Baldur's Gate Baldur's Gate 3 RELEASE THREAD

[Cyberarmy]

I think they'll quit way before Act 3 and have a decent impression of it.

You've described every modern Larian game. I've said this repeatedly over the years but I think DOS has such good review scores because most players (and probably codexers) didn't make it beyond the halfway mark. Okay I was being generous with the halfway mark achievements show two thirds of players noped out before Outer Cyseal: https://steamcommunity.com/stats/373420/achievements/

Yeah, DoS 1 and 2 also starts to run out of juice in their 2nd acts later stages. Even their enhnaced editions didn't enhanced end game a lot. Even their older titles are mostly like this.

 

[cretin]

There are criticisms to be made of BG3, but the ones being made in this thread are either flaccid ("it runs out of steam by act 3!", "most players wont even finish it!" - just like every single CRPG ever, and the vast majority of games longer than 30 hours) or bordering on poseur posturing ("its below average in every respect!").

 

[abija]

whether to go for the Gith storyline or the other one in act 1.

huh?

 

[Swen]

 

[processdaemon]

I liked parts of DOS2 but the ending was so bad that I can't complete another run because knowing that it's coming ruins my enjoyment. The endings to BG3 are nowhere near as infuriating, even the evil ending that everyone hates (although I did notice that Orpheus tried the 'you made everything worse just by playing!' schtick that Larian loves so much when he's shouting at you, but thankfully it was brief and you can just gloss over it).

 

[Yuber]

If they would not have included characters from BG1&2 I might have tried it on deep sale.
But I don't wanna see what they did to them, I already saw pictures and they look so ugly with Larians Graphic style urgh

 

[Lacrymas]

There are criticisms to be made of BG3, but the ones being made in this thread are either flaccid ("it runs out of steam by act 3!", "most players wont even finish it!" - just like every single CRPG ever, and the vast majority of games longer than 30 hours) or bordering on poseur posturing ("its below average in every respect!").

These are not the criticisms being made.

1. My #1 problem with BG3 is the writing. BG3 has nothing to say and does so badly. The main story is bizarre and a nothingburger, requiring immense schisms with established lore to function. The lore is completely disregarded the moment it becomes inconvenient and that's quite frequently, so frequent in fact it starts to grate and becomes impossible to ignore. The villains are ineffectual and sometimes comical in their melodrama. Orin is the worst one, but the Final Fantasy reject isn't much better. The game somehow manages to have not 1, not 2, but 3 psycho serial killers (if you are playing Durge). There is a certain "we can do it better" syndrome permeating the whole thing. Orin and Ghortash are both trying to be Sarevok, at least different aspects of him, but failing miserably, even down to becoming Duke of Baldur's Gate and using Doppelgangers to infiltrate institutions. Shart is obviously Viconia but white and with less character. Viconia and Sarevok are defaced beyond recognition and it feels like arrogance on the part of the writers instead of homage or cameos. The companions are almost all fanfic-tier and that's not an exaggeration or edginess. It honestly feels like the writers have never read anything other than fan fiction in their entire lives. The only one you can squeeze any significance out of is Astarion, seeing as how he is a victim of sexual abuse and that actually affects him quite a lot. Outside of Astarion in a very few cases, companions don't have any agency in their own (inner) lives. Shart changes allegiances at the drop of a hat because you said so. Wyll sacrifices his own father to be rid of Mizora because you said so. This is a symptom of the whole plot and game being written around you, nothing can stop you from doing what you want and it feels extremely artificlal in a bad way. I can go on and on about the writing because it's all bad all the time and it accosts you with it constantly. The cuck squad just aren't good writers even in a general sense.

2. The changes from 5E are almost all for the worse. Almost every single one buffs classes that didn't need buffing or nerfs classes that didn't need nerfing (warlocks, fighters). Ranger is probably the best change because the class was just unplayable and had an identity crisis. This is just a cancerous growth emenating from the "we can do it better" syndrome. This makes the game even easier than it already is and it's a baby's-first-video-game sort of difficulty. I don't know about the custom difficulties, maybe they are much better, but I doubt it improves the AI much. The AI does ridiculous things like summoning a creature in a Wall of Fire, killing it instantly and then running through the same wall, almost suiciding in the process.

3. The much extolled verisimilitude amounts to cheesing the game, like D:OS1 and 2 before it. There is always a barrel or two you can keep in your pocket in order to cheese an encounter. When it isn't used for cheesing, it's just for filling your inventory with mundane objects. The one neutral aspect of it is how the game is full of verticality. 5E doesn't use verticality very well because all it does is force you to equip ranged weapons on all your characters, just like in Solasta, but it's good for roleplaying and exploration purposes.

4. The music is generic and that's unacceptable in a Baldur's Gate game. There is nothing much to say here.

All of this combines to create the impression that BG3 is the most shameless act of necrophilia in video game history. It's not only average on its own, it has to disfigure a much-beloved series in the process. Its only real virtue is that it sold well enough for everyone to realize TB RPGs sell. Congratulations to Larian.

