General Gaming Baldur's Gate III - Information Thread, update: Larian doesn't plan to release DLC/expansions for BGIII nor develop BGIV

[BloodyHell]

6 hours ago, legend said:

I'm going to be really curious how this wild success affects what Larian does next and how WotC wants to proceed. 

 

I mean, a big expansion much like the previous BG seems all but guaranteed at this point, but I wonder what else they're going to do.

I would really love to see them do something in either Dark Sun (unlikely, as WotC seems to want nothing to do with their best setting), or Birthright. For me that would be great. If not those, Dragonlance could be fun if it was during the war of the lance. Raistlin, Caramon, Tasslehoff, Sturm, Goldmoon, Flint, Tika, so many characters that would make great NPC’s. Fistdandantilus!

[Bacon]

tl;dr My brain is broken and doesn't know how to have fun and is too worried about everything ending perfectly. Looking forward to playing more later.

 

Man, I cannot play this fuckin' game. I have put HOURS into the game. Like a lot of hours. But my in-game time only reads 6 hours and I haven't even talked to the druids yet. I am fucking wracked with indecisiveness. I am constantly looking up stuff, testing every variation, and reloading because combat didn't work out like I planned because I critically missed. Like I today went out to get Karlach, I abused the shape shifting item which enables me to fly and I literally flew to her, talked to her, and had this whole thing in the camp, only for me to reload because I encountered these NPCs earlier but didn't want to interact with them so I could boost Karlach's romance to see which side I wanted to pick, as in, is she good enough for me to side with the druids, but because my game loaded those NPCs and I walked away, they went away too. So now I have to do it all over again without loading those NPCs.

 

I'm losing my mind here trying to get everything the way I want it as best as I can. It is literally infesting my dreams. I'm literally dreaming about the game and I keep making bad decisions. The issue with that is when I make bad decisions in dreams, and the dream starts going places I don't like, I force myself to wake up. When I was younger I tried to lucid dream and that was the biggest mistake of my life cuz have all these dreams now where I am partially aware the events aren't real, but I can't stop them until I'm like, "No, that is not how this is supposed to go. That is not-canon, wake up," and I wake up. I can't control them, but I can wake myself up from them except for a specific type of reoccurring nightmare. And the reason I said "that is not-canon" is because when I place a lot of focus on either a book, show, or game in a single day I will often dream about them and my mind will try to make its own story out of what it is processing and my god to they trigger every single thing I hate. It's like my brain is trying to warp whatever I enjoy into something vile. I have mental problems.

 

God do I wish I could just play the fucking game as intended. It's so frustrating. I can't just have fun and roll with it knowing there is an outcome in the game that will be my perfect run of it. I mean, at the beginning of the year I planned out my entire mass effect trilogy run to ensure I got the most perfect ending and results in one go. I think I am also too mentally attached to getting everything right on my storm sorc. That is how I wanted to play the game first. I feel a lot less, uh, strict when it comes to the choices I made on my fighter. And I know how I should be playing the game and my mind goes, "no, don't do what you'd naturally do." Like realistically, what I should have done is went straight to the druids and then explored the grove. But what did I do? I did some side stuff, walked to the druids, attacked them, killed them, and reloaded because that isn't what I wanted, and went back and did more side stuff. Like, I got orphans wanting me to steal some idol that was mentioned once and I haven't even talked to the druids yet. I feel like I have gotten all these side quests despite having no idea what in the hell is going on. I feel like my mind is constantly playing the DooDooCaca song from the old internet while playing this game. 

 

Anyway, don't take any of that as some serious shit that is actually worth responding to. It's just me being dumb, and I need to vent so I can hopefully get over myself and just play the fucking game. Also, shut up Xbob! Don't even say it.

[Bacon]

Literally me rn

[Xbob42]

Just had another fucking awesome time! Gonna have to spoiler it (still act 1, early goblin shit, I took my time to get to their camp)

 

Spoiler

So I go to their camp, but took the roundabout way where you jump over the collapsed bridge, so when you enter the camp you encounter two drunk/sleeping goblins, so I one-shot each of them, and make my way into the temple or cathedral or whatever.

 

Because of the entrance we took, this put us up top, where you need to climb two ladders to get to us. Just like in real life, any humanoid under 4 feet tall is an abomination to me and must be purged, my Paladin oath demands it or something. So I have everyone enter hide mode (the goblins still aren't hostile but I never even spoke to any of them, I don't talk to fuckin' gremlins) and shoot what appears to be some weird brazier chandelier down onto their heads, starting combat.

 

What follows is an hour and a half of me messing around, trying to figure out how to defeat what feels like the entire camp all at once. One of them always goes to a set of drums and plays them, which summons like 7 or so more goblins, meaning I'm fighting over a dozen at least.

