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Baldur's Gate III | OT | Bear in Mind, Your Choices Have Consequences

SCB3

Member


This is the next Western RPG coming to consoles this year I'm looking forward to.

Nice, I'm taking a break from RPG's til next year, but that plus maybe delving into Disco Elysium and the Paper Mario series are my next stops

Then again I also have Xenoblade 3 to crack open at some point
 
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Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Alright so I really need to check this out after all of the praise. Im due for a deep RPG. Only issue is Im not familiar with D&D or Larian games. Fav RPGs of mine include the original Fallouts, KOTOR, Mass Effect, Chrono Trigger and anything 90s Squaresoft. I also loved Disco Elysium. Turn based stuff is my bread and butter.

Should I take the plunge? How's the learning curve? Does the tutorial do a decent job for pure newbs like myself?
 

Skifi28

Member
Finally finished it yesterday. Towards the end some of the fights were getting really tedious, I don't get the shift in Larian's design where every boss fight needed 20 to 30 adds. It wasn't even all that difficult, just tedious having to wait 5 minutes for your character's turn or having to set aside an extra hour for every encounter you failed. I'd rather they made the bosses themselves more difficult/mechanically interesting.

Other than that, act 3 was still very enjoyable and the game as a whole an easy 9/10. I'll wait for my second dark urge playthrough until the inevitable enhanced edition.
 
Alright so I really need to check this out after all of the praise. Im due for a deep RPG. Only issue is Im not familiar with D&D or Larian games. Fav RPGs of mine include the original Fallouts, KOTOR, Mass Effect, Chrono Trigger and anything 90s Squaresoft. I also loved Disco Elysium. Turn based stuff is my bread and butter.

Should I take the plunge? How's the learning curve? Does the tutorial do a decent job for pure newbs like myself?

You shouldn't have any issues. At max, some difficulty spikes till you level up.
 

Mossybrew

Member
Towards the end some of the fights were getting really tedious, I don't get the shift in Larian's design where every boss fight needed 20 to 30 adds. It wasn't even all that difficult, just tedious having to wait 5 minutes for your character's turn or having to set aside an extra hour for every encounter you failed.
That's my one major complaint with the game. Big battles that just took way too long because they were filled with generic weak goons that all had to take their turn. Often just standing there for 10 seconds or so before the next mook's turn. Doesn't respect the player's time IMO.
 
So I found this pretty amazing.


Some one did a mod that converted Astarion's model to female, and also allowed a AI female voice to read his lines. He even presented different voice choices.
I think AI voices have improved to the point of being very serviceable.

Having voiced dialogue have been a big addition to the development cost and a barrier for smaller developers. Not just hiring the voice actors but all the coordination involved in getting the voiced dialogue in the game. And any time you rewrite or add new lines to you have to schedule them to come back to record new lines, etc etc. The production logistics is what drives the cost to have fully voiced dialogue to be prohibitive except the AAA budget RPGs. But I think we're close to the time now that even very small developers can have fully voiced dialogue for their RPGs.
 
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NecrosaroIII

Ask me about my terrible takes on Star Trek characters
That's my one major complaint with the game. Big battles that just took way too long because they were filled with generic weak goons that all had to take their turn. Often just standing there for 10 seconds or so before the next mook's turn. Doesn't respect the player's time IMO.
It's kind of a problem that is tied to DND's combat design. "Action Economy" is a term that gets thrown around a lot. Basically it DND becomes a battle of attrition at higher levels. By around level 6 or so, the players end up having so many actions that they can sweep most enemies in a straight battle since they'll have potentially 2 -3 attacks per turn, where as the enemy will only have 1 or 2. So in a 4 person party, that's 8-12 attacks against 2. You need the mob to widdle down the players.
 

ScrewAttack

Neo Member
Ooh, were I in the UK I'd definitely want to check this out. The soundtrack is fantastic. One of the combat tunes (the one with the male choir) is just phenomenal and gets me every time.

Yeah that shit is my JAM. Especially on my paladin, makes me feel fucking BADASS. May have to check this out.

