Baldur's Gate 3

[Nicolas King]

Alright, give me your thoughts and opinions on Baldur's Gate 3, those of you who have played it!

Specifically curious about:

• Should I buy it at full price or be a #PatientGamer ?
• Will I enjoy it if I didn't get very far in Divinity: Original Sin 2 (it didn't capture me quick enough and I have limited gaming time)
• If "Yes" to above - will I know if I like it before I play for 2 hours (steam refund cut off ) ?

I'm also very curious to know what you think about the discourse on this 'raising the bar' for video game studios. Should BG3 be used to judge other game releases? Why/why not? (My gut is studios are whiny and lazy and consumers always set the standard by deciding what they will or won't buy, but as the 2kSports reality shows us... people will buy the same stuff but worse year after year after year.)

Feel free to discuss other game stuff, but please put spoilers in spoiler tags! ( @Aine Thompson )

 

[Aine Thompson]

I don't know what you mean

Honestly depends, are you a fan of D&D mechanics? Or enjoyed Dragon Age? If you didn't vibe with Divinity you might not like it so much but I also think it's a bit more accessible than the latter (and also has multiplayer still which is nice!). You might want to wait a bit in those cases, I bought the game in early access as soon as it was available (back in like...2020) so the price wasn't in consideration for me, tbh.

I don't know about raising the bar, Larian had the public clout after the Divinity success and had built up rapport with the fans over time to actually have the game in early access for nearly three years (with the Original Sin games both being successful kickstarters, too). In development for six years as it is, so it's a combination of time/resources/public backing that few will be able to replicate. Larian themselves have said their next game will be much smaller scale after Baldur's Gate, which is entirely fair. People will be patient for a good game when the devs have enough free reign to take their time though it takes a lot of passion to actually do it, and people will still buy their annual releases.

Interestingly, even the Pokemon devs of late have said that their crunch schedule means their products are lacking so maybe that's a sign that even they'll start taking longer to make better products...maybe.

also how am I supposed to choose between Astarion and Gale when Astarion is wonderful and an all time favourite but my partner hasn't done anything romantic for me in literal years and a charming wizard waltzes in with grand romantic gestures...

 

[Lysander Summers]

I love this game, but I'm also a big D&D and Divinity OS2 fan. Any game where I can be a mage and customise my character usually immediately grabs me. (Though I've already modded it for better hairstyles and character faces because a lot of them were too masculine for me )

From memory I was a bit unsure about Divinity to start with, but once I got into the lore and the world I enjoyed it a lot more. I'm finding with Baldurs Gate that the characters (Particularly the companions) feel more alive in the world and I'm way more invested in them and their stories than I was with the Divinity characters. It's definitely worth the price, though I could easily spend an hour in character creation, so the refund aspect might depend on how picky you are on characters

 

[Nicolas King]

are you a fan of D&D mechanics? Or enjoyed Dragon Age?

I just played through Dragon Age: Inquisition from a steam sale and thoroughly enjoyed it. (I think it was my first DA title. )
D&D mechanics feel like a manual way of doing what video games do naturally in the background for you anyway... so taking the 'manual' way and making them the foreground of a video game seems interesting but could totally be offputting.

I bought the game in early access as soon as it was available

I was very tempted by it in those early pandemic days, but I know myself well enough that if I'd played through Act 1 I would not have been willing to play through it again when the full game released.

Interestingly, even the Pokemon devs of late have said that their crunch schedule means their products are lacking so maybe that's a sign that even they'll start taking longer to make better products...maybe.

I saw this! I don't believe The Pokemon Company will let Game Freak stop printing cash, though. So just a nice idea.

also how am I supposed to choose between Astarion and Gale when Astarion is wonderful and an all time favourite but my partner hasn't done anything romantic for me in literal years and a charming wizard waltzes in with grand romantic gestures...

Let me tell you about [spoiler] tags, my friend.

Spoiler

ZOMG I CAN'T BELIEVE HARRY IS A HORCRUX!!!!1111

Also, maybe you should talk to your partner about that.

I could easily spend an hour in character creation, so the refund aspect might depend on how picky you are on characters

Hahahaha. I tried to watch a streamer's let's play of the early game to see if I'd like it. Like a three hour long stream VOD.
After skimming through it I realized I had to go to the next day's stream VOD because that one was all character creation.

 

[Monty Pendleton]

I waaaant this game but I have so many other games to finish and I hate buying new ones til I’ve got my money’s worth from the old ones

.... And then I usually end up replaying the old ones because they were fun

But maybe one day I'll get it, in a sale

 

[Nicolas King]

Games should have free trials again.