 

Eventually I work out that I can have Shadowheart cast a sphere of silence at the bottom of the tall ladder, and then have my Paladin place sanctuary on Gale, meaning he can't be directly targeted by abilities and only takes damage from AOE. I have him go to the bottom of the ladder and just... body block it. Then cast mirror image to have a high chance of dodging anything that gets through sanctuary.

 

Before that happens, of course a few goblins get through, and our handy dandy shove knocks most of them off and kills a couple, while my Paladin swings his mighty fucking golden axe to cleave any stragglers who got unlucky enough to resist being shoved.

Because the most powerful foes in this situation are mages, namely their warlocks who can pull us down to an instant near death, and the healer Gut who is basically the miniboss, that sphere of silence keeps them from getting close enough to fuck with us, but I also keep my guys up top plinking away and then backing up further towards the wall, making line of sight impossible one way, and if they move to get line of sight, we're too far out of range.

Sanctuary only lasts 10 turns, so at some point I have Gale climb the ladder, switch to him without ending his turn (him and my Paladin had the serendipitous fortune of rolling initiative to be side-by-side in the turn order, meaning you can switch freely between them without ending either's turn) and use my Paladin to sanctuary him again before sending him back down, where he uses a greater healing potion to recover the now pretty significant AOE damage he's accrued over 10 turns.

Finally I clear out enough to where there's only maybe 5 enemies left. 3 that kept dashing around out of line of sight and have gathered around the ladder after I move Gale from it; they're ready to climb it and are all quite pissed off. One ranged enemy that's been hiding behind a pillar, and of course one Warlock who's been off in a corner fucking with us from a distance.

 

I send my Paladin down the ladder and use the prepare ability that comes with my axe, which increases slashing damage by 5. I then ready Cleave, which I get to use once per short rest. The cleave is just wide enough to hit all 3 goblins, and despite the fact that I've got -5 penalties on my attack rolls thanks to Great Weapon Master: All In (Which adds 10 bonus damage if I hit) -- I somehow land the cleave on all 3 goblins and kill them all instantly! My first intentional multikill not using the environment and on enemies at full HP!

 

Shadowheart sends beats the hell out of the ranged enemy, who wasn't very threatening but I was still glad to be rid of it.

 

And of course, the warlock is last. The warlock is always fucking last. Lucky for me, this little goblin's pretty much out of juice, and we're still pretty high up -- on top of the first platform, not nearly as high as the top of the long ladder where you're in the rafters, but high enough to where Wyll landing a crit eldritch blast (with repelling blast!) flings it off the platform, where it takes only 2 fall damage -- just enough to kill it!

That was a bitch and a half but goddamn was it fun!

 

[legend]

1 hour ago, Bacon said:

tl;dr My brain is broken and doesn't know how to have fun and is too worried about everything ending perfectly. Looking forward to playing more later.

 

You should probably avoid Disco Elysium in that case  

 

There was a moment in that game where I had prepared and buffed myself so much to succeed and yet still made an awful roll and failed. Yet, the failure outcome was on of my favorite most memorable moments in the game! But you will fail in that game a lot and if you have trouble with that it would probably be your worst nightmare.

[Bacon]

1 minute ago, legend said:

You should probably avoid Disco Elysium in that case  

Actually, it wasn't an issue in that game. I didn't beat it tho because I got bored. I know I made it somewhat past the time when you are prompted to shave or not.

[Best]

Boy, these impressions really spark an interest. If I never played a single game in this genre, would this be a mistake to buy?

 

I'm hyped reading through all this shit.

[legend]

I think it's pretty clear that this and TotK are going to be the big contenders for GotY in most venues, and I want to point out to the game industry that these are some of the most system driven games in this history of games and they have no microtransactions.

[legend]

1 minute ago, best3444 said:

Boy, these impressions really spark an interest. If I never played a single game in this genre, would this be a mistake to buy?

 

I'm hyped reading through all this shit.

 

Doesn't hurt to give it a shot, but I would start it on easy mode if you do. As others have mentioned, if you don't know DnD rules, there's a lot to learn, and if you've never played a game like this before it will be an even steeper ramp. Then, if you are feeling it and are finding it too easy, bump the difficulty up.

 

Also, maybe play with a controller.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

11 minutes ago, best3444 said:

If I never played a single game in this genre, would this be a mistake to buy?

 

Yes, it would absolutely be a mistake for you to buy this game as this is ABSOLUTELY NOT an "entry-level" game in this genre.

 

If you're really interested in trying this genre, then I suggest starting with one of the Shadowrun Trilogy titles (Shadowrun Returns/Shadowrun: Dragonfall/Shadowrun: Hong Kong) as they're less complex, but still provide a very good entry point.

[Best]

6 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

Yes, it would absolutely be a mistake for you to buy this game as this is ABSOLUTELY NOT an "entry-level" game in this genre.