In other news, have done a paladin playthrough (great), a sorceror playthrough (for some reason I could fly, seems a glitch, fucking hilarious and OP), and now a ranger/thief playthrough (I am the one who knocks) and I can't get enough of this game. Thinking about my fourth playthrough already. What a game! Even with the bugs lol
 

ScrewAttack

Neo Member
Are you sure you didn't just get too far into snacking brain worms? That's one of the perks.
I'd snacked on a few to get the crit buff, but didn't realise that'd give me fly. Didn't seem enough to get me that, but glad it did! Was awesome flying everywhere as a sorcerer and smiting people with ice (was using mourning frost cos it felt OP as hell). Will definitely do it again next Sorc playthrough lol.
 
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Doom85

Member
New update notes:


Major highlights:

-you can now fully customize hirelings
-new options that will benefit colorblind gamers
-Speak with Dead can be recast if the corpse refused to answer anything the first time (so second time you’d have disguised yourself or used Wild Shape)
-more auto save-triggering spots for the naive who don’t think manual saving might be a good idea
-more options of cleaning blood and such off your party
-no more confusion about what happened to a certain NPC in your camp in Act 3
-picking up disarmed weapons in combat will no longer register as a crime. NPC allies will also no longer pick up any weapons one of your party members drop if disarmed
-NPCs will no longer have unrealistic levels of detection when you’re looting corpses of non-enemies
-and a certain Good Boy now can fetch anything, apparently.
 
New update notes:


Major highlights:

-you can now fully customize hirelings
-new options that will benefit colorblind gamers
-Speak with Dead can be recast if the corpse refused to answer anything the first time (so second time you’d have disguised yourself or used Wild Shape)
-more auto save-triggering spots for the naive who don’t think manual saving might be a good idea
-more options of cleaning blood and such off your party
-no more confusion about what happened to a certain NPC in your camp in Act 3
-picking up disarmed weapons in combat will no longer register.
It's just incredible that Larian has now pushed out 4 major patches that each fixes hundreds of issues, and also half a dozen hotfixes. While Starfield which released 1 month later has only issued one patch that only addresses a few issues and felt more like a hotfix than a full patch, and it's not as if Starfield is any less buggy.
 

NecrosaroIII

Ask me about my terrible takes on Star Trek characters
Have they improved the performance on PS5?
I played the whole game in split screen multiplayer. After a patcha bout a month ago, it ran pretty smooth. Pre-patch, the biggest problem was summoning pets / familiars, or dropping characters in and out of the party. Not so bad now.

However, the game crashed ALOT. I'd say about 15 times. And there was all sorts of general glitches, some of which made quests unbeatable. But for the most part it ran okay. Even in Act 3.
 

Salz01

Member
I played the whole game in split screen multiplayer. After a patcha bout a month ago, it ran pretty smooth. Pre-patch, the biggest problem was summoning pets / familiars, or dropping characters in and out of the party. Not so bad now.

However, the game crashed ALOT. I'd say about 15 times. And there was all sorts of general glitches, some of which made quests unbeatable. But for the most part it ran okay. Even in Act 3.

Ran around act 3 on ps5 with the new patch, feels the same as before.

Seems more of a bugfix patch.
Thank you.
 

The_hunter

Member
So, wait a bit longer to begin the game in earnest?
The first 2 acts are 60 fps and look great. Act 3 is ambitious, it runs between 30-50 outside. NPC face textures sometimes take a long time to load in act 3.

I can't recall any major bugs in my run, but that will vary per person.
 

Raven117

Member
The first 2 acts are 60 fps and look great. Act 3 is ambitious, it runs between 30-50 outside. NPC face textures sometimes take a long time to load in act 3.

I can't recall any major bugs in my run, but that will vary per person.
Gotcha. I got some mixed signals on that. Im happy to wait if it will take a bit longer to straighten that out
 

Luipadre

Member
The patch fucked up something for me. Shadowheart wont follow my party unless i control her. I tried to split the group up, sent her back to camp, nothing worked
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
Great to hear about the PS5 version stlll having issues :pie_eyeroll:

Coming off of being burned bad by a broken Alan Wake 2, I copped a refund and grabbed this.

