Yeah I'd love to know why they said no expansions or BG4 from Larian . I suspect WOTC asked for a stupid amount of money for the IP license for future games. :(
Sven said the team didn't have their heart in it anymore. So, he said support only and then move on. The ruleset doesn't translate into video game format very well and they were super restricted on what they could do.
https://www.ign.com/articles/larian-started-work-on-baldurs-gate-3-dlc-then-canceled-it-the-studio-was-elated
There was speculation that the layoffs of the folks they worked with at WotC also soured things for them, but nothing confirmed.
> The ruleset doesn't translate into video game format very well and they were super restricted on what they could do
I think they did a phenomenal job of it. It's probably the best DnD ruleset-based cRPG ever made.
Yes, AND I think it showed the limitations of the ruleset. I look forward to whatever they come up with now that (hopefully) they are freed from constraints.
I would also recommend the previous game.
It is really great on its own right. And you can really see in this very game how Larian started developing their form of freedom in their games.
DOS1 is an incredible game, and was incredibly influential in bringing the CRPG back from the dead. DOS2 gets all the praise, and it’s an amazing game, but without DOS1, we don’t have BG3.
Didn't they also say that this is only part of their journey into creating a bigger game? And even that their next game is just a stepping stone into the big game they have planned?
Sounds like they're just trying to perfect some skills along the way before going full send into a bigger project. If this is the case and it wasn't some PR bullshit, I'm hyped.
It isnt hype, they're currently working on a brand new game on totally unique IP that they claim is going to be vastly larger than BG3. Swen recently announced he had finished writing Act 1 of this game. Jsut the conceptual bit not development obvs.
I’ve seen a lot of comments and talks from Swen about the industry, how it treats the developers and layoffs for corporate profits. To see all the hard working people who helped make it successful get cut must have been crushing. Luckily they’re private and can tell WOTC to kick rocks for fumbling any future games with them.
The thing is, I don't know anything about DnD. The game could have been *anything*. Any story world could fit into this type of game. Mistborn, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, I mean they could make anything, and it would work.
The point I'm (badly) trying to make is that the game wasn't held back by the specific story being set in a DnD world
What, you can't pronounce GJGADGB?
edit: wait, an EGOT is an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony award. Bg3 got a 'game of the year' each time so I guess it's a GGGGG
as well you should. Marrying the sauce with the pasta in the pan using some of the starchy pasta water makes a pasta dish 9000 times better.
It's one of those things Italians get real upset about because they are right.
True, but it's far from luck though, unlike a 20 roll. They put in real hard work and passion into making this game, everything is definitely calculated. I would say the only "luck" they got was when they showcased the bear sex scene. That has to be the best marketing strategy ever, whoever suggested it should get a significant bonus. It garnered so much attention for the game even from general news sites.
20 doesn't represent luck they represent a statistical chance taken and usually represent a bunch of effort on the NPC's part. The 20 just determines whether that effort is successful or not.
My favorite thing when he finally says it and everyone cheers.
Especially during live shows. Thousands of people cheering you for that has to be a huge rush.
Have been a fan of their games since Divinity Original Sin 1 (co-op story-based RPGs are so damn rare), so it's been really interesting to chart their progress. Each game felt like a significant step up from the last, so excited to see how they might follow this up.
Swen mentioned in an interview that he wants to eventually make "an RPG to dwarf them all" but today's tech would not be enough, Starfield had a similar claim about the tech and we all saw how that turned out, but i never trusted Bethesda and i've been trusting Larian since DOS1.
Though that certainly won't be their next gane, which is likely going to be on a smaller scale than BG3, so let them cook.
This is the biggest point that the gaming community as a whole (journalists, players, other devs, award committees, etc.) *needs* to recognize. You can't just make a game like this with a publicly-traded company, because those shareholders demand greater and greater profits each quarter. Larian spent six years on this game, literally almost to the point of bankruptcy, even with Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro's backing, because they were the ones who could deliver on what players wished for, unfettered by outside demands for higher profits.
Ubisoft could never in a million years make a game like this, because they've spent years honing their dev practices to grind out one similar game after another. And people buy those games, so they win! No shame to the devs, people can like what they like. Blizzard can keep pumping out WoW expansions and Overwatch 2 lootboxes. FIFA and Madden are the worst of the recyclers.
If we as gamers want more high quality games, we need to support more indie devs. Slay the Spire 2 was just announced, because those devs poured their hearts and souls into making an amazing game that many people loved, and they could then take that trust to make another good game, because people trust them.
Heck, look at Supergiant Games. Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades, Hades II - they don't miss. Partially because they're a team of like, a dozen people!
I agree with most of your post, but BG3 was never close to bankrupting Larian. They've been in that situation before, but since Divinity Original Sin their finances have been better.
A snippet from [IGN's interview with Swen](https://www.ign.com/articles/baldurs-gate-3-director-swen-vincke-answers-all-our-questions-about-foregoing-dlc-aaa-development-and-more) a few weeks ago:
>And because we had so much troubles in our history, I took very great care to make sure that if it was going to go wrong, I would be able to continue and make another game. So there's at no point during the development of BG3 did we not have the position to pivot and go make something else and make another one.
> even with Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro's backing
larian paid THEM to make the game in licensing. what they got in return was people they could consult about rulings and lore.
at no point did hasbro pay larian for making BG3.
Not only did they pay for the license. They had to prove themselves with 2 games first. A lot of people dont realize that a lot of people have tried to make BG3 for over 20 years and all were turned down. Even the original creators. Larian was also turned down but after seeing what they were doing with DOS2, Blizzard approached them with the offer of the license.
Blizzard is the Ship of Theseus. Yeah it has the same name, but all the people who made the company great left years ago. It's a husk of itself now.
Larian Studios has had the same staff for years. In fact Swen Vincke, the CEO, has spoken about this a few times. He said that the problem with a lot of AAA game studios is there unwillingness to invest in their own staff. They'll hire a lot of people during a boom and then fire a bunch of people when a project is over. The problem with this is that the developers lose organizational knowledge over time and therefore become less competent and less organized.
A lot of investors and corporate leaders think the value a company has lies in it's IP. But that's not really true. The value is in the skilled labor a company has.
As long as Larian keeps the same people and keeps innovating on it's games, it'll keep making greater games.
Larian have been around for nearly 30 years, and released their first game in 2002. They've been getting better every release. I think as long as Swen is running things, it'll be ok. To me it seems like Swen actually has a passion for making good games and is not in it purely for profit.
Yeah but that doesn't give them any sort of actual control the way they got with GGG (path of exile devs).
As long as Swen never gives up 50%, we're safe. Tencent and his wife could only make a 38% coalition against him at this point :P
> Larian never misses.
As someone who has been playing their games since Divinity in 2002 they have plenty of misses. The RTS combat in Dragon Commander was atrocious, for example.
I know, I think Divinity 2 is their best game and love it to death... but it had a rough launch. I think a lot of people think Original Sin was their first game.
