Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Konjad]

 

[Konjad]

 

[Grauken]

Obviously a lot of RPG stories struggle with the question of "why are these disparate people hanging out together" but in BG3 I really couldn't tell you why almost anyone is following me around

The reason was to find a way to deal with the tadpoles. How more obvious should it be?

Rotate your eyes upwards about one milimeter above the line you quoted.

That doesn't change the fact that you still have to deal with the tadpoles. And if you play it right the companions remain with you because you became friends, really its almost idiot-proof simple. Like in 99% of every other cRPG you ever played (that needed a reason, most don't even have one).

You're being ridiculous

 

[Konjad]

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

I agree with the sentiment that the companions suck but idk exactly why. Okay, most of them aren't conceptually interesting, but something about them all just feels oddly crap.

The actual archetypes are fine - Astarion is there for sardonic commentary and to have a little evil-to-not-evil redemption arc, Karlach's there to take the piss out of stuff, Lae'zel's there to give the martial/pragmatic opinion, Gale's there to get a restraining order, etc. Theoretically they're fine, but in practice they're just utterly underwhelming. Maybe it's the lack of any kind of progressive relationship with any of them - yeah, they sometimes dump you with a faceful of their (mostly bad) backstories, but half the time you go up to them in camp and find that there's nothing new to talk about.

Dragon Age - for its infinite faults - understood that in this sort of game, camp should be an extended break from regular gameplay where you get to do your dumb dating sim shit and develop your friendships with the crew (Mass Effect understood the same). I didn't like the Dragon Age setting or characters much, but Morrigan, Alistair, Leliana and even fucking Wynne felt way more involved in what was going on and like they had a much stronger presence in the story than anyone in BG3.

I'd prefer to make my own party in the end but I don't like the weird hirelings system in this game.

I like the Dragon Age setting before the retcons. It was pretty much medieval Europe with various groups representing England, France, ect. You even had the one group that was supposed to be Muslim and they thought women should stay home. Then they retconned the shit out of that faction in later games and they support trannies and men "riding the bull." You literally can't have a faction that is anti faggot/tranny/woke these days. Even in a setting that's based on medieval times with priests and knights. Imagine a religious knight supporting faggotry lol

 

[Lemming42]

You're being ridiculous

A lot of people are finding the companions underwhelming and uninvolved, I'm just theorising as to why.

I don't think it's that ridiculous to suggest that - for example - Lae'zel, after explicitly joining you to find the creche, has no reason to follow you anymore when you walk in the exact opposite direction of the creche, lead her into the shadow swamp place, and then walk off to Baldur's Gate without ever giving even the slightest indication of heading creche-ward. She firmly believes the creche to hold the only cure.

This sort of stuff starts to pile up, to the point where you can't really point to any concrete reason why half of the team are together, especially given that several may actively dislike you and have expressed skepticism towards your ability to find a cure for the tadpoles.

And if you play it right the companions remain with you because you became friends, really its almost idiot-proof simple.

As people have said throughout the thread, the ability to have platonic friendships with the companions is very limited. I definitely didn't get the impression that many of these people were hanging out with me just for fun, especially since some of them had negative approval towards me.

 

[whydoibother]

 

[Lagole Gon]

• Auntie Ethel. Easily the most memorable villain in the game. Despite only showing up in two side quests, Auntie Ethel is charismatic, funny, you can have a ton of different interactions and outcomes with her, and the decisions you make regarding her in act 1 carry over to act 3. A show-stealer.

Also one of the highlights for me. The trip into her lair, the choices and options you have available and dealing with the mother after you saved her (IF you saved her) were fantastic.
Just goes to show that you don't need high stakes and an over-the-top premise to make for a compelling story and memorable experience.

Auntie Ethel is great in every aspect.
Larian probably put it in the game just to tease you with a high quality comfy fantasy content. Just to make the overbloated main plot even more annoying. Fucking Belgians.

How does a man even become a Belgian? Do you have to be born one?
Or do you become one by a long series of small morals compromises?

 

[Gradenmayer]

You're being ridiculous

A lot of people are finding the companions underwhelming and uninvolved, I'm just theorising as to why.

I don't think it's that ridiculous to suggest that - for example - Lae'zel, after explicitly joining you to find the creche, has no reason to follow you anymore when you walk in the exact opposite direction of the creche, lead her into the shadow swamp place, and then walk off to Baldur's Gate without ever giving even the slightest indication of heading creche-ward. She firmly believes the creche to hold the only cure.

This sort of stuff starts to pile up, to the point where you can't really point to any concrete reason why half of the team are together, especially given that several may actively dislike you and have expressed skepticism towards your ability to find a cure for the tadpoles.

