Baldur's Gate 3

[seepage]

So not particularly interested in BG3 - liked BG enough but I tired of it just before the end, playing as a wizard probably not the best idea for a beginner, but I think I have room for a CRPG in my life. 

From what I've heard - I don't think Pillars of Eternity or Pathfinder are exciting me much, I actually have Planscape Torment on GOG but I'm not of a mood for that much reading.  I did hear on a podcast that Tyranny might be of interest?

You might like The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk, if you've not tried it. It's completely linear I think and mostly about the tactical combat, the humour grates sometimes, but the 'twist' is that the characters know they are in an RPG. Some of the voice acting is good, including Felicia Day as the Wizard (unless you can't stand her of course). The goblins seem to be Spanish for some reason.

[Moribunderast]

I've never played D&D before and know little about it other than what you glean from cultural references in TV and whatnot but I am LOVING this game. Only downside is it has started crashing regularly for me which is very frustrating as it then wants to check my "install integrity" each time I re-start, which takes about twenty minutes. Anyone else having problems with regular crashes? I'm still very early in the game (about 8 hours in) so I'm hoping it's not a harbinger of things to come. Hadn't heard reference of big technical issues in all the rave reviews. I'm getting a lot of texture pop-in and when loading a save it sometimes takes quite a while for the environmental assets to appear.

Technical gripes aside, thus far really enjoying the world and the writing. Being pretty new to this style of game I am still coming to grips with how best to go about combat and which items are worth equipping (and whom in the party to equip them with.) It's a LOT but it's also just really compelling. The exploration and filling out the map is enough to keep me locked in that "just one last thing..." mode where it's hard to actually turn the game off.

[Pink Gregory]

Hadn't heard reference of big technical issues in all the rave reviews.

there's a mention in the Eurogamer review of technical issues starting to creep in towards the end of the game, at release anyway.

https://www.eurogamer.net/baldurs-gate-3-a-critical-success-with-critical-failures

"While I didn't experience corrupted saves again, technical issues broadly worsened as I entered the city of Baldur's Gate itself. Bugs ranged from visual glitches to experiencing a soft-lock in the final fight when the game failed to end one character's turn. Near every part of the game was affected, from technical performance through to gameplay and narrative. Notably, I had to turn the difficulty down as conditional abilities in combat only triggered inconsistently. This particularly affected my build for Astarion, as core aspects of his build - creating advantage and landing critical hits in order to perform high damage sneak attacks - were all unreliable. "

[brat-sampson]

First big patch didn't un-fuck my one bugged out quest, but I accept it might be too late for that. It's more likely to mean that repeating the same process wouldn't cause the bug again than to actually unbug my save.

Good to see the volume of work they're putting in to tidy things up though. It's increasingly clear the game came out a little hot thanks to Starfield and that the polish was mostly front-focused, which makes sense, but I have zero doubts in this team to scrub up the rest and at my current pace (barely opened Act 2 after around 35 hrs) I'm in no hurry.

[Ignatius_S]

I've never played D&D before and know little about it other than what you glean from cultural references in TV and whatnot but I am LOVING this game. Only downside is it has started crashing regularly for me which is very frustrating as it then wants to check my "install integrity" each time I re-start, which takes about twenty minutes. Anyone else having problems with regular crashes? I'm still very early in the game (about 8 hours in) so I'm hoping it's not a harbinger of things to come. Hadn't heard reference of big technical issues in all the rave reviews. I'm getting a lot of texture pop-in and when loading a save it sometimes takes quite a while for the environmental assets to appear.

Technical gripes aside, thus far really enjoying the world and the writing. Being pretty new to this style of game I am still coming to grips with how best to go about combat and which items are worth equipping (and whom in the party to equip them with.) It's a LOT but it's also just really compelling. The exploration and filling out the map is enough to keep me locked in that "just one last thing..." mode where it's hard to actually turn the game off.

You might be having issues with the Larian Launcher, so try disabling that. If you haven't tried it, it's worth switching between DirectX 11 and Vulkan.

One of the hotfix patches was reissued due to people reporting crashes after it was deployed. That should be fixed now, particularly as there's been the first major patch - another should be on its way. Some people were reporting issues with earlier hotfix patches as well.

Although it's been rock solid for me, have seen quite a few people reporting issues - there's quite a few guides about what to try and the Steam community discussion would be worth looking at.

[bgmnts]

Love Larian and Divinity Sins 2 is probably one of my favourite games ever made, so I'm rather excited for this to release on the old Xbone.

Please hurry up Larian you twats.

[Mobius]

This is out on ps5 now, if you got the ultimate edition or something

I'm stuck on the character creation, there's too much choice. It's stressing me out.