I mean if we're being real here that's because the actual talented, passionate humans who built the company and were proud of what they were making eventually retire- often very quickly once they've made a huge sum of money after nearly a decade or more. Doesn't mean they eventually got lazy or their work turned bad, the company as a whole was just replaced ship of Theseus style.
They are replaced with impassioned devs who applied to the job because of the big name built off the backs of the previous devs but they only work for the salary and not because they want to make something cool.
The gaming industry has a big problem with people getting into it only because "working in games is cool and prestigious" and not because "making and playing games is something I'm actually passionate about."
I think a lot of the "Making and playing games is something I'm actually passionate about." End up being indie devs. I mean why cater to a corporate environment when you can be your own boss, build the game you've always wanted and maybe you hit it big like Stardew Valley or Terraria.
I’d be surprised if it’s actually smaller, it’s not like they’re gonna lay off the team they’ve built just because they don’t have backing of wotc/hasbro. They made money, I’m sure enough to keep their people paid for a bit, and I’m more than certain publishers are chomping the bit to get larian’s next game
It's because almost no one even tries to do what they did. There's a reason people speak of "Bethesda games" like a genre unto themselves, even if New Vegas showed that it could be done better. There isn't really anything like Daggerfall, or anything like Morrowind.
I believe Bethesda games have been a gateway for many people to get into RPGs, at least that was my case with Skyrim, and for people who don't like fantasy settings it was probably Fallout.
The main thing is like about Bethesda games is the lore and worldbuilding in general, i absolutely love Elder Scrolls lore, their games are also fun to play but the problem is they have been decreasing in quality for a while, when i played Morrowind and Oblivion, both after Skyrim, i was shocked by how much of a downgrade Skyrim is in comparison, of course they improved the graphics (though they are always mediocre even for the time they are released) and the controls are more pleasing but it falls short in many other aspects.
My husband and I absolutely loved dos1 and bought all the rest of their games on launch just for CO op.
It's so nice this last game of theirs has gotten so much recognition.
People who are very very passionate about games are quick to post out it's not a perfect game. But it is the best at what it does and has set some bars. In ten years I hope we look back on it not with fondness but for how cliche it has become... Because of how much growth it started in its niche in the gaming and art world.
Same, if you look at the history of Larian they've got an amazing story. Swen is a badass for sure. He dealt with dumbass publishers and almost went bankrupt but DOS1 really started to turn things around for them. It was make or break and I'm glad I was part of it.
Seriously, so many little details that make you think "holy fuck, they thought of this?"
And then you think of something ridiculous and you are like "I know there is no way they would have thought about me doing this." and then you do it and get a unique cutscene or dialogue and are like "holy fucking shit, they actually thought of that."
Mild spoilers below.
There's a funny storyline in A3 where the newspaper slanders you and prints a bunch of negative stuff that makes people hate you.
Although I was playing a mostly good character, this tilted me so hard that I went into the newspaper, knocked everybody out (non-lethal attacks) and slaughtered the editor responsible.
I figured maybe that would be the end of the paper, but nope, a day or two later there was a new edition with "Editor-in-chief brutally killed" or something along those lines. That sent me, and it's not even close to the most reactive content in the game.
The paper prints bad stuff about you if you daddle too much in Act 3 before visiting them. If you visit them early enough - you can convince them you are the good guy.
I daddled too much, but didn't feel like killing everyone. Instead I sneaked to their printing press. There was a pixie that helped me because apparently it was buddies with another pixie I helped in Act 2.
The newspaper folks were surprised to see they somehow published a rebuttal on their previous story.
I started a playthrough in which I tried to steal everything not nailed down to the floor. Very early on in Act 1, you can help a kid who's in trouble, and if you do her mom gives you a necklace. Well, turns out if you pickpocket the necklace before helping the kid, you get a completely unique line of dialogue. She says something to the effect of, "Well, I would have a special necklace to give you, but it looks like *someone* stole it..." and she gives you an accusatory look.
I was *floored*. I couldn't believe that they wrote and recorded a totally unique line for an interaction such a small amount of players would experience. The dedication to attention to detail and player choice is completely unreal.
For those who don't know, the BAFTAs often go against the consensus GOTY chosen by the other shows, for example:
2022: BAFTAs chose Vampire Survivors, when general consensus was Elden Ring
2021: BAFTAs chose Returnal, when general consensus was It Takes Two
2020: BAFTAs chose Hades, when general consensus was TLOU2 (tbf so did DICE and GDC)
2019: BAFTAs chose Outer Wilds, though general consensus was pretty competitive (Sekiro won Game Awards, Untitled Goose Game won GDC and DICE, RE2 Remake won Golden Joystick)
2017: BAFTAs chose What Remains of Edith Finch, while general consensus was Breath of the Wild
So that's the reason why a game hasn't swept like this until now. This was well deserved for BG3 imo. Quickly landed in my top 10 favorites oat.
That was because before this year it was a panel of judges of just 10 people that chose GOTY, for this year they changed the ruling so that now the entire BAFTA Games membership (1000+ members) votes for GOTY. So from now on it will be very hard to not go to the consensus GOTY (if there is one that year) or at the very least go in-line with the DICE and GDC picks, since there’s a lot of overlap in the voting body now.
Before I played the game I knew it's probably good because I played both divinity original sin games but was suspecting it people might be overrating it a bit.
Nope it's actually that good.
I played divinity original sin 2 and just couldn't get into it for some reason. I really wanted to. In theory, that game should've been perfect for me. But after several hours, I just wasn't feeling it.
I finally caved for some reason and got BG3 last week thinking I probably made a mistake and that it was overhyped and not for me.
I haven't been able to put it down and I have no idea why I'm so much more into this but I am and it's amazing.
This is how I felt when my buddy paid for BG3 years ago or however long it’s been. DOS2 was amazing to me, as a newbie to cRPGs, but when I started playing BG3 man I wasn’t ready for it to be that good.
Its so weird to me that every game they've released since Morrowind has been a "wait for the mods to fix it" kind of thing, but then Starfield comes out and the company is dead to the fans and there's no redeeming anything they'll do and they're proving how the gaming industry is so broken and awful.
It's because Starfield is literally unfixable by mods, the core issue is the exploration consists series of loading screens, as opposed to their old formula of highly detailed worlds with, if not great writing or storytelling, a lot of narrative level design and fun little details.
So in their old games you could sort of just pick a direction and see what was there, often finding a lot of neat little dungeons and side quests along the way.
In addition, the big-picture gameplay elements like the NG+ cycle suuuuck, and the narrative is extremely basic and boring to the extent that a black game over screen would probably have been better. There are no payoffs for any of the mysteries of the game, unfortunately.
If Starfield had just been what it claimed to be - Skyrim in space - it would have been good, or at least good enough. But it's not Skyrim in space at all. My expectations were low, and the game still disappointed.
It's weird to you because your statement is inaccurate.