Hopefully Im on the luckier side of the coin.

Also first time playing a Larian game. Im so fucked :messenger_beaming:
 

ebevan91

Member
The patch fucked up something for me. Shadowheart wont follow my party unless i control her. I tried to split the group up, sent her back to camp, nothing worked

Have you updated the game to the current version? I was having the same problem but I've downloaded 2 small updates on Steam in the past couple of days and she's following my party again. If you're still having that problem I've heard a quick fix is to kill her and revive her. So jump her off a cliff or something.
 
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Luipadre

Member
Have you updated the game to the current version? I was having the same problem but I've downloaded 2 small updates on Steam in the past couple of days and she's following my party again. If you're still having that problem I've heard a quick fix is to kill her and revive her. So jump her off a cliff or something.

Yeah its fixed now
 

Chuck Berry

Gold Member
This a gambling addicts dream game, (surprised it hasn’t been brought up) especially if they love shit like Mass Effect and Witcher 3

mYGtLp9.jpg


I get it. All those high scores.

I get it.
 
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Chuck Berry

Gold Member
So uh, I’m save scumming the fuck out of this Commander Zahlk fight. Am I doing it right? 😁

I know I can beat him, but it feels like half this game is pure fucking luck. It’s like a playable fantasy RPG casino.

Game is dope. Facial animations are 👌🏼
 

ebevan91

Member
The Raphael fight:

I was not prepared to get my ass beat as badly as I did. I think I know of some things I need to do though.
 

ebevan91

Member
I have beat the game.

I became a mind flayer and killed myself at the end. I thought it was the right thing to do for my character. Already planning on playthrough #2.
 

Chronicle

Member
I finally grabbed the game. Help!

This is my year of 'a more varied gaming experience'. I've played so.e cool games bit the depth and scope of this game I'd like no other. I didn't realize you actually truly roll the die, It's narrated, steps and distance are considered in combat and its going to be a real learning curve. I've never even been near a d&d game. However I like the concept. Any good starting vids you could recommend to a new 'fresh player'.

I chose elf sorcerer (once again making varied choices away from the usual smash barbarian melee builds I ALWAYS do).

Right now I atink but it's only like the first two missions.
 

Mister Wolf

Gold Member
I finally grabbed the game. Help!

This is my year of 'a more varied gaming experience'. I've played so.e cool games bit the depth and scope of this game I'd like no other. I didn't realize you actually truly roll the die, It's narrated, steps and distance are considered in combat and its going to be a real learning curve. I've never even been near a d&d game. However I like the concept. Any good starting vids you could recommend to a new 'fresh player'.

I chose elf sorcerer (once again making varied choices away from the usual smash barbarian melee builds I ALWAYS do).

Right now I atink but it's only like the first two missions.



 
Game continues to impress. Just finished Gauntlet of Shar. It's been a slam dunk for GOTY for awhile, but it continues to climb up my GOAT list as well.

The decisions you make just feel so massive. I am never this invested in the story and characters in games, it's really a huge achievement. I want to see every possible outcome.
 
Agreed, I'm at the early part of ACT 3 and I genuinely had to pause the game to consider what I wanted to do with certain decisions.

And now this



Looks like Larian is given us extended endings and epilogues with Patch 5.

Pretty amazing, in any other game this would be a paid DLC, even Owlcat is doing this as an DLC for WOTR. But Larian is just going to make it a regular update.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
Ok, so I caved into the hype and bought this game.

Never played a D&D fame before for long (played Pillars a bit).

I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. How did this game sell so well? Is everyone into D&D all of a sudden?

My first real fight in the first dungeon against the thieves left me obliterated - and the point is, I don’t even know what to do. lol

How the hell do the skill points recharge? For a game this complex the tutorial is really lacking…

Anyone else had a similar experience at first? At the time being I’m not really sure it’s worth banging my head against. Am I expected to source internet turtorials just to learn how to play this.