 

If you're really interested in trying this genre, then I suggest starting with one of the Shadowrun Trilogy titles (Shadowrun Returns/Shadowrun: Dragonfall/Shadowrun: Hong Kong) as they're less complex, but still provide a very good entry point.

 

Ok. Thank you for he brutal honesty. It just looks and sounds really cool but I appreciate the heads up. I will live vicariously through everyone having a great time!

 

 

[legend]

13 minutes ago, Commissar SFLUFAN said:

 

Yes, it would absolutely be a mistake for you to buy this game as this is ABSOLUTELY NOT an "entry-level" game in this genre.

 

If you're really interested in trying this genre, then I suggest starting with one of the Shadowrun Trilogy titles (Shadowrun Returns/Shadowrun: Dragonfall/Shadowrun: Hong Kong) as they're less complex, but still provide a very good entry point.

 

 

Shadowrun is an excellent series, but there is no way in hell @best3444 will like it. It's all text -- no voices -- with "small people" as Kyle would put it, no spectacle, and very simple (though artistically pleasing) graphics.

 

BG3 on easy is honestly his best shot at any of these games because it's possible the only game of this kind with high production values in story telling, well rendered fully voiced characters, over-the-shoulder perspective, spectacle, and lots of humor.

[Bacon]

I mean, this is basically my first game like this. I did play Dragon Age: Origins tho. Aside from my crippling inability to make decisions, I'd say this game is far more like DA:O than any classic CRPG I've ever tried (Pillars and Tides of Whatever). Mostly because characters aren't telling you novels at a time with even the most minor of NPCs having more dialogue than a visual novel. Like, it's so nice that NPCs are far more of the 2005-2011 BioWare Style.

[Best]

I played and beat DA:O...

 

Maybe there is hope for me just yet! @legend makes great points. 

[Bacon]

Well, it's not like DA:O combat-wise. It is kinda similar, but not really due to BG3 being turned-based. As I said earlier, it's like Dragon Age: Origins: Tactics

[Spork3245]

30 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Ok. Thank you for he brutal honesty. It just looks and sounds really cool but I appreciate the heads up. I will live vicariously through everyone having a great time!

 

 

 

I honestly don't know how well they hold up, but Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 are typically dirt cheap and doesn't even take a potato to run it... like.. a stem of a potato will probably do just fine.

[Best]

2 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

I honestly don't know how well they hold up, but Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 are typically dirt cheap and doesn't even take a potato to run it... like.. a stem of a potato will probably do just fine.

 

Well I'm console only. I just noticed that it doesn't release until 9/6 which is a no go because Starfield releases then. 

[Spork3245]

4 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

Well I'm console only. I just noticed that it doesn't release until 9/6 which is a no go because Starfield releases then. 

 

You don't have any PC what-so-ever? They'll literally run on something from 2000

[Keyser_Soze]

You can get them for Xbox!

 

Buy Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Editions | Xbox

WWW.XBOX.COM

---

Gather your party: the RPG saga returns. Immerse yourself in an epic RPG series where every choice matters. Play over 100 hours of adventure in enhanced editions of Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II— plus the full Siege of Dragonspear expansion! - CONTENT - BALDUR’S GATE: ENHANCED EDITION Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition brings you the classic RPG with fresh updates for modern adventurers. Customize your hero, recruit...

 

[legend]

28 minutes ago, best3444 said:

I played and beat DA:O...

 

Maybe there is hope for me just yet! @legend makes great points. 

 

If you liked DA:O, I think there is a decent chance you'll like this. Perhaps the biggest deviation is DA:O was pseduo turn based, where "turns" happen but it all plays out in real time with the ability to pause. In this, it pauses for every character to make a decision (and then you watch in realtime the often hilarious aftermath like giant explosions yeeting people off cliffs) But yeah, start on easy. There's not a lot of instruction about the complex rules of DnD 5e, and the combat is hard when you don't understand them.

 

23 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

I honestly don't know how well they hold up, but Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 are typically dirt cheap and doesn't even take a potato to run it... like.. a stem of a potato will probably do just fine.

 

I would similarly say there is no chance in hell @best3444 will like the originals. Ancient graphics with small people and a far more convoluted version of DnD (good luck understanding THAC0 as a newbie) with even worse interfaces to explain how it works.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

 

 

 

 

[Xbob42]

I played Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2, but, like, mostly to do stupid shit. Never really got too crazy deep into them because me and my friend would just do the absolute stupidest shit in co-op.

 

While those definitely helped me here to at least have a general feel for Larian gameplay, this is my first game like this as well. I think there's a few issues best would face:

 

1. You have to be willing to read the tooltips and comprehend what they're saying. What I mean is they might say a lot more than "does 4 damage lol" -- some of them are a little wordy or might have slightly more... flexible concepts?