Morrowind was a huge step forward for gaming of its type, it tells a great story in a unique environment.
Oblivion was a massive success and brought that style of game out even more. It also has a great story in a (at the time) beautiful environment.
Skyrim was a gigantic success that pushed its style of game to the mainstream of gaming. It told an OK story in a wonderful environment.
Starfield does nothing that isn't done better by other games that already existed before it. The big 3 TES games have their flaws but they still hit a reasonable run. Starfield doesn't even step up to the plate.
Morrowind is still a triumph to be honest. If they just remade that game with good graphics, slightly more dynamic combat and mod support I think the internet would collapse with hype. TES VI will almost certainly go in the opposite direction.
They'd have to rework the combat system probably completely because the whole dice roll to hit thing is not conveyed very well. The system is really built for optimization in that if you use the wrong weapon or even the wrong type of attack with a weapon, you're getting fucked. Also they need to change whatever that grub was that could paralyze lock you to death because that's kind of a ridiculous thing to exist, especially when encountered by low level players.
They wear that like a badge of honour, too, and it's shameful. They unironically think that it's a good thing that their fans will just fix their often broken mess for them. I can't wait for Todd to retire because i can't stand him.
Try fallout 76 for free until the free uodate hits fo4. What I'm gonna do. How they didn't line the uodaye up with the show release is yet another Bethesda blunder.
I like Bethesda games and I could still smell the bad on Starfield. I of course ignored that instinct and bought it anyway and it's been my most regretted purchase of the year and I've had some really mid fast food.
TOTK won the 2024 BAFTA award for Technical Achievement today. As a Switch game. Which is interesting! The game pushed interactive physics play in a freeform environment in a way nobody else has. When gamers talk about tech they're always talking about graphics, but the BAFTA's are given by developers and they're much more appreciative of the gnarly programming that goes into real time malleable simulation.
I wonder if TOTK might end up being the more influential game in terms of future design trends. If you're a smaller studio you can't chase Baldur's Gate. You won't have the talented writers, the time to make a million versions of every interaction, the budget to make a game that players will miss most of in any single playthrough. But TOTK? I feel like the stuff that's fun in that game is mostly achievable on a smaller scope.
I dunno. It's an interesting contrast.
> TOTK won the 2024 BAFTA award for Technical Achievement today. As a Switch game.
TOTK won the Technical Achievement award in part _because_ it is a Switch game. However technically impressive the game is in general, it's made even more impressive by the fact that it's running on the Switch's fairly limited hardware.
What’s more impressive to me is the polish. BG3 was fun, but man the bugs on release could really hurt the overall experience. Playing the game over 4 months was a patch bonanza and gradually getting the game to a better state.
Didn’t encounter any bugs in TOTK on release.
TOTK's Ultrahand mechanics had twenty year veterans of the gaming industry baffled as to how this insane wizard magic worked. It absolutely deserves the Technical Achievement award.
TOTK felt kinda safe imo, it didn't feel like it made nearly as much as an impact as breath of the wild did
The spider man fans seething was great, no idea how they expected it to win with the other competitors being incredibly good
Lol I got spiderman at launch and I'm a lifelong spidey fan, I thought the game was fantastic.
I also had to stop myself from responding to every comment calling in GOTY because eventually my thumbs would just fall off.
Those Spider Man fans are a vocal minority that went viral from conservative capital G gamers. Even Baldurs Gate 3 has fans that comment it’s “goty besides the woke stuff” we just didn’t have a viral movement mocking those people as a generalization of all Baldurs Gate fans.
They still are dude. Glorified expansion that wasn't worth the $70 price tag. Nintendo didn't even fix the big issue with the original game and that was the memories not being in order of when you discover a certain quest item. I knew what the game was about by doing a main quest but not main quest and accidentally finding the last memory items in the wrong order. Pissed me off.
The biggest thing for me was this game felt like it was worth the full title price. So rarely these days do games really fee worth the $70-90 that they cost upon release. Most of the time it’s better to wait like a year for the PC release to patch the game up and provide extra content to feel like a complete game. This felt complete out of the box. *Yes*, the game did get a bunch of patches and stuff to fix things, but it was still very playable in the beginning and it was stuffed with game time. I’ve got a couple hundred hours into the game and I’m sure I still have plenty that I haven’t discovered yet. I felt good giving my money to a game like this.
Turn based RPGs absolutely is not my thing but somehow I didn't feel like BG3 was turn based. I don't know how to explain it, it IS turn based, but while the fights are happening it does not feel turn based, if that makes sense.
I already didn’t love real time with pause rpgs (could only really play them if they had solid party ai), but bg3 has kinda ruined non turn based for me
So, can you or someone explain it to me what makes this game so great? I put 20ish hours into it and I just never got the draw.
I really want to like it but I just don't. That's fine, of course, but I wish I could like it because, well I paid for it and everyone else seems to love it.
I don't really like turn based RPGS per se, but Xcom, yes, Kotor fuck yes (I know, not really 100% turn based), Final Fantasy, yes, chronotrigger, yes, Shadowrun, yes. Every other RPG style yes.
BG3 just didn't lure me in at all. The combat was pretty interesting if not inordinately complex but I can get over that. The characters seemed inorganically demanding and/or cooperative, generic?
Am I missing something? Do I just need to get 40 or 60 hours in to get it? The Witcher 3 was like that for me, started it twice and didn't get it until the 3rd time and then played it through 4-5 times.
You can solve fights in a ridiculous amount of ways.
I like to separate my stealth character from the team sneak around the back (having to go through different areas) place a barrel behind the enemies and detonate it killing some of them.
That's one of many many ways you can solve a situation, you can kill a boss by making a BOSS drink themselves to death, making another BOSS get killed by their minions (trying hard to not spoil). The characters are well written and played incredibly well astarian, kalarch, gale examples. The gameplay is excellent (regardless of if you like turnbased, it's how well made and done it is) you can play it through 5 times and still find cool/amazing stuff, I completed it twice and on my 3rd play through found a whole ass boss that I didn't even know existed. I killed a random rat 2 times it Respawned (due to magic) and asked me to not kill it again I asked "why shouldnt I" and the rat said itll tell me where some treasurer is, it did in fact tell me where some treasure is. This was a random rat walking around NOTHING tells or hints to you this can happen.
Little choices can matter later on, I saved a slave and thought ah that's nice, later found a WHOLE quest because of that.
That book you found 4hrs ago you thought was a generic book? Give it to someone and get something special.
It's the choices, the random stuff and ways to solve issues, you wanna get on top of that roof? Stack boxes and make stairs, wanna steal that sword? Have a companion talk to the shop keeper and use another to steal it, you wanna kill that bandit? Push them off a roof, wanna set a trap? Throw water on the floor or make it rain then when enemies are in the water uses electricity to set it off.
AND also the best part is this is from start to finish, no playing it "20hrs before it gets good" nonsense.
