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Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
i heard people bitching the game was slow on nu-shit like 4000 series Nvidia cards.
A lot of guys who buy newer cards freak out every time the framerate in a game drops below 100 fps and keep a framerate counter on screen just to bitch about it online.

Bro everything under 60 100 240 fps is LITERALLY UNPLAYABLE <- this is what shitlennials actually believe.

I guess if you were actually born after the 90% of gaming history where 30 fps was considered butter smooth, and no monitors could even go above 60, you might think that.
 

dukeofwoodberry

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Nov 21, 2021
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From everything I've witnessed so far, the degeneracy has been vastly blown out of proportion and you'd essentially have to be trying to seek it out to witness it.

But yeah, you'd miss out on companion quests and their occasional input in conversations if you don't take them. I'm sure there is plenty of content in the game anyway, so just ditch them if you don't think you'll be able to avoid things you don't want to see.

No, it's very real and very omnipresent, BUT (mainly) only in the conversations at camp. As myself and several others have said, being in camp you're frequently confronted with sluttiness/faggotry and looking for conversation options that don't "advance the adult romance" is sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack, and when you do find it (by adroitly avoiding, like a fucking ninja, all the options that you can just smell are leading to romance/sex-furthering), the choice of avoiding all that shit makes you look like an asshole.

For example, at one point Gale is pissing about with magic (an image of Mystra he's conjured) and he starts waxing eloquent about the intoxicating beauty of the Weave and invites you to try contacting the Weave yourself. There's a charming sequence with some skill checks where you fumblingly try to do emulate him conjuring something weave-y, then you succeed, but then there's a faggot moment where Gale gets close, your two characters are repulsively animated like two faggots smiling and making sheeps' eyes at each other, and then two of the subsequent conversation choices lead to faggot shit in one way or another, with the remaining option being to brutally close the interaction. There's no option where you can be charmed and intrigued by the magic and terminate the experiment in a pleasant bro-like fashion, thanking Gale for the experience, without him sticking his tongue down your throat. This sequence might have worked for a female character (although what are you doing, doing romance as a female character if you're a male player lol), but it's quite jarring the way it's set up - presumably as a "teaching moment" to teach you that "love is love" don't you know. It's quite disgusting.

[Later note: silly me, I realized a few further posts down what it is. The sequence was obviously designed for a female player character and Larian were too lazy to change it appropriately for a male - and being conformist to woke crap afforded them that laziness, and they probably thought it was funny.]

Now you could say, "you don't have to do any of that," and you'd be right. But it could have been alright as a sequence just with a pleasant termination as an option, it's just that the game makes you seem like a Trump supporter for missing out on the teaching moment. While "romance" in CRPGs is a dubious proposition unless very carefully handled (as someone said above, as in BG, where the romance unfolds very gradually from casual to deeper conversations), building relationships in CRPGs can be a good thing, and it widens the gesamtkunstwerk of the CRPG if you have them. But this game canalizes that desire for richer imaginary relationships with your imaginary friends into you being taught to "tolerate" degeneracy.

So yeah, while you can handle the game without any of it, and the combat and exploration are pretty good overall, this (as I've called it) Loverslab Lite approach to the companions is really annoying.
To be honest I have no problem "rudely" shutting down some faggot's advances. Like bro I'm just trying to be a friend, take your faggotry elsewhere. I don't need to "nicely" shut down faggotry. But why does every character need to be a faggot romance option. We went from fags wanting a romance option to having every character be a faggot. Beyond sick of this shit.

It's like in Mass Effect everyone loves Garrus because he's just Shep's bro. They're genuine friends, you don't have to worry about any faggotry when you interact.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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To be fair, I don't know if it's because i'm taking her along for the entire ride, but Shadowheart's personal quest's story beats are way more frequent than any companion. It feels like she and Gale were kinda meant to be the main companions/romance options for the PC.

Nah, Shadowheart deffo has a shitload more content than the other companions.
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
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I have a feeling many people aren't going to replay the game again after their first run.
Yeah, I'm a fan of the game but as I near the finale, I'm starting to think this.

