Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 Pre-Release Thread [EARLY ACCESS RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Alienman]

Understand why that Divinity spin-off game was cancelled now. It would have been too many Divinity style games released in a short span of time.

 

[TwoEdge]

Let me nitpick this for a bit, because much more than I worry about this not being worthy of the Baldur's Gate title (I don't really much care, honestly), I'm concerned about how much this will eschew 5e rules:

- Initiative is party wide, which invalidates some feats, the dexterity stat and class features (here's looking at you rogues);
- Action economy seems borked, something the contemporary ruleset tried hard to balance (not entirely successfully, mind). But Swen throws a dagger in the same round he shoots his bow, with a bonus action, I think;
- I can be wrong here, because even blocking in Larian's games is flashy and looks like magic, but it seemed to me that Shadowheart casted two spells in one round, something verboten in 5e;
- Jumping breaking engagement? Also, how many hexes did jumping from a standing position covered? Too much I say;
- Finally, the whole I dip my bow in this torch and it's now a fire bow, I don't think I need to say more.

That's what I've noticed from a glance, I'm sure there's more. This is all fixable before release, sure, but I'm not very optimistic. Do any of you D&D scholars of the codex have insight on this? deuxhero?

 

[jf8350143]

Spoiler

So companions are practically extensions of your main guy. (in the screenshot Swen is choosing what she is about to say)

It's pretty much the same as D:OS 2. You are essentially playing as four different characters at the same time.

But there are suppose to be more than 4 companions, in D:OS 2 you choose four and the rest are killed off. Not sure what they will do here.

 

[Lady_Error]

Bester was right on the mark, it's DOS3. Haha!

Bester is always right. He just bought food for a few thousand dollars because of the corona crisis.

 

[DeepOcean]

The big difference here is that for many, Larian's games aren't bad games, at all.

Larian is really good at encounter design but really bad at making you give a damn about anything else because of the weak writing, this wouldnt be a problem if they didnt waste so much time with the weak writing, the interesting combat/inanity ratio just got lower and lower and both games lost steam half way through.

I worry this will happen here again, lots of gay vampires between the shit you have to kill.

 

[you know what time it is]

Yep, Larian games tend to lose some steam, once you familiarize yourself with the mechanics and interactions.

As for the game itself, all I see is D:OS3 which isn't even a bad thing, just not what I expected at all.

 

[Lady_Error]

As for the game itself, all I see is D:OS3 which isn't even a bad thing, just not what I expected at all.

Considering that Wizards approached Larian when they were finishing up D:OS2, it is quite obvious that they wanted something similar. And it's the kind of game that Larian is currently having huge success with. Anything else would be a gamble really.

 

[Junmarko]

Delrith: "Any plans for console ports?"
Swen: "So far all we've announced is PC and Stadia."

Lol. By the time this releases, Stadia will be decomposing under a bridge.

 

[Kaivokz]

The ability effects are so bad. Why does sneak attack cause a swirling yellow light around you?

Not to jump the gun, but it really does look like original sin 3 rather than baldur’s gate 3. I guess that will probably sell more copies, but it’s still disappointing.

And Owlcat can make turn based + RTwP toggle for their game with a smaller team.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

And Owlcat can make turn based + RTwP toggle for their game with a smaller team.

Yeah, but can they make an end/lategame dungeon that isn't just copy-pasted wild hunt fights?

 

[DeepOcean]

To be fair, I would be alot more interested into a Icewind Dale 3 with 5e rules from Larian than a Baldurs Gate 3, the Baldurs Gate series always had a problem with romance degenerates. The least romance writing a game gets, lesser IQ points I waste burning my retina with that bullshit.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Fucking hell. Another Larian turn-based garbage. Man i despise their design.

 

[Alienman]

Lots of bans being handed out on the Baldur's Gate III steam forum. Is it the action of a pissed off drunk Swen?

 

[Tavernking]

Fucking hell. Another Larian turn-based garbage. Man i despise their design.

Funny because they helped to design the game of which you have an avatar of. (Disco Elysium)

 

[deuxhero]

Do any of you D&D scholars of the codex have insight on this? deuxhero?

My knowledge of 5E is relatively limited. It's 3E and its derivatives I'm really knowledgeable about all the quirks and design style of.

 

[GentlemanCthulhu]

Fucking hell. Another Larian turn-based garbage. Man i despise their design.

Funny because they helped to design the game of which you have an avatar of. (Disco Elysium)

Funny because you seem to be a retard incapable of distinguishing 1 from 2.

 

[J1M]

Turn-based 5e. Allows a lot to be forgiven.

A lot of money went into that character creator. They are probably going for a Mass Effect vibe, but it would be nice if custom parties were fully-supported.