I’m a bit puzzled given the praise of this game. What am I missing.
 
Ok, so I caved into the hype and bought this game.

Never played a D&D fame before for long (played Pillars a bit).

I have no idea what the hell I’m doing. How did this game sell so well? Is everyone into D&D all of a sudden?

My first real fight in the first dungeon against the thieves left me obliterated - and the point is, I don’t even know what to do. lol

How the hell do the skill points recharge? For a game this complex the tutorial is really lacking…

Anyone else had a similar experience at first? At the time being I’m not really sure it’s worth banging my head against. Am I expected to source internet turtorials just to learn how to play this.

I’m a bit puzzled given the praise of this game. What am I missing.
You recharge by resting. Short rest restore health, long rest recharges everything, you are allowed 2 short rest between long rests.
 
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I’m a bit puzzled given the praise of this game. What am I missing.
That people played it for more than an hour?

Not trying to be an ass, but obviously it's not called GOTY because of the first few hours when people are learning the mechanics. It's a complex game, and it takes awhile to see how it all works together. Took me a long ass time, and even hundreds of hours later I'm still learning new strategies or aspects of the game.

If you're struggling early, you can change the difficulty at any moment while playing. I was on easy for awhile, while I learned how to play. There are also hundreds of youtube videos that will tell you the basics, and some helpful hints for new players.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
That people played it for more than an hour?

Not trying to be an ass, but obviously it's not called GOTY because of the first few hours when people are learning the mechanics. It's a complex game, and it takes awhile to see how it all works together. Took me a long ass time, and even hundreds of hours later I'm still learning new strategies or aspects of the game.

If you're struggling early, you can change the difficulty at any moment while playing. I was on easy for awhile, while I learned how to play. There are also hundreds of youtube videos that will tell you the basics, and some helpful hints for new players.
Thanks for the tipp. I’ll try with easier difficulty as well now.

Sorry for coming across like that. I was/am just frustrated and wondering what it’s I’m missing.I mean, for much simpler games you get buried in tutorials but for a game like this you get nothing. Doesn’t make sense. Not too keen on sourcing YT tutorials to learn how I’m supposed to play a game. My game time is limited enough as it is.

Alright then, let’s give this one another shot.
 

JCK75

Member
The Bone chill spell, every time it's cast I hear it and I can't stop hearing it.. when I'm fighting in the house of grief and every enemy there is casting it
I just hear it over and over again and now I want to mod the sound files.

AG6Ff8L.png
ar
 
Thanks for the tipp. I’ll try with easier difficulty as well now.

Sorry for coming across like that. I was/am just frustrated and wondering what it’s I’m missing.I mean, for much simpler games you get buried in tutorials but for a game like this you get nothing. Doesn’t make sense. Not too keen on sourcing YT tutorials to learn how I’m supposed to play a game. My game time is limited enough as it is.

Alright then, let’s give this one another shot.
I hope it is able to click for you!

Definitely a tough line to tread, if they tried to dump all the info at once like a typical game tutorial I think it'd be a disaster, there is just so much stuff, I don't think any info would be retained. It's a good feeling slowly uncovering more mechanics as you go, if you can get over the initial hurdle.

My biggest 'aha' moment early on was learning how the cooldowns work, and how they get replenished. Anything taking a "Level X spell slot" is limited use, and the squares tell you how many uses you have left. Cantrips can be used as much as you want. I know it seems overwhelming, but it is actually amazing how well it all works together. just hovering your cursor over any kind of ability will tell you all the info you need about it.

Use the short and long rests as much as needed. Save scum like crazy (just hit F5 basically after any battle, or when you think about it). And just experiment and have fun. It's a slow burn, but a truly excellent one.
 

nowhat

Member
Use the short and long rests as much as needed. Save scum like crazy (just hit F5 basically after any battle, or when you think about it). And just experiment and have fun. It's a slow burn, but a truly excellent one.
But also - sometimes getting a bad roll just results in much more fun interactions. It's ok to fail, so no need to save scum all the time.
 
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