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

[Julius]

9 hours ago, drahkon said:

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

Thanks! Fingers crossed  honestly so long as the controls gel at some point and I enjoy the customisation as much as I think I will, I'm sure I'll have a blast! 

9 hours ago, drahkon said:

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

Well ain't that the question  I'd already done the research I wanted for my characters, so yeah, some Half-Elf Bard for multiplayer and then a Dragonborn Paladin for solo (because dragons are cool, and to make up for my vertically challenged Dragonborn Bard not coming to fruition), but beyond that (and their looks!) I'm sure I'm going to spend pleeeeeenty of time in the character creator fleshing everything out. It's going to be a customisation-heavy weekend, which I'm very excited for! 

I always take a lot of time to figure out a cool and contextual name for my character too, using name generators (in this case for D&D, just to get a grasp on the naming conventions of different races!), plugging words into Google Translate to see what sticks, making some portmanteaus, and so on. Don't think I've created a character with so much thought put into them since my Elden Ring character last year (still the happiest I've ever been with a character name, their name in context - Aligare, from the Latin alligare, or to bind, based on the emphasis on metal in marketing and so considering my Tarnished an alloyed being! - and their look!), but I've got a name for my Dragonborn ready to go, got a name I'm happy with for my Bard too but want to try a thing or two more. 

9 hours ago, drahkon said:

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.

This sounds like a super fun build  I imagine a stealthy ranger should be possible from what I've seen about the game, really want to see how that turns out if you can and do go that route. Looking forward to hearing about your adventures! 

Edited September 1, 2023 by Julius

[Glen-i]

40 minutes ago, Julius said:

because dragons are cool

[drahkon]

2 hours ago, Julius said:

some Half-Elf Bard for multiplayer

I imagine your character just sitting far away from the action, singing songs, buffing your party members and then watching all the mayhem go down

2 hours ago, Julius said:

I always take a lot of time to figure out a cool and contextual name for my character too

Interesting. You always come up with new names for different games/characters?
I generally always go with Drahkon for my first character in a game. Then if I make a second it's usually Alcyon if it's a lady or Solus if it's a gentleman.

2 hours ago, Julius said:

still the happiest I've ever been with a character name, their name in context - Aligare, from the Latin alligare, or to bind, based on the emphasis on metal in marketing and so considering my Tarnished an alloyed being!

Oh, that's awesome

2 hours ago, Julius said:

 I imagine a stealthy ranger should be possible from what I've seen about the game, really want to see how that turns out if you can and do go that route.

I'll let you know

I wonder if I should go with Ranger first and then multiclass into Rogue later or vice-versa.

[drahkon]

Oh no, gotta delay my start for a few hours 'cause a friend needs help moving.

Well...gonna be an even longer night then

[Julius]

22 hours ago, drahkon said:

I imagine your character just sitting far away from the action, singing songs, buffing your party members and then watching all the mayhem go down

Yep, that sounds about right  I think my low-key aim as the Bard in multiplayer is to cause as much unharmful chaos as possible outside of battle, and taking things very super seriously inside of battle! Also I just want to play songs in the background during cutscenes  

I will admit I am a little tempted to rip apart my Half-Elf Bard ideas though and make a Dragonborn Bard-barian...not because I think it'd be a fantastic idea (though idk the idea of a big buff dragon savagely tearing things apart only to pick up a flute later on in the game) but because the name simply sounds cool 

 

My friends: alright Julius, smash through that guy! 

Me: calming flute noises

 

23 hours ago, drahkon said:

Interesting. You always come up with new names for different games/characters?
I generally always go with Drahkon for my first character in a game. Then if I make a second it's usually Alcyon if it's a lady or Solus if it's a gentleman.

I think it really depends on the game and how much control/customisation I get over the character, but even with less control I do generally like to fit the name into a theme or make it suitable for the world. I think it's also a question of time investment: for something like this or Elden Ring or Monster Hunter where I'm looking at