 

2. You have to be willing to try those same things multiple times, because bad rolls can mean even an amazing idea fails. Sometimes maybe it fails many times in a row! But it's not like most games where you just try out your abilities, find the "good ones" after 2 uses and that's it.

 

3. Even on story mode I bet it's at least mildly challenging. Even if you had bonus HP, armor and hit every single attack, and hell, give the enemies half the HP, some of these fights might still mess you up, it requires patience, experimentation and the ability to MAKE A FUCKING DECISION AND NOT LOSE YOUR MIND OVER THINGS NOT BEING PERFECT THE WHOLE POINT IS NOTHING IS PERFECT.

Wait that last bit might be for someone else. In any case, I'm sure best would find it interesting!

[legend]

2 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

I played Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2, but, like, mostly to do stupid shit. Never really got too crazy deep into them because me and my friend would just do the absolute stupidest shit in co-op.

 

Pretty sure this was the game's whole MO  

 

 

[Best]

20 minutes ago, Spork3245 said:

 

You don't have any PC what-so-ever? They'll literally run on something from 2000

 

Lol, nope. I was a pc gamer at one point too. I sold everything before moving years ago and have been console only since. 

 

Next gen I will probably get back into pc but it will be pricey.

 

Thanks guys for explaining this game and what I may not like about it. If this was out now for PS5, I'd buy it tonight. I think it's meant to be that Starfield releases when it does to prevent me from buying this. 

[Keyser_Soze]

1 minute ago, best3444 said:

 

Lol, nope. I was a pc gamer at one point too. I sold everything before moving years ago and have been console only since. 

 

Next gen I will probably get back into pc but it will be pricey.

 

Thanks guys for explaining this game and what I may not like about it. If this was out now for PS5, I'd buy it tonight. I think it's meant to be that Starfield releases when it does to prevent me from buying this. 

 

You can still get 1 and 2 for Xbox as I posted above in case you missed it.

[Bacon]

10 minutes ago, Xbob42 said:

NOTHING IS PERFECT

My ME Trilogy play-thru was perfect.

[Best]

2 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

 

You can still get 1 and 2 for Xbox as I posted above in case you missed it.

 

11 minutes ago, legend said:

I would similarly say there is no chance in hell @best3444 will like the originals. Ancient graphics with small people and a far more convoluted version of DnD (good luck understanding THAC0 as a newbie) with even worse interfaces to explain how it works.

 

[Bacon]

While I'm interested in the older games from a story and lore perspective, I ain't playin' that old-ass shit.

[Bacon]

2 hours ago, Bacon said:

Actually, it wasn't an issue in that game. I didn't beat it tho because I got bored. I know I made it somewhat past the time when you are prompted to shave or not.

Off-Topic, but I wanted to add to this. I reason I got bored and quit was actually the walking/map traversal. I don't know if I was doing something wrong, but I felt I spent a lot of the time just walking from one part of the map to another. My "build" or whatever was really enjoyable when it came to the story. My favorite was one of the purple abilities. It was the fucking GOAT. It called out all the other traits/skills when they were simping or getting deceived. It was fantastic.

 

I'd love it if it was 100% a visual novel.

[Keyser_Soze]

1 hour ago, best3444 said:

 

 

But they are enhanced!  

[legend]

5 minutes ago, Keyser_Soze said:

But they are enhanced!  

 

I've played the enhanced -- it doesn't change the issues that @best3444 will hate  

[stepee]

legend is spot on at his points that this is the only thing that comes close to the production values that would at least get him to play 10 hours or so, but also Wade is spot on at least that after the initial honeymoon period there is no way in hell best would actually like playing this for the most part.

 

Its not out on ps5 until next month, maybe by then the hype will be timid enough to avoid wasting $60

 

 

 

[Best]

2 minutes ago, stepee said:

legend is spot on at his points that this is the only thing that comes close to the production values that would at least get him to play 10 hours or so, but also Wade is spot on at least that after the initial honeymoon period there is no way in hell best would actually like playing this for the most part.

 

Its not out on ps5 until next month, maybe by then the hype will be timid enough to avoid wasting $60

 

 

 

 

It's a no go. It releases on PS5 the same day Starfield comes out. Right now would be perfect for me to play it since I have nothing to play right now except FF16. It's ok...I just feel like I'm missing out but I'm getting good advice. 😌 

[Biggie]

2 minutes ago, best3444 said:

 

It's a no go. It releases on PS5 the same day Starfield comes out. Right now would be perfect for me to play it since I have nothing to play right now except FF16. It's ok...I just feel like I'm missing out but I'm getting good advice. 😌 

Stay away from this game.  Watch a Twitch stream. You’ll see. It’s nerd nirvana 

[Best]

Just now, Biggie said:

Stay away from this game.  Watch a Twitch stream. You’ll see. It’s nerd nirvana 

 

I'm not getting it lol. Just looks awesome but I couldn't handle it.