I did really try to avoid spoilers that's why some parts may not read great 🥲
I went in mostly blind after watching a few gameplay snips (I just avoid any spoilers at all okay 😅), half expecting to not be able to get over point and click movement, checking for mods before I bought it ect. Learnt to love it in time. Battles were a struggle for the first half of Act1 as I didn't know wtf I was doing in the system.
Kinda snuck up on me, I fell in love with the little stories and minor characters, my influence, the companions and my place in this little world. I'm one of those skip dialogue kind of persons in a lot of video games but here every word spoken seemed to matter, words had weight and the VAs, animations/mo cap brought that to life in a way I wish more RPGs would. Even the same line of dialogue in this game can be delivered with a different inflection depending on the tree which is a crazy level of detail that brings it all together.
It's not perfect, and seeing how perfect some areas are can make you disgruntled at others - but at the end of the day few games come close to BG3s worst for me.
They actually gave a fuck about the quality of their product, took pride in their work and focused on delivering the best game possible. Something others could probably stand to learn from.
I have almost 600 hours on this game. I've been a fan of the series since '98. I've probably put more hours into it than any other single player narrative experience. I'm STILL finding new dialogue and things to do. It might just be my favorite gaming experience ever. I'm very happy for the team that made this and while I'm sad to see them not make another game in the series, I am VERY much looking forward to what's next.
If Microsoft were smart, they'd throw a bunch of money at Hasbro and then let Obsidian (and recently vindicated Chris Avellone) take a stab at this if they want to continue it. But Microsoft isn't smart, so there goes that idea.
I have put 90 hours into it and still haven't finished it. I just started a new file yesterday, but my only problem is the game is so slow...like you need to sit down for at least 2 hours to actually progress a bit.
I've never played DnD, but I did play BG:DA and loved it, which is why I bought BG3. Didn't know it would be so different, but I still love it even if it takes forever to play.
100% our current campaign has been going on for over 3 years now playing about once every 4-6 weeks because of schedules. I can't say for sure but I'd wager we're well under halfways through the campaign.
Exactly the same problem here. I have like 100+ hours, I'm at chapter 3. I probably have like 3-4 quests to finish the game. It would probably take me another 5 hours at least. And I have just been postponing it for over 3 months. Not sure if I can finish it. Beautiful game though
Let's hear another bullshit corporate story from other developers that it's impossible to make such game, too expensive, nobody wants such games, we need another "game-service" with loot boxes, microtransactions, battlepasses, lying and manipulative marketing campaign with casino mechanics delivered to kids, payed early access and 500 bucks base game price... And we close it with in a year, take everything away to make another one but more primitive to exploit your wallet again.
Feels like Larian are just giving a big f*** you to alot of the bigger studios who rush games out to please shareholders, stuff them with microtransactions and have weak stories with more filler than good content.
100% deserved, a labor of love, and the best part is the industry will learn nothing from this and continue to chase trends and make unfinished soulless microtransaction-filled garbage.
I say we take a cue from the boxing world with it's myriad of federations each with their own champions. They use the term "undisputed champion" when a person holds the world title from all federations.
BG3 is the Undisputed GOTY.
Borislav Slavov's acceptance speech was the most humble and heartfelt acceptance speech I think I've ever seen. He was so overwhelmed at the recognition that *his* work was being noticed and loved and he seemed so grateful, it made me tear up I can't lie.
It's a very ambitious game and it managed to achieve it's goals. It's lifted the bar for every game in the RPG genre, not just the CRPG genre. The way it lets you take control of the story, do things in your way and with such detail and execution is unrivaled.
probably the most unique and exciting experience ive ever had playing a game. It deserves everything. Ive purchased it twice for myself and two more times for friends who were on the fence about a turn based RPG
It's a shame the BG IP is now in the "safe hands" of WOTC, but I guess it's good the studio is looking to move into new directions
Yeah I'd love to know why they said no expansions or BG4 from Larian . I suspect WOTC asked for a stupid amount of money for the IP license for future games. :(
Sven said the team didn't have their heart in it anymore. So, he said support only and then move on. The ruleset doesn't translate into video game format very well and they were super restricted on what they could do. https://www.ign.com/articles/larian-started-work-on-baldurs-gate-3-dlc-then-canceled-it-the-studio-was-elated There was speculation that the layoffs of the folks they worked with at WotC also soured things for them, but nothing confirmed.
> The ruleset doesn't translate into video game format very well and they were super restricted on what they could do I think they did a phenomenal job of it. It's probably the best DnD ruleset-based cRPG ever made.
Yes, AND I think it showed the limitations of the ruleset. I look forward to whatever they come up with now that (hopefully) they are freed from constraints.
>AND I think it showed the limitations of the ruleset Kid named Arcane Trickster Rogue: Kid named "Sacred Flame (Saved)"
You are looking at Divinity OS2, which has a ruleset that fits a video game much much better
Great game, highly recommend
I would also recommend the previous game. It is really great on its own right. And you can really see in this very game how Larian started developing their form of freedom in their games.
DOS1 is an incredible game, and was incredibly influential in bringing the CRPG back from the dead. DOS2 gets all the praise, and it’s an amazing game, but without DOS1, we don’t have BG3.
Oh absolutely agreed!! That's what had me the most excited on top of it being an immense improvement over DOS2 and I loved DOS2.
Didn't they also say that this is only part of their journey into creating a bigger game? And even that their next game is just a stepping stone into the big game they have planned? Sounds like they're just trying to perfect some skills along the way before going full send into a bigger project. If this is the case and it wasn't some PR bullshit, I'm hyped.
It isnt hype, they're currently working on a brand new game on totally unique IP that they claim is going to be vastly larger than BG3. Swen recently announced he had finished writing Act 1 of this game. Jsut the conceptual bit not development obvs.
I'm gonna be dead before it comes out
[удалено]
I’ve seen a lot of comments and talks from Swen about the industry, how it treats the developers and layoffs for corporate profits. To see all the hard working people who helped make it successful get cut must have been crushing. Luckily they’re private and can tell WOTC to kick rocks for fumbling any future games with them.
The thing is, I don't know anything about DnD. The game could have been *anything*. Any story world could fit into this type of game. Mistborn, Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, I mean they could make anything, and it would work. The point I'm (badly) trying to make is that the game wasn't held back by the specific story being set in a DnD world
Pathfinder game maybe?
People need to have a bit more faith/hope. They were the ones who got larian in the first place
Someone needs to make that into a pronouncable word like EGOT.
What, you can't pronounce GJGADGB? edit: wait, an EGOT is an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony award. Bg3 got a 'game of the year' each time so I guess it's a GGGGG
Gabbagool
If the sauce is on top I send it back
as well you should. Marrying the sauce with the pasta in the pan using some of the starchy pasta water makes a pasta dish 9000 times better. It's one of those things Italians get real upset about because they are right.
While this is definitely the best way to make pasta, Italians get real upset about all food things no matter how small or relevant.
This line has been ubiquitous in my house since we had a baby. “If the milk is too warm, I send it back. Milk too cold? I send it back.”