[Mobius]

Just me playing the GOTY then

[bgmnts]

Sick cunts haven't released it on Xbone yet so probably will. Not into the GOTY talk as now I'm expecting far too much, and unsure if even Larian can deliver that.

[brat-sampson]

I'm still at it. GOG tells me I cracked 50 hrs. Haven't finished Act 2 but feel like I'm closing in on it.

And yeah, even with a couple of buggy quests, it just feels like it's holding my attention more strongly than anything else this year. Usually, no matter the game, after a few weeks I'm slyly checking out new releases or sales or what's hitting game pass, but I literally just don't care until I'm done with this. I'm as invested at Hr 50 as I was at Hr 5.

[Mobius]

I've basically been playing nonstop since it came out on ps5. It's so good. I put about 20 hours into a bard and was enjoying act 1 so much and finally got my head around all the mechanics, then I just started over because why not. I've heard act 2 / 3 are where the bugs / performance issues start, and I've got loads to do in act 1 anyway. It's just insane how detailed and varied it all is and the depth of choice and dialogue and how your race class stats impact all aspects of the game.

They are releasing patches every few days which is cool to see

[bgmnts]

It's just insane how detailed and varied it all is and the depth of choice and dialogue and how your race class stats impact all aspects of the game.

This is why I loved Divinity Sin 2 so much.

[druss]

Finally managed to start playing this. It is fucking amazing but I think it is just slightly over-rated.

What it does well it does really well but the controls are quite clunky and it doesn't have a group loot feature when you have 10 corpses to search through (something even the old games now have in the enhanced editions). These aren't enough to spoil the game but scores like PC Gamer's 97% (the highest score they've ever given anything) make me expect a bit more polish.

I've been playing nothing else and I am constantly thinking about it, I just hoped that with such high praise it would have had better controls. Also as far as I can see, rope does nothing, despite being the most useful item in the tabletop game. Pickpocketing seems buggy as hell also. I don't like reloading as it feels like cheating and there was an early bug in the druid grove where

Spoiler alert

I'd found that a druid had a missing stone tablet so I carefully made Astarian invisible and hidden, pickpocketed the NPC whilst no one was looking, succeeded in the pickpocket, got the fuck out of there only to come back later and have the entire druid grove attack me. I was feeling really pleased with myself for getting the item but now I don't trust pickpocketing as a way of completing quests in a creative way.

[close]

Edit: I know am nitpicking, I'll probably play this for thousands of hours over the next few years, to add to the thousands of hours I've played through BG1 - BG2 - TOB.

[druss]

I'm probably going to duck out of this thread until I've completed a playthrough as I'm getting para about spoilers. Mostly speculation but I'll spoiler just in case:

Spoiler alert

Wondering which other characters from the old games will show up. I already know about two but have managed to avoid hearing about any others. Feel like there has to be a Shar connection with Shadowheart and Viconia and I'll be gutted if there isn't.

Not arsed about seeing Aerie again although I guess as she is part elven they could get her in a lot easier than any of the human characters.

Mostly hoping Edwin shows up. Seems like the obvious thing would be to make him appear as a lich but even though it would be obvious I would still grin like a lunatic if it happens.

Be nice if Haer'dalis popped up although I don't know how popular he was or how old he was in BG2 as tieflings don't live much longer than humans.

Sarevok would be great but he's a human and they can't use the turned to stone trick twice...

[close]

[Mobius]

I agree that the controls are fiddly. Seems to be unavoidable on a console with this sort of game, there's just too many skills and buttons and interactions and things. Looting can be a bit tedious. At least holding X does a group highlight so you aren't individually selecting each corpse/bookshelf/vase.

I know it's part of these games but I do wonder sometimes do all 50 bookshelves in a room need to be interactable, and do all of them need 3 books in them. And does there need to be 20 bits of cheese and bread in all 20 of these barrels? No wonder the saves get massive and loading screens get longer!

What I find best, on my second playthrough, is to just take everything really slowly. Don't pick everything up, sell regularly to keep on top of your inventory and not get overwhelmed. I'm trying not to explore too far into the map, tidying bits up before venturing forth. Returning to camp regularly and interacting with my party. But yeah the inventories and stuff are a tad old fashioned, not sure how it could be done better. 4 party members can take a bit of management. I wanted to do a "Lone Wolf" save like in Divinity 2 but I think you just miss loads of flavour and interactions.

I'm definitely a savescummer. Wish I could just take each option as it was and live with the decision but keep thinking "hmm wonder what changes if I choose this option!"

I'm level 5 and absolutely twatting fights now. Took me a while to realise how important it is to preplan, ensure your characters have high ground and all that tactical stuff.

