There are so many expectations built up around Baldurs Gate with the second game being one of the best RPGs ever made and all. I don't think any game could have lived up to the hype people have around BG3. Larian is one of the only studios working today who could do it justice, so I'm willing to give them a chance. They showed us about an hour of unfiltered pre-alpha footage of a game, who the fuck does that nowadays?
I think it was really brave of them to show what is clearly a work in progress at a major game show. More companies should do this. For the vast majority of a game's development, this is what they look like. Reused assets, game breaking bugs, unfinished art. This should be the expectation people have of a pre-alpha product.
It's called Baldur's Gate 3 primarily for hype / marketing. The main connection story-wise will be that the city of Baldur's Gate will be included. I'm betting this has next to nothing to do with the Bhaalspawn saga, which is what BG:1 through ToB are actually about. (the place Baldur's Gate doesn't even appear in the sequels...), which is why I'm not that thrilled with the number 3 here. I would've preferred some kind of subtitle suggesting a spinoff, that would give them plenty more conceptual latitude to do things their own way rather than old Bioware's. Maybe even start their own trilogy.
I actually read a hypothesis that makes the past tense thing better if it's true. When the game comes out I may search out spoilers to see if it's accurate because otherwise it really annoys me.
That the past tense is because the player character has an illithid parasite thing in their brain that is trying to overwrite their personal history and take control of their actions.
At any rate, the game looks... okay. I hope they can make it look a bit more visually distinct from Divinity: Original Sin, though. If I didn't know what I was looking at, I'd have thought it was either D:OS3 or an expansion.
This is about where I'm at. I'm going to play the game, but right now I'm more puzzled than anything as to why it's been named Baldur's Gate 3.
because it's based around baldur's gate, and a continuation of the same world as baldur's gate 2, I'd wager
Except Baldur's Gate 2 wasn't based around Baldur's Gate, and the vast majority of D&D games are a continuation of the same world as the Baldur's Gate series.
Maybe they're hiding the more obvious connections but it's literally only the game's logo that makes this seem connected to the Baldur's Gate series at all.
As it has already been mentioned, BG3 it's connected somehow to the recent adventure Descent into Avernus which starts in the city of Baldur's Gate.
For all we know we landed in the countryside and gotta journey to BG for a healer.
Another possible nod to the earlier BG games...
Shadowheart is a cleric of Shar.
Big chance she is connected to Viconia.
Character selection mentions she has a secret.
Also Minsc and Boo are around and featured in the D&D comics by Jim Zub.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
edited February 2020
“Baldur’s Gate 3” makes a much bigger splash on the internet than “New DnD game by Larian Studios”.
Like, yeah, from what I’ve seen there doesn’t seem to be much reason to call it BG3. Honestly might not have been worth the effort, judging by the fact those guys at Game Informer seemed to have never even heard of a Baldur’s Gate.
Axen on
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Thought this looked really great and I'm very excited
I've got some nitpicks though. I didn't like that the dude playing was going so heavy on the metagame. That's just how he chose to do it, but it's one of my complaints from DOS2 that sometimes it feels like they expect you to already know everything before playing it yourself. I want to be able to figure things out on my first playthrough
Also didn't like how all the characters could do superhero jumps and Dash looked like casting a spell on yourself
Thought this looked really great and I'm very excited
I've got some nitpicks though. I didn't like that the dude playing was going so heavy on the metagame. That's just how he chose to do it, but it's one of my complaints from DOS2 that sometimes it feels like they expect you to already know everything before playing it yourself. I want to be able to figure things out on my first playthrough
Also didn't like how all the characters could do superhero jumps and Dash looked like casting a spell on yourself
But overall, looks very good
Well, the game features a close recreation of the D&D 5th edition ruleset. Perfect for the PnP veterans.
Regarding the animations, no biggie for me. Those are abstractions for a dynamic fantasy world and adventurers are above average people compared to peasants and city guards.
