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

[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...

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).

Yup, you got me. I couldn't resist to post my opinion to Matt Chatt's post. (Muahahaha)

 

[Shin]

Here's also hoping that they implement a lot more classes for release. Half the fun in BG(2) was building a (custom) party using all the crazy kits, dual-classes and stuff like that. I'm not familiar at all with D&D5; does it feature prestige classes/multi-diual classing or something similar to make the base classes less bland?

 

[rhollis]

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.

You're right. I missed those 5-man screens. The 4-person limit could just be a cap on multiplayer participants, but that would seem like a pretty arbitrary design decision to me.

 

[NJClaw]

Here's also hoping that they implement a lot more classes for release. Half the fun in BG(2) was building a (custom) party using all the crazy kits, dual-classes and stuff like that. I'm not familiar at all with D&D5; does it feature prestige classes/multi-diual classing or something similar to make the base classes less bland?

There are no prestige classes. You can multiclass, but usually it's not worth it and you would do a lot better simply advancing in your base class.

However, each class has 3+ archetypes (like kits, but more developed and with a lot more features) to choose from.

 

[Van-d-all]

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.

It's probably 4 for the party, +1 joinable quest NPC or something like that.

 

[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.

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.

It's probably 4 for the party, +1 joinable quest NPC or something like that.

That was my thinking too, but I just compared the 5 guys portraits in the screenshot with the character creation portion of the stream and every one of those guys is an origin story character.

 

[Lord of Riva]

I have mixed feelings on this. Larian made, in my opinion, a great game with DOS 2 at least gameplay wise the story was still a bit meh (even if it did vastly improve on whatever 1 was trying to do).

But what I am seeing here has basically nothing to do with the game i played 20 years ago.

It is the age old debate, where the soul is, in this case of the game.

I will most likely buy this i'm pretty sure it will be a game i can enjoy but I do not appreciate them naming it Baldurs gate, i guess.

 

[Kessai]

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?

Not that much. I just couldn't pass up the chance to whinge about a nu-bomination in my first post.

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"

With D&D 5e, you could be looking at any of the following artworks depending on which official book you're paging through:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

 

[Sacibengala]

This game will probably be good. But sure as hell this is not baldur's gate.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

I think they botched the way it looks. Day-light exteriors look overly bright like DOS2 where it's also hard to tell apart the static elements from the interactive ones without using a detective mode. Character outfits look like they came out of DA3's gay fashionista closet (but then again dnd characters always looked corny). TW3-style dialogs seem ok. Combat in DOS1 was fun, but both it and BG games suffered from too many trash encounters.

Still feel NWN3 (with toolset/modules, private multiplayer server hosting, plug&play matchmaking) would've been a better fit for Larian.

 

[Kem0sabe]

I bet this shit wont have day night cycle as well... another downgrade from BG. Larian never managed to pull it off in the DoS engine.

 

[Dr Schultz]

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?

Not that much. I just couldn't pass up the chance to whinge about a nu-bomination in my first post.

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"

With D&D 5e, you could be looking at any of the following artworks depending on which official book you're paging through:

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

We are talking about the Forgotten Realms, here, which - no matter the edition - have always been filled with over the top, high-fantasy armors, dresses and structures in the official material. The art direction of BG3 is totally in line with that. Which is to say, it's not my cup of tea. As expected

 

[Waterd]

Turn based combat, already better than BG2

 

[Kessai]

We are talking about the Forgotten Realms, here, which - no matter the edition - have always been filled with over the top, high-fantasy armors, dresses and structures in the official material. The art direction of BG3 is totally in line with that. Which is to say, it's not my cup of tea. As expected

You're absolutely right. I was just thinking of all the setting-neutral adventures they've been putting out for 5E, most of which are remakes of retro adventures with an oldschool-ish art and feel to them. Those would have been an ideal reference frame for Larian to reconcile an oldschool Baldur's Gate feel with modern 5e and Forgotten Realms. Wizards of the Coast seemed to realize that players are fucking sick of pure high-fantasy Forgotten Realms for a moment, but then they decided to orient their video game to a broader audience that hasn't quite become fed up yet. Lame.

 

[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*

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.

You seem a bit depressed pal. Is everything alright?

If you guys must argue that one of the best RPG's of all time is shit, then something is REALLY wrong with you, sorry to tell ya : >>

 

[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.

You seem a bit depressed pal. Is everything alright?

If you guys must argue that one of the best RPG's of all time is shit, then something is REALLY wrong with you, sorry to tell ya : >>

Welcome to the Codex!