 

[Xamenos]

Let me nitpick this for a bit, because much more than I worry about this not being worthy of the Baldur's Gate title (I don't really much care, honestly), I'm concerned about how much this will eschew 5e rules:

- Initiative is party wide, which invalidates some feats, the dexterity stat and class features (here's looking at you rogues);

I definitely agree. Not implementing separate initiatives for every character seems pretty lazy.

- Action economy seems borked, something the comtemporary ruleset tried hard to balance (not entirely successfully, mind). But Swen throws a dagger in the same round he shoots his bow, with a bonus action, I think;
- I can be wrong here, because even blocking in Larian's games is flashy and looks like magic, but it seemed to me that Shadowheart casted two spells in one round, something verboten in 5e;

There's something odd going on with the actions for sure. Throw appears to be an action separate to your single standard action, along with push and jump. So you could jump up a ledge, push someone off it, throw something on him and then shoot him all in a single turn. I'm not sure how I feel about that.

And Shadow appeared to cast Shield of Faith on the same turn as she attacked, so they appear to have offensive spells and defensive/utility ones as separate actions. Same thing happened with Swen's Mage Hand, I think.

- Jumping breaking engagement? Also, how many hexes did jumping from a standing position covered? Too much I say;

He said it's due to the tadpole. I can accept it as a minor superpower.

- Finally, the whole I dip my bow in this torch and it's now a fire bow, I don't think I need to say more.

I can accept it as a shorthand for "I light my arrows on fire". I'm not a big enough graphics whore to demand a separate animation for that.

That's what I've noticed from a glance, I'm sure there's more. This is all fixable before release, sure, but I'm not very optimistic. Do any of you D&D scholars of the codex have insight on this? deuxhero?

It's certainly not a 100% faithful adaptation of 5th edition DnD. But then again, BG wasn't 100% faithful to 2e either. I am willing to overlook it if the game is actually good, but I admit I'm not very hopeful that it'll actually be good.

 

[Roguey]

We discover we have only a few days to get rid of the parasite inside

Ah, another RPG plot where time is of the essence but there will be no time limit.

Frankly, curses seem like an overused plot hook in fantasy RPGs. :\

 

[deuxhero]

The said they're planning to implement the rest of the class. Wonder if they're going to do just the core 12 or if Artificer will be in.

 

[Lyric Suite]

To be fair, I would be alot more interested into a Icewind Dale 3 with 5e rules from Larian than a Baldurs Gate 3

Why, it would be even worse. Icewind Dale's tone, atmosphere and traditional fantasy setting (as opposed to this pew pew fantasy shit we have now) is no less alien to what Larian is doing now than Baldur's Gate is.

Besides, you basically got the game you want right here. An Icewind Dale 3 would have just been DOS3 with an Icewind Dale reskin, basically the game they are making right now.

 

[Harthwain]

I definitely agree. Not implementing separate initiatives for every character seems pretty lazy.

I don't think they did it that way because they were lazy. They decided to go with both teams acting together (WEGO), because they wanted to set up combo opportunities. Not having separate initatives within a team seems to play even further into that mindset: you don't have to worry about "who is going to act first", because you will simply select who you need to act first.

Personally I didn't see anything truly shocking so far. If anything, it seems to be fairly standard. With the amount of secrecy I expected a revolution of some kind (other than "BG3 goes turn-based" since I did expect that, considering DOS1 and DOS2).

 

[The_Mask]

Ah, another RPG plot where time is of the essence but there will be no time limit.

Frankly, curses seem like an overused plot hook in fantasy RPGs. :\

As far as this goes, there is the 1% fabulously optimistic option that you simply don't find a cure, and you transform into an Illithid.

You're probably right. That would be too cool, and definitely ahead of its time, so - yeah - curse hook. *sigh*

 

[Xamenos]

We discover we have only a few days to get rid of the parasite inside

Ah, another RPG plot where time is of the essence but there will be no time limit.

Frankly, curses seem like an overused plot hook in fantasy RPGs. :\

Well, people hated the timers in PF:KM. Including here in the prestigious Codex. Larian's simply giving the audience what they want.

 

[Valky]

I definitely agree. Not implementing separate initiatives for every character seems pretty lazy.

I don't think they did it that way because they were lazy. They decided to go with both teams acting together (WEGO), because they wanted to set up combo opportunities. Not having separate initatives within a team seems to play even further into that mindset: you don't have to worry about "who is going to act first", because you will simply select who you need to act first.

Personally I didn't see anything truly shocking so far. If anything, it seems to be fairly standard. With the amount of secrecy I expected a revolution of some kind (other than "BG3 goes turn-based" since I did expect that, considering DOS1 and DOS2).

You could move your characters turn further down in combat in ToEE if you wanted to have your entire party have their turns without interruption. I hope they ditch the party initiative.