Baldur's Gate III Announced - ...and it's coming to Google Stadia and PC

[MembersSchoolPizza]

So someone gifted me the game on Steam for Christmas. Decided to finally check it out.

I'm not very far into it - I keep going back and making new characters after the intro. I've played various characters up to the druid area, so not very far at all. Baby steps.

Some random thoughts nobody will care about... Some of this I know is just "5E Things", but still...

• Character customization is pretty good, although the hair styles are a real mixed bag.
• Why are Drow a race instead of a subrace of Elf?
• Apparently you can't make a black skinned drow. The best you can get is a sort of dark purple. Booo.
• Boy, this dev team really liked githyanki. OPest race is OP. Meanwhile some races are just (mechanically) pointless. Oh, yay, my dwarf gets armor proficiency. Because most dwarves aren't going to be fighters, paladins, or clerics anyway.
• There's some really stupid "save or game over" situations.
• Every party member thinks they are the main character. BG1-2 characters, they had personalities, but even for all Minsc's memeish howling, you never felt like any of them were trying to get in your face and say "LOOK HOW MUCH OF A MAIN CHARACTER I AM!". But every follower I've found so far does.
• Actually, no, that's not true. They don't act like main characters. They act like people acting like they think they're the main character. They feel like very bad LARPers, or youtube "gaming" personalities, playing the most obnoxious characters possible. Which is I guess sort of on point for D&D, in a way, but it still grates.
• There's absolutely no reason this game should perform as awful as it does. I know my hardware is older, but I've played games that look far better with better performance. Hell, it doesn't look that much better than Divinity 2, and I imagine shares a lot of the same code, and that game plays brilliantly.
• Despite that, I am enjoying it. Damn it all.

 

[Mega Black]

It really pisses me off that 5 companions are elves and there are no short raced companions, fucking bullshit.

Gnomes and halflings are fucking gay, we should have had playable goblins and a goblin bro for evil characters.

Actually, no, that's not true. They don't act like main characters. They act like people acting like they think they're the main character. They feel like very bad LARPers, or youtube "gaming" personalities, playing the most obnoxious characters possible. Which is I guess sort of on point for D&D, in a way, but it still grates.

The main character syndrome is a result of them all potentially being the main character, so, it tracks. Personally I found them all to get better with time. Around Act 2 I was surprisingly endeared to most of the cast. Astarion began as an incredibly obnoxious faggot I had to resist the urge to kill at the start and was one of my favorite party members in an RPG ever by the time his arc was concluded in Act 3.

Anyway, I beat the game last night after a wopping 60 hours, skipping a ton of side quests in act 3. Sorry Minsc, the thought of fighting another dungeon's worth of goons was not on the table.

Think I nearly broke the game in the final fight by having so many characters split across two battlefields, and got a pretty bummer ending for Karlach and The Githyanki. Oh well.

I appreciate the epilogue party a lot. I can see why people were complaining before it got added, there is basically no elaboration at all on multiple characters without it. Still don't know why they haven't just added some ending slides, though. The game would feel more complete with them.

Game was great, a lot of fun, definitely the best of the batch of the CRPG Renaissance and I take great pleasure in the knowledge Bioware and Obsidian are seething about it's success.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Finally finished Act 1 after 30 hours. I'm level 7 which is ridiculous considering it means I'm more than half way into experience progression. Also Karlach feels like she does way too little damage.

 

[Cheeseknife]

Why are Drow a race instead of a subrace of Elf?

My understanding is they're distinct enough to warrant they're not a "sub" race but their own race entirely.

Apparently you can't make a black skinned drow. The best you can get is a sort of dark purple. Booo.

You can click the checkbox that gives you extra options to look for darker colors. There's one that they give to Half-Orcs that's like a grey-black.

Oh, yay, my dwarf gets armor proficiency.

If you decide to be a Rogue, this works into some of the better Medium Armors in the game. Some, like the Armor of Agility, don't limit your Dex Bonus which means you can be a Rogue wearing chainmail and you don't even need a feat for it.

There's some really stupid "save or game over" situations.

Like what? I can probably name two off the top of my head in the entire game.

Every party member thinks they are the main chcharacter.

It's one of the more common complaints. Better way of saying it is the writers made all your companions way too important and, coincidentally, they all are related to the main plot in some way.

It's worth pointing out that this somewhat makes sense if you decide to play them as Origin characters. They all necessarily must have the capacity to be MCs because they all can potentially be MCs.

Also Karlach feels like she does way too little damage.

