Preview Baldur's Gate 3 Gameplay Reveal, Previews and Interviews

[Kessai]

There's "maintaining a distinct identity in your games" and then there's "doing the Todd Howard and re-releasing the same game". This looks a lot like the latter, with Divinity Original Sin hanging above it like a bad hangover.

Emerging from a crashed ship you were captive in, collecting a bunch of goons whose main character trait is being cheeky and sardonic, all of whom suffer from the same flavor of fantasy-gonorrhea as yourself.
Even the rocky/sandy environments themselves somehow smacked of DOS2's Fort Joy beach, while the fight with looters in the ruins looked like a scene ripped straight from DOS2 (first fight alongside Gareth, that retard?)

Graphically, this didn't look like Baldur's Gate, not because of the 3D style but because of the art direction itself.
The lighting and color palette are almost the same as DOS2, perhaps just a little less saturated. Baldur's Gate had this sweet, kind of gritty style that is completely absent here.

https://www.baldursgateii.com/images/screens/screen01.jpg <- more of this.

Some of the abilities also reek of "AWESOME BUTTON". Your guy can apparently jump like a springboard, which doubles as a /DISENGAGE/, all as a damn bonus action. Why? "Teh tadpoel did et". The tadpole sounds like an excuse to bring in the mobility of DOS2 combat, which is in itself questionable because D&D combat is purposefully sticky until you get access to flying and crap like that. If you wanna disengage in regular 5e, better pack your weapons in, because disengaging's a regular action.

I wouldn't mind these changes if they didn't serve to make the game even more divinity-like when it was already farting around so much with its atmosphere. Pre-alpha or not, the copy-pasted UI elements also didn't help the first impression, at all.

The whole thing reminded me of the adventures my friend ran for us in DOS2's Game Master mode when we were bored, beginning with that Das Schwarze Auge module and moving onto a couple of custom stories.

Why does a Baldur's Gate sequel look like someone locked my friend in a basement with DOS2's Game Master mode for a decade?

P.S. At least it's turn-based.

 

[Crane]

*I took my hopes for BG3 out back and shot them dead*

 

[Valky]

It's just not the Baldur's Gate I knew if it doesn't have garbage combat.

 

[Hamlet]

Well, the DOS-isms, i.e. dancing when using an ability, don't exactly fit D&D, but overall I'm pleasantly surprised. A little gesturing and chanting for portraying spell-casting would be nice though. This could really be so much worse, they could've hammered the system into RTWP, for those people. You know those people, who let's admit, are less than human.

 

[corvax]

This looks like DOS minus the ridiculous WoW style armor. Personally, I wish they in a different direction stylistically like what Blizzard is doing with Diablo 4. Also, I may be in the minority here but I never found Larian's writing to be engaging and their sense of humor is just not my cup of tea. It's like they try to hard to be funny but maybe that's just me getting more cynical, grumpy and in general...old.

 

[Nihiliste]

Looks like PF:K will remain king of the IE successors

 

[CRD]

Looks like PF:K will remain king of the IE successors

maybe Black Geyser

 

[Dr Schultz]

Uaho, the day they announced the imminent arrival of the presentation I made a 100% accurate prediction. I think this is the first time in my entire life...

Having said that, it seems we'll have the cloosest thing to an actual P&P RPG ever landed on a PC (not specifically because of D&D but because of the multiplayer, the focus on systemic interactions and the turn based combat), which was somewhat predictable giving Larian track record and it also was exactly what I wanted from BG3.

What remains to be seen now is if we'll also get a good videogame.

Ps: on a side note, I don't like the art style st all. But this was predictable as well, given that both the official D&D 5ed artworks and the last 4 Larian games are not exactly "sober"

 

[Flou]

In before voted as the best game of the year by Codex.

Seems like the game is Baldur's Gate in name only and not a "true" sequel to the originals.

 

[Darkozric]

The problems here are not the combat systems, both TB and RTwP are good systems for a Baldur's Gate game. Both can be good. The problems are the art direction, the top down 3D rotatable camera, the feeling of playing something else except Baldur's Gate. Even the voice acting of spell casting is missing...Where is my fucking Vita Mortis Cario!! It looks nice for a Divinity game but not for Baldur's Gate. Very disappointed...