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

I know how to use spoiler tags, that was a joke instead

I'll post some spoilers under here, I have just hit act 3 on my first run (I actually got close to it on another character but I had messed up a bit and missed a lot so I re-did it). Let me tell you, it's not pulling punches:

Spoiler

Immediately annoyed Karlach twice by taking two terrible deals, one a deal with the devil to get the Githyanki off my back and keep Lae'zel happy (I intend to go beat up the devil) and one that's only terrible for her by allying with Enver Gortash so that I can travel around Baldur's Gate freely. Also had the choice of end Wyll's contract or renew it eternally to save his father, which is just cruel to pull.

Gotta say, I really like the three major antagonists - Orin's my least favourite but it's just not an archetype I really enjoy. I do enjoy, from a story perspective, her working on sowing paranoia by shapeshifting and taunting the player. I do love a tragic villain so I did feel a bit for Ketheric Thorn...but I love Gortash, he's pragmatic and charming (for someone who is mostly just wanting to rule with an iron fist).

I also fell hard for Gale so my romanced bard has had to talk him down a couple of times from his god complex by being like "but I love you don't do this" and even without rolling he's just like "ok because it's you". I'm going to do a Dark Urge playthrough next for Astarion though because I love the idea of two people who have everything stacked against them choosing to break free. I have seen some of the early game stuff though and it's vile. Really excited and terrified. (Gale has also inspired me to lean more into 'insufferable genius wizard' with Audrey, lol)

Now I've actually got to Baldur's Gate I will spend 100000 years wandering around aimlessly and maybe eventually complete the game. Maybe.

 

[Nicolas King]

(I actually got close to it on another character but I had messed up a bit and missed a lot so I re-did it)

I've heard some shade about people who go back to saves they make along the way in case they realize they made a bad call (and/or get some bad rolls they want to redo)... are you one of those?

 

[Audrey Beauchamp]

I have save scummed a bit but it was like a "oh, I didn't realize I was meant to go here earlier I and I've missed a ton of stuff, better go back to a save from 5 hours ago". Which, it's a video game, and when you're playing a single player game I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. Accept the dice rolls, yes, but at the end of the day play the game the way you want to in order to enjoy the experience.

But this was also I just made a new character and started from scratch. I had a tiefling bard at first, then I made a half-elf bard (I wanted to see all the fun bard dialogue options and there's a lot of really fun things you can do with bard persuasion).

Plus, I felt really guilty about apparently triggering some of Gale's romance flags when I was busy with Astarion.

 

[Nicolas King]

I have save scummed a bit but it was like a "oh, I didn't realize I was meant to go here earlier I and I've missed a ton of stuff, better go back to a save from 5 hours ago"

That sounds like punishment enough in itself.

 

[Michael Watson]

Also, no spoilers, but I did just see a post of a bunch of things that were allegedly cut from the final release. While some seem like they were just straight rewrites from early access to the full version, some seems like it might have been cut for time and may well be added in patches. Specifically, a lot involving act 3. I would certainly hope this might be the case, but we'll see.

So I guess if you're on the fence about getting it just yet, that might be a point in favour of waiting for sales/further patches, if there's a bit more completeness to it in time. I remember Divinity: Original Sin 2 added a few quests and updates in patches over time (like the Relics of Rivellon questline, giving Beast a bit more content) so I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[Stefan Archer]

Games should have free trials again.

More things should have free trials again, but hard agree on games specifically, especially when they can cost like £60 odd

 

[Nicolas King]

I mean, I know how to make my own free trial but I feel bad.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Oh, and yes, you can romance

Spoiler

a mindflayer

 

[Nicolas King]

Oh, and yes, you can romance

My wife may disagree.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Time and time again I'm reminded that we need a thumbs-down or a "booooo" reaction.

(or in this case, booooo-mer?)

 

[Nicolas King]

Do they have that in Baldur's Gate?

Spoiler: Off Topic

We made a pretty intentional decision when we did reacts not to have any explicitly negative ones. People would get upset far too easily and/or bullied by the use of them... and given the shenanigans we've seen over the years that's a pretty safe bet. Closest we get to that is my Hufflepuff/Slytherin reacts.

 

[Nicolas King]

View: https://youtu.be/soki3D8RKgI


I just watched this video and it convinced me to be a patient gamer. He says act 3 lacks the polish of the other acts and is immersion breaking (but he still loves act 3 and the game over all, just thinks it's worth waiting for the patches if you can).
Maybe I can get it 50% off in a year.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Can we just have a tomato emote we can respond to your posts with then?

There's some wild mods already. Some are utterly atrocious (turning Wyll white, just, why?) but the best I've seen so far is one that goes the extra step with Gale's underwear being enchanted (as the description of them suggests)...and had the underwear let him cast meteors.

And yeah, act 3 does feel unpolished. They just implemented the first big patch which is quite promising, I jusr hope they eventually restore some of the cut content. I'm still having a wonderful time though!