Baldur's Gate 3 (PC out now/PS5 September 6th)

[drahkon]

 

The game right now.

Anybody playing/going to play in September? I know I will.
Haven't seen much. Haven't read any reviews. I've seen the score aggregates, though. Seems to become one of the greatest!

In "preparation", or rather in anticipation, I recently played through Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition and am currently playing the sequel. The former was a little disappointing (still good, though), but the latter improves upon pretty much everything - at least from what I've seen in the first 7 hours.

Can't wait for BG3 to arrive. Already switched my work days for that week so I can dive in for 5 days straight Gonna be interesting to see whether the DnD rules/mechanics are hard to grasp. I've never been part of a group and don't know anything aside from "roll dice".

[killthenet]

I've never played a CRPG or D&D, although have been tempted to try Divinity in the past, but all the praise that Baldur's Gate 3 is getting has definitely got me interested. I don't have a capable PC so PS5 is about my only option but if reviewers say the controls translate well then I will more than likely buy a copy. 

Doesn't seem like it's getting a physical release so deals are hard to come by at the moment 

[Julius]

Thanks for making this thread, @drahkon  this game seemingly deserves to have a lot of discussion around it, I'm sure I'll be coming back here plenty 

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

Anybody playing/going to play in September?

At the moment I'm planning to pre-order the deluxe edition on PS5 to get earlier access.

It's funny because I remember I heard Baldur's Gate 3 impressions years ago when it's Early Access started, obviously watched trailers during events, etc., and didn't cotton on to it having such a great multiplayer until just last week, when a friend asked what the game was because of ads popping up around the time it's reviews caused a huge stir  and thank goodness it did! It's managed to put Armored Core 6 on the back burner for me at the moment.

I do find myself wondering if Diablo IV's mega success earlier this summer has helped to set Baldur's Gate 3 up for the success it's seen, because I'm one of those people who was planning on making time for a Diablo game (not necessarily IV) after its success, but was busy playing other things (because this year has, and continues to be, STACKED), and now an aggregate score site topping CRPG lands on PC and PS5 in honestly one of the quietest windows since the very beginning of the year, so I find myself changing plans and going for BG3 instead. 

DnD is something me and my group have said we'd love to try in the past, but it being difficult to get everyone together, organise things, learn the rules of DnD, go in blind with none of us being a DM, etc., makes it a super daunting task. This seemingly eliminates all of my reasons to hesitate. 

Originally the plan was to just pick this up and dive into multiplayer with friends and play it weekly with them (I wanted to be a short and rotund Dragonborn bard, but the lack of sliders means that won't be a thing, unfortunately!), leaving it at that. While that does seem to still be the plan, I've already done a little bit of research into classes and just the general ideas of it, thankfully I've listened to the Easy Allies DnD podcasts in the past, and so I'm not a total stranger to a lot of its concepts and ideas...but I think I'm committing to at least one solo (a human Paladin) and one other multiplayer (halfling or half elf Bard; I feel like my friends are going to avoid support-type classes so I'm thinking of picking up the slack there, but I might try another class if ) campaign for now. I also really want to try a second solo campaign for a particular Origin campaign, but will see how my first go-arounds with the game are first! 

1 hour ago, killthenet said:

I've never played a CRPG or D&D, although have been tempted to try Divinity in the past, but all the praise that Baldur's Gate 3 is getting has definitely got me interested. I don't have a capable PC so PS5 is about my only option but if reviewers say the controls translate well then I will more than likely buy a copy. 

Doesn't seem like it's getting a physical release so deals are hard to come by at the moment 

This will also be my first time playing a CRPG (or any Western-made RPG that can actually be considered an RPG), and I do wonder about the potential lasting effect this could have on players trying the genre out for the first time. Does playing this set the bar too high and turn us potentially off other CRPGs, or does it make us more curious about the other experiences to be had? I'd wager the latter, and if that's the case, I wonder how the industry reacts. The time and effort put into this game kind of boggles the mind, just considering how solid a state it's Early Access started in! 

I will also be going for the PS5 version, I have a capable PC but will be playing with friends on PS5 so would like to avoid double dipping, and also just the timing of it suits me as I'm still playing through FF XVI at the moment. Again, sorry to Armored Core 6, I'll get to you after Spidey 2 (probably). 

Absolutely gutted about the lack of a physical release, I wonder if there might be a limited physical release at some point? It's all over the front page of the PS Store so you'd hope it's popularity would push them to do it, because if they do release one I'll be all over that. 

Last point, and I think this is an interesting one, because this sets up one of the weirdest head-to-heads in a long time: a PS5 console launch exclusive CRPG which has been in early access for three years and has already released on PC and so is a known GOTY (and seemingly GOTG?) contender ahead of launch, taking on Xbox's biggest release since Halo Infinite and the poster child of Xbox's biggest acquisition to date*

 

 

*that's gone through as of writing, we're still waiting on Activision Blizzard

[Glen-i]

It's a turn-based RPG where I can play as a reptile.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested.

