last point from me on this, how do you refer to a male porn actor?

Future AIDS and/or justice system victim.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!!

Look nobody has the time and patience to type adult entertainment paid actress when they can just type porn whore.

I edited my post

My point still stands.
Porn. Whore.

Last point from me on this, how do you refer to a male porn actor?

Porn whore.

 

[Cyberarmy]

only with Xzar and Montaron.

They are dead, well at least Xzar for certain and Montarons fate is unknown, killed by Harpers in BG2.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

They are dead, well at least Xzar for certain and Montarons fate is unknown, killed by Harpers in BG2.

Montaron is dead. You can find his body in a chest when visiting the building after the quest.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Montaron's_Body

 

[Reinhardt]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

Edgy I loved Viconia, she had my child. Its hurts my feelings when you say things like that. Dont allow yourself to participate in slut-shaming...its often unfair and people might thing you being sexist

You fucking african iq case they literally drew Viconia's portrait over a real life porn whore.

Slut-shaming is still wrong !!!! There is no such thing as a porn whore, they adult film actresses

also there is no such thing as "africans", they are niggers.

 

[BruceVC]

They are dead, well at least Xzar for certain and Montarons fate is unknown, killed by Harpers in BG2.

Montaron is dead. You can find his body in a chest when visiting the building after the quest.
https://baldursgate.fandom.com/wiki/Montaron's_Body

Thats interesting but people can get resurrected so we never know?

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

Thats interesting but people can get resurrected so we never know?

 

[Sykar]

Need to find some pics of that porn whore they traced for accurate fan art.

The woman's name is Zdenka Podkapova.

 

[Reinhardt]

It's probably Edwin and some other evil companion, to counteract Minsc and Jaheira.

jaheira is not gud, she's neutral. you don't need two ebul niggers.

 

[Reinhardt]

speaking of niggers, they will probably bring back lesbian nigger vampire from ee to make our victor happy.

 

[BruceVC]

speaking of niggers, they will probably bring back lesbian nigger vampire from ee to make our victor happy.

As you know I recently had a complete BG1&2 playthrough and initially I had Hexxat in my party for her Vampire and Thieving skills but I replaced her with Vienxay who is a mod NPC

And as far as Romance with Hexxat is concerned I wasnt impressed. If she looked like Megan Thee Stallion or Nicki Minaj and she was straight I would have been happy but aesthetically and from a dialogue perspective she was meh