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

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Have finshed the game and it was a good time.
Hooked up with Shadowheart and got a happy ending for most of my dudes.
Act 3 do suck, but the journey there was so good.
I love it, but I don't think I can spare the time to play it again.
Played as a Paladin (white male of course) and had fun with it.
 
Have finshed the game and it was a good time.
Hooked up with Shadowheart and got a happy ending for most of my dudes.
Act 3 do suck, but the journey there was so good.
I love it, but I don't think I can spare the time to play it again.
Played as a Paladin (white male of course) and had fun with it.
why does the game push shadowheart so hard though? I found her boring so was never interested in romancing her but it took so much effort to avoid doing so - so many dialogue options push you in that direction and it takes so much effort to get her to dislike you. I had to literally kick her from my party to avoid it.
 
I found even with dos2 that the last act lagged a bit, but like dos2, the final fight/ending stuff was actually really fun and worth completing. There are so many branching storylines too that my 2nd playthrough feels completely different from the first. Also idt I'll ever tire of making Astarion and Gale bum each other so to that extent the game has infinite replay value.

I FUCKing hated this fight. I found this fight genuinely harder than the last battle.
Fun fact, you can set up an instakill cheese on that boss that works every time, you just need an owlbear druid and a way to make it bigger
 
why does the game push shadowheart so hard though? I found her boring so was never interested in romancing her but it took so much effort to avoid doing so - so many dialogue options push you in that direction and it takes so much effort to get her to dislike you. I had to literally kick her from my party to avoid it.
Probably because she's a writer's favorite oc. Or maybe it's because she's basically the main love interest because she's the most normal looking. The companions in this game are pretty disappointing. They all try to upstage each other and have zero comradery.
 
why does the game push shadowheart so hard though? I found her boring so was never interested in romancing her but it took so much effort to avoid doing so - so many dialogue options push you in that direction and it takes so much effort to get her to dislike you. I had to literally kick her from my party to avoid it.
I would say because she have a great VA and her being the most conventional attractive one.
 
Probably because she's a writer's favorite oc. Or maybe it's because she's basically the main love interest because she's the most normal looking. The companions in this game are pretty disappointing. They all try to upstage each other and have zero comradery.
I felt like karlach and wyll had a cute dynamic - same with gale and astarion. Minthara's also more interesting than you'd expect (she shows a lot of sympathy for karlach for instance) and can be pretty charming with durge if you're really leaning into the whole evil thing.
I would say because she have a great VA and her being the most conventional attractive one.
I can't stand her VA lmao - it sounds like she has a cold or something, like her nasal passages are too narrow. Whenever she talks it makes me feel like I have a cold.
I always romance froggy became I find her fantasy racism endlessly entertaining.
I always liked her too, but she also reminds me of my mother so romancing her would be too weird.
 
I interpreted Gale's relationship with Astarion as ' I only tolerate you because you're the friend of my friend'. Gale and Laezel have a better dynamic despite being polar opposites class wise.
uh it's called being TSUNDERE? they're such a cute pairing because
1) they're both funnier than all the other characters
2) they're both weird addicts
3) they're both clearly gay (see astarion's voice and gale's earring)
 
they're both clearly gay (see astarion's voice and gale's earring)
I can see Astarion being gay or at least bisexual but he's only really there for fujoshis. He's voiced by a straight man that's performing a gay voice, he has a tragic backstory that women can relate to, No real life gay man would like him because he's an annoying aged twink that looks like a granny. Gale is straight. He had a girlfriend, he wants a monogamous relationship, he's written for the nerd women crowd because he likes cats, has a metrosexual earing, and is an unintimidating wizard rather than a giga chad barbarian.
 
The only reason people praise this game is because the quality of games these days are so low that something average is now seen as amazing. I've seen people praise it for having "a brand new" dialog system because they didn't use the dialog wheel Bioware came out with or for having turn based combat instead of pure action. All they did was just copy the stuff that was already there they did a fine job at it but it's nothing we haven't seen before.
This rubbed me the wrong way.
While there will always be things to critique and nitpick, BG3 is objectively a great game. Saying all they did was "just copy stuff" is silly, considering it's based on DnD 5e, which the system and license itself does not really allow that much wiggle room. Taking into consideration how many DnD games have come and failed in the last decades, they polished a turd into a diamond.

Anyway, if you hold strongly to your opinion, then I would like for you to expand on that.
First, list 5 games you consider great, so we're clear on what standards you operate, then I'd like for you to highlight some failings of BG3, that made it appear an average game based on your standards.
 