 

[Darkozric]

Beautiful Desolation shows the way in terms of level design. Photogrammetry is the future for this kind of RPGS. Forget about the soulless 3D top down rotatable view, we need beautiful 2D isometric rendered environments and not this generic shit. But unfortunately Swen cares only for the mainstream crowd...

 

[Elex]

"94%" chance to hit means they aren't using d20s. People who want an easy to understand system aren't likely to get it here and will have to stick with Wrath of the Righteous (and Solasta and Realms Beyond and KotC 2, etc).

5e use advantage/disadvantage.
Roll two D20 and take the higher/lower.
(Also the target can have a reaction and increase AC if hit)

so the % are not going to be multiple of 5.

 

[thesheeep]

Feels a bit weird that dialogue options are written as if a player were describing what their character has done.

I thought so, too, when I initially started playing D:OS2.
You get used to it, though.

And I fully understand it from a production perspective.

Also, turn-based.
Called it.
Good choice.

 

[lukaszek]

deterministic system > RNG

 

[dmsephiroth]

Im so happy that some people here still have a good taste and do NOT like this dos 2 rip-off at all.

Im just so angry and disappointed :/....i had rly big hopes. I could not endure the stream very long....its just dos 2,5/3 and not our beloved baldurs gate. Shame on you larian ! ://

I bet the item system will be the same garbage than in dos 2.*deep sigh*

 

[Shin]

I think the gameplay looks fine. Different from 'the' BG games; sure. But Larian has proven that it can build a solid, fun game around TB combat. More worrying is the writing/dialogue... it doesn't remind me whatsoever of BG. It does however, remind me somewhat of Dragon Age.... might also have to do with the zoomed in camera when having a conversation.

Either way, having my fingers crossed... hope this'll be good.

 

[NJClaw]

The D&D ruleset has apparently been straightforwardly adapted

"94%" chance to hit means they aren't using d20s. People who want an easy to understand system aren't likely to get it here and will have to stick with Wrath of the Righteous (and Solasta and Realms Beyond and KotC 2, etc).

With advantage, you have a 94% (well, 93,75%) chance to hit 6 or more.

 

[J_C]

Im so happy that some people here still have a good taste and do NOT like this dos 2 rip-off at all.

Im just so angry and disappointed :/....i had rly big hopes. I could not endure the stream very long....its just dos 2,5/3 and not our beloved baldurs gate. Shame on you larian ! ://

I bet the item system will be the same garbage than in dos 2.*deep sigh*

Great first post.

Beloved Baldur's Gate? XDDDDD The second favourite pasttime of Codexers is to argue about whether BG is good or complete shit.

 

[jac8awol]

Well I knew it would have that Larian tongue-in-cheek vibe, no chance of anything dark or gritty. A shame, but totally expected. Visuals reminded me of NWN2 dialogues. Anyone else get that vibe?

All in all I like what I see, I'll pick this up. I just wish every companion in RPGs wasn't written as a modern day fag or angsty teenager. That wizard even sounds like the same voice actor from Dragon Age.

 

[J_C]

The problems here are not the combat systems, both TB and RTwP are good systems for a Baldur's Gate game. Both can be good. The problems are the art direction, the top down 3D rotatable camera, the feeling of playing something else except Baldur's Gate. Even the voice acting of spell casting is missing...Where is my fucking Vita Mortis Cario!! It looks nice for a Divinity game but not for Baldur's Gate. Very disappointed...

Beautiful Desolation shows the way in terms of level design. Photogrammetry is the future for this kind of RPGS. Forget about the soulless 3D top down rotatable view, we need beautiful 2D isometric rendered environments and not this generic shit. But unfortunately Swen cares only for the mainstream crowd...

Haha, you wrote these exact same sentences on Facebook. I know who you are now hahahahaha (evil laughter).

 

[J_C]

There's "maintaining a distinct identity in your games" and then there's "doing the Todd Howard and re-releasing the same game". This looks a lot like the latter, with Divinity Original Sin hanging above it like a bad hangover.