Anyone tried an "evil" character? These games always say it's doable but that usually means killing everyone and cutting yourself out of loads of content.

I did play quite a bit as "The Dark Urge" and the amount of new dialogue and unique interactions was crazy. It's cool how you can literally play the whole game as one of the companion characters. But my new character is a custom one, as I wanted a 'blank slate' and to not have a prior history.

I really thought it wouldn't meet the hype for me, as most things don't, but despite the fiddly tedious bits mentioned above, fucking hell I just love this game so much!

[Mecha Rodney]

Keen to give this a go. Div OS2 is the only kind of game I've ever played like this and I really really enjoyed the opening section (Fort Joy?) but dropped it at the next area, just a lot of stuff to do, I got option paralysis and kind of lost track of the different motivations within my party. I also don't have much time to sink into a game for a couple of hours per session, so I don't know if it would suit my routine. I also feel like it's more of a dice kind of game at heart which I'm not sure I will like. Fire Emblem Three Houses is about as sophisticated and as slow as I can probably manage most days.

Dare I? Any casual kind of player given it a go?

[druss]

Keen to give this a go. Div OS2 is the only kind of game I've ever played like this and I really really enjoyed the opening section (Fort Joy?) but dropped it at the next area, just a lot of stuff to do, I got option paralysis and kind of lost track of the different motivations within my party. I also don't have much time to sink into a game for a couple of hours per session, so I don't know if it would suit my routine. I also feel like it's more of a dice kind of game at heart which I'm not sure I will like. Fire Emblem Three Houses is about as sophisticated and as slow as I can probably manage most days.

Dare I? Any casual kind of player given it a go?

I think you would struggle. I can only play for about an hour at a time due to injury and it feels like I can get through one or two battles plus a few dialogues. Don't make much progress at all although it is still enjoyable.

One other gripe I've ran into is the profanity. It works in The Witcher games and in Game of Thrones because they don't have decades worth of games/content behind them that don't feature profanity. I think this is the first Forgotten Realms game I've played that features swearing and it is very immersion breaking when Karlach swears every few sentences, so much so that I'm tempted to bring back the annoying Lae'zel. Feels like an attempt to try to be mature and adult and doesn't feel in line with the old games at all.

Probably fine if you haven't played previous entries but to me it's as jarring as if Mario said "Say Princess Peach, I really can't a wait to fuck you in the shitter tonight".

[Mecha Rodney]

Cheers @druss, it sounds like one for a sale down the road.

[Harpo Speaks]

Think I'll be picking this up down the line, really like the look of the reactive systems and so on.

Enthusiasm slightly dampened by the fact that I'm not that enamoured by the DnD fantasy setting, but heard lots of good things regardless.

[druss]

Spoiler alert

Near the end now, haven't even touched the sides in terms of doing all of the quests as I can often get impatient on first run throughs and save the completionist runs for later.

The side quests I have done are far more interesting than the main quest. I was really hoping for a villain to rival Irenicus from BG2 or even the slightly inferior Sarevok from BG1 but it seems like the only motivation for any of the villains is... to be an evil villain? There's really nothing there it seems (I'm at the beginning of Act 3 so I could be wrong but even if a decent villain is suddenly introduced there isn't going to be much time left for one to develop).

This also (unforgivably) extends to Viconia. Seems to be a completely different character from the old games both in looks and character (whether you went with a good party or an evil party in BG2) and essentially is just an excuse for a boss battle with a name from the old games plastered on. Really hammered home how this game should not be called Baldur's Gate 3 if they are going to retcon the entire arc of one of the best written characters from the old games. Jaheira and Minsc at least seem like Jaheira and Minsc but they were never the most compelling even if Minsc was the most popular.

They also haven't got any of the voice actors back from the old games which is especially jarring for Viconia as it sounds nothing like her. The only rational explanation is that it is a Viconia DeVir imposter seeing as the Viconia we get does not sound or act liker her. For some balance I didn't actually notice the voice actress was different for Jaheira, and Matt Mercer does a serviceable Minsc impression. But if Beamdog can afford to hire the old voice actors then I don't see why Larian couldn't.

[close]

Final thoughts are probably going to be that it is an excellent game but no where near polished enough for the near perfect review scores it is getting. Calling it Baldur's Gate 3 also seems a bit dishonest with how tenuous the connections to the old games are.

[Mecha Rodney]

I decided to get this because Starfield was so shit and I'd been looking forward to sinking into a good game. I quite like it so far. Pretty big start but maybe gets the neds in. I like the tone of the writing, brisk but purposeful, I can already feel relationships being influenced by my choices. All the characters seem intriguing so far. Looking forward to getting to know their motivations better. Combat is a lot to get my head round but seems like there's enormous scope for imagination. If in doubt, I'll just thump stuff. Can't wait to get my end away.

