Baldurs Gate 3

[Makabreska]

City looks damn good:

[Mendzia]

Can't wait to play duo again with a friend.
I loved D:OS1 and 2.

[Nymrohd]

Wish we at least had some definite information about companions.

[Cynical Asshole]

Wish we at least had some definite information about companions.

Yeah, I hate it how Larian is keeping the companions info super secret. Only things they said is that the ones that were presented in the early access and are plastered on every BG3 related content are not the only ones, and that every playable race in the game will have a companion of that race.

[Nymrohd]

Yeah, I hate it how Larian is keeping the companions info super secret. Only things they said is that the ones that were presented in the early access and are plastered on every BG3 related content are not the only ones, and that every playable race in the game will have a companion of that race.

I mean Baldur's Gate as a franchise is at its core about Party-based CRPGs. It's not about the Forgotten Realms BGI made a solid attempt to follow FR canon, BG2 made no effort whatsoever. And it is barely about D&D; actual tabletop D&D plays very differently; the only game of that generation that got close was Temple of Elemental Evil and I'd say BG3 does a solid job of approximating tabletop given how at least my players will always look at options beyond the character sheet. Also BG2 combat was entirely centered around the game giving you access to spells that were never intended for players and were added in one sourcebook to explain in game terms why certain NPCs were absolutely broken

It is companion centric. There is a reason why people claimed DA:O was the heir to BG back when it was released; the core gameplay and interactions were very similar (and that is true for BG3). A big reason people will want to play BG3 is for the companionsand a sizeable portion of the playerbase is really playing this games as if they were VNs for the romance stories. Heck I'm forever surprised that I never stumbled upon mods that turned BG games into erotic games because the potential absolutely is there (and it happened for DA:O)
Not giving me a clear picture of the companions is just silly. Part of it is probably because of the overwhelmingly positive response towards specific NPCs that are likely NOT going to be companions (namely Halsin and Minthara) even though the players love them (and if the story permits, I fully expect fan mods to add them). But the fact that I cannot plan ahead with possible party compositions has definitely kept my hype for the game much lower than it would otherwise be. I cannot really plan playthroughs and builds if I don't know what I am building with.

[Makabreska]

A murder in Baldur's Gate.

Larian releases a web game, where players can vote on how to proceed with murder investigation. Entire thing will last 2-3 weeks. Wonder if we will see in-game references to this stuff (probably yes).



New community update. Game release change. Lvl 12 cap, all launch races/classes revealed (dragonborn yo). Monks and more:

https://store.steampowered.com/news/...34571513526776

[Nymrohd]

Halsin, Jaheira, Minsc and Minthara all confirmed as non-Origin companions. I can romance the hunky druid. All is well in the world

[Mehrunes]

Halsin, Jaheira, Minsc and Minthara all confirmed as non-Origin companions. I can romance the hunky druid. All is well in the world

I wonder if there will be a way to break Minthara out of Absolute's control earlier so you could get her to join you without the thing from early access. It'd be neat to have a fellow Drow in the party to freak out NPCs even harder.

Also, that has been a lot of news lately. Now, if only there was undead warlock and shadow sorcerer available...

[Nymrohd]

I wonder if there will be a way to break Minthara out of Absolute's control earlier so you could get her to join you without the thing from early access. It'd be beat to have a fellow Drow in the party to freak out NPCs even harder.

Also, that has been a lot of news lately. Now, if only there was undead warlock and shadow sorcerer available...

Jaheira is really the odd man out in that everyone else is a different class (though racial variety is horrible). There is one more origin that has not been revealed; datamining suggests it is a female halfling (werewolf) bard named Helia. Which goes on with the theme of every Origin character being ridiculously special and leaves us with no monk or sorcerer origin/companion. Still unclear on what they will do with mercenaries. Still I am starting to form groups for my playthroughs.

Fingers crossed that modders will figure out how we can get larger parties. There was a mod that worked for up to 6 players early on (and theoretically worked up to 8?) but from what I've read it was not reliable and became less so as time went on. Personally I do not play CRPGs for the challenge but rather for the story, characters and exploration (and the power fantasy) so cheating with a bigger party is something I'd love (less playthroughs! the game seems massive and I don't have that much time)

[Mehrunes]

Jaheira is really the odd man out in that everyone else is a different class (though racial variety is horrible). There is one more origin that has not been revealed; datamining suggests it is a female halfling (werewolf) bard named Helia. Which goes on with the theme of every Origin character being ridiculously special and leaves us with no monk or sorcerer origin/companion. Still unclear on what they will do with mercenaries. Still I am starting to form groups for my playthroughs.

Fingers crossed that modders will figure out how we can get larger parties. There was a mod that worked for up to 6 players early on (and theoretically worked up to 8?) but from what I've read it was not reliable and became less so as time went on. Personally I do not play CRPGs for the challenge but rather for the story, characters and exploration (and the power fantasy) so cheating with a bigger party is something I'd love (less playthroughs! the game seems massive and I don't have that much time)

The racial variety does slant a bit towards the Elves, but given how late Half-Orcs and Dragonborn were added to the game and with how little I care about Gnomes and Halflings, the only race that really stands out to me for not having a companion is the Dwarf. Though, I suppose given how Larian most likely had the Dragonborn and Half-Orcs worked on in their internal builds in advance, they could have added them too. And yeah, Sorcerer would be nice. Maybe Dragonborn draconic sorcerer to cover two things at once (and for bonus dragon-ness). Actually, Gale could pass for a reflavored sorcerer too. And between the two I'd prefer a sorcerer companion over a wizard one, I'd pick sorcerer in a heartbeat if we had to choose.

