Baldur's Gate 3

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Recently been playing the series again and really looking forward to the next instalment.
Currently near the end of BG1 and about the move onto BG2, debating on whether to reinstall the Icewind Dale games as well.

Getting back into the games has gotten me to base part of one of my D&D group's adventures around the Baldur's Gate region as well.
 
Soldato
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I'm concerned with this being made by Larian (aka the Divinity Original Sin people), I realise those games get a lot of love but I'm personally not fond of them. I'll be extremely disappointed if BGIII is turn based rather than RTWP, much of the original games charm came from the combat system in my opinion. I'm also concerned as to the quality of the writing, I want a continuation of BGII in style, not a reskinned Divinity.

I'll keep an open mind regardless, fingers crossed it lives up to expectations.
 
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I'm not really sure where they can go plot-wise. Throne of Bhaal finished the story off very nicely.

Ive got BG2 never played it beyond the first couple hours.

WHAT???

I got it during the school holidays (shows how long ago it was released) and stayed up until 5am playing it for the first few days. Easily my favourite game of all time.
 
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Soldato
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I'm not really sure where they can go with plot-wise. Throne of Bhaal finished the story off very nicely.

That's part of my concern.

I've a feeling the dev' team that's now got the rights are going to make a reskinned Divinity game that just happens to be in the Baldurs Gate area, I don't think we'll get an actual sequel in the real sense.
 
Caporegime
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I'm concerned with this being made by Larian (aka the Divinity Original Sin people), I realise those games get a lot of love but I'm personally not fond of them. I'll be extremely disappointed if BGIII is turn based rather than RTWP, much of the original games charm came from the combat system in my opinion. I'm also concerned as to the quality of the writing, I want a continuation of BGII in style, not a reskinned Divinity.

I'll keep an open mind regardless, fingers crossed it lives up to expectations.
Wasn't at all impressed with Divinity:Original Sin. Didn't like the mechanics of it at all. Played for a few hours and shelved it, never to return.

They would have to do something very different for me to give BG3 a shot.

I'm not really sure where they can go plot-wise. Throne of Bhaal finished the story off very nicely.
Think I'm going to upset you twice here... BG:ToB was fairly crap imho. It took min/maxing to the extreme and felt like a fan-made mod. Never liked it. Also the difficulty was so extreme (due to the min/maxing) that I could only ever beat it by using one of the cheesing strats (many people found the final battle virtually impossible).

I think in general the quality of the writing took a turn for the worse in ToB, and the whole thing felt like a rushed/incomplete product to hastily wrap the series up. A shame.

BG2 is no doubt an undisputed classic of PC gaming, but...

For me, the original Baldur's Gate is the best. The freshness, the mystery and intrigue, the characters, the wonderful art and sound, the polish and the quality. Being gripped by the intro and first chapter, then dumped, without hand-holding of any kind, into the deep end, with no real idea of what to do. And what a journey it was. It was, for me, a first, like my first experience with MMOs (EverQuest). The game kept me interested, kept me wanting to see what was around the corner, what the next map would bring, what I would encounter next. Without being overwhelming, or massively power-gamey, or expecting experience/familiarity with D&D mechanics (I had none).

Whilst BG2 did iterate on and improve some aspects, BG1 really nailed it the first time around.

BG2 felt a bit "grim-dark" in comparison. No doubt quite intentionally. It had its own memorable moments, but looking back I think I preferred the simpler, happier times of BG1. And since it was my first CRPG I get a -5 save vs nostalgia against it.
 
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Wasn't at all impressed with Divinity:Original Sin. Didn't like the mechanics of it at all. Played for a few hours and shelved it, never to return.

They would have to do something very different for me to give BG3 a shot.


Think I'm going to upset you twice here... BG:ToB was fairly crap imho. It took min/maxing to the extreme and felt like a fan-made mod. Never liked it. Also the difficulty was so extreme (due to the min/maxing) that I could only ever beat it by using one of the cheesing strats (many people found the final battle virtually impossible).

I think in general the quality of the writing took a turn for the worse in ToB, and the whole thing felt like a rushed/incomplete product to hastily wrap the series up. A shame.

BG2 is no doubt an undisputed classic of PC gaming, but...

For me, the original Baldur's Gate is the best. The freshness, the mystery and intrigue, the characters, the wonderful art and sound, the polish and the quality. Being gripped by the intro and first chapter, then dumped, without hand-holding of any kind, into the deep end, with no real idea of what to do. And what a journey it was. It was, for me, a first, like my first experience with MMOs (EverQuest). The game kept me interested, kept me wanting to see what was around the corner, what the next map would bring, what I would encounter next. Without being overwhelming, or massively power-gamey, or expecting experience/familiarity with D&D mechanics (I had none).

Whilst BG2 did iterate on and improve some aspects, BG1 really nailed it the first time around.

BG2 felt a bit "grim-dark" in comparison. No doubt quite intentionally. It had its own memorable moments, but looking back I think I preferred the simpler, happier times of BG1. And since it was my first CRPG I get a -5 save vs nostalgia against it.

I have similar thoughts about the Baldur's gate series ; the first was an amazing experience, and whilst the sequel was larger with some QoL improvements to me it just felt like more of the same. I, too, thought BG:ToB was at best mediocre ; high level characters, as weird as this may sound, just aren't very fun to play - the power creep becomes excessive.
 

SPG

SPG

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The people who made Pillars would have been better taking this on instead of Larian looking at it.
 

LiE

LiE

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I watched a bit of the PAX demo and tbh it looks a little complex. What I liked about the original series was the simplicity of it. I don't want to think about all these different mechanics like feather fall to jump down big drops or knocking crates into enemies.
 
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