It was a very lush and enjoyable experience all around and the superb production values, sound design, voice acting etc all make it very easy to get swept up into, but it definitely won't really stand up to many replays. Maybe just one to see the evil route.

I'm gonna bet that it does have the same problem as BioWare's stuff too - during a first playthrough it looks like there's a huge amount of player agency and choice, but a second playthrough would end up feeling very similar, story and C&C-wise. There is some impressive C&C going on at times which I've noticed but at the same time you're gonna be going through more or less the exact same plot and watching many identical cutscenes and picking the same dialogue options no matter what choices you make.

I can see it as being something it'd be fun to replay once every couple years or so, when you've forgotten enough of it to be bowled over by the sheer slickness and professionalism of it all again. There's nothing wrong with that - it's a summer blockbuster that blows you away with its splendour and gives you a hell of a good time while it lasts, but then it's time to move on to something else.

It's a story-driven game, what do you expect?

No story driven game is something you will play over and over. If you want that, try Grand Stategies or simulators or hack 'n slash.
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
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To be fair, I don't know if it's because i'm taking her along for the entire ride, but Shadowheart's personal quest's story beats are way more frequent than any companion. It feels like she and Gale were kinda meant to be the main companions/romance options for the PC.

Nah, Shadowheart deffo has a shitload more content than the other companions.

I haven't heard a peep from her since the crash on the beach (except when she said how hot Karlach was), and I'm at the start of act 2 already.

Wyll and the frog on the other hand, won't shut the fuck up.
 

Jack Of Owls

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The idea of playing any D&D or fantasy cRPG where the monsters' or opponents' special abilities are gimped is extremely undesirable. Half the fun is finding counters to having your party badly debilitated by unique attacks, abilities and spells, like the mind-flayers in NWN's HotU with their wild psionic attacks that can turn your party members against each other. In my experience, that was the true spirit of hardcore RPGs like Bard's Tale and certain D&D titles. So Tactician (or above) it will be for me in BG3. Thanks for the tip.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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To be fair, I don't know if it's because i'm taking her along for the entire ride, but Shadowheart's personal quest's story beats are way more frequent than any companion. It feels like she and Gale were kinda meant to be the main companions/romance options for the PC.

Nah, Shadowheart deffo has a shitload more content than the other companions.

I haven't heard a peep from her since the crash on the beach (except when she said how hot Karlach was), and I'm at the start of act 2 already.

Wyll and the frog on the other hand, won't shut the fuck up.

Her personal quest has a shitton of comment in Act 1 and 2 and is tied to multiple key moments of the main plot. It’s not only that she talks more - it’s that she has tons of cutscene and plot content, especially in Act 2.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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I remember that "turn based, but we promise its good!!" discourse. And I remember even then arguing that turn based on a grid is best, and its a shame devs continue to insist on real time for tactical games.


The most tucking baffling of these has to be that new Aliens XCOM game. Why tf is that thing real-time.
 

Non-Edgy Gamer

Grand Dragon
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Strap Yourselves In
Nah, Shadowheart deffo has a shitload more content than the other companions.
A lot of that is because Shar has two whole areas before Act 3. The Gith just have their creche.

It's not that Larian gave her more content, it's that they almost had to give her more.
 

AwesomeButton

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PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015 Make the Codex Great Again! Grab the Codex by the pussy Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath
Yeah, I'm a fan of the game but as I near the finale, I'm starting to think this.
As I'm nearing clearing out the first map, I wonder how much front-loaded is the game? What's the proportion of the time you spent on the first map vs the rest, and did you skip much?
 

Lemming42

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As I'm nearing clearing out the first map, I wonder how much front-loaded is the game? What's the proportion of the time you spent on the first map vs the rest, and did you skip much?
Act 2's map is pretty big. I'd say maybe not quite as much content as the first map but it's sizeable and has a lot of side-content, maybe took a bit less time to clear than the first map. I think the only content I've skipped is the Gith creche, which I accidentally locked myself out of by progressing too far in the main plot. Act 3 seems pretty abundant in content so far, though I've still got a lot of it left to explore.

The first act does feel like the most richly detailed, which obviously makes sense given the game's development, but the subsequent two definitely don't feel underdeveloped.
 

