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Baldur's Gate 3

Quistrix

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I had always planned to wait until release on this one but I caved and got the EA about a week ago and... my god, this has to be one of the best RPGs I've ever played and it was only one small part of the game. o_O

Anyone else played/looking forward to this? It comes out officially this Thursday!
 

Gikoku

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Oh hell yeah, been waiting 3 years for this bad boy and it wasn't until the final Panel From Hell showcase with the bear sex that I finally got sent over the edge.

Seriously though, I had opted to wait until release to get it, but I just couldn't muster the patience and took the plunge. Managed to log 46 hours into the early access and OH MY GOD, I sometimes struggle to find the words to describe the experience it gave me, but this game has been living aggressively rent-free in my head for a couple weeks now. The unbridled freedom, the absurd level of reactivity to your actions, the rich complexity to everything yet neatly packaged in an easy-to-digest cinematic format is just simply astonishing. The only other RPG I've ever played that even comes close to this level of satisfying role-playing is Disco Elysium.

Divinity Original Sin II is one of my all time CRPG favs, alongside Fallout 2, Disco Elysium and Dragon Age Origins.... but this, BG3 is on a completely different level to what's being done right now. I really hope Larian nails the release for this.

My character build was a Wood Half-Elf, Paladin with the Oath of Devotion subclass. So I was all in on the knight in shining armor with complete devotion to my lord roleplay that will move the mountains to help anyone in need, and the game fully accounts for that and all the consequences that it would bring with so much detail. As a Paladin I could intervene in multiple altercations and literally put the accused on trial, run them through an interrogation and then judge them on the spot with a wide selection of options ranging from being not guilty and receiving my protection to me deciding they deserve to be smitten into the depths of hell with my hammer (screams and all) in the name of my oath. As an extra layer to being a Paladin you have to follow your given set of oath tenets at all times, lest you break your oath and be placed on trial in another realm and become an Oathbreaker (a hidden subclass). My god this is just one subclass of a class, of 12 classes and 46 subclasses. Each with their own playstyle and unique roleplaying, with the added layers of whatever race and subrace you choose, your background and so on. All of it has consequences, like holy **** man. How did they pull this off?

I've seen all over the net of folks referring to it as RPG of the decade, and yeah, I can believe it. If Larian can smush all the bugs and glitches, then they've got something truly incredible here. This game has already eclipsed my interest in Starfield and Cyberpunk 2.0/Phantom Liberty. This is closest there is to a proper tabletop D&D session translated in videogame form.
 

Dark Drakan

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Having delved into Divinity Original Sin II recently (still need to get back into it) and Diablo IV I have now started to look into the Baldurs Gate series as these type of RPG's I hadnt really played before now.
 

Quistrix

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Dark Drakan

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Let us know your impressions when you get around to playing it.
 

Quistrix

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Let us know your impressions when you get around to playing it.
I haven't played too much of it yet - spent too long figuring out my character but I've loved what I've played so far. Hopefully Scott can hop on here in-between sessions to let you know his thoughts as he's played more of it.
 

Dark Drakan

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I haven't played too much of it yet - spent too long figuring out my character but I've loved what I've played so far. Hopefully Scott can hop on here in-between sessions to let you know his thoughts as he's played more of it.

Definitely something I will be looking into, just purchased Remnant 2 however and im trying to finally finish Horizon Zero Dawn.
 

Quistrix

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Definitely something I will be looking into, just purchased Remnant 2 however and im trying to finally finish Horizon Zero Dawn.
Nice. I would definitely buy it when you finish with those two. It truly is an amazing game. The freedom is incredible. Just reading how different people even deal with different fights and how creative you can get is so cool.
 

Gikoku

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Grabbing a moment to come up for air. Over 60hrs into my proper playthrough (just now getting into Act 2, there's a total of 3) This is by far and away the greatest RPG I have ever played and will play for a very long time, and I've played so many. From all the countless JRPGs with zero choices and the generic RPG standards upheld by Ubisoft, to the trendsetting titans by CDPR, Bioware and Bethesda and the down & dirty hardcore classics by Black Isles, Obsidian and the like. This is it, if the other big boy devs can keep up, then this is the new standard. My interest in Starfield has truly been gobbled up by it and I'm really questioning if Bethesda can even match this, time will tell soon.... but probably not.

I'm struggling to put this game down, it's so damn addictive and is constantly rewarding for every single action I take. This game is super easy to get into, especially for casuals. It's not overly complicated, but at the same time can be extremely deep and complex. Much like the actual tabletop DnD setup, you can do just about anything you want in this game. The level of freedom and consequence is nuts. On the spectrum of being good to evil and everything in between, it doesn't hold any punches for what you can do. While I'm currently playing a goody two-shoes Paladin right now, you can also be abhorrently and deplorably evil in this game.... I'm talking all the damn way with this. You can kill and torture every single character in this game if you want to, including very important story characters (in very creative ways), from the harmless elderly and innocent animals all the way down to children and the unborn. There's even an Origin to build your character on called the Dark Urge that allows you to properly roleplay as a serial killer (complete with a full storyline). You can run around butterball naked throughout the entire game with your genitals on full display (some characters even have things to say about it). This game ain't for children godammit lol.