[Julius]

Tangential to the discussion of BG3, Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Editions are on sale on the PS Store until the end of 30th August, down from £47.99 to £14.39.

Could be worth the pick-up as that's one heck of a saving! 

[bob]

I vaguely remember playing a Baldurs Gate game on the PS2 which was a dungeon hack and slash game rather than a turn based one? Am I misremembering, or did they change the game type at some point?

[Julius]

1 hour ago, bob said:

I vaguely remember playing a Baldurs Gate game on the PS2 which was a dungeon hack and slash game rather than a turn based one? Am I misremembering, or did they change the game type at some point?

I think that would have been one of the Dark Alliance games - both of which are also available on modern platforms. Just click around this playthrough and see if it's along the right lines 

[bob]

I think that would have been one of the Dark Alliance games - both of which are also available on modern platforms. Just click around this playthrough and see if it's along the right lines 

That's the one! I remember that flaming loading screen now!

[Sheikah]

Yeah, Dark Alliance was fun to play co-op back in the day. It's a shame they charged a lot for the recent port/remaster though.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 though were brilliant though, and I really enjoyed Divinity 2, so I expect this will be great.

[Glen-i]

2 hours ago, bob said:

That's the one! I remember that flaming loading screen now!

The pointless things that stick in your mind, huh?

[Julius]

The game is now set to come to Xbox Series X|S at some time later this year, with Series S not having split-screen co-op functionality:

Considering split-screen struggling on Series S was reported to be the reason for it not launching on Xbox at the same time as PlayStation a few months ago, seems like a bit of a shame for Xbox players that they've only just bit the bullet in making it a Series X exclusive feature. Then again, they've got Starfield releasing within a week of NG3's PS5 release, so it's not like they're left wanting for an RPG to dig their teeth into  if anything, it might space it out better for Xbox (not having their first-party centrepiece competing with the highest rated game of the year so far) and Larian (brings them a third separate platform release closer to GOTYs to revive hype) both, so that'd be good. 

Got to imagine this will be the first in a line of third-party titles to have some Series X exclusive functionality. While the Series S is a great way to target a lower end market, it does seem like it's been a limiting factor in a few cases already, so I'm curious to see what Xbox's plans are over the next couple of years to minimise that. 

[drahkon]

@Julius I've seen you've pre-ordered the game

Did the same a little while ago. Went with the standard edition because I'm away for the weekend and I have to work the first three days of next week.
There's a part of me that wants to cancel that pre-order and go with the deluxe edition, though.

[Julius]

30 minutes ago, drahkon said:

@Julius I've seen you've pre-ordered the game

Did the same a little while ago. Went with the standard edition because I'm away for the weekend and I have to work the first three days of next week.
There's a part of me that wants to cancel that pre-order and go with the deluxe edition, though.

Yep, sure did!  

Makes perfect sense going for the standard edition in that case, but I respect that there's still a sense of temptation to upgrade to the DE  I went with it purely because I'll probably have my first session with my friends on the Friday following release, so wanted enough time to nail down my character's customisation for our co-op campaign, and just play around with the systems a little to get an idea of how things work so that we aren't totally lost! 

Have definitely gone off the idea of running a solo and co-op campaign separately for now with how long some people are saying they've been playing just the first act for, there are so many other games coming out that I don't want to commit to this too much! Purely running the co-op campaign first just seems like a good way to take it all in with fresh eyes too.

I'll probably get to a solo campaign at some point, but with how gaming has been this year and the pile of games I wanted to get to before the year even started...yeah, could be a while before I get to that  will be fun to just catalogue my co-op journey though! 

[drahkon]

9 hours ago, drahkon said:

I'm away for the weekend

Looks like the event might be cancelled...
Which means I might cancel my pre-order and go for the deluxe edition after all

8 hours ago, Julius said:

Have definitely gone off the idea of running a solo and co-op campaign separately

Understandable.
My mate recently told me he's out for BG3 for now because he wants to focus on ACVI so it'll be just the solo campaign for me, too. At least until he's done with the mech game

8 hours ago, Julius said:

there are so many other games coming out that I don't want to commit to this too much!

I will commit to this
At least until the end of September. I'll most likely pre-order FIFA 24 EA FC24 because my gaming group reeeeaaally wants to play Pro Clubs. So do I It's been two years, as I skip every other installment.

Anyways, I can't wait for BG3 to finally arrive on PS5. Haven't been this excited for a game in a long time.

[drahkon]

So, @Julius, have you already thought about what kind of character you're going to create?

I'm using this character builder to try and see what could be possible. It's kind of the only thing I'm going to spoil for myself (except for the two trailers I've watched).

No idea what I'm doing and whether it's any good but I might go with a High-Elf Rogue Druid hybrid.

[Blade]

What type of game is this? I’ve read through some reviews - the impression I am receiving is a turn based RPG. What is this about rolling a dice and learning rules etc? I’m confused.

[Julius]

Just now, Blade said:

What type of game is this? I’ve read through some reviews - the impression I am receiving is a turn based RPG. What is this about rolling a dice and learning rules etc? I’m confused.