Archsorcerer on
XBL - ArchSilversmith
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
I didn't like that the dude playing was going so heavy on the metagame. That's just how he chose to do it, but it's one of my complaints from DOS2 that sometimes it feels like they expect you to already know everything before playing it yourself. I want to be able to figure things out on my first playthrough
During the QA session someone asked if one would run into "a certain ranger with a hamster" as an NPC in the game, and the presenter mumbled something then went "err... we can only comment on the companions we've shown you so far" or something along those lines.
So I watched that video and decided the spelljammer should be called an Aeronautilus.
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
For everyone immediately jumping on the "it's not related at all to the originals" thing.
Remember the God Of War hub-bub?
Not saying it will be the same but this is wayyy early. And the GoW thing went all the way to release with people saying "maybe we just wait and see what's actually in the game because they may want to keep some of that stuff for players to find out?" and it turned out to be very much the case.
Maybe it will be have enough call backs to deserve the name. Maybe not. But drawing that conclusion currently seems a bit pre-emptive.
I didn't like that the dude playing was going so heavy on the metagame. That's just how he chose to do it, but it's one of my complaints from DOS2 that sometimes it feels like they expect you to already know everything before playing it yourself. I want to be able to figure things out on my first playthrough
Clever, but like half that manual is just spell descriptions.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
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AxenMy avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered Userregular
For everyone immediately jumping on the "it's not related at all to the originals" thing.
Remember the God Of War hub-bub?
Not saying it will be the same but this is wayyy early. And the GoW thing went all the way to release with people saying "maybe we just wait and see what's actually in the game because they may want to keep some of that stuff for players to find out?" and it turned out to be very much the case.
Maybe it will be have enough call backs to deserve the name. Maybe not. But drawing that conclusion currently seems a bit pre-emptive.
I think it is fairly warranted.
It’s centuries after BG1&2, has nothing to do with the Bhaalspawn’s story and is a direct continuation of the Descent into Avernus campaign.
If BG1&2 were like the Elder Scrolls then it’d make sense. But they’re not, this is purely BG3 for brand recognition and not true a sequel to Baldur’s Gate.
I don’t say this to besmirch the game, I have no doubts in my mind that this will be a very awesome game for me. I say it because using the Baldur’s Gate name is inevitably going to invite comparisons. Comparisons to a game series widely considered one of the greatest of all time. The hype around a BG3 is impossible for anyone to live up to and I think ultimately Larian would’ve been better served not using the ‘3’.
I think “Baldur’s Gate: [insert subtitle]” probably would’ve been fine.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
For everyone immediately jumping on the "it's not related at all to the originals" thing.
Remember the God Of War hub-bub?
Not saying it will be the same but this is wayyy early. And the GoW thing went all the way to release with people saying "maybe we just wait and see what's actually in the game because they may want to keep some of that stuff for players to find out?" and it turned out to be very much the case.
Maybe it will be have enough call backs to deserve the name. Maybe not. But drawing that conclusion currently seems a bit pre-emptive.
I think it is fairly warranted.
It’s centuries after BG1&2, has nothing to do with the Bhaalspawn’s story and is a direct continuation of the Descent into Avernus campaign.
If BG1&2 were like the Elder Scrolls then it’d make sense. But they’re not, this is purely BG3 for brand recognition and not true a sequel to Baldur’s Gate.
I don’t say this to besmirch the game, I have no doubts in my mind that this will be a very awesome game for me. I say it because using the Baldur’s Gate name is inevitably going to invite comparisons. Comparisons to a game series widely considered one of the greatest of all time. The hype around a BG3 is impossible for anyone to live up to and I think ultimately Larian would’ve been better served not using the ‘3’.
I think “Baldur’s Gate: [insert subtitle]” probably would’ve been fine.
I agree with this, but I'll also say that I'm open to the idea (and certainly hoping) that there will be more obvious connections between this and the first two games in the final product.
But as of right now I don't have any strong sense that this is something that I'd actually call a sequel to Baldur's Gate 2.
Also, I only was able to post that screenshot from the Spelljammer book because I bought a print on demand and .PDF copy of it from DMs Guild two days ago, and have been pouring over the .PDF on my phone since. :rotate:
I didn't like that the dude playing was going so heavy on the metagame. That's just how he chose to do it, but it's one of my complaints from DOS2 that sometimes it feels like they expect you to already know everything before playing it yourself. I want to be able to figure things out on my first playthrough
My only two little hopes are:
1) I like Origin stories but it kind of sucks they seem to only be for companions you want to play? And have unique dialogue and actions so if you want those then F your custom characters I guess? Why not make it so you can apply the Origins to your character you make?