Latro

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So the honeymoon fades and the glamor dissipates in the rays of the morning…that rpg goty really was just dos3 in drag. The shill crowd hems and haws as they get ready to repeat the same FOMO bull shit for Starfield in a month
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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Yeah, I'm a fan of the game but as I near the finale, I'm starting to think this.
As I'm nearing clearing out the first map, I wonder how much front-loaded is the game? What's the proportion of the time you spent on the first map vs the rest, and did you skip much?

It is somewhat frontloaded, but DOS this is not. I finished Act 2 yesterday, and while not as laughably huge as Act 1, it still felt like a proper polished act with lots shit to do and a satisfying ending. I’m only liking the game more as it progresses. Went from the honeymoon phase to the happily married phase I guess.

I agree with Lemming42 though. Not in the sense that the game is not replayable (I will definitely enjoy replaying it) but in terms of C&C. The game has a shitton of *reactivity*, yes, but in terms of C&C most of it is “does this person survive and are they available for a quest later” or “do you pick this or that fork to solve the main quest”.

It’s really hard to tell but I get the feeling your game states don’t really change beyond that at all (except maybe for the ending). The wrap-up of Act 2 was very satisfying, but it also takes you to a game over screen if you make any choice but the one the game wants you to make. It gives a credible reason for this, but it kind of sheds light on how many other choices might be purely cosmetic.
 
Last edited:

Larianshill

Arbiter
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Feb 16, 2021
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I really thought I'd be done with this game today, but it just keeps going. Then again, I did spend three hours repeating the Iron Throne until I got the perfect result.
 

Lemming42

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Shamefully, I've engaged in a bit of savescumming here and there to get around rolls I really wanted to succeed, and I can confirm that not only do some rolls not have any major effect on dialogue, but also that many conversation options lead to the same responses from NPCs, sometimes with a different connector line before leading you to the same response. A lot of the time when you're presented a list of options but the conversation permanently ends after you pick one, it's to mask this.

So the honeymoon fades and the glamor dissipates in the rays of the morning…that rpg goty really was just dos3 in drag. The shill crowd hems and haws as they get ready to repeat the same FOMO bull shit for Starfield in a month
You ever spent a night with a beautiful drag queen? You're not going to end up marrying him, sure, but you definitely won't regret the night you had and you'll look back on it fondly, and that's what life's all about.

Starfield is not a beautiful, self-confident, glamorous drag queen, which is what BG3 is. Starfield is a bearded hulking brute in an anime schoolgirl outfit who's going to command that you touch his "girldick" as you writhe and twist in mortification. Then his legs are going to clip through the floor while he says "well met, citizen. I hear the space-fighter's guild is recruiting".

Yes, I'm still buying Starfield.
 

Non-Edgy Gamer

Grand Dragon
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Strap Yourselves In
Yeah, I'm a fan of the game but as I near the finale, I'm starting to think this.
As I'm nearing clearing out the first map, I wonder how much front-loaded is the game? What's the proportion of the time you spent on the first map vs the rest, and did you skip much?
Act 1 is potentially 4 maps, with 3 being slightly smaller than the first with the druids. Not including the inside maps of certain buildings.

Act 2 is much shorter by comparison, but features a tower, a large camp, a fairly large main map area that's mostly empty but has several encounters and fairly large and complex dungeon with several puzzles and at least one challenging fight.

I'm just nearing the end of Act 2. However, I've skipped the large camp, since I'm doing an evil playthrough.

I imagine Act 3 is Baldur's gate.

As far as front loading goes, if you're still on the first map, you've seen maybe half or less of Act 1. Depending on whether you've gone/will go to the Underdark yet and how much content you intend to mine once there.

It really depends though, because if you aren't a completionism, you could do most of Act 1 fairly quickly. But then you might end up under-leveled.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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Yeah, I'm a fan of the game but as I near the finale, I'm starting to think this.
As I'm nearing clearing out the first map, I wonder how much front-loaded is the game? What's the proportion of the time you spent on the first map vs the rest, and did you skip much?
Act 1 is potentially 4 maps, with 3 being slightly smaller and less involved than the first with the druids.