I'm assuming you made her a Berserker? Berserkers are best utilized if you give them the Tavern Brawler feat and Frenzied Throw shit at enemies with your bonus action. Or just throw the enemies themselves. Had a lot of fun tossing dwarves into the lava with Karlach or just tossing enemies at other enemies.

If you get a weapon that returns to your hand after throwing, that's ideal too.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

You can click the checkbox that gives you extra options to look for darker colors. There's one that they give to Half-Orcs that's like a grey-black.

Yeah, I did, still not what I was after. Minor complaint, not playing a drow, just annoys me that they got rid of the canon "ebony black"/"midnight black" drow.

If you decide to be a Rogue, this works into some of the better Medium Armors in the game. Some, like the Armor of Agility, don't limit your Dex Bonus which means you can be a Rogue wearing chainmail and you don't even need a feat for it.

I get it, but it's one of those case where the mechanics and the lore are kind of weirdly at odds. The "you get armor proficiency" thing is because dwarves are a race of fighters. So the dwarven racial trait is... completely useless for fighters.

Like what? I can probably name two off the top of my head in the entire game.

Well, the one that pissed me off the most recently was Astarion eating me because I failed a will save in my camp in a dialog scene that happened when I rested.

It's one of the more common complaints. Better way of saying it is the writers made all your companions way too important and, coincidentally, they all are related to the main plot in some way.

It's worth pointing out that this somewhat makes sense if you decide to play them as Origin characters. They all necessarily must have the capacity to be MCs because they all can potentially be MCs.

Yeah, they did this same thing with Divinity 2, but it was handled much better. All of the origin characters made up your party members, too, but their personal plotline took a back seat to the main game. It was less that all the characters were equally important, whichever character you were was obviously the important one.

I guess I keep comparing the game to Divinity 2, perhaps unfairly.

 

[Cheeseknife]

Well, the one that pissed me off the most recently was Astarion eating me because I failed a will save in my camp in a dialog scene that happened when I rested.

Your character can be brought back. Use a scroll of resurrection. There's even dialogue tailored for this outcome.

I thought maybe you missed the Wisdom check when you found the dying mindflayer in the Nautiloid.

So the dwarven racial trait is... completely useless for fighters.

Yes, but not everybody creates a character for optimizing stats. Some people might just want to play a Half-Orc Wizard for whatever reasons despite the lack of optimal attribution.

In fact, I've a personal peeve for Karlach's racials essentially being useless because any Concentration spells are deactivated when a Barbarian enrages which means the Zariel Tiefling smites are less than optimal for Barbarian Tieflings.

All the Mephistophales Tieflings have racial spells that a scale from your Charisma score too which is only ideal if you're a Bard, Paladin, Sorcerer or Warlock. Same as how any Wizard cantrips you get as Elves or Half-Elves are Intelligence-based.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

I thought maybe you missed the Wisdom check when you found the dying mindflayer in the Nautiloid.

Yeah, no, I found that one, too.

Basically if there's a way to fail a really important save or check, I'm finding it.

 

[Kane Lives]

Yes, but not everybody creates a character for optimizing stats. Some people might just want to play a Half-Orc Wizard for whatever reasons despite the lack of optimal attribution.

I'm playing basically the worst race available for BG3 (vanilla 5e dragonborn) and still bending the game over my knee on Balanced. It's not a difficult game by any means. Now, I may change my tune if I restart on Tactician but my 2-hour foray into that just shows me that most enemies just have more HP, which isn't really too difficult to overcome.

 

[Cheeseknife]

Now, I may change my tune if I restart on Tactician but my 2-hour foray into that just shows me that most enemies just have more HP, which isn't really too difficult to overcome.

They use extra abilities too. Like archers will shoot fire, acid, or exploding arrows at you or brain dogs will shoot mind lasers at you.

 

[Kane Lives]

They use extra abilities too. Like archers will shoot fire, acid, or exploding arrows at you or brain dogs will shoot mind lasers at you.

The former I already see occasionally on balanced. Definitely can fuck you up if you aren't prepared.

Now the latter... that was a nasty surprise. I thought I simply missed it the first time around.

 

[Cheeseknife]

The former I already see occasionally on balanced. Definitely can fuck you up if you aren't prepared.

Now the latter... that was a nasty surprise. I thought I simply missed it the first time around.

It's more noticeable in Act I where you're more at the mercy of dice rolls and your health pool is low. I didn't notice many of new things in Act II or III.

 

[Male Idiot]

You can shoot the injured squid from afar and bypass all the checks.