2) Let me play all the D&D races. No Dragonborn, no sale.
My only two little hopes are:
1) I like Origin stories but it kind of sucks they seem to only be for companions you want to play? And have unique dialogue and actions so if you want those then F your custom characters I guess? Why not make it so you can apply the Origins to your character you make?
2) Let me play all the D&D races. No Dragonborn, no sale.
If it's like Divinity it's basically the choice between a character that has a set story and adventure vs a character that is more RP friendly but still directly involved with the story as it goes along.
It's nice to have that choice and be able to relegate those premade character stories to just party members if you would rather make a custom character. And you still pick a background for your custom character so in theory those exist for unique dialogue options as well.
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Zxerolfor the smaller pieces, my shovel wouldn't doso i took off my boot and used my shoeRegistered Userregular
Yeah, the origins setup is straight out D:OS2, which is cool for the pre-made characters but much less so if you wanted to do a custom PC. The tradeoff is that you could ideally get a more tailored story if you're working with a set character and background without worrying the number of permutation a player-genned character can take the form of. Just going by Larian's own work, the character work from OS1 (which didn't have origin characters) to 2 was much stronger, so they're definitely iterating on what worked for them.
My only two little hopes are:
1) I like Origin stories but it kind of sucks they seem to only be for companions you want to play? And have unique dialogue and actions so if you want those then F your custom characters I guess? Why not make it so you can apply the Origins to your character you make?
2) Let me play all the D&D races. No Dragonborn, no sale.
Plenty of them are in. IIRC Dragonborn will be added later.
I'm hoping for Aasimar.
Archsorcerer on
XBL - ArchSilversmith
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Watched the rest of the gameplay video and I'm super pumped. Normally I'm not much of an early access person, but I may have to jump in for this.
I don't mind them using the Divinity OS2 engine. That game came out in 2017, so even if they were doing pre-work on BG3 before DOS2 came out, that's kind of crazy amount of work in a short period of time. I'd imagine re-use of the engine and some game systems played into how fast they were able to develop. I'm really just impressed with all the little things they have in the game. Having the die flash 20 when getting a crit role, bonus actions, prone, difficult terrain, and tons of other little things.
Reading some of the interviews, it's interesting to hear they hired some Telltale staff, some on the writing team and he mentions one as cinematic director.
Sadly they aren't working on a game master mode, but they mentioned they know everyone would love one. So hopefully it's something that gets added down the road, or they support Mod's and someone else can work on it. How amazing would it be to re-create campaigns played with friends in BG3?
My only two little hopes are:
1) I like Origin stories but it kind of sucks they seem to only be for companions you want to play? And have unique dialogue and actions so if you want those then F your custom characters I guess? Why not make it so you can apply the Origins to your character you make?
2) Let me play all the D&D races. No Dragonborn, no sale.
I think they mentioned what has been released is for early access and that more characters and maybe races are coming later.
Origin ID\ Steam ID: Warder45
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DemonStaceyTTODewback's DaughterIn love with the TaySwayRegistered Userregular
Watched the rest of the gameplay video and I'm super pumped. Normally I'm not much of an early access person, but I may have to jump in for this.
I don't mind them using the Divinity OS2 engine. That game came out in 2017, so even if they were doing pre-work on BG3 before DOS2 came out, that's kind of crazy amount of work in a short period of time. I'd imagine re-use of the engine and some game systems played into how fast they were able to develop. I'm really just impressed with all the little things they have in the game. Having the die flash 20 when getting a crit role, bonus actions, prone, difficult terrain, and tons of other little things.
Reading some of the interviews, it's interesting to hear they hired some Telltale staff, some on the writing team and he mentions one as cinematic director.
Sadly they aren't working on a game master mode, but they mentioned they know everyone would love one. So hopefully it's something that gets added down the road, or they support Mod's and someone else can work on it. How amazing would it be to re-create campaigns played with friends in BG3?
