wicked cool
Adventurer
I have watched some let’s play videos of this and game looks epic. They have done a really good job with releasing this early for play testers to iron out bugs
D&D 5E New Baldur's Gate 3 Video
- Thread starter Henadic Theologian
- Start date
Paul Farquhar
Legend
I don't know what you've been playing, but the BG3 I've been playing is jammed nerdishly full of Forgotten Realms lore. Everything gets referenced,: The Bhaalspawn saga, The Second Sundering, Decent to Avernus, and more FR gods than you can shake a stick at are all in.
It certainly might be neutral good, but it boils down to what is "the Light"? It might be the Light of Justice to a lawful paladin, the Light of Freedom to a chaotic one, or even the light of Enlightened Self-Interest to an evil paladin. It's an oath so vague it's impossible to break.
It was in WotR that I encountered problems with it. Apparently if you choose more "good" options than "lawful" ones your alignment changes to neutral good. No chaotic choices required.
Sure, the could do it, but why bother with a subclass that no one likes? There are plenty of other better official fighter subclasses outside the PHB. "Everything in the PHB" isn't a promise, it's a straightjacket.
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DarkCrisis
Legend
On thing that bugged me about BG1 and 2 is that due to the real time movement/casting, Fireballs where useless outside of sneaky sniping.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I gotta hand it to Baldur's Gate 3 for one thing.
They got Volo exactly right.
When I heard he was going to be in the game, I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly did myself an injury, because I assumed that they'd present him like a lot of FR material tries to, as this slightly blowhard but loveable dude.
But nope.
They got him right. They nailed his ass. He's a fundamentally dishonest (some would say a pathological liar) narcissist, who is truly delusional about his own skills and abilities and the breadth and depth of his knowledge. He's foolhardy and intensely irritating. That's the 2E Volo I know.
They got Volo exactly right.
When I heard he was going to be in the game, I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly did myself an injury, because I assumed that they'd present him like a lot of FR material tries to, as this slightly blowhard but loveable dude.
But nope.
They got him right. They nailed his ass. He's a fundamentally dishonest (some would say a pathological liar) narcissist, who is truly delusional about his own skills and abilities and the breadth and depth of his knowledge. He's foolhardy and intensely irritating. That's the 2E Volo I know.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
Did you ever play NWN2: Storm of Zehir? He is perhaps a bit too helpful and competent in that. Come to that, you said you didn't like BG1: did you see the Volo cameo in that?
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I don't remember the Volo cameo in BG1, but bear in mind my animosity was such I haven't played it since the 1990s.
I never played NWN2, I heard a lot of good things about it generally, but it was 3E so I was sort of "meh" about it.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
He is in an out-of-the-way inn in Nashkel. And he is the irritating long-winded egotistical unhelpful blowhard we expect.
The 3.5(ish) rules can be rather irritating, and the graphics are horrible, even when it first came out, and the main campaign is some of the worst railroading in a CRPG, and the companions make they ones in BG3 seem lovely. But apart from that...
Masks of the Betrayer is interesting at least.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Ooof.
I will say the companions in BG3 have got less snippy and ill-tempered pretty much every patch for the last few patches. To the point where people were moaning that Shadowheart isn't "sassy" anymore (i.e. she isn't so hostile that that seems like she'd murder you in your sleep). It was pointed out that if you want her "sassy", just don't rescue her on the ship at the start, then she's back to her old self lol.
God I almost want to play it just to see that. That's got to be incredible.
I think the praise I heard was for NWN2 and Mask of the Betrayer, not Storm of Zehir lol.
Paul Farquhar
Legend
It's worth checking out if you can pick it up for minimal cost and have a few hours to spare, but in case you don't, spoiler:
It has the protagonist chasing a fake antagonist for a good part of the adventure. Whist it's quite possible the player can figure out what is actually going on quite early, the player character is forced to remain oblivious, leading to the unavoidable scripted death of one of the less unlikable characters.
NB, for clarity this is the main campaign, not Storm of Zehir, which is just generic and dull (and mischaracterises Volo). It tries to be more sandboxy than the other adventures.
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Ruin Explorer
Legend
Wow that sounds like exactly and precisely the sort of thing which makes me turn off a CRPG and never come back lol. I shall avoid. There's not much of a bigger wind-up in a CRPG (or really any game) than "player works something out but character isn't allowed to".
