Baldur's Gate 3

Soldato
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I regret trying to explore so much because I'm bored before I've even got to act 3.
I think I'll leave it until next year and then do a new playthrough ignoring most the side stuff. Or just watch a video of the ending but that seems a bit of a waste as I've done so much.

There's no definitive ending video you can watch as every playthrough is different and choices you make throughout all three acts will affect your eventual ending. Don't forget you can respec your character (and companions) to any class and build you like, which can help spice things up if your combat and encounters are getting a little stale.
 
Soldato
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There's no definitive ending video you can watch as every playthrough is different and choices you make throughout all three acts will affect your eventual ending. Don't forget you can respec your character (and companions) to any class and build you like, which can help spice things up if your combat and encounters are getting a little stale.

Good point. I'll just chip away at it in very short bursts. The boredom is coming from battling with the camera, annoying bugs, maps just being too big and I look at it think CBA.
Shorter sessions are probably the answer, may finish it one day then.
 
Soldato
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Good point. I'll just chip away at it in very short bursts. The boredom is coming from battling with the camera, annoying bugs, maps just being too big and I look at it think CBA.
Shorter sessions are probably the answer, may finish it one day then.

Yeah I find the camera frustrating at times too, especially when having to deal with stairs and elevations. The overhead view can sometimes help, but has its own problems. They need to allow more tilt and zoom on the camera than is currently possible.

The game world isn't as huge as it seems at first, but it is incredibly densely packed with events and encounters so it often feels overwhelming. I don't think it's intended for players to be completionist about it, although some will try. There's no harm in skipping some side quest or companion stuff if it's not interesting or doesn't take your story in the direction you want. The amazing thing about the game is how different everyone's playthroughs are.
 
Soldato
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I’ve played this through twice now and I must say I don’t understand the overhype this is getting in quarters.

The game for me is a solid 9/10. It is very good but I’ve seen so many people calling it “perfect” or 10/10.

The game has some real flaws still. Some of them are flaws that was present in Divinity Original Sin (the first one). I’m delighted with the game but some of the little things can still really **** me off.
 
Soldato
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I’ve played this through twice now and I must say I don’t understand the overhype this is getting in quarters.

The game for me is a solid 9/10. It is very good but I’ve seen so many people calling it “perfect” or 10/10.

The game has some real flaws still. Some of them are flaws that was present in Divinity Original Sin (the first one). I’m delighted with the game but some of the little things can still really **** me off.

I think the overhype is because it's a game that is rather an anomaly in the current market of half-baked AAA games, horrible console ports and titles infested with predatory microtransactions, gamble boxes and battle passes etc. BG3 dares to be old school, with attention to detail, polish and storytelling which isn't afraid to be bold and challenging (rather than running scared of causing offence at every turn).

It's definitely not perfect, my main gripe is that whilst normal difficulty is for the most part fine, story and tactician difficulty seems to have been achieved largely by rigging the dice rolls for or against the player. Personally I find this frustrating, especially in tactician. But normal mode with karmic dice switched off is for the most part well balanced.

It's certainly a 9/10 by modern standards, but perhaps an 8.5/10 were it released when the games industry was in a healthier state (but then a title like this wouldn't have been technically possible back then).
 
Man of Honour
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I’ve played this through twice now and I must say I don’t understand the overhype this is getting in quarters.

The game for me is a solid 9/10. It is very good but I’ve seen so many people calling it “perfect” or 10/10.

The game has some real flaws still. Some of them are flaws that was present in Divinity Original Sin (the first one). I’m delighted with the game but some of the little things can still really **** me off.
No game is a 10/10 but even a 9/10 is pretty brilliant for a non-AAA, dialogue heavy, turn based CRPG. Given that Starfield has been a swing and a miss for many, I'm feeling pretty confident that BG3 will grab the PC GOTY (its going to be my personal GOTY) and IF it does, I think that might well be a first, not sure that a turn based CRPG has ever got GOTY before. Thats some achievement and a good way to break down the nerd barriers that CRPGs are so often tethered by.
 
Soldato
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I managed to get through most of Tactician relatively easily but that last act 3 section definitely amped it up a bit, and not just because of dice rolls, but also I hit the first time in the game when I needed to go and get some extra things like elixirs and scrolls.

I won't spoil how the last fight goes, but suffice to say that that definitely needs some preparation. Party wasn't 100% min-maxed either, which probably didn't help.
 
Soldato
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No game is a 10/10 but even a 9/10 is pretty brilliant for a non-AAA, dialogue heavy, turn based CRPG. Given that Starfield has been a swing and a miss for many, I'm feeling pretty confident that BG3 will grab the PC GOTY (its going to be my personal GOTY) and IF it does, I think that might well be a first, not sure that a turn based CRPG has ever got GOTY before. Thats some achievement and a good way to break down the nerd barriers that CRPGs are so often tethered by.

Not sure if the same awards existed back in 2001 but the arguably superior BG2 won a few and is regarded as one of, if not the best CRPG ever made.
BG3, whilst I have enjoyed it most the time, is nothing compared to II, most notably with the neutered freedom of choice in how you respond to things which is one of the most fundamental components in a game that should be based around your choices, but I've also acknowledged that it may be this way because BG2 didn't have as much voice acting.
Not suggesting it's bad even for a second, but flicking between the two and it's just painfully obvious how bastardised 3 is with their other game Divinity.
 