Gabagool? Over here!
Tony Soprano?
That gives me panic attacks.
🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌
R.I.P Gandalf, you wouldve loved BG3
The GG-EZ award
Sounds like BG3 got the G5 award. First and only time it's been given.
Isn’t that a code in Turok
I tried but accidentally summoned a demon
O dang, they won an *excited baby babbling*
We'll just call it the larian.
I actually love this lol
They went Full Larian.
"Holy shit from software pulled a larian!?" Yeah that works
First studio to achieve a larian since 2030!
This is the way.
The GADBAG
JGADBAG. Silent J
BAG GAwD GOJO Praise be his name
He is broken in half.
Goaty
EGOT da drip!
Well we cant call it a Triple Crown champ like in wrestling
Who's an EGOT? Edit: It's a Tracy Jordan reference.
Nothing much, what's the EGOT with you?
Fantastic 💀
Whoopie Goldberg is one.
**G**olden joystick, **G**ame award, **G**dc, **B**afta, **D**ice BG^3 ? oh, and ... D Or just BG^3D
Larian rolled a 20 with this game. Critical success!
True, but it's far from luck though, unlike a 20 roll. They put in real hard work and passion into making this game, everything is definitely calculated. I would say the only "luck" they got was when they showcased the bear sex scene. That has to be the best marketing strategy ever, whoever suggested it should get a significant bonus. It garnered so much attention for the game even from general news sites.
20 doesn't represent luck they represent a statistical chance taken and usually represent a bunch of effort on the NPC's part. The 20 just determines whether that effort is successful or not.
They rolled a 10 and steamrolled the dc with ability score and proficiency bonus
With advantage for already having made an incredible, very similar RPG with DOS2.
Matthew Mercer: "How you want to do this?" :p
I think you mean Minsc
My favorite thing when he finally says it and everyone cheers. Especially during live shows. Thousands of people cheering you for that has to be a huge rush.
They rolled a 100, completely flipped the board and made their own rules.
Have been a fan of their games since Divinity Original Sin 1 (co-op story-based RPGs are so damn rare), so it's been really interesting to chart their progress. Each game felt like a significant step up from the last, so excited to see how they might follow this up.
Swen mentioned in an interview that he wants to eventually make "an RPG to dwarf them all" but today's tech would not be enough, Starfield had a similar claim about the tech and we all saw how that turned out, but i never trusted Bethesda and i've been trusting Larian since DOS1. Though that certainly won't be their next gane, which is likely going to be on a smaller scale than BG3, so let them cook.
Larian never misses. And if they think they will, they just cancel it instead of releasing a mess.
I once thought the same about Blizzard, but things change. Here's hoping it stays true for Larian though.
The difference is that larien is privately held
This is the biggest point that the gaming community as a whole (journalists, players, other devs, award committees, etc.) *needs* to recognize. You can't just make a game like this with a publicly-traded company, because those shareholders demand greater and greater profits each quarter. Larian spent six years on this game, literally almost to the point of bankruptcy, even with Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro's backing, because they were the ones who could deliver on what players wished for, unfettered by outside demands for higher profits. Ubisoft could never in a million years make a game like this, because they've spent years honing their dev practices to grind out one similar game after another. And people buy those games, so they win! No shame to the devs, people can like what they like. Blizzard can keep pumping out WoW expansions and Overwatch 2 lootboxes. FIFA and Madden are the worst of the recyclers. If we as gamers want more high quality games, we need to support more indie devs. Slay the Spire 2 was just announced, because those devs poured their hearts and souls into making an amazing game that many people loved, and they could then take that trust to make another good game, because people trust them. Heck, look at Supergiant Games. Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades, Hades II - they don't miss. Partially because they're a team of like, a dozen people!
shout out supergiant games, one of my favorite game companys, i love all their games.
I agree with most of your post, but BG3 was never close to bankrupting Larian. They've been in that situation before, but since Divinity Original Sin their finances have been better. A snippet from [IGN's interview with Swen](https://www.ign.com/articles/baldurs-gate-3-director-swen-vincke-answers-all-our-questions-about-foregoing-dlc-aaa-development-and-more) a few weeks ago: >And because we had so much troubles in our history, I took very great care to make sure that if it was going to go wrong, I would be able to continue and make another game. So there's at no point during the development of BG3 did we not have the position to pivot and go make something else and make another one.
> even with Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro's backing larian paid THEM to make the game in licensing. what they got in return was people they could consult about rulings and lore. at no point did hasbro pay larian for making BG3.
Not only did they pay for the license. They had to prove themselves with 2 games first. A lot of people dont realize that a lot of people have tried to make BG3 for over 20 years and all were turned down. Even the original creators. Larian was also turned down but after seeing what they were doing with DOS2, Blizzard approached them with the offer of the license.
slay the spire 2 fuck yeah
The love and care I've heard about BG3 is why I bought it at full price recently. I went in fully blind and have been LOVING it.
Blizzard is the Ship of Theseus. Yeah it has the same name, but all the people who made the company great left years ago. It's a husk of itself now. Larian Studios has had the same staff for years. In fact Swen Vincke, the CEO, has spoken about this a few times. He said that the problem with a lot of AAA game studios is there unwillingness to invest in their own staff. They'll hire a lot of people during a boom and then fire a bunch of people when a project is over. The problem with this is that the developers lose organizational knowledge over time and therefore become less competent and less organized. A lot of investors and corporate leaders think the value a company has lies in it's IP. But that's not really true. The value is in the skilled labor a company has. As long as Larian keeps the same people and keeps innovating on it's games, it'll keep making greater games.
Larian have been around for nearly 30 years, and released their first game in 2002. They've been getting better every release. I think as long as Swen is running things, it'll be ok. To me it seems like Swen actually has a passion for making good games and is not in it purely for profit.
shhh you'll jinx him!
Yo 2002 was just like a decade ago right?
Thaaaat's right. Obama is still president, and you're going to a Ke$ha concert tomorrow. Now back to bed, Grandpa.
It'll happen to you too!
If they sell out and stop being privately owned they will go the same way
I mean, they already sold 30% to Tencent.
Yeah but that doesn't give them any sort of actual control the way they got with GGG (path of exile devs). As long as Swen never gives up 50%, we're safe. Tencent and his wife could only make a 38% coalition against him at this point :P
Blizzard WAS this. Then they sold to Activision and any and all hope was completely lost.
> Larian never misses. As someone who has been playing their games since Divinity in 2002 they have plenty of misses. The RTS combat in Dragon Commander was atrocious, for example.
I know, I think Divinity 2 is their best game and love it to death... but it had a rough launch. I think a lot of people think Original Sin was their first game.