There is an NPC Visual Overhaul (WIP) - NPC VO on nexus that prettifies many npcs.
They did a good job making "handsome young man" Gortash not look like a weathered Noel Fielding, but I don't really like most of their changes, the Tiefling are meant to be diabolically mutated, to mark them out as being different from proper local folk.
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Checked for fun on steam the hidden achievement for beating the game is only 22% of players.
Mods disable achievements unless you use a workaround.
I'd agree with that. I also don't like the final three or so fights, they're all gimmick battles and not very good ones.
There's a reason most honour mode golden dice are won by suicide bombing with Gale.
I enjoyed the endgame but it would flow better if summoning allies didn't take an action, it just disincentivises making the battle more epic.
Another genuine question: Would BG3 had done so well if not the huge emphasis on sex and romance? I feel like this game plays straight into parasocial groomer minecraft-comfort-streamer mindsets.
Probably not, their mocap dialogs were more moving than most films, and their character development made sense.
I'm straight IRL, and found the Astarion relationship a touching exploration of defusing the cycle of abuse.
I always romance froggy because I find her fantasy racism endlessly entertaining.
This! And since I haven't played any D+D since Neverwinter 2, it was good to have a character who didn't grow up emersed in the setting.
BG3 is objectively a great game.
Yes it's quite possibly my favorite game, and it is refreshing how Larian didn't exploit or milk their fans like many AAA games released today.
I'm looking forward to their next title, and would be even happier now that Hasbro and Tencent won't get any cut.
 
This rubbed me the wrong way.
While there will always be things to critique and nitpick, BG3 is objectively a great game. Saying all they did was "just copy stuff" is silly, considering it's based on DnD 5e, which the system and license itself does not really allow that much wiggle room. Taking into consideration how many DnD games have come and failed in the last decades, they polished a turd into a diamond.
By copying stuff I meant the typical features found in most rpgs. They didn't create the idea of turn based combat or a non voiced main character or companions with romance features and opinions on their own. All this came from games before it and yet a lot of people act like BG3 was the first to do it. Maybe using the words "just copying stuff" was a little too strong but it's annoying to see people talk about how BG3 is revolutionary game when it didn't really add anything that we haven't seen from other rpgs before. My statement had nothing to do with how they implemented the 5e system.
Anyway, if you hold strongly to your opinion, then I would like for you to expand on that.
First, list 5 games you consider great, so we're clear on what standards you operate, then I'd like for you to highlight some failings of BG3, that made it appear an average game based on your standards.
BG1
BG2
Pathfinder Kingmaker
Pathfinder WOTR
Tryanny
The main things I disliked was the writing. The way the companions kept doing weird sex stuff and the romance part of the game as a whole. I'm fine with romance stuff but it really feels like that's most of what these companions had to offer me. They didn't really feel like real people because of it and by the end of the game I didn't care about any of them. Also I got bored of the main plot but that might be a me thing. Honestly that's about the only real issue I had.
 
By copying stuff I meant the typical features found in most rpgs. They didn't create the idea of turn based combat or a non voiced main character or companions with romance features and opinions on their own. All this came from games before it and yet a lot of people act like BG3 was the first to do it. Maybe using the words "just copying stuff" was a little too strong but it's annoying to see people talk about how BG3 is revolutionary game when it didn't really add anything that we haven't seen from other rpgs before. My statement had nothing to do with how they implemented the 5e system.
It seems you're looking for originality, but that's just a pipe dream.
You will find that almost every work borrowed from another, regardless of the medium. Even the games you mentioned have no true original ideas (i.e Tyranny is straight up inspired from Black Company books), but rather they took inspiration from something else and built upon in.
And in this built upon it, I personally look to see if a game is great or not.


BG1
BG2
Pathfinder Kingmaker
Pathfinder WOTR
Tryanny
The main things I disliked was the writing. The way the companions kept doing weird sex stuff and the romance part of the game as a whole. I'm fine with romance stuff but it really feels like that's most of what these companions had to offer me. They didn't really feel like real people because of it and by the end of the game I didn't care about any of them. Also I got bored of the main plot but that might be a me thing. Honestly that's about the only real issue I had
I will not discuss BG 1+2 or WotR because I either haven't played at all or just partially. But I did finish PFK and Tyranny.
I'm sorry, but none of these games are great. Good, but not great.
I've asked for BG3 failings and a set of standards, and you provided only the writing and weird sex stuff. I think we can both agree that's extremely shallow and not enough to justify any solid judgement, yet even so, I'll work within your boundaries.

When it comes to weird sex stuff, I really don't know how you can like the PF games and bash BG3. Need I go through a heap of examples of some of the weird sex shit from those games?
It's weird and I'm not even sure how to argue going further. You didn't give me much to work with.

That being said, it's fine to not like aspects of a game. I personally disliked the tranny in Act 3 and making the companions "playersexual", but I'm not going to say a game is bad just because of those things, without taking into consideration the whole thing.
I see no point going further, as it more or less becomes an issue of personal taste, but I had to open this topic, because if I'm in the game section of the site, might as well go full autismo.
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No real life gay man would like him because he's an annoying aged twink that looks like a granny.
Okay hear me out - the thing that makes a gale x astarion ship romantic is actually independent of what actual gay guys would like, because actual gay guys are shallow, promiscuous degenerates. It's less about what actual men would like and more about what a glamorized, romanticized pairing might look like. The fact that they're good foils and have quippy lines is what makes them a good match, as opposed to whether they realistically reflect the (typically gross) preferences of gay men.
Gale is straight. He had a girlfriend, he wants a monogamous relationship, he's written for the nerd women crowd because he likes cats, has a metrosexual earing, and is an unintimidating wizard rather than a giga chad barbarian.
I think the population of nerd women who play bg3 and the population of fujos who play bg3 are pretty coextensive, so you basically have these two guys who appeal equally intensely to the same population of women, so pairing them together would be cute af (in the eyes of women).
 