And if you play it right the companions remain with you because you became friends, really its almost idiot-proof simple.

As people have said throughout the thread, the ability to have platonic friendships with the companions is very limited. I definitely didn't get the impression that many of these people were hanging out with me just for fun, especially since some of them had negative approval towards me.

Doesn’t she leave if you walk past crèche while passing the mountains? She at least threatened me to do so.

 

[Grauken]

You're being ridiculous

A lot of people are finding the companions underwhelming and uninvolved, I'm just theorising as to why.

All I hear is mostly screeching about woke in this thread. Are they the best companions ever? No, not by a long shot. But they are mostly fine with solid writing.

And if you play it right the companions remain with you because you became friends, really its almost idiot-proof simple.

As people have said throughout the thread, the ability to have platonic friendships with the companions is very limited.

I call bullshit on that. You can easily have platonic friendships with the companions if you aren't too stupid about the choices and they leave you alone if you say no.

 

[Parabalus]

Is this worth checking out if you consider D:OS2 trash?

 

[Strange Fellow]

Is this worth checking out if you consider D:OS2 trash?

I consider D:OS2 trash and I'm having fun, so yeah.

 

[Justicar]

How does a man even become a Belgian? Do you have to be born one?
Or do you become one by a long series of small morals compromises?

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

You're being ridiculous

A lot of people are finding the companions underwhelming and uninvolved, I'm just theorising as to why.

All I hear is mostly screeching about woke in this thread. Are they the best companions ever? No, not by a long shot. But they are mostly fine with solid writing.

And if you play it right the companions remain with you because you became friends, really its almost idiot-proof simple.

As people have said throughout the thread, the ability to have platonic friendships with the companions is very limited.

I call bullshit on that. You can easily have platonic friendships with the companions if you aren't too stupid about the choices and they leave you alone if you say no.

Nope they're mostly terrible with bad writing. And yes way too much faggotry which doesn't bother faggots like you but most regular people find it annoying and kills any friendship and espirit de corps

 

[Herumor]

That's wow.

I want you to know the rating is for posting that retard YongYear.

 

[Lemming42]

Doesn’t she leave if you walk past crèche while passing the mountains? She at least threatened me to do so.

She does bring it up once or twice but I don't remember it being a big thing, despite it being ostensibly her sole motivation for working with you. There was one time where she chastised me for not going to the creche, but then just kept following me towards whatever inane sidequest I was up to.

All I hear is mostly screeching about woke in this thread. Are they the best companions ever? No, not by a long shot. But they are mostly fine with solid writing.

No screeching about "woke" from me (quite the opposite, I had a go at the game some pages back for having what I felt were anti-progressive attitudes at one part). I just think the roster of companions is a bit naff. For what it's worth, Karlach, the one who seems to draws everyone's ire, is my favourite of the companions, with Astarion as a close second.

It's not just this thread, you'll find disappointment with the companions across the internet, from all kinds of sites, including ones where people are most definitely not anti-"woke". I don't know why you even bring this up with regards to me, do you think I'm making some kind of statement of bigotry by saying "I think Lae'zel didn't care about the creche enough"?

I call bullshit on that. You can easily have platonic friendships with companions if you aren't too stupid about the choices and they leave you alone if you say no.

Again, mentioned it ages ago, but Lae'zel and Karlach were both permanent members of my party. Neither had anything to say to me at camp. Lae'zel just hisses and basically tells you to piss off, while Karlach has the same single dialogue option about her shitty busted engine, which only changes when you do that minor sidequest to get the infernal metal for her. No sense of developing friendship as you might get in a BioWare game with similar camp/party elements.

 

[Riddler]

• Auntie Ethel. Easily the most memorable villain in the game. Despite only showing up in two side quests, Auntie Ethel is charismatic, funny, you can have a ton of different interactions and outcomes with her, and the decisions you make regarding her in act 1 carry over to act 3. A show-stealer.

Also one of the highlights for me. The trip into her lair, the choices and options you have available and dealing with the mother after you saved her (IF you saved her) were fantastic.
Just goes to show that you don't need high stakes and an over-the-top premise to make for a compelling story and memorable experience.

Auntie Ethel is great in every aspect.
Larian probably put it in the game just to tease you with a high quality comfy fantasy content. Just to make the overbloated main plot even more annoying. Fucking Belgians.

How does a man even become a Belgian? Do you have to be born one?
Or do you become one by a long series of small morals compromises?

Maybe Ethel was designed by som of the new CE hires rather than the Belgian menace?