Paul Farquhar
Legend
There is one of those in Throne of Bhaal of course. The rest of BG1 and 2 does quite well in letting you ignore "the plot" if you want to - at least until you run out of sidequests.
BG3 gives you a very strong motivation for pursuing "the plot", and I don't think I've hit anywhere where I am forced to do something obviously dumb (aside from mind control, which allows saving throws).
EzekielRaiden
Legend
Yeah, I was pretty pissed about how unavoidable Shandra Jerro's death was. Like...it was such an obviously dumb situation, and completely manufactured by a failure to investigate or even communicate. Shandra had far better potential as a fish-out-of-water audience surrogate, someone who could vocally ask questions and personally experience the wonder and horror of being a D&D character. And...they wasted her death on a pointless Idiot Plot.
Frankly, I wish they'd given the player the chance to resurrect her, perhaps in an expansion. She deserved better.
Frankly, I wish they'd given the player the chance to resurrect her, perhaps in an expansion. She deserved better.
Most likely. I've played through the main campaign (railroady and frustrating, but serviceable IMO) and Mask of the Betrayer, and the latter is very good, fully worth the flaws and missteps of the base game.
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
I got tired of restarting my game as new versions were released. I'm just waiting for the actual release in August. For those of you who follow BG3 news, what is the likelihood that it will be released for a console now that Stadia has bit the dust?
Ruin Explorer
Legend
Really there are two likely scenarios:
1) They have some kind of binding contract with Google not to release on other consoles, just Stadia, which Google intend to enforce even though Stadia is now gone.
I think this is unlikely, especially as Larian has never ruled out a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S series, only a PS4 or Xbox One release.
2) More likely, PS5/Xbox Series X/S releases are lower priority, because the priority was Stadia, and for whatever reason(s), Larian haven't even integrated gamepad controls into the PC version, despite having them for Stadia.
This would mean PS5/Xbox was probably just a matter of time, though, it might be a long time, because I could see them tying that release in to the inevitable "Enhanced Edition". So unless they've been working in secret on them (again, unlikely because Larian aren't good at secret), we may well be looking at 2024 or even 2025 for PS5/Xbox versions.
MNblockhead
A Title Much Cooler Than Anything on the Old Site
It would be shockingly poor contracting if WotC were still held to an exclusive contract with Google to release on platform that no longer exists.
Yeah, I think #2 is likely the case. It isn't trivial to design for a new platform. I am not optimistic that I'll be able to get BGIII for Playstation, Xbox, or Switch at the same time or even soon after it released for the PC. I already have the early release for PC, but I would buy it again if available on a console.
bedir than
Hero
Reading this just made me realize I'm not going to be playing BG3 ever. I'm on a PS4 for console and my laptop is closer to an ultralight than a gaming laptop
sad.
sad.
Ruin Explorer
Legend
I mean, three points:
1) Hasbro/WotC have been guilty of some of the most shockingly poor exclusive contracts in videogame history. The saga with the D&D licence in the like 2000-2011 or so is so long and convoluted I can no longer remember it off the top of my head, but Hasbro essentially sold off the licence to make D&D video games in perpetuity to Interplay for some shockingly tiny sum, who sold it on to Atari, which eventually resulted in a court battle, which thankfully Hasbro/WotC one, seemingly on the grounds that Atari were not actually making any D&D videogames. But the whole thing was demented and 100% on Hasbro/WotC for selling the licence off essentially in perpetuity.
(Perhaps someone has a set of articles on this debacle? If not it might be a good topic for ENworld to cover.)
2) It's unlikely the exclusivity contract (if there was one) was between WotC and Stadia. I don't know why it would be that way. I've never heard of a contract like that in videogames.
The licence would be between WotC and Larian, and the more likely scenarios are:
2a) No specific platforms were specified (or possibly PC "and others").
2b) Specific platforms were specified, and they were PC and Stadia (PS5/Xbox Series X/S weren't announced when development started on BG3, indeed I'm not sure their specs were pinned down).
If it's 2b I think it's even more likely console versions will be delayed to a later "Enhanced Edition".
3) They didn't develop for PS4 or Xbox One because neither machine is powerful enough, so there's no chance of a Switch version unless they take an approach like Control, where the Switch version is essentially just a front-end for a stream of the game (like Stadia or GeForce Now). That approach has not proved very popular. It runs okay on a Steam Deck at least, though you better be plugged in.
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