 

[Prokhor Zakharov]

Can someone who has been into D&D computer games since the original Baldur's gate recommend to someone who just came into the series with BG III which of the older games are worth playing? I figure Baldur's gate 1 & 2, being so highly regarded around here, would be worthwhile, people also seem to include Planetscape among the greats. Besides those 3, which else would you suggest? Old school graphics and play aren't an impediment to me. I've played many games from that era and enjoyed them so a lack of modern conveniences and mechanics isn't an issue. I just want a good game.

My overall restrictions are must be true RPG and/or Action RPG. Must be 3rd person perspective. Technological restrictions as far as getting them to work isn't a problem, I work in IT, so I can make just about anything work if I beat it hard enough. Any insight is appreciated for a BG/D&D pc gaming n00b.

 

[MembersSchoolPizza]

Can someone who has been into D&D computer games since the original Baldur's gate recommend to someone who just came into the series with BG III which of the older games are worth playing? I figure Baldur's gate 1 & 2, being so highly regarded around here, would be worthwhile, people also seem to include Planetscape among the greats. Besides those 3, which else would you suggest? Old school graphics and play aren't an impediment to me. I've played many games from that era and enjoyed them so a lack of modern conveniences and mechanics isn't an issue. I just want a good game.

My overall restrictions are must be true RPG and/or Action RPG. Must be 3rd person perspective. Technological restrictions as far as getting them to work isn't a problem, I work in IT, so I can make just about anything work if I beat it hard enough. Any insight is appreciated for a BG/D&D pc gaming n00b.

The two recent Neverwinter Nights games aren't bad. They aren't great, either, but they're fun. And by "recent Neverwinter Nights" games, I mean the two 3D ones around the 2000s. The really old ones... Look, they were fun at the time, but they don't hold up.

Honestly most of the older D&D games, I hate to say it, are really not worth going back for, unless your desperate or really nostolgic. I say this as someone who has bought the gold box games in stores on their own, in stores on the Forgotten Realms collection a couple decades ago, and a decade or so ago when they came out on GoG. They're good games, but not reeeeeally worth making a fus over if you don't already have an attachment to them. And the ones that are (The EEotB games, and Dungeon Hack) are first person dungeon crawlers, so they don't meet your criteria.

Honestly, if you like just the gameplay, and aren't looking for a story that will knock your socks off, the Icewind Dale games are great, too. Their story isn't any great shakes, but it's very stock D&D storytelling, so it's fine. They don't have memorable characters like Minsc or anything, really, but they're good.

Basically, if you play BG1&2, and really like the gameplay, play the Icewind Dale games for more of the same. If you play BG1&2 and decide you really want narrative heavy pseudo-intellectual weirdness and don't really care about good gameplay (Sorry, Torment fans), play Torment. They all use the same basic engine.

It was a hot mess when it came out, but the Temple of Elemental Evil game is worth playing too if you install the Circle of Eight community patch. Fixes it up, adds some extra content.

Also, this isn't technically in line with what you asked, but if you like BG3, and you haven't played them, give Divinity: Original Sin 1&2 a try. They were Larian's flagship RPGs before BG3, and you can really, really feel them in BG3 - the engine is almost identical, there's some similar storytelling touches, etc. They aren't technically D&D, they have their own cosmology and rules, but they were the best RPGs I had played in a while when the came out.

Similarly, if you like BG1&2 when you play them, you might give Pillars of Eternity 1&2 a look - they were designed to be a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate.

 

[SIMIΔN]

Can someone who has been into D&D computer games since the original Baldur's gate recommend to someone who just came into the series with BG III which of the older games are worth playing? I figure Baldur's gate 1 & 2, being so highly regarded around here, would be worthwhile, people also seem to include Planetscape among the greats. Besides those 3, which else would you suggest? Old school graphics and play aren't an impediment to me. I've played many games from that era and enjoyed them so a lack of modern conveniences and mechanics isn't an issue. I just want a good game.

In terms of having a BG3 experience, I'd start with either Divinity Original Sins 2, Larian's previous game (though far less mocap scenes). DoS1 is more of the same, though less polished.
Dragon Age Origins and its expansion are enjoyable in the same way too. If you love it, then play DA: Inquisition afterwards, it has great character writing and an epic story, but there are too many fetchquests.

Afterwards, I'd recommend Neverwinter Nights 2, especially Mask of the Betrayer. It's dated graphically, but its 95% BG3 if it was made in the 2000s. A multibranching story, with many character options.

Boy, this dev team really liked githyanki. OPest race is OP. Meanwhile some races are just (mechanically) pointless. Oh, yay, my dwarf gets armor proficiency. Because most dwarves aren't going to be fighters, paladins, or clerics anyway.