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Soldato
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Just ran into a bug in Act 3 that is stopping me doing a quest
I talk with Kith'rak voss down in the undercity after defeating Raphael, and his dialogue is broken. He is supposed to meet me in the bar, but he doesn't move from the sewer. Seems like this is a known bug, so hopefully it gets patched in the next update.
 
Man of Honour
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Not sure if the same awards existed back in 2001 but the arguably superior BG2 won a few and is regarded as one of, if not the best CRPG ever made.
BG3, whilst I have enjoyed it most the time, is nothing compared to II, most notably with the neutered freedom of choice in how you respond to things which is one of the most fundamental components in a game that should be based around your choices, but I've also acknowledged that it may be this way because BG2 didn't have as much voice acting.
Not suggesting it's bad even for a second, but flicking between the two and it's just painfully obvious how bastardised 3 is with their other game Divinity.
The GOTY awards existed back then, Baldurs Gate 2 wasnt even nominated, let alone win it. Which just goes to emphasize all the more just how BG3 is breaking down the barriers for CRPGs.

For you, BG2 is better than BG3, for me, BG3 absolutely wipes the floor with BG2. So much so that its not even a close fight in my eyes.
 
Soldato
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The GOTY awards existed back then, Baldurs Gate 2 wasnt even nominated, let alone win it. Which just goes to emphasize all the more just how BG3 is breaking down the barriers for CRPGs.

For you, BG2 is better than BG3, for me, BG3 absolutely wipes the floor with BG2. So much so that its not even a close fight in my eyes.

Agree but opposite lol, not even close as you say, it's Baldurs Gate in name only.
Considering how long 3 took to make I don't think we are in any danger of some kind of CRPG renaissance either, but hopefully it encourages people who didn't play the older titles to see for themselves.

I'm not going to take any lack of GOTY nomination as some kind of argument for which is better either. Heck may as well go into metacritic territory at that point in which they are separated by a massive 1 point in favour of 3 (but a lower user score), not bad for an old crusty game with no GOTY nomination ;)

2 didn't have sex scenes though so loses out on points for a lot of pc gamers right away.
 
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Caporegime
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I was hooked with the game up until the CITY and I think it's because unlike the first two acts, it's mainly all still the city. Going through lush landscapes and shadow realms was very interesting, but it then ends up a trek through street after street, sewer after sewer for most of the game. The only part which really gripped me was the under realm with all that blood everywhere.

ACT 1 - Awesome!
ACT 2 - Very good!
ACT 3 - It's ok, losing interesting to keep playing

Still better than StarS*** which is about as interesting and graphically appealing as a blank wall
 
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Associate
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I still hope BG3 forces other makers to up their game when it comes to writing and attention to details. Things like the mocapped cutscenes made such a huge difference to the quality, I want every other game to do the same.

40k Rogue Trader comes out and I'm looking forward to it, it's looking good. It's still going to be quite a step back from BG3 I believe.
 
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Man of Honour
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Agree but opposite lol, not even close as you say, it's Baldurs Gate in name only.
Thats something I see people saying and every time that I've then asked why, they've never said why. Just because its turn based is my assumption, which would be a very weak way to decide its not Baldurs Gate. Hell, even Sven gave a brilliant 10min explanation of exactly why it IS a Baldurs Gate game.

Truth be told, BG3 is more of an accurate D&D game than BG1 or BG2 were, one could say that BG1 and BG2 were D&D games in name only :D
 
Man of Honour
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I still hope BG3 forces other makers to up their game when it comes to writing and attention to details. Things like the mocapped cutscenes made such a huge difference to the quality, I want every other game to do the same.

40k Rogue Trader comes out and I'm looking forward to it, it's looking good. It's still going to be quite a step back from BG3 I believe.
Definitely this. Theres a very good reason why so many other dev teams were putting BG3 down, its called fear. Fear that they would now be held to account for laziness and poor implementation of their own titles. We've already seen that in Starfield tbh. Hopefully not only the other game makers but also the gamers themselves will be reminded by BG3 that we dont have to put up with poorer quality efforts.
 
Caporegime
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....

...BG2 is better than BG3, for me, BG3 absolutely wipes the floor with BG2. So much so that its not even a close fight in my eyes.
That's high praise, indeed!

Although I more fondly remember BG1 than BG2. I think I just preferred the lower levels and less min/maxing.

ToB was all min/maxing, and I didn't like it much at all.

It's interesting to hear people really lavishing praise on BG3. I didn't like Divinity OS at all, so definitely will be waiting for this to hit the bargain bucket, before I take a chance on it.
 
Man of Honour
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That's high praise, indeed!

Although I more fondly remember BG1 than BG2. I think I just preferred the lower levels and less min/maxing.

ToB was all min/maxing, and I didn't like it much at all.

It's interesting to hear people really lavishing praise on BG3. I didn't like Divinity OS at all, so definitely will be waiting for this to hit the bargain bucket, before I take a chance on it.
If it was the game mechanics of Divinity (the environment, turn based, movement etc) then yeah you might find you have a similar feeling with BG3. If it was the writing or story telling of Divinity you didnt like then you'll find it much improved in BG3
 
Caporegime
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If it was the game mechanics of Divinity (the environment, turn based, movement etc) then yeah you might find you have a similar feeling with BG3. If it was the writing or story telling of Divinity you didnt like then you'll find it much improved in BG3
It was the mechanics. I hated D:OS mechanics. Played a few hours and binned it.
 
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