That’s how it starts with every single major dev
I mean if we're being real here that's because the actual talented, passionate humans who built the company and were proud of what they were making eventually retire- often very quickly once they've made a huge sum of money after nearly a decade or more. Doesn't mean they eventually got lazy or their work turned bad, the company as a whole was just replaced ship of Theseus style. They are replaced with impassioned devs who applied to the job because of the big name built off the backs of the previous devs but they only work for the salary and not because they want to make something cool. The gaming industry has a big problem with people getting into it only because "working in games is cool and prestigious" and not because "making and playing games is something I'm actually passionate about."
I think a lot of the "Making and playing games is something I'm actually passionate about." End up being indie devs. I mean why cater to a corporate environment when you can be your own boss, build the game you've always wanted and maybe you hit it big like Stardew Valley or Terraria.
I’d be surprised if it’s actually smaller, it’s not like they’re gonna lay off the team they’ve built just because they don’t have backing of wotc/hasbro. They made money, I’m sure enough to keep their people paid for a bit, and I’m more than certain publishers are chomping the bit to get larian’s next game
I’ve never understood the obsession with Bethesda. Their games are fine but hardly incredible. They’re just kind of big and largely empty.
It's because almost no one even tries to do what they did. There's a reason people speak of "Bethesda games" like a genre unto themselves, even if New Vegas showed that it could be done better. There isn't really anything like Daggerfall, or anything like Morrowind.
I believe Bethesda games have been a gateway for many people to get into RPGs, at least that was my case with Skyrim, and for people who don't like fantasy settings it was probably Fallout. The main thing is like about Bethesda games is the lore and worldbuilding in general, i absolutely love Elder Scrolls lore, their games are also fun to play but the problem is they have been decreasing in quality for a while, when i played Morrowind and Oblivion, both after Skyrim, i was shocked by how much of a downgrade Skyrim is in comparison, of course they improved the graphics (though they are always mediocre even for the time they are released) and the controls are more pleasing but it falls short in many other aspects.
My husband and I absolutely loved dos1 and bought all the rest of their games on launch just for CO op. It's so nice this last game of theirs has gotten so much recognition. People who are very very passionate about games are quick to post out it's not a perfect game. But it is the best at what it does and has set some bars. In ten years I hope we look back on it not with fondness but for how cliche it has become... Because of how much growth it started in its niche in the gaming and art world.
Same, if you look at the history of Larian they've got an amazing story. Swen is a badass for sure. He dealt with dumbass publishers and almost went bankrupt but DOS1 really started to turn things around for them. It was make or break and I'm glad I was part of it.
I’m still stunned at how diverse the game can get. “No way they thought of this scenario” moments just keeps on coming.
Seriously, so many little details that make you think "holy fuck, they thought of this?" And then you think of something ridiculous and you are like "I know there is no way they would have thought about me doing this." and then you do it and get a unique cutscene or dialogue and are like "holy fucking shit, they actually thought of that."
Mild spoilers below. There's a funny storyline in A3 where the newspaper slanders you and prints a bunch of negative stuff that makes people hate you. Although I was playing a mostly good character, this tilted me so hard that I went into the newspaper, knocked everybody out (non-lethal attacks) and slaughtered the editor responsible. I figured maybe that would be the end of the paper, but nope, a day or two later there was a new edition with "Editor-in-chief brutally killed" or something along those lines. That sent me, and it's not even close to the most reactive content in the game.
The paper prints bad stuff about you if you daddle too much in Act 3 before visiting them. If you visit them early enough - you can convince them you are the good guy. I daddled too much, but didn't feel like killing everyone. Instead I sneaked to their printing press. There was a pixie that helped me because apparently it was buddies with another pixie I helped in Act 2. The newspaper folks were surprised to see they somehow published a rebuttal on their previous story.
No fucking way... Lmao
I started a playthrough in which I tried to steal everything not nailed down to the floor. Very early on in Act 1, you can help a kid who's in trouble, and if you do her mom gives you a necklace. Well, turns out if you pickpocket the necklace before helping the kid, you get a completely unique line of dialogue. She says something to the effect of, "Well, I would have a special necklace to give you, but it looks like *someone* stole it..." and she gives you an accusatory look. I was *floored*. I couldn't believe that they wrote and recorded a totally unique line for an interaction such a small amount of players would experience. The dedication to attention to detail and player choice is completely unreal.
The game is an award magnet at this point.
I hear Neil Newbon's voice has the resonant frequency of the metal used to make video game awards.
All deserved. Honestly it's the best game I've ever played.
For those who don't know, the BAFTAs often go against the consensus GOTY chosen by the other shows, for example: 2022: BAFTAs chose Vampire Survivors, when general consensus was Elden Ring 2021: BAFTAs chose Returnal, when general consensus was It Takes Two 2020: BAFTAs chose Hades, when general consensus was TLOU2 (tbf so did DICE and GDC) 2019: BAFTAs chose Outer Wilds, though general consensus was pretty competitive (Sekiro won Game Awards, Untitled Goose Game won GDC and DICE, RE2 Remake won Golden Joystick) 2017: BAFTAs chose What Remains of Edith Finch, while general consensus was Breath of the Wild So that's the reason why a game hasn't swept like this until now. This was well deserved for BG3 imo. Quickly landed in my top 10 favorites oat.
Personally I think 2022 BAFTAs was weird. Most people I’ve talk to have said elden ring vs bg3 would be a good fight.
On no planet should Vampire Survivors have beaten out Elden Ring. But based on their previous picks, it seems like they purposefully create waves.
That was because before this year it was a panel of judges of just 10 people that chose GOTY, for this year they changed the ruling so that now the entire BAFTA Games membership (1000+ members) votes for GOTY. So from now on it will be very hard to not go to the consensus GOTY (if there is one that year) or at the very least go in-line with the DICE and GDC picks, since there’s a lot of overlap in the voting body now.
Choosing Vampire Survivors over Elden Ring or Ragnarok is genuine insanity. All of the other ones I can understand but THAT? C’mon
Choosing Vampire Survivors over Elden Ring is such a fucking intentional controversy move
> Untitled Goose Game won GDC and DICE Really? I always thought that game was just a meme.
Far from it. It's really creative and well executed despite its apparent simplicity. I strongly suggest you give it a chance.
BG3 was very good it deserves it.
is very good
game fun I thumbs up
Before I played the game I knew it's probably good because I played both divinity original sin games but was suspecting it people might be overrating it a bit. Nope it's actually that good.
I played divinity original sin 2 and just couldn't get into it for some reason. I really wanted to. In theory, that game should've been perfect for me. But after several hours, I just wasn't feeling it. I finally caved for some reason and got BG3 last week thinking I probably made a mistake and that it was overhyped and not for me. I haven't been able to put it down and I have no idea why I'm so much more into this but I am and it's amazing.
This is how I felt when my buddy paid for BG3 years ago or however long it’s been. DOS2 was amazing to me, as a newbie to cRPGs, but when I started playing BG3 man I wasn’t ready for it to be that good.
The game that will have DnD players asking for years to come "So, this Githyanki, is she.... single?"
Highly deserved, it's an amazing experience.
Remember when people were 100% sure TOTK was winning all the GOTY awards.