Duergar are great with their free invisibility outside of combat, and a free use per combat too. That combos really well with the Assassin subclass and the Durge cape that grants you invisibility on kill.
Halflings get to reroll any ones, so they are the most reliable for honour-mode and ironman.

 

[derpherp2]

Boy, this dev team really liked githyanki. OPest race is OP. Meanwhile some races are just (mechanically) pointless. Oh, yay, my dwarf gets armor proficiency. Because most dwarves aren't going to be fighters, paladins, or clerics anyway.

Due to how 5E licensing works Larian only has access to Core PHB MOSTLY. There's most likely caveats to this shit.
Anyways, 5E core is absolutely shit. Just play phandelver to see. And gith are not core which is why they're OP.

I'm assuming you made her a Berserker? Berserkers are best utilized if you give them the Tavern Brawler feat and Frenzied Throw shit at enemies with your bonus action. Or just throw the enemies themselves. Had a lot of fun tossing dwarves into the lava with Karlach or just tossing enemies at other enemies.

Bonus points for throwing a +3 returning fucking shoe.

In terms of having a BG3 experience, I'd start with either Divinity Original Sins 2, Larian's previous game (though far less mocap scenes). DoS1 is more of the same, though less polished.

There's also a promising EA game called Archaelund.
But for anyone experienced in this shit, Encased was also a "promising" game.

 

[Mega Black]

Old school graphics and play aren't an impediment to me. I've played many games from that era and enjoyed them so a lack of modern conveniences and mechanics isn't an issue. I just want a good game.

The new Pathfinder games are jank but apparently pretty good, same for the new 40K game from what I understand. Divinity 1 and 2 by Larian would be easy recommends as well but I found the writing in both so obnoxious I never got too far. Wasteland 3 if you want something more like Fallout, then Fallout I and II on top of that if you're looking for classics.

Basically anything Bioware made from Dragon Age: Origins backwards is pretty much the same style of RPG. I'm going to throw a specific unexpected recommendation in for Jade Empire, very unique setting and RPG even by modern standards, great game.

Basically just look at the popular back catalog of RPGs and take your pick. Dragon Age is probably the closest to BG3 in terms of production values, might want to start there.

 

[Cheeseknife]

Can someone who has been into D&D computer games since the original Baldur's gate recommend to someone who just came into the series with BG III which of the older games are worth playing? I figure Baldur's gate 1 & 2, being so highly regarded around here, would be worthwhile, people also seem to include Planetscape among the greats. Besides those 3, which else would you suggest? Old school graphics and play aren't an impediment to me. I've played many games from that era and enjoyed them so a lack of modern conveniences and mechanics isn't an issue. I just want a good game.

My overall restrictions are must be true RPG and/or Action RPG. Must be 3rd person perspective. Technological restrictions as far as getting them to work isn't a problem, I work in IT, so I can make just about anything work if I beat it hard enough. Any insight is appreciated for a BG/D&D pc gaming n00b.

I also recommend Neverwinter Nights. Yes, it is an old Bioware game that was produced back in 2002, but since then has received several overhauls. Get the Diamond Edition on Steam which features numerous QoL updates since its inception. There's also mods you can use to improve the graphics if you don't like how blocky everything is.

Oh, and Neverwinter Nights 2 and Mask of the Betrayer, most definitely. Especially MotB which has a fantastic story.

I suppose the NWN series isn't part of the Baldur's Gate series, but it's still DnD and also takes place on the Sword Coast (about 1000 miles north of Baldur's Gate).

 

[A Sentient Cloud]

Boy, this dev team really liked githyanki. OPest race is OP.

You are not kidding and I don't get it. Lae'zel is cool but over and over again I'm asked to go to bat for the Githyanki and it's like, why? These things are gross, they're weirdly horny, their goddess is a dickhead, and they're dickheads too. It would be one thing if they seemed to have a Klingon-esque self-awareness or sense of humor about themselves, but nope, every single one of them is a buttclenched racial supremacist. Fuuuuuuuck off.

 

[Cheeseknife]

As far as races and classes go, Githyanki Clerics and Paladins shouldn't be a thing since they don't believe in the divinity of the gods. They'd acknowledge the existence of gods, of course, but never pray to them or swear fealty.

Even choosing Vlakkith as a patron diety doesn't fix this because Vlakkith isn't a true god. She is just a super powerful lich and can't really go about answering prayers like Selune, Shar, or the rest of them.

Even there, I reckon Lolth-sworn Drow shouldn't have Clerics either--at least not the conventional types that players can roll. Lolth would see prayers offered to her as a sign of weakness and most likely respond by covering said clerics with a blanket of spiders.