Act 2 is much shorter by comparison, but features a tower, a large camp, a main map area that's mostly empty but has several encounters and fairly large and complex dungeon with several puzzles and at least one challenging fight.

I'm just nearing the end of Act 2. However, I've skipped the large camp, since I'm doing an evil playthrough.

I imagine Act 3 is Baldur's gate.

As far as front loading goes, if you're still on the first map, you've seen maybe half of Act 1. Depending on whether you've gone to the Underdark yet and how much content you intend to mine once there.

It really depends though, because if you aren't a completionism, you could do most of Act 1 fairly quickly. But then you might end up under-leveled.

Act 2 has more maps that this. At least 1 medium one as well as a couple scene maps.

Still not as big as Act 1 - but you haven’t seen everything yet.
 

Lemming42

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The sidequests are filler but they're fun, they're where most of your glimpses into the world and encounters with amusing/memorable characters occur, same as most RPGs. Plus a lot of the best combat is in sidequests - I found a few of the mandated main quest battles to be a slog (the raid on Moonrise Towers wasn't much fun for example) but the sidequests have some really great combat setpieces.
 

Grunker

RPG Codex Ghost
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So BG3 is no faceroll?

It is the definition of faceroll in some ways. It competes for the best encounter and boss design I’ve ever seen in a TB RPG, but it’s mostly wasted because numbers aren’t high enough. For example, I beat the Act 2 boss yesterday on my first try even though he opened with an AoE spell that took 2/3s of the HP of all of my characters because I was unlucky with my saves. On top of that, all my characters were needed with a really crippling curse because of a story choice.

It just didn’t matter because you have so many tools to manage mobs, attacks etc. that I was able to scramble and smack down boss while controlling two million adds and bring him down.

Once this gets a difficulty mod the combat and especially encounter design is gonna sing. But right now, it’s kinda faceroll. WotR on Unfair this ain’t. Hell Tactician probably isn’t even WotR on Core
 

Non-Edgy Gamer

Grand Dragon
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Act 2 has more maps that this. At least 1 medium one as well as a couple scene maps.
Are you including the Western Road? Because that's still Act 1, even though it progresses the game or whatever.

The large camp (Harpers) I mentioned may be bigger than I know. Not sure, since I never visited it.

I think the evil playthrough loses you out of quite a bit of content, and several NPCs.
 

Grunker

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Act 2 has more maps that this. At least 1 medium one as well as a couple scene maps.
Are you including the Western Road? Because that's still Act 1, even though it progresses the game or whatever.

The large camp (Harpers) I mentioned may be bigger than I know. Not sure, since I never visited it.

No, I am not. You’re not completely done after Shadowlands. I played 2-3 hours past that.
 

Konjad

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For the time being, only local subhuman filth, like poles, are compaining about game's "wokeness" and even making lists, with assigning good boy points wokeness points to games, which is some new level of autism.
I get it you're butthurt and hate Poles as we don't love Russian dicks as much as you, but why lie about this topic? Begone back to politics subforum.
 

Lyric Suite

Converting to Islam
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Almost made it out of the tutorial but then i got called to work. No comments yet as it is... well, the tutorial. All i can say is that the productions values are decent enough and the game hasn't managed to piss me off yet.

There was a thingy next to the pod where the half-elf waifu is trapped that throws a liquid all around it if you attack it, wondered if i could have done something there with that. I just found the rune key and sprung her out. I also save scummed the shit out of skill checks but their relevance so far is mild, but again, it's just the tutorial.

I'm kind of bemused at the fact the tutorial doesn't manage to be as iconic as the one in BG1, despite how comically childish that was. I don't know what it is about modern games that makes them seem so generic. Maybe i'm just old and jaded.
 

Zarniwoop

TESTOSTERONIC As Fuck™
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As I'm nearing clearing out the first map, I wonder how much front-loaded is the game? What's the proportion of the time you spent on the first map vs the rest, and did you skip much?
Act 2's map is pretty big. I'd say maybe not quite as much content as the first map but it's sizeable and has a lot of side-content, maybe took a bit less time to clear than the first map.
Act 1 has 3 separate, big maps. You can skip one, as you did, but that still leaves 2.

Maybe 4 if you include the Grymforge, but that's small.
 

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