It's basically the tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons in video game form, with the campaign already designed for you. 

That's probably the most succinct way I can put it 

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

So, @Julius, have you already thought about what kind of character you're going to create?

I'm using this character builder to try and see what could be possible. It's kind of the only thing I'm going to spoil for myself (except for the two trailers I've watched).

No idea what I'm doing and whether it's any good but I might go with a High-Elf Rogue Druid hybrid.

Ooo thanks for that, will need to take a look! 

Well, originally I wanted to be a tiny Dragonborn bard the size of my lute...but there aren't any height sliders, so there went that idea  I think I'm still keen on being a bard though, mainly because every D&D podcast I listen to, the bard seems to be the silliest and have the most fun, but also because knowing the friends I'm going to be playing with...yeah, I'm going to need to fill the gap as a support character 

So yeah, at the moment I'm thinking an Elf Bard, probably a Half-Elf like a Wood Elf? But I also still just love the idea of messing around as a Dragonborn Bard, even if I don't get to be tiny, so  will need to see how the rest of the party composition looks, I think, because I'm not 100% on the race differences (especially if there are things like vision in the dark taken into account)

which is precisely why I got the DE, just to mess around and see what sticks 

[Happenstance]

I need to get back to the game. Bought it at launch but keep getting distracted by movies or reading. Doesn't help that my desktop is at the same desk I work at during the day so I don't tend to go back to it.

[drahkon]

Pre-load starts tomorrow, the game will be playable on Saturday at 6pm CEST.

Already got my weekend planned out:
Gonna make a nice and healthy stew on Friday which I just need to warm up. Not to worry, I will also buy some unhealthy snacks because for me, this is what a long gaming session needs.
My cold-brew coffee devices are ready to go. They'll do their work during the night from Friday to Saturday and the delicious local coffee (from the oldest roasting house in Germany - highly recommended) will keep me energized/awake

On Saturday I'll start watching 2. Bundesliga from 1pm and switch to 1. Bundesliga at 3.30pm. I'll move the SkyGo stream to my second monitor at 6pm and immediately dive into the world of Baldur's Gate 3.

Hehehehe, I'm 33 years old and giddy with excitement like kid on Christmas Eve

[Glen-i]

First time I've been jealous of another console this entire generation.

Still, these developers seem to be cool with porting stuff, so maybe in the future, with a more powerful Switch console, it'll come to that.

Have fun, the two of you! And remember the famous advice from Wind Waker, don't stay up all night playing.

[drahkon]

So close

[Julius]

2 hours ago, drahkon said:

So close

Meanwhile...as I'm committing to this being my weekly multiplayer game with friends, I'm trying really hard to not pick up Armored Core VI to play alongside it. 

Why did I have to watch that cool customisation video?! And why do both games have so much customisation?!?! Blessing and a curse how many good games we've had this year 

[drahkon]

1 hour ago, Julius said:

Meanwhile...as I'm committing to this being my weekly multiplayer game with friends, I'm trying really hard to not pick up Armored Core VI to play alongside it.

If you're not going to do a solo playthrough...why not play Armored Core VI inbetween your multiplayer sessions

DO IT!

[Julius]

29 minutes ago, drahkon said:

If you're not going to do a solo playthrough...why not play Armored Core VI inbetween your multiplayer sessions

DO IT!

It is done and should arrive tomorrow!  definitely need that push so thanks, got obsessed with the idea of customisation and definitely want some more focused combat after XVI 

Definitely looking forward to BG3, very curious to see what I end up doing with it, never thought about having two simultaneous playthroughs of one game before, but then not every game has such a convincing take on multiplayer. I'm 100% doing a weekly play session with friends, but I do also want to see what it's like as a solo experience - think I'll hold out a little bit for now just to see how PS5 performance has turned out and to get by the first few areas in multiplayer, but will at least be making my solo character and start a slow chip away at a solo campaign to get to grips with what I can before our first session next Friday! 

Really excited for my first CRPG, however I end up playing it  feel like I've barely played any games this year, but the ones I have have mostly been released this year, and yeah...GOTY is going to be an impossible conversation, that's for sure! 

[drahkon]

12 minutes ago, Julius said:

It is done and should arrive tomorrow! 

YES
Looking forward to reading your impressions. Hope you'll have a much better time than I did

16 minutes ago, Julius said:

Really excited for my first CRPG, however I end up playing it 

Same here. This will be my first experience with actual DnD rules (adapted in a video game, so probably slightly different to the real world counterpart). Can't wait to see how the story for my characters will go.

But more importantly: How long will I spend with the character creator? I stopped going through the web versions 'cause they're more for planning your entire build.
Gonna take my sweet time reading about all the races, classes, backgrounds, origins. Decision paralysis will set in very quickly

I know what my starting class will be, though: Rogue.
Played as one in D:OS2 and it was awesome. A sneaky pickpocket here, a little dagger dual-wielding backstabbing there. Love it
Kinda wanna try a stealthy ranger in BG3 (if possible), though.

OHHHHH, I want to play it now