Emerging from a crashed ship you were captive in, collecting a bunch of goons whose main character trait is being cheeky and sardonic, all of whom suffer from the same flavor of fantasy-gonorrhea as yourself.
Even the rocky/sandy environments themselves somehow smacked of DOS2's Fort Joy beach, while the fight with looters in the ruins looked like a scene ripped straight from DOS2 (first fight alongside Gareth, that retard?)

Graphically, this didn't look like Baldur's Gate, not because of the 3D style but because of the art direction itself.
The lighting and color palette are almost the same as DOS2, perhaps just a little less saturated. Baldur's Gate had this sweet, kind of gritty style that is completely absent here.

https://www.baldursgateii.com/images/screens/screen01.jpg <- more of this.

Some of the abilities also reek of "AWESOME BUTTON". Your guy can apparently jump like a springboard, which doubles as a /DISENGAGE/, all as a damn bonus action. Why? "Teh tadpoel did et". The tadpole sounds like an excuse to bring in the mobility of DOS2 combat, which is in itself questionable because D&D combat is purposefully sticky until you get access to flying and crap like that. If you wanna disengage in regular 5e, better pack your weapons in, because disengaging's a regular action.

I wouldn't mind these changes if they didn't serve to make the game even more divinity-like when it was already farting around so much with its atmosphere. Pre-alpha or not, the copy-pasted UI elements also didn't help the first impression, at all.

The whole thing reminded me of the adventures my friend ran for us in DOS2's Game Master mode when we were bored, beginning with that Das Schwarze Auge module and moving onto a couple of custom stories.

Why does a Baldur's Gate sequel look like someone locked my friend in a basement with DOS2's Game Master mode for a decade?

P.S. At least it's turn-based.

Jesus Christ you registered here in 2018 and you waited this long to make this first post of yours? This game really hurt you, didn't it?

 

[Dwarvophile]

Funny, I remember when Jodorowsky was asked about how intimidating it would be to adapt an original work such as Dune, he said you shouldn't respect it too much. He said : "I had to rape it ! ...but with love". Well, I see much rape here. And also some love.

"So combat is turn based, because D&D is a turn based system". Thank you Swen, that should clarify things for the most delusive amongst us. Though, if staying close to D&D is the concern, why using this diegetic approach to dialogues ? I mean the past tense recounting. I don't remember any DM talking like this. This would feel more like an immersion breaker. Or is it a prologue...

 

[Falksi]

BG had a distinct authenticity & charm, largely rooted in it's UI & isometric artwork. That played a huge part in giving the games their distinct "classic" feel & vibe.

Well, at least you still have Pillars of Eternity and BG: Siege of Dragonspear, amirite?

Aye. As toss as PoE is, it at least gets the vibe right. in fact that's what I found so appealing.

For the first 2/3rds of my first playthrough I quite enjoyed it in all honesty. It was only the shocking lack of real C&C, restrictive linearity, 1 routine-wins all combat, and game bugs which killed it.

But it's easy to see why so many, myself included, were initially drawn into it as it captured that Ye Olde Worlde vibe very well. Not as well as BG, even clicking on the "Start game" button feels authentic in BG, but it did a decent enough job.

DOS & this trash just looks miles away from all that. Folk have compared last nights vid to DA:O, but even that had music & epicnicity enough to still vibe better than BG3. BG3 has so much DA:I about it that it's scary.

Still, I'll give it a chance, it's only an initial impression. Just a very disappointing one.

 

[rhollis]

The screenshots and interviews with VG247 and DualShockers seem to suggest there will be a four-person party size cap a la D:OS. Anyone else feel like this will limit the diversity of effective party builds? Seems like you’d be wise to decamp with tank, rogue, healer and arcane.

 

[NJClaw]

The screenshots and interviews with VG247 and DualShockers seem to suggest there will be a four-person party size cap a la D:OS. Anyone else feel like this will limit the diversity of effective party builds? Seems like you’d be wise to decamp with tank, rogue, healer and arcane.

From the inventory screen it seems that party size is 4, but from the leaked screenshots you can see a 5-men party.

If only there was a way to know the answers to these questions. But no, obviously after the presentation what we REALLY needed to know is if we can respec companions. Fuck everything.