Baldurs Gate 3

[Emroth]

cover:

Spoiler

Publisher: Larian Studios
Developer: Larian Studios
Genre: rpg, adventure
Player(s): Up to 4 co-op
System(s): PS5, Xbox Series S/X, PC

What Larian Studios did with this game is nothing short of genius. They were confident in their own abilities, took all experience they gathered after Divinity Original Sin 1/2, improved upon all the mechanics and then bought a well known IP in order to put a spotlight on their new game. And then they found an amazing middle ground between true old school rpg and new welcoming gameplay.

...And they poured so much love into this game that you can feel it at every corner...

I have to say - I hated turn based combat. hated it. Heroes of Might and Magic lll was my last turn based game and it was traumatizing.
I bought this game well aware that I might be throwing my money away, but I wanted to support developers that are passionate about their games, coz there are not many of them left.
Its only been two days and I have nearly 15 hours on it already.
And I can say that Im pretty much converted now.

Love this game. It deserves its own thread. And it deserves GOTY.

 

[millossobek]

Spoiler: In-game sceenshots

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are awesome games! Hours and hours of fun! I thought it was so immersive to play in the Forgotten Realms Universe, with all the classic fantasy elements! I actually really like Turn-Based games (as I grew up with the old PC Dungeons and Dragons games and the 90's and early 2000's Japanese RPG's, my favorite being Breath of Fire 4 for the PSX), and so I am looking forward to this. I like the fact that, looking at gameplay trailers, it seems like it really retains the spirit of the first two games (they could've gone the other way and try to make it like a lot of the modern action-adventure games, which I am not a huge fan of). This old-school, isometric feeling to it seems like it retains a lot of the same elements, just with more detail and updated graphics, but most importantly, conserving the overall feeling of the saga, which IMO is the right move.

 

[etb10dmk]

Larian Studios is another great development team like FromSoftware, CD Project Red, ID Software, or even Bethesda (yes, they finally redeemed themselves with Starfield ) creating clean, pro consumer games with hundreds of hours of content and with such a great passion reflected into the overall product experience...

I know already that I'll put hundreds of hours into Starfield, and also some in Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty expansion, but I also know that when I'll purchase Baldur's Gate III, will my best game from 2023. Last year was Elden Ring, but this year Baldur's Gate 3 is a total masterpiece that fully deserves to be GOTY !!!

 

[Emroth]

This old-school, isometric feeling to it seems like it retains a lot of the same elements, just with more detail and updated graphics, but most importantly, conserving the overall feeling of the saga, which IMO is the right move

its not only updated graphics. its also the fact that, outside of combat, I can play like any other 3pp game. I can zoom in, I can see the details around me, I can immerse myself in the world. This is very important for "action adventure" players like myself.
Its a brilliant idea to make it free outside of combat.

I played Baldurs Gate 2 twenty years ago and I remembered the depth of the world and great companions.
It was the title that caught my interest, so it was a genius move to buy Baldurs Gate IP.

Now Im looking into getting both Divinity games.

 

[fear]

Larian Studios is another great development team like FromSoftware, CD Project Red, ID Software, or even Bethesda (yes, they finally redeemed themselves with Starfield ) creating clean, pro consumer games with hundreds of hours of content and with such a great passion reflected into the overall product experience...

I know already that I'll put hundreds of hours into Starfield, and also some in Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty expansion, but I also know that when I'll purchase Baldur's Gate III, will my best game from 2023. Last year was Elden Ring, but this year Baldur's Gate 3 is a total masterpiece that fully deserves to be GOTY !!!

Starfield is a good game but you can't even compare it to BG3. It's obvious that Bethesda cut corners with their game and it could be a proper masterpiece if they've listened to us. They didn't and it's a fact. I know they'll improve it and modders will improve the game but I'm not that naive. They'll milk it. They know exactly what they're doing.

 

[Emroth]

Over 20 hours in now and Im still only hovering around starting area, constantly backtracking, revising enemies I left to get stronger, uncovering things that I missed.

This game is like reading a book. a book you enjoy so much that you keep going back few pages to make sure you didnt miss anything.

voice acting in this game set a new bar for all video games out there. similarly how Red Dead Redemption 2 ruined open world games for me - Baldurs Gate 3 will more than likely ruin rpgs for me.

its a pure pleasure to discover new ways of dealing with problems there. whether its enemies to defeat, or people to persuade. the sheer amount of choices this game gives you is insane.

one thing im gonna add - I watched an interview with Larian CEO and he said they put so much hard work into paths resulting in players failures, that he highly recommend just going with a flow and not reloading when you fail.
coz the consequences of your failures might be very unique and rewarding experience.
I was never a reload guy - I always accepted my fuck ups. but I have few friends who like to spam reload.