It's actually not the same engine.
They said it's an engine they built using stuff they had from the others, but not the same engine.
Watched the rest of the gameplay video and I'm super pumped. Normally I'm not much of an early access person, but I may have to jump in for this.
I don't mind them using the Divinity OS2 engine. That game came out in 2017, so even if they were doing pre-work on BG3 before DOS2 came out, that's kind of crazy amount of work in a short period of time. I'd imagine re-use of the engine and some game systems played into how fast they were able to develop. I'm really just impressed with all the little things they have in the game. Having the die flash 20 when getting a crit role, bonus actions, prone, difficult terrain, and tons of other little things.
Reading some of the interviews, it's interesting to hear they hired some Telltale staff, some on the writing team and he mentions one as cinematic director.
Sadly they aren't working on a game master mode, but they mentioned they know everyone would love one. So hopefully it's something that gets added down the road, or they support Mod's and someone else can work on it. How amazing would it be to re-create campaigns played with friends in BG3?
It's actually not the same engine.
They said it's an engine they built using stuff they had from the others, but not the same engine.
I think it's the same engine, just upgraded. Or at least comments like this make it seem that way.
Walgrave: Mmhmm! I don't think that current-gen consoles would be able to run it. There's a lot of technical upgrades and updates that we did to our engine, and I don't know if it would be capable of being able to actually run on those things.
I always wondered how Minsc managed to survive to 5e times. I guess it makes sense, since "adventurers who get petrified that you release" is a surprisingly common occurrence in BG1.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
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I think it was really brave of them to show what is clearly a work in progress at a major game show. More companies should do this. For the vast majority of a game's development, this is what they look like. Reused assets, game breaking bugs, unfinished art. This should be the expectation people have of a pre-alpha product.
As it has already been mentioned, BG3 it's connected somehow to the recent adventure Descent into Avernus which starts in the city of Baldur's Gate.
For all we know we landed in the countryside and gotta journey to BG for a healer.
Another possible nod to the earlier BG games...
Big chance she is connected to Viconia.
Character selection mentions she has a secret.
Also Minsc and Boo are around and featured in the D&D comics by Jim Zub.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Like, yeah, from what I’ve seen there doesn’t seem to be much reason to call it BG3. Honestly might not have been worth the effort, judging by the fact those guys at Game Informer seemed to have never even heard of a Baldur’s Gate.
But Baldur's Gate is a brand and likely Wizards of the Coast wanted to push it.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
I've got some nitpicks though. I didn't like that the dude playing was going so heavy on the metagame. That's just how he chose to do it, but it's one of my complaints from DOS2 that sometimes it feels like they expect you to already know everything before playing it yourself. I want to be able to figure things out on my first playthrough
Also didn't like how all the characters could do superhero jumps and Dash looked like casting a spell on yourself
But overall, looks very good
Yeah that’s my guess.
I’m thinking WoTC probably wanted them to slap a 3 on there for marketing.
Otherwise, IMHO this should be more like “Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus 2” or similar.
Well, the game features a close recreation of the D&D 5th edition ruleset. Perfect for the PnP veterans.
Regarding the animations, no biggie for me. Those are abstractions for a dynamic fantasy world and adventurers are above average people compared to peasants and city guards.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
I would absolutely love Minsc as an aged, King Conan type though. (Of course, not sure how he's still alive at this point.)
Steam: Elvenshae // PSN: Elvenshae // WotC: Elvenshae
Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
He's canonically around, I'll be surprised if he doesn't appear as a cameo at the very least.
Possibly something like what happened with Drizzt's friends. Mielikki helped them skip the Spellplague. Somewhat.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Remember the God Of War hub-bub?
Not saying it will be the same but this is wayyy early. And the GoW thing went all the way to release with people saying "maybe we just wait and see what's actually in the game because they may want to keep some of that stuff for players to find out?" and it turned out to be very much the case.
Maybe it will be have enough call backs to deserve the name. Maybe not. But drawing that conclusion currently seems a bit pre-emptive.
Clever, but like half that manual is just spell descriptions.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
I think it is fairly warranted.