I can see Astarion being gay or at least bisexual but he's only really there for fujoshis. He's voiced by a straight man that's performing a gay voice, he has a tragic backstory that women can relate to, No real life gay man would like him because he's an annoying aged twink that looks like a granny. Gale is straight. He had a girlfriend, he wants a monogamous relationship, he's written for the nerd women crowd because he likes cats, has a metrosexual earing, and is an unintimidating wizard rather than a giga chad barbarian.
I do not believe for a micro instant that Neil Newbon isn't a queer. The first words uttered from my lips when I saw that man's face for the first time were "Oh my God, he has AIDS". I showed my husband and he gasped, "Oh my God, he eats poop". It is a breed of faggotory visible at a glance.
 
It seems you're looking for originality, but that's just a pipe dream.
You will find that almost every work borrowed from another, regardless of the medium. Even the games you mentioned have no true original ideas (i.e Tyranny is straight up inspired from Black Company books), but rather they took inspiration from something else and built upon in.
the problem isn't originality, but how the new "fanbase" thinks it's this revolutionary new thing. same as calling WoW the first mmorpg back then. fucking normalfags.
2014-08-06-Quite-Contronnie.jpg
 
Anyway, if you hold strongly to your opinion, then I would like for you to expand on that.
First, list 5 games you consider great, so we're clear on what standards you operate, then I'd like for you to highlight some failings of BG3
I'm not him in the slightest, but:
Disco Elysium - writing/tone
Wrath of the Righteous - player agency / replayability
Divinity:OS1: game systems / pacing
Guild Wars 1: ambition / core game systems
The Longest Journey: making stupid premises actually compelling

Baldur's Gate 3 excels at a few things: it has the best vocal performances arguably of all time in gaming, and its facial animations convey emotions the best of any in the business, even if others might beat it for "realism." Its reactivity towards player character-building choices (race/class/background/etc) is commendable and something that future developers should take notes from.

But I've never once felt the urge to replay it. Its story suffers from tremendous pacing issues, the characters are largely shallow (propped up by phemonenal voice acting), the core plot collapses in on itself because it implies an urgency that never, ever, ever manifests, and the core system of 5e is just tremendously simplistic. In BG3 you can see the foundation for something much, much greater... but it's never realized. Where I detect ambition in the project concerns the voice acting and visual appearance - which, again: they absolutely knocked it out of the park. But almost everywhere else... it's a phoned-in story with phoned-in resolutions and by-the-numbers protagonists. I've seen all of these beats before.

There isn't enough in the main story to keep me interested in 'but what if I did this...?'; nor is there enough in the companions to suggest that they'd vary wildly between playthroughs; nor is the system deep enough to at all interest me in another go-through, when a single run suggested both what was obviously the optimal builds and that they were endlessly better than suboptimal ones in such a manner that there's genuinely no reason not to go for the best of the best.

For reference, after Dance of Masks released (a dlc), I replayed top to bottom WOTR and had an absolute blast. Immediately afterwards, I picked up the rest of the DLC and I've been playing through it (less fervently) on the side, and having a great time. I cobbled together a new archetype introduced in that DLC with an old prestige class alongside a chosen mythic path, which now allows me to fire off multiple chained-lightning effects with ~7 sneak attack die on each hit that affect multiple enemies at once with a litany of other effects that get applied through the cast to all affected enemies... plus a massive cast of characters who I've made wholly-distinct builds for in this particular run-through that vary wildly from my last and at the same seem significantly more impactful, all while I'm pursuing the polar-opposite alignment choice from my prior run.

By contrast, if I were to replay BG3, I would be briefly tempted by the evil route, realize how much I'd give up in terms of content for so little (and how little sense it would make), and tap out somewhere after the tiefling village.. because I don't care. Illithid are boring. Faceless, nameless characters with zero stakes are boring. Stories which take place effectively over the course of maybe a week are boring. Game systems in which I can either play the classes "as intended," wholly cheese them, or be complete dogshit... are boring. That blurb above, above being a magic deceiver -> rogue -> arcane trickster? It's an inefficient way to play byfar, but it's tons of fun. I made Lae'Zel and Eldritch Knight and Astarion an arcane trickster in my BG3 run, and wow: it was amazing how I made two utterly useless choices because 5e sucks balls.
 
Did they ever give Minthara more content in act 3? Having her as a party member is one of the few things making me interested in replaying. However, from what I've heard, she's basically mute in act 3, but I could've swore Larian blamed it on a bug.
 
Did they ever give Minthara more content in act 3? Having her as a party member is one of the few things making me interested in replaying. However, from what I've heard, she's basically mute in act 3, but I could've swore Larian blamed it on a bug.
The recent patches had been working on fleshing out the "evil" route. Presumably Minthara is part of that.
 
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