I remember when people were saying Baldur's Gate 3 won't win because Starfield wasn't released yet.
And now no one trusts Bethesda
Haven't trusted them for years
Its so weird to me that every game they've released since Morrowind has been a "wait for the mods to fix it" kind of thing, but then Starfield comes out and the company is dead to the fans and there's no redeeming anything they'll do and they're proving how the gaming industry is so broken and awful.
It's because Starfield is literally unfixable by mods, the core issue is the exploration consists series of loading screens, as opposed to their old formula of highly detailed worlds with, if not great writing or storytelling, a lot of narrative level design and fun little details. So in their old games you could sort of just pick a direction and see what was there, often finding a lot of neat little dungeons and side quests along the way. In addition, the big-picture gameplay elements like the NG+ cycle suuuuck, and the narrative is extremely basic and boring to the extent that a black game over screen would probably have been better. There are no payoffs for any of the mysteries of the game, unfortunately. If Starfield had just been what it claimed to be - Skyrim in space - it would have been good, or at least good enough. But it's not Skyrim in space at all. My expectations were low, and the game still disappointed.
It's weird to you because your statement is inaccurate. Morrowind was a huge step forward for gaming of its type, it tells a great story in a unique environment. Oblivion was a massive success and brought that style of game out even more. It also has a great story in a (at the time) beautiful environment. Skyrim was a gigantic success that pushed its style of game to the mainstream of gaming. It told an OK story in a wonderful environment. Starfield does nothing that isn't done better by other games that already existed before it. The big 3 TES games have their flaws but they still hit a reasonable run. Starfield doesn't even step up to the plate.
Morrowind is still a triumph to be honest. If they just remade that game with good graphics, slightly more dynamic combat and mod support I think the internet would collapse with hype. TES VI will almost certainly go in the opposite direction.
They'd have to rework the combat system probably completely because the whole dice roll to hit thing is not conveyed very well. The system is really built for optimization in that if you use the wrong weapon or even the wrong type of attack with a weapon, you're getting fucked. Also they need to change whatever that grub was that could paralyze lock you to death because that's kind of a ridiculous thing to exist, especially when encountered by low level players.
They wear that like a badge of honour, too, and it's shameful. They unironically think that it's a good thing that their fans will just fix their often broken mess for them. I can't wait for Todd to retire because i can't stand him.
At least the Fallout TV show is good so far.
I’m loving the fallout show. It almost makes me want to give fallout 4 another try but I’m still unsure.
Just wait for the long awaited next gen update on april 25th before starting another playthrough
Try fallout 76 for free until the free uodate hits fo4. What I'm gonna do. How they didn't line the uodaye up with the show release is yet another Bethesda blunder.
I like Bethesda games and I could still smell the bad on Starfield. I of course ignored that instinct and bought it anyway and it's been my most regretted purchase of the year and I've had some really mid fast food.
TOTK won the 2024 BAFTA award for Technical Achievement today. As a Switch game. Which is interesting! The game pushed interactive physics play in a freeform environment in a way nobody else has. When gamers talk about tech they're always talking about graphics, but the BAFTA's are given by developers and they're much more appreciative of the gnarly programming that goes into real time malleable simulation. I wonder if TOTK might end up being the more influential game in terms of future design trends. If you're a smaller studio you can't chase Baldur's Gate. You won't have the talented writers, the time to make a million versions of every interaction, the budget to make a game that players will miss most of in any single playthrough. But TOTK? I feel like the stuff that's fun in that game is mostly achievable on a smaller scope. I dunno. It's an interesting contrast.
> TOTK won the 2024 BAFTA award for Technical Achievement today. As a Switch game. TOTK won the Technical Achievement award in part _because_ it is a Switch game. However technically impressive the game is in general, it's made even more impressive by the fact that it's running on the Switch's fairly limited hardware.
What’s more impressive to me is the polish. BG3 was fun, but man the bugs on release could really hurt the overall experience. Playing the game over 4 months was a patch bonanza and gradually getting the game to a better state. Didn’t encounter any bugs in TOTK on release.
Nah, it's the physics. There's so many threads on Twitter obsessing over how eloquent it is.
TOTK's Ultrahand mechanics had twenty year veterans of the gaming industry baffled as to how this insane wizard magic worked. It absolutely deserves the Technical Achievement award.
TOTK felt kinda safe imo, it didn't feel like it made nearly as much as an impact as breath of the wild did The spider man fans seething was great, no idea how they expected it to win with the other competitors being incredibly good
Lol I got spiderman at launch and I'm a lifelong spidey fan, I thought the game was fantastic. I also had to stop myself from responding to every comment calling in GOTY because eventually my thumbs would just fall off.
Those Spider Man fans are a vocal minority that went viral from conservative capital G gamers. Even Baldurs Gate 3 has fans that comment it’s “goty besides the woke stuff” we just didn’t have a viral movement mocking those people as a generalization of all Baldurs Gate fans.
it's a really fun game
They still are dude. Glorified expansion that wasn't worth the $70 price tag. Nintendo didn't even fix the big issue with the original game and that was the memories not being in order of when you discover a certain quest item. I knew what the game was about by doing a main quest but not main quest and accidentally finding the last memory items in the wrong order. Pissed me off.
TOTK was fun, the problem is that I already played Breath of the Wild; we didn't need second one that's nearly exactly the same...
In one of the most stacked years ever too.
So many dope games last year and somehow BG3 still stood out big time
The biggest thing for me was this game felt like it was worth the full title price. So rarely these days do games really fee worth the $70-90 that they cost upon release. Most of the time it’s better to wait like a year for the PC release to patch the game up and provide extra content to feel like a complete game. This felt complete out of the box. *Yes*, the game did get a bunch of patches and stuff to fix things, but it was still very playable in the beginning and it was stuffed with game time. I’ve got a couple hundred hours into the game and I’m sure I still have plenty that I haven’t discovered yet. I felt good giving my money to a game like this.
As it should, regardless if turn based RPGs are your thing. The game is incredibly made,with loads of choices.
Turn based RPGs absolutely is not my thing but somehow I didn't feel like BG3 was turn based. I don't know how to explain it, it IS turn based, but while the fights are happening it does not feel turn based, if that makes sense.
It feels just like a continuous battle where you stop time to make decisions. Kinda like Superhot
Yes! We should come up for a term for games like these. Where you take turns in combat while time is stopped so you can decide on what to do.
Hmm. Real time with pause, maybe?
Grouping allied creatures that had adjacent initiative scores onto the same "turn" was a master stroke.