 

[Dr Schultz]

We are talking about the Forgotten Realms, here, which - no matter the edition - have always been filled with over the top, high-fantasy armors, dresses and structures in the official material. The art direction of BG3 is totally in line with that. Which is to say, it's not my cup of tea. As expected

You're absolutely right. I was just thinking of all the setting-neutral adventures they've been putting out for 5E, most of which are remakes of retro adventures with an oldschool-ish art and feel to them. Those would have been an ideal reference frame for Larian to reconcile an oldschool Baldur's Gate feel with modern 5e and Forgotten Realms. Wizards of the Coast seemed to realize that players are fucking sick of pure high-fantasy Forgotten Realms for a moment, but then they decided to orient their video game to a broader audience that hasn't quite become fed up yet. Lame.

I would definitely have prefered this approach, but I was prepared to the one they've actually followed. I'm kind of resigned to be disappointed by the art direction of high fantasy videogames. I think the last one that I've really apreaciated for the art was The Banner Saga. Speaking of tabletop games, instead, I've always been more inclined toward the Games Workshop style.

EDIT: maybe the last one that I've appreaciated for the art was Darkest Dungeon, assuming that you can consider it high-fantasy.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

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.

So a game can have shit gameplay, but if it "looks right", it's better? In like, you'll take a game that "looks like BG" over a game that will have nonlinearity, C&C and more robust combat?

Am I still on the Codex, or is this the IGN forums now?

 

[Falksi]

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.

So a game can have shit gameplay, but if it "looks right", it's better? In like, you'll take a game that "looks like BG" over a game that will have nonlinearity, C&C and more robust combat?

Am I still on the Codex, or is this the IGN forums now?

You're saying that, not me.

Initial impressions are always aesthetic. It can take hours to get to grips with gameplay & suchlike.

I've never said I'd "take a game that "looks like BG" over a game that will have nonlinearity, C&C and more robust combat?" I'm saying initial impressions of Pillars are better than the likes of BG3, and good enough to draw folk in first before they discover the lack of real C&C, restrictive linearity, 1 routine-wins all combat, and game bugs etc. Course I'd sooner take the better game, but some won't even give it a chance to get to the gameplay if it's initial impressions are awful.

You're arguing with yourself here, against a point I'm not making.

You're not in an IGN forum, but from your inability to grasp a simple point, you certainly belong there.

 

[Volrath]

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.

So a game can have shit gameplay, but if it "looks right", it's better? In like, you'll take a game that "looks like BG" over a game that will have nonlinearity, C&C and more robust combat?

Am I still on the Codex, or is this the IGN forums now?

Codex has been overrun by rtwp loving retards who wine about muh feels and muh aesthetics. It's very sad tbh.

 

[Wizfall]

Very disapointing for everyone loving BG2 and expecting something similar.
This thing has nothing to do with a BG game.
Shame on Larian studio to ruin a franchise or at least totally changing it from what it was.

 

[Ausdoerrt]

You're saying that, not me.

Initial impressions are always aesthetic. It can take hours to get to grips with gameplay & suchlike.

I've never said I'd "take a game that "looks like BG" over a game that will have nonlinearity, C&C and more robust combat?" I'm saying initial impressions of Pillars are better than the likes of BG3, and good enough to draw folk in first before they discover the lack of real C&C, restrictive linearity, 1 routine-wins all combat, and game bugs etc. Course I'd sooner take the better game, but some won't even give it a chance to get to the gameplay if it's initial impressions are awful.

You're arguing with yourself here, against a point I'm not making.

You're not in an IGN forum, but from your inability to grasp a simple point, you certainly belong there.

Yea, because looks and first impressions is all we have to compare. I wish Larian did a 3-hour presentation showcasing actual gameplay. Oh wait...

Also, I think the initial impressions of BG3 are just not aimed at old IE-era fans, and it's quite clear to see in all comms about the game. They are targeting the younger generation + tabletop fans + Divinity fans. A reasonable decision, I think, because what's left of BG fans will 1) whine anyway; 2) will buy the game anyway.

 

[Volourn]

"Turn based so good. Very glad they didn't choose to go with the original RTWP based system that simply does not work in D&D. Ill reserve further judgement until its released. "

The success of the BG series and NWN suggest otherwise. People loved the combat in those games. Your opinion means shit. facts matter and the fact is BG/NWN style combat = awesomesauce and works great with D&D. Period.

 

[Crescent Hawk]

Yep it's just Divinity with almost the same shit art style, and same jank animations. My God those models.

 

[J_C]

"Turn based so good. Very glad they didn't choose to go with the original RTWP based system that simply does not work in D&D. Ill reserve further judgement until its released. "

The success of the BG series and NWN suggest otherwise. People loved the combat in those games. Your opinion means shit. facts matter and the fact is BG/NWN style combat = awesomesauce and works great with D&D. Period.

Volly crawled out of his cave.