 

[Grauken]

Again, mentioned it ages ago, but Lae'zel and Karlach were both permanent members of my party. Neither had anything to say to me at camp. Lae'zel just hisses and basically tells you to piss off, while Karlach has the same single dialogue option about her shitty busted engine, which only changes when you do that minor sidequest to get the infernal metal for her. No sense of developing friendship as you might get in a BioWare game with similar camp/party elements.

I haven't really played BioWare games so I have nothing to compare it to but to me it's not really something I care for in an RPG. I expect some main cutscenes and beyond that, I don't need more. I consider most RPG systems and my party an abstraction of real things, a representation and not an in-depth simulacra. If you prefer a more constant feedback loop and more of a friend-simulator, then yeah this might not be what you're searching for

 

[SpaceWizardz]

Is this worth checking out if you consider D:OS2 trash?

I found both Original Sin games to be tedious garbage but enjoyed this game well enough, the DnD license subdues Larian's worst design impulses.

 

[dukeofwoodberry]

Again, mentioned it ages ago, but Lae'zel and Karlach were both permanent members of my party. Neither had anything to say to me at camp. Lae'zel just hisses and basically tells you to piss off, while Karlach has the same single dialogue option about her shitty busted engine, which only changes when you do that minor sidequest to get the infernal metal for her. No sense of developing friendship as you might get in a BioWare game with similar camp/party elements.

I haven't really played BioWare games so I have nothing to compare it to but to me it's not really something I care for in an RPG. I expect some main cutscenes and beyond that, I don't need more. I consider most system and my party an abstraction of the real thing, a representation and non an in-depth simulacra. If you prefer a more constant feedback loop and more of a friend-simulator, then yeah this might not be what you're searching for

It's not a friend simulator it's a faggot sex simulator?

 

[Grauken]

Again, mentioned it ages ago, but Lae'zel and Karlach were both permanent members of my party. Neither had anything to say to me at camp. Lae'zel just hisses and basically tells you to piss off, while Karlach has the same single dialogue option about her shitty busted engine, which only changes when you do that minor sidequest to get the infernal metal for her. No sense of developing friendship as you might get in a BioWare game with similar camp/party elements.

I haven't really played BioWare games so I have nothing to compare it to but to me it's not really something I care for in an RPG. I expect some main cutscenes and beyond that, I don't need more. I consider most system and my party an abstraction of the real thing, a representation and non an in-depth simulacra. If you prefer a more constant feedback loop and more of a friend-simulator, then yeah this might not be what you're searching for

It's not a friend simulator it's a faggot sex simulator?

No wonder you can't even get virtual platonic friends

 

[Shrimp]

Is this worth checking out if you consider D:OS2 trash?

Depends on what you disliked about D:OS2 but FWIW a lot of the common gameplay/combat related grievances people had with the game aren't present in this game by virtue of it being based on 5e rather than Larian's own system that they used for D:OS2.

 

[prodigydancer]

It’s especially the case with BG3. Hasbro is by their own account expecting BG3 to make what 10 years of D&D spin-offs have earned them combined.

When I bought Baldur's Gate in 1998 I knew practically nothing about RPGs. I knew such games existed only because I had played Diablo. D&D? What's that?

You'll probably laugh but there were exactly two reasons why I decided to try BG:
1) I loved Diablo.
2) There was a small but very cool-looking screnshot showing an enemy hit by a lightning bolt (from Call Lightning). So I thought "wow, if this game has such spells, it should be great!"

And it was great, so I learned about D&D and played some P&P campaigns later.

CRPGs have always been more visible than the original P&P D&D.

 

[Lemming42]

I haven't really played BioWare games so I have nothing to compare it to but to me it's not really something I care for in an RPG. I expect some main cutscenes and beyond that, I don't need more. I consider most RPG systems and my party an abstraction of real things, a representation and not an in-depth simulacra. If you prefer a more constant feedback loop and more of a friend-simulator, then yeah this might not be what you're searching for

Again this was discussed ages back (the perils of a 268-page thread) but the problem is that none of the crap stilted dialogue and content-free camp scenes are presented as abstract. It might be harder to see if you're not familiar with the modern-era BioWare model that they so clearly style themselves on but the game is simultaneously going for a movie-like experience where the characters take centre stage while also not having enough actual content for those characters to work on any real level.

Result: disappointingly thinly-drawn companions. The fact that their ongoing presence in your party is increasingly difficult to explain is the icing on the cake.

If you were mentally rewriting all the dialogue in your head and imagining some amazing blossoming friendships then I imagine the story works a lot better, but I'm going by what's on the actual screen.

 

[Konjad]

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