 

[Swen]

The fact that BG3 makes Lacrymas so mad makes this victory all the sweeter, I just can't stop winning bros!

 

[Lacrymas]

The game doesn't make me mad, it isn't significant enough for that. What makes me mad is its reception. There are so many other, better games/RPGs out there that deserve it way more, but we all have to kneel at the altar of mediocrity.

 

[Swen]

The game doesn't make me mad, it isn't significant enough for that. What makes me mad is its reception. There are so many other, better games/RPGs out there that deserve it way more, but we all have to kneel at the altar of mediocrity.

Luckily it's significant enough to win GOTY.

 

[Orud]

Everyone will forget this game exists before the movie comes out.

Sure, just like DOS2 I guess.

 

[Swen]

Well, well seems the japs love my game.

They even get this cool guide

BG3 saving the reputation of western games in Japan... BASED!

Weebs like Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi on suicide watch...

 

[Swen]

Also LMFAO, Owlcat keeps on losing

Famitsu score:

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (PS5, Xbox Series) – 7/6/7/8 [28/40]

 

[Jonathan "Zee Nekomimi]

Yes the japs are know for playing and having shit taste in games, your point? Also "nice" marketing with kojima, how much did u guys pay? (no nippon reply in sight)

 

[Lacrymas]

The nerve to call Western RPGs tedious, lol.

 

[Modron]

The nerve to call Western RPGs tedious, lol.

I wonder what they think about JRPGs.

 

[jackofshadows]

companions don't have any agency in their own (inner) lives

This is a blatant lie. It might seem so if playing it *normally* but there're plenty of instances where they can even attack you like when you tell SH you won't go down after Nightsong. Which was very stupid by the way, why wouldn't she just leave and go there herself instead?

The changes from 5E are almost all for the worse.

Worse in what sense? The goal Larian pursued was to make it less restrictive and most importantly fun in practice. With that I'm suprised they did nothing with the concentration system, otherwise I think they were right. They shouldn't have balanced it around 1% of potential audience which can use mods anyway.

The music is generic and that's unacceptable in a Baldur's Gate game. There is nothing much to say here.

Not all of it.

Which ironically don't belong to official OST. Anyway, I can agree that BG3's ost is more bland/generic than BG1-2's ones but not by much.

All of this combines to create the impression that BG3 is the most shameless act of necrophilia in video game history. It's not only average on its own, it has to disfigure a much-beloved series in the process.

You final point is what raised my brows and promted me to response. Are you a hardcore BG1-2 fan by chance? It certainly reads so anyway. BG1-2 were pretty good games but for sure not by virtue of counterpoints you've made like the writing or balanced ruleset lmao. Their gameloop was just good enough and so BG3's one even if you don't like it.

 

[Delterius]

The nerve to call Western RPGs tedious, lol.

I wonder what they think about JRPGs.

they just said japanese people play tedious games

 

[Heinrich]

The game doesn't make me mad, it isn't significant enough for that. What makes me mad is its reception. There are so many other, better games/RPGs out there that deserve it way more, but we all have to kneel at the altar of mediocrity.

"The game isn't significant, I'm just mad that everyone else thinks it's significant (making it significant)."

 

[Lacrymas]

companions don't have any agency in their own (inner) lives

This is a blatant lie. It might seem so if playing it *normally* but there're plenty of instances where they can even attack you like when you tell SH you won't go down after Nightsong. Which was very stupid by the way, why wouldn't she just leave and go there herself instead?

Yes, companions can leave or attack you and then you never see them again, big whoop. Sometimes it doesn't even make sense, Shart leaves you if you don't take her to Shar's realm, but only *after* it's already done. I'm not convinced this is good enough, especially since the major choices characters have to make in their own stories depend on you.

The changes from 5E are almost all for the worse.

Worse in what sense? The goal Larian pursued was to make it less restrictive and most importantly fun in practice. With that I'm suprised they did nothing with the concentration system, otherwise I think they were right. They shouldn't have balanced it around 1% of potential audience which can use mods anyway.

I already said why - it buffs some classes that don't need buffing and nerfs classes that don't need nerfing. It also makes the game significantly easier. Larian don't know better for them to "make it less restrictive and more fun", I'm sorry.

 

[Swen]

The game doesn't make me mad, it isn't significant enough for that. What makes me mad is its reception. There are so many other, better games/RPGs out there that deserve it way more, but we all have to kneel at the altar of mediocrity.

"The game isn't significant, I'm just mad that everyone else thinks it's significant (making it significant)."

Lol yeah the game not being significant is probably the biggest piece of cope I've read so far.

 

[Lacrymas]

It isn't significant enough for me to get mad at.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

It isn't significant enough for me to get mad at.

Significant enough for you to remark upon its insignificance to you.

 

[Reyvik]

Significant enough to make you butthurt that it's more popular that all these obscure, boring rpgs that you praise while never really playing them

 

[Reyvik]

And I am saying this not as a person who worships bg3, but as someone who is tired of people pretending to have higher taste that implies harsh critique, while it mostly a symptom of gatekeeping and elitism