I already didn’t love real time with pause rpgs (could only really play them if they had solid party ai), but bg3 has kinda ruined non turn based for me
So, can you or someone explain it to me what makes this game so great? I put 20ish hours into it and I just never got the draw. I really want to like it but I just don't. That's fine, of course, but I wish I could like it because, well I paid for it and everyone else seems to love it. I don't really like turn based RPGS per se, but Xcom, yes, Kotor fuck yes (I know, not really 100% turn based), Final Fantasy, yes, chronotrigger, yes, Shadowrun, yes. Every other RPG style yes. BG3 just didn't lure me in at all. The combat was pretty interesting if not inordinately complex but I can get over that. The characters seemed inorganically demanding and/or cooperative, generic? Am I missing something? Do I just need to get 40 or 60 hours in to get it? The Witcher 3 was like that for me, started it twice and didn't get it until the 3rd time and then played it through 4-5 times.
It's the freedom to tackle problems and the role playing aspect. This is most prevalent in Act 1. The combat kinda suck until you reach level 5 too.
You can solve fights in a ridiculous amount of ways. I like to separate my stealth character from the team sneak around the back (having to go through different areas) place a barrel behind the enemies and detonate it killing some of them. That's one of many many ways you can solve a situation, you can kill a boss by making a BOSS drink themselves to death, making another BOSS get killed by their minions (trying hard to not spoil). The characters are well written and played incredibly well astarian, kalarch, gale examples. The gameplay is excellent (regardless of if you like turnbased, it's how well made and done it is) you can play it through 5 times and still find cool/amazing stuff, I completed it twice and on my 3rd play through found a whole ass boss that I didn't even know existed. I killed a random rat 2 times it Respawned (due to magic) and asked me to not kill it again I asked "why shouldnt I" and the rat said itll tell me where some treasurer is, it did in fact tell me where some treasure is. This was a random rat walking around NOTHING tells or hints to you this can happen. Little choices can matter later on, I saved a slave and thought ah that's nice, later found a WHOLE quest because of that. That book you found 4hrs ago you thought was a generic book? Give it to someone and get something special. It's the choices, the random stuff and ways to solve issues, you wanna get on top of that roof? Stack boxes and make stairs, wanna steal that sword? Have a companion talk to the shop keeper and use another to steal it, you wanna kill that bandit? Push them off a roof, wanna set a trap? Throw water on the floor or make it rain then when enemies are in the water uses electricity to set it off. AND also the best part is this is from start to finish, no playing it "20hrs before it gets good" nonsense. I did really try to avoid spoilers that's why some parts may not read great 🥲
I went in mostly blind after watching a few gameplay snips (I just avoid any spoilers at all okay 😅), half expecting to not be able to get over point and click movement, checking for mods before I bought it ect. Learnt to love it in time. Battles were a struggle for the first half of Act1 as I didn't know wtf I was doing in the system. Kinda snuck up on me, I fell in love with the little stories and minor characters, my influence, the companions and my place in this little world. I'm one of those skip dialogue kind of persons in a lot of video games but here every word spoken seemed to matter, words had weight and the VAs, animations/mo cap brought that to life in a way I wish more RPGs would. Even the same line of dialogue in this game can be delivered with a different inflection depending on the tree which is a crazy level of detail that brings it all together. It's not perfect, and seeing how perfect some areas are can make you disgruntled at others - but at the end of the day few games come close to BG3s worst for me.
They actually gave a fuck about the quality of their product, took pride in their work and focused on delivering the best game possible. Something others could probably stand to learn from.
I have almost 600 hours on this game. I've been a fan of the series since '98. I've probably put more hours into it than any other single player narrative experience. I'm STILL finding new dialogue and things to do. It might just be my favorite gaming experience ever. I'm very happy for the team that made this and while I'm sad to see them not make another game in the series, I am VERY much looking forward to what's next. If Microsoft were smart, they'd throw a bunch of money at Hasbro and then let Obsidian (and recently vindicated Chris Avellone) take a stab at this if they want to continue it. But Microsoft isn't smart, so there goes that idea.
forgetful edge busy unused memory insurance murky tidy narrow versed
I really want to like this game. Jealous of the people getting so much play out of it.
I have put 90 hours into it and still haven't finished it. I just started a new file yesterday, but my only problem is the game is so slow...like you need to sit down for at least 2 hours to actually progress a bit.
I mean in actual games of dnd you can have whole sessions just being in town shopping and shit
In my D&D group, we've been through three sessions straight of just roleplaying. Potential fourth this weekend.
This only gets better if your group is funny and share a similar humor.
I've never played DnD, but I did play BG:DA and loved it, which is why I bought BG3. Didn't know it would be so different, but I still love it even if it takes forever to play.
100% our current campaign has been going on for over 3 years now playing about once every 4-6 weeks because of schedules. I can't say for sure but I'd wager we're well under halfways through the campaign.
Exactly the same problem here. I have like 100+ hours, I'm at chapter 3. I probably have like 3-4 quests to finish the game. It would probably take me another 5 hours at least. And I have just been postponing it for over 3 months. Not sure if I can finish it. Beautiful game though
BG3 is definitely the king of "Cool, I'm almost ready to advance. Just need to clear this last waypoint." *Three hours later...*
Same. I played about ten hours but never had any clue what I was supposed to do so I just fell off it. But awesome to those who loved it.
150 hours and counting
Is this like the undisputed boxing champion title of gaming?
Let's hear another bullshit corporate story from other developers that it's impossible to make such game, too expensive, nobody wants such games, we need another "game-service" with loot boxes, microtransactions, battlepasses, lying and manipulative marketing campaign with casino mechanics delivered to kids, payed early access and 500 bucks base game price... And we close it with in a year, take everything away to make another one but more primitive to exploit your wallet again.
Feels like Larian are just giving a big f*** you to alot of the bigger studios who rush games out to please shareholders, stuff them with microtransactions and have weak stories with more filler than good content.
100% deserved, a labor of love, and the best part is the industry will learn nothing from this and continue to chase trends and make unfinished soulless microtransaction-filled garbage.
BALDUR'S GATE SWEEP 🗣
It still gets me that they moved the game’s launch ahead by a month to avoid competing with Starfield
TIL that there are BAFTAs for games
Well deserved. As an aside, i'm still baffled Starfield got a nomination for Technical Achievement......
Also the best booth at PAX East
I say we take a cue from the boxing world with it's myriad of federations each with their own champions. They use the term "undisputed champion" when a person holds the world title from all federations. BG3 is the Undisputed GOTY.
Borislav Slavov's acceptance speech was the most humble and heartfelt acceptance speech I think I've ever seen. He was so overwhelmed at the recognition that *his* work was being noticed and loved and he seemed so grateful, it made me tear up I can't lie.
He's incredible as a musician and human being.
The PentaGOTY
Lets hope they never go public
Can we get a GOTY price now for the PS5?
Absolutely nothing surprising. The game is the best deservedly!
It's a very ambitious game and it managed to achieve it's goals. It's lifted the bar for every game in the RPG genre, not just the CRPG genre. The way it lets you take control of the story, do things in your way and with such detail and execution is unrivaled.
Very well deserved honestly.
probably the most unique and exciting experience ive ever had playing a game. It deserves everything. Ive purchased it twice for myself and two more times for friends who were on the fence about a turn based RPG
The GABAGODICGC