[Mobius]

Nice one. I've been doing loads of shagging and you can make your party naked by hiding your equipped armour so they just run about chatting to people with their cocks out. Really adds a new layer to those emotional conversations.

[Viero_Berlotti]

I'm about 7-8 hours into this so far. Early days but I like the writing, it seems pretty tight and the choices give enough opportunity to roleplay as the character you have imagined which is what I would expect from a game based on D&D and it's great how the story advances whilst resting at camp as well. The combat feels a little over engineered though. There are so many options, but most encounters I have had can be won by simple bashing. I'm not getting a great tactical experience so far. I'm sure this will improve the further I get into it though.

[letsgobrian]

Up to Act 2 now. Act 1 generally behaved itself bar some clearly missing dialogue (NPCs treating knocked out NPCs as dead), but Act 2 feels like it's built on less solid ground. Worst problem so far was being stuck in a inescapable dialogue loop with a guard who caught me doing crime.

[Mobius]

I've actually managed to make so many characters and replay Act 1 so many times I've burned myself out a bit. For some reason I wipe all my saves when I make a new character so I can't go back. Don't know why I have to do that.

[letsgobrian]

That dialogue loop bug has now got worse. To get around it Karlach and Gale had to get sent to prison, but because they broke out together there's a bug that means they don't lose their fugitive status properly and they can't return to camp.

Apparently there's a workaround, I'll see if that will work before I send them to get murdered by Kua Toa.

The workaround that worked was to get arrested again in a different location to get the fugitive timer reset, and this time it disappeared and I can fast travel again!

[druss]

That dialogue loop bug has now got worse. To get around it Karlach and Gale had to get sent to prison, but because they broke out together there's a bug that means they don't lose their fugitive status properly and they can't return to camp.

Apparently there's a workaround, I'll see if that will work before I send them to get murdered by Kua Toa.

The workaround that worked was to get arrested again in a different location to get the fugitive timer reset, and this time it disappeared and I can fast travel again!

I encountered this but thankfully it was early in Act 1 so I just restarted (wasn't feeling the class I'd chosen anyway).

There are so many other little annoyances, like to change a party member involves clicking on the person you want to leave, asking them to leave, confirming you want them to leave, then going to camp and speaking to the person you want to join. Baldur's Gate 1 has a faster system than that! Blows my mind that with so many fantastic things in the game that it is equally littered with clunky mechanics.

[Inspector Norse]

This is out on XBox now. I gave in to temptation and bought it.

I've bounced off similar games before - DOS2 for example - but am really enjoying this. I think that the presence of cut scenes and close-ups - and being able to zoom the camera in and play it almost in a standard third-person view - makes a big difference as far as getting involved in the characters, story and world goes: in other games you'd get a bit of text describing a scene or NPC and the immersion level would take a big hit. And though I still don't really understand some of the mechanics, I think it does a good job of making combat and the skill checks and so on accessible.

Even for an RPG, it goes overboard on the amount of sheer junk. In any adventure or RPG I always wind up hoarding loads and loads of potions and spell scrolls I'll never use but here it borders on overkill. Oh look, another dead enemy who has an ink pot, a bone, 3 gold and a shit weapon. Some dude I looted just now had about eight bits of cheese which seemed slightly obsessive.

[Lemming]

And though I still don't really understand some of the mechanics, I think it does a good job of making combat and the skill checks and so on accessible.

A big part of the game's success lies in this, I think: they did an absolutely unbelievable job of making 5e accessible without really compromising on anything, and did it so successfully that people unfamiliar with 5e (or even turn-based games and RPGs in general) can pretty much pick it up as they go. Which sort of feels like what the cRPG genre has been trying and largely failing to do ever since the Gold Box days.

Compared to something like Owlcat's Pathfinder games, which seemed to be almost deliberately trying to repel newcomers, BG3 has pretty much struck gold. It seems like people who mainly came for the story and characters ended up really loving the game mechanics themselves, which I don't think has often happened before (Dragon Age being the obvious example of a game where most fans seemed to just tolerate the combat as something slightly tedious they had to do between dialogue/story stuff).

The amount of player agency is really dazzling, it didn't fully hit me on the first playthrough just how much Larian were prepared to let the player fuck around with almost every encounter in the game.

[letsgobrian]

The amount of player agency is really dazzling, it didn't fully hit me on the first playthrough just how much Larian were prepared to let the player fuck around with almost every encounter in the game.

It does still railroad you like a bad GM sometimes. I'd rescued Mayrina by continually moving her chair with mage hand, she thanked us, but refused to move. Then the moment I turned my back, she'd been teleported to the second stage of that encounter.