And while it's not the first time I've heard that, I'm not sure if I agree with all the origin characters being that super special. Astarion fills the bill with being a vampire spawn and Gale has his weird-ass Netherese artifact or whatever that was. And the potential werewolf, though 5e does actually have rules for were-creatures, so that's still less extreme of an example. But Lae'zel is just a standard member of her race. An exotic race to be sure, but as an aficionado of Drow, Shadar-kai and Van Richten's lineages, a Gith doesn't phase me too much. Shadowheart is just an evil cleric (speaking of which, damn you Larian for giving paladins their DMG subclass but not giving death domain to clerics). There is the self-induced amnesia and her having the mc guffin but I'd still count that as not that out of the ordinary. And while I'll admit I played with Wyll the least because in both of my EA playthroughs my PC was already a warlock, he seemed like a par for the course Fiend patron warlock to me. Maybe a bit high on past accomplishments for a level 1 character.

As for larger parties, that's something I'd be interested in as well. Not sure how well the game would handle it in terms of dialogues, but it'd still be pretty fun.

[Nymrohd]

As for larger parties, that's something I'd be interested in as well. Not sure how well the game would handle it in terms of dialogues, but it'd still be pretty fun.

Party size seems to be externalized (there is an individual string that defines the max number of party members and thus it can be modified) but it seems there is a number of other checks being made that will also need to be modded before you can just go through the game with a larger party without much issue.

[quras]

The next and final Panel from Hell coming July 7.

"Larian Studios cordially invites you to Panel From Hell: Release Showcase, our final live show before the launch of Baldur's Gate 3."

https://panelfromhell.baldursgate3.game/

EDIt: I imagine some hold out material will be talked about and shown like the dragonborn, the monk and half-orc. Maybe even some customization options.

[Orby]

Dark Urge sounds frikkin awesome...

[Zenfoldor]

Hyped about this, think this will be high quality game > 90% critical consensus on metacritic just like Divinity Original Sin 2 which has some of the best video game writing ever.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/d...riginal-sin-ii

The game will be better than most competitors but I always worry about sales because this genre has a tough time appealing to mainstream. I have tried many times to successfully convert more modern wrpg players to isometric rpgs have been largely unsuccessful. I find that grid based srpg fans make the jump quite easily though.

IE: Not a fan of Fallout 4 and consider it a low point for the series, but have my brother and many friends who love Fallout 4 but hated DOS2 and any other game similar that they have tried.

[Flaks]

Hyped about this, think this will be high quality game > 90% critical consensus on metacritic just like Divinity Original Sin 2 which has some of the best video game writing ever.

https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/d...riginal-sin-ii

The game will be better than most competitors but I always worry about sales because this genre has a tough time appealing to mainstream. I have tried many times to successfully convert more modern wrpg players to isometric rpgs have been largely unsuccessful. I find that grid based srpg fans make the jump quite easily though.

IE: Not a fan of Fallout 4 and consider it a low point for the series, but have my brother and many friends who love Fallout 4 but hated DOS2 and any other game similar that they have tried.

For me it's not necessarily the isometric style that hurts it as much as the super convoluted overly complex (my words) combat in the game. I know these games are so SO much more than just their combat but I've never been able to get past that part to really get into the meat of them and enjoy them. Same reason I could never get into the Civ games or Total War.

Objectively, they're exceptional games but I can understand their lack of appeal for a wider audience.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

For me it's not necessarily the isometric style that hurts it as much as the super convoluted overly complex (my words) combat in the game. I know these games are so SO much more than just their combat but I've never been able to get past that part to really get into the meat of them and enjoy them. Same reason I could never get into the Civ games or Total War.

Objectively, they're exceptional games but I can understand their lack of appeal for a wider audience.

The Genre in general id agree (looking at you path finder) but Liaran games seem pretty tame on the complexity front with you being able to just stack one skill and go to town if you don’t want to news’s around with the Wider mechanics.

Though I haven’t touched BG3 yet so they may have changed.

[Daedius]

Has this been out as a Beta for the PS5? Anyone tried it there? Tempted to get it for the console, jus to chill on the couch while playing it.

[thilicen]

City looks damn good:

That looks -really- fucking good. Absolutely cannot wait..

[MauroDiogo]

They just keep making me even more excited than I was already was every time they talk about the game!

Being able to reroll your class & spec inside the game is amazing for anyone that has played these types of games and knows how much of a pain it is having to resort to Save editors or trainers/cheat engine and risk corrupting your save or messing up with your campaign.
Being able to just reroll and let the game deal with quest/lore/progress continuity, etc is a godsend!

[Mehrunes]

I'm so glad they moved the release date to just before my summer holiday.