It’s centuries after BG1&2, has nothing to do with the Bhaalspawn’s story and is a direct continuation of the Descent into Avernus campaign.
If BG1&2 were like the Elder Scrolls then it’d make sense. But they’re not, this is purely BG3 for brand recognition and not true a sequel to Baldur’s Gate.
I don’t say this to besmirch the game, I have no doubts in my mind that this will be a very awesome game for me. I say it because using the Baldur’s Gate name is inevitably going to invite comparisons. Comparisons to a game series widely considered one of the greatest of all time. The hype around a BG3 is impossible for anyone to live up to and I think ultimately Larian would’ve been better served not using the ‘3’.
I think “Baldur’s Gate: [insert subtitle]” probably would’ve been fine.
It's a nautiloid tho
I agree with this, but I'll also say that I'm open to the idea (and certainly hoping) that there will be more obvious connections between this and the first two games in the final product.
But as of right now I don't have any strong sense that this is something that I'd actually call a sequel to Baldur's Gate 2.
But Wizards of the Coast owns the trademark and it's a new campaign for the 5th edition of the ruleset.
What's left to be said about the Bhaalspawn? Bhaal is dead and now Cyric is the god of murder. He's currently imprisoned for starting the Spellplague.
It's like Final Fantasy 6 to FF1&2.
We just got a new Dungeon Master to run a new adventure.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
Penny Arcade Rockstar Social Club / This is why I despise cyclists
Best book of 2000
Revisited the presentation yesterday. Funny when the game writer told Swen about the 5-0 of the ManU and Bruges soccer match.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
1) I like Origin stories but it kind of sucks they seem to only be for companions you want to play? And have unique dialogue and actions so if you want those then F your custom characters I guess? Why not make it so you can apply the Origins to your character you make?
2) Let me play all the D&D races. No Dragonborn, no sale.
If it's like Divinity it's basically the choice between a character that has a set story and adventure vs a character that is more RP friendly but still directly involved with the story as it goes along.
It's nice to have that choice and be able to relegate those premade character stories to just party members if you would rather make a custom character. And you still pick a background for your custom character so in theory those exist for unique dialogue options as well.
Plenty of them are in. IIRC Dragonborn will be added later.
I'm hoping for Aasimar.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
I don't mind them using the Divinity OS2 engine. That game came out in 2017, so even if they were doing pre-work on BG3 before DOS2 came out, that's kind of crazy amount of work in a short period of time. I'd imagine re-use of the engine and some game systems played into how fast they were able to develop. I'm really just impressed with all the little things they have in the game. Having the die flash 20 when getting a crit role, bonus actions, prone, difficult terrain, and tons of other little things.
Reading some of the interviews, it's interesting to hear they hired some Telltale staff, some on the writing team and he mentions one as cinematic director.
Sadly they aren't working on a game master mode, but they mentioned they know everyone would love one. So hopefully it's something that gets added down the road, or they support Mod's and someone else can work on it. How amazing would it be to re-create campaigns played with friends in BG3?
I think they mentioned what has been released is for early access and that more characters and maybe races are coming later.
It's actually not the same engine.
They said it's an engine they built using stuff they had from the others, but not the same engine.
Law and Order ≠ Justice
ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
I think it's the same engine, just upgraded. Or at least comments like this make it seem that way.
PAX 2021.
I'm seeing it.
"We have years of struggle ahead, mostly within ourselves." - Made in USA
He was petrified and displayed in Baldur's Gate for many years with people thinking it's just a statue.
He was unpetrified in a comic book and had been having adventures ever since, under 5e rules.
https://www.google.com/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=bibliogroup:"DUNGEONS+&+DRAGONS+Baldur's+Gate+Series"&source=gbs_metadata_r&cad=3
I'll take that as the story has Chris Perkin's approval.
Law and Order ≠ Justice
ACNH Island Isla Cero: DA-3082-2045-4142
Captain of the SES Comptroller of the State
I always wondered how Minsc managed to survive to 5e times. I guess it makes sense, since "adventurers who get petrified that you release" is a surprisingly common occurrence in BG1.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)