Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Zed Duke of Banville]

lol, Wyll. I keep forgetting he exists. He is still level 1 in my party and has his old equipment. He just sits in camp all day and yells "BLADE OF THE FRONTIER".

"What say you to joining forces with the BLADE OF FRONTIERS?"
"Sure whatever, go wait in my camp."
"Yes, a tremendous idea."

*3 days later, slaughter Zelnor and claim the grove in the name of the Absolute*
Wyll has permanently left your party

"Who tf is Wyll?"

20 hours after putting Wyll out of his misery, I received a message that he approves of something I said. IIRC, this is the first time it's happened. His corpse still appears in my camp, though, even as I've travelled through the Underdark to the Grymforge.

 

[Reinhardt]

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.

everyone but barbarians are cucks and must find some key and ask brain worm for help. barbarian just rips it open with bare hands.

 

[Lyric Suite]

BTW, they really couldn't bother to make an old school type manual, even just in pdf form? How fucking lame.

 

[AwesomeButton]

that rpg goty really was just dos3 in drag.

Yes, but only if you've never played either

 

[Orion]

I don't know how everyone finds the game super easy. I start a conversation in the creche to progress the story and I'm forced into a fight against a strong NPC and two wolves that have more initiative and pretty much down my 2 tanks on their first turn. No amount of skill is going to make that an easy fight unless I cheese it by metagaming.

 

[Vic]

not just GOTY but RPG of the decade for sure

 

[Cyberarmy]

Not in the sense that the game is not replayable (I will 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.

Yeah, that's mainly the problem of Larian games. In Div OS 2 you can kinda overcome this with starting as different origin stories and using different party members.
In BG3 Dark Urge and good number of party members, with lots of build options will be the replayability reasons.

 

[AwesomeButton]

It gives a credible reason for this, but it kind of sheds light on how many other choices might be purely cosmetic.

That's no surprise. Branches grow exponentially from the root (game start).

 

[Grunker]

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.

Mountain Pass and Underdark are not that big. Besides the dungeon, mountain pass barely has any content.

 

[AwesomeButton]

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.

I savescummed, and then went with the savescum only once, and I think it was the harpy fight. But I found there really isn't need to, as I'm swimming in inspirations on all characters and can reroll a lot.

 

[Zarniwoop]

I don't know how everyone finds the game super easy. I start a conversation in the creche to progress the story and I'm forced into a fight against a strong NPC and two wolves that have more initiative and pretty much down my 2 tanks on their first turn. No amount of skill is going to make that an easy fight unless I cheese it by metagaming.

It's insanely easy compared to D:OS2 for example. In that game, you HAD to cheese many fights, especially on Tactician. You had to lay explosives and deathfog like a boss once you reached Arx for example.

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.

Mountain Pass and Underdark are not that big. Besides the dungeon, mountain pass barely has any content.

Never said they were equal in size, just that Act 1 is far more than that first map.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

For example, I beat the Act 2 boss yesterday on my first try

Did you kill the drider before the fight at any point? He was half the difficulty of the battle. Not that it was that tough even with him.

 

[Louis_Cypher]

I just realised what these huge hype-related sales mean for CRPGs, for 3-4 years...

The way that trend chasing works in gaming, just like Hollywood when it puts out movie clones, means we are going to suddenly get some extra turn-based CRPGs put into development for a few years, by publishers who want to chase Baldur's Gate III in clones. They will probably learn all the wrong lessons, but it should at least give the Codex more to talk about.

 

[Non-Edgy Gamer]

BTW, they really couldn't bother to make an old school type manual, even just in pdf form? How fucking lame.

Game companies quit doing this a long time ago. Very few people read them. They made a whole premium edition that has printed stuff, but it's expensive.

 

[AwesomeButton]

I have a question about Waukeen's Rest and the Toll Collector's office. They seem pretty disconnected from the rest of the 1st map's story, and I'm constantly feeling like I've stumbled into some place that I have no business being in.

The other sections of the 1st map all warrant my presence in some way, because some quest sends me there. But in the area north of the blighted village, everything feels like its own story, separate from the rest.

It's also self-contained when it comes to quests and locations, everything you are asked to do in that northern area only happens there.

It also made an impression on me that some of the more annoying Wokeshit with gender and race-swapped paladins and guards happens there. The fact it made an impression on me is still a good sign, meaning there isn't much of that shit elsewhere.

Does it feel the same to you, and what's your theory on why it's like that? Rushed development of this part of the map, different designers?

 

[Grunker]

BTW, they really couldn't bother to make an old school type manual, even just in pdf form? How fucking lame.

Game companies quit doing this a long time ago. Very few people read them. They made a whole premium edition that has printed stuff, but it's expensive.

BG3 is one of the worst documented modern games I’ve played though. You can’t even see your class progression table from any official source, that is outrageous

 

[Grunker]

For example, I beat the Act 2 boss yesterday on my first try

Did you kill the drider before the fight at any point? He was half the difficulty of the battle. Not that it was that tough even with him.

Which fight does the Drider participate in? Because it sounds to me like you're not at the final Act 2 boss fight yet (not talking about the interlude after it, but the actual boss fight).

 

[AwesomeButton]

BTW, they really couldn't bother to make an old school type manual, even just in pdf form? How fucking lame.

Game companies quit doing this a long time ago. Very few people read them. They made a whole premium edition that has printed stuff, but it's expensive.

BG3 is one of the worst documented modern games I’ve played though. You can’t even see your class progression table from any official source, that is outrageous

You can buy the official sources instead

There is also dndbeyond, not a bad tool, the free version is completely fine.

 

[Grunker]

BTW, they really couldn't bother to make an old school type manual, even just in pdf form? How fucking lame.

Game companies quit doing this a long time ago. Very few people read them. They made a whole premium edition that has printed stuff, but it's expensive.

BG3 is one of the worst documented modern games I’ve played though. You can’t even see your class progression table from any official source, that is outrageous

You can buy the official sources instead

You really can't even do that though, lol. Most stuff has been changed or moved around in some way. Looking stuff up in Player's doesn't do me any good when that's not what's happening in the game.

 

[AwesomeButton]

You really can't even do that though, lol. Most stuff has been changed or moved around in some way.

If you are a newbie to D&D, then you buy books. If not, then you likely know where to look anyway.

 

[Volrath]

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.

That's super weird because she comments on literally everything when your walking around on the world map (I'm still in act 1 )

 

[Grunker]

You really can't even do that though, lol. Most stuff has been changed or moved around in some way.

If you are a newbie to D&D, then you buy books. If not, then you likely know where to look anyway.

Wut? I know the whole Player's by heart more or less. How does that help me know BG3's progression tables when they are different?

Or the specific mechanics of something?

The wikis will get there at some point, sure, but right now they're completely incomplete.

BG3 has a pretty nifty hypertext tool, but the actual descriptions are often very incomplete.

 

[Reinhardt]

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.

That's super weird because she comments on literally everything when your walking around on the world map (I'm still in act 1 )

having gayl and frog in one party really makes them talk constantly.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Wut? I know the whole player's by heart. How does that help me know BG3's progression tables when they are different?

Or the specific mechanics of something?

The wikis will get there at some point, sure, but right now they're completely incomplete.

My implication was that if you are a newbie, you don't suspect the finer details of the differences between the PnP rules and the game even exist. Whereas if you are a veteran, you know where to look for info - reddit, youtube.

 

[Grauken]

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.

I see that as an advantage, there are very few games I ever replay, I rather get most of the content in one playthrough and thats it. Life is too short to replay most games