The writing, the characters, the dialogue options, quest design, romance, choices, and so on. It's all done so incredibly well and being so memorable and deep. It's damn enthralling with all its dense content, but the best part is that it never feels like my time is being wasted like it does in a Ubisoft game. Everything you put time into you get rewarded for it, including your own character build as every race, sub-race, class, and subclass has their own reactivity in the game. If you play as a Drow, Tiefling or Githyanki for example, you're gonna face a lot of racism with radically different interactions and outcomes. It's insane.

As a bonus, here are some creative ways on disposing or dealing with any character in the game, including your own companions and love interests. Simply because you can freely:
- Casting a spell that puts someone into a controlling fit of laughter, then using another spell to banish them into another dimension, and leaving them there.
- Casting a spell that holds them into place with astral chains, then pulling out a slave whip and whipping them until you've had enough... or until they die.
- Bashing someone over the head with a chair, then stuffing their corpse into a barrel, fill the barrel with rotten eggs, then proceeding to throw said barrel off of a cliff/building with them inside.
- Use a command spell/scroll to command someone to bend the knee towards you... then throw food in their face, use another command spell to order them to then walk off a cliff. Alternatively, you can order them to walk into a pit of fire and watch them burn alive, screaming.


I'm really just scratching the surface of the iceberg here, the possibilities are honestly up to your imagination. I often ask myself before doing something in this game "Can I do this?" "If I did this, would it work?" 90% of the time, the answer is yes. The only time something didn't work was basically due to videogame limitations. There is no one way, nor wrong way to do something. There's always a solution, even if you have to create your own. I love it.

There's so much more I wanna say about this game, but I don't want this wall of text to get too long. But man, this game is so so good, so damn good. I genuinely can't remember the last time a game has made me feel this way... maybe Disco Elysium... maybe, but otherwise it's been decades. This was the easiest and also safest full-priced game purchase I've made since Skyrim back in 2011. The reviews coming out (lot of 9s and 10s), reaching the highest metascore of the year (beating Tears of the Kingdom), the utterly insane playercount for a game like this, countless others losing sleep because they can't put the game down is unbelievable but also super cool & surreal.

TLDR: Best RPG ever made, 10 out of 10. ****in' hell.

The term "Masterpiece" is being thrown around by critics and players alike repeatedly, but I have to agree with them on this. This game is an absolute masterpiece and a masterclass display of roleplaying freedom, storytelling and consequences.

Anyway, I'm gonna go dive back in now.
 

Quistrix

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*scott logging on after playing the game for 12 straight hours*

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Dark Drakan

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Grabbing a moment to come up for air. Over 60hrs into my proper playthrough (just now getting into Act 2, there's a total of 3) This is by far and away the greatest RPG I have ever played and will play for a very long time, and I've played so many. From all the countless JRPGs with zero choices and the generic RPG standards upheld by Ubisoft, to the trendsetting titans by CDPR, Bioware and Bethesda and the down & dirty hardcore classics by Black Isles, Obsidian and the like. This is it, if the other big boy devs can keep up, then this is the new standard. My interest in Starfield has truly been gobbled up by it and I'm really questioning if Bethesda can even match this, time will tell soon.... but probably not.

I'm struggling to put this game down, it's so damn addictive and is constantly rewarding for every single action I take. This game is super easy to get into, especially for casuals. It's not overly complicated, but at the same time can be extremely deep and complex. Much like the actual tabletop DnD setup, you can do just about anything you want in this game. The level of freedom and consequence is nuts. On the spectrum of being good to evil and everything in between, it doesn't hold any punches for what you can do. While I'm currently playing a goody two-shoes Paladin right now, you can also be abhorrently and deplorably evil in this game.... I'm talking all the damn way with this. You can kill and torture every single character in this game if you want to, including very important story characters (in very creative ways), from the harmless elderly and innocent animals all the way down to children and the unborn. There's even an Origin to build your character on called the Dark Urge that allows you to properly roleplay as a serial killer (complete with a full storyline). You can run around butterball naked throughout the entire game with your genitals on full display (some characters even have things to say about it). This game ain't for children godammit lol.

The writing, the characters, the dialogue options, quest design, romance, choices, and so on. It's all done so incredibly well and being so memorable and deep. It's damn enthralling with all its dense content, but the best part is that it never feels like my time is being wasted like it does in a Ubisoft game. Everything you put time into you get rewarded for it, including your own character build as every race, sub-race, class, and subclass has their own reactivity in the game. If you play as a Drow, Tiefling or Githyanki for example, you're gonna face a lot of racism with radically different interactions and outcomes. It's insane.

As a bonus, here are some creative ways on disposing or dealing with any character in the game, including your own companions and love interests. Simply because you can freely:
- Casting a spell that puts someone into a controlling fit of laughter, then using another spell to banish them into another dimension, and leaving them there.
- Casting a spell that holds them into place with astral chains, then pulling out a slave whip and whipping them until you've had enough... or until they die.
- Bashing someone over the head with a chair, then stuffing their corpse into a barrel, fill the barrel with rotten eggs, then proceeding to throw said barrel off of a cliff/building with them inside.
- Use a command spell/scroll to command someone to bend the knee towards you... then throw food in their face, use another command spell to order them to then walk off a cliff. Alternatively, you can order them to walk into a pit of fire and watch them burn alive, screaming.


I'm really just scratching the surface of the iceberg here, the possibilities are honestly up to your imagination. I often ask myself before doing something in this game "Can I do this?" "If I did this, would it work?" 90% of the time, the answer is yes. The only time something didn't work was basically due to videogame limitations. There is no one way, nor wrong way to do something. There's always a solution, even if you have to create your own. I love it.

There's so much more I wanna say about this game, but I don't want this wall of text to get too long. But man, this game is so so good, so damn good. I genuinely can't remember the last time a game has made me feel this way... maybe Disco Elysium... maybe, but otherwise it's been decades. This was the easiest and also safest full-priced game purchase I've made since Skyrim back in 2011. The reviews coming out (lot of 9s and 10s), reaching the highest metascore of the year (beating Tears of the Kingdom), the utterly insane playercount for a game like this, countless others losing sleep because they can't put the game down is unbelievable but also super cool & surreal.

TLDR: Best RPG ever made, 10 out of 10. ****in' hell.

The term "Masterpiece" is being thrown around by critics and players alike repeatedly, but I have to agree with them on this. This game is an absolute masterpiece and a masterclass display of roleplaying freedom, storytelling and consequences.

Anyway, I'm gonna go dive back in now.

Im just glad that there are still fantastic RPG games coming out that are managing to break the mould. It was mainly the DnD aspects that had made me hold off it. Coming from someone who has never gotten into tabletop games I was curious as to how much the dice rolling aspect etc would come into it and if it was a deep system (like the rest of the game was being touted) then would I understand it straight away. I have heard from multiple people and reviews that its quite easy to understand so that concern is slipping away now.

It will probably be the next game I buy (Starfield is coming to Game Pass), bonus that Baldurs Gate 3 is Deck Verified too so its highly likely that if it manages to get its hooks in me that I could be playing it for a long time.
 

Gikoku

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Im just glad that there are still fantastic RPG games coming out that are managing to break the mould. It was mainly the DnD aspects that had made me hold off it. Coming from someone who has never gotten into tabletop games I was curious as to how much the dice rolling aspect etc would come into it and if it was a deep system (like the rest of the game was being touted) then would I understand it straight away. I have heard from multiple people and reviews that its quite easy to understand so that concern is slipping away now.

It will probably be the next game I buy (Starfield is coming to Game Pass), bonus that Baldurs Gate 3 is Deck Verified too so its highly likely that if it manages to get its hooks in me that I could be playing it for a long time.
I wouldn't stress over the DnD mechanics or rulesets. DnD is historically complex, but 5e (5th Edition) is a much more streamlined and casual friendly approach to the system. Very easy to get into, but difficult to master. My only understanding of DnD prior to this game was people cosplaying at tables and rolling D20 dice, yet I was able to get into this without much of a hitch. The only thing you really need to understand are what the different dice rolls mean. So for example if you see something that says an attack will roll 1d6+2, it means you're gonna roll a 6-sided dice and add a 2 to whatever it lands on for the damage. There's also a percentage based on stats and a chance for saving throws that can cause your attacks to miss (kinda like X-COM), but it's information that's not presented in an overwhelming manner.

In regards to Steam Deck compatibility, it is verified, but when you get to Act 3 the performance plummets into the earth. Act 1 and Act 2 as far as I've seen runs pretty great, but Act 3 is just so damn heavy even on a monster rig. I regurlary run the game at over 120fps for the first two acts, but when I got to Act 3 I'm regularly in 40-60fps consistently. In the third act you're rendering a massive city with thousands of NPCs and every single building can be entered with a fleshed out interior with thousands of interactable objects... that's too much processing lol. Digital Foundry took a look at it and noted the engine has issues with multi-threading optimizations. So performance is really bad for everyone in it, but Larian said they're working on fixing it (it's why the Series S version doesn't work).
 

cheezMcNASTY

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Just finished in about 120 hours. I have added it to my list of games that I've punched to death, including:
Oblivion
Skyrim
Absolver
Blade and soul
Dark souls 3
League of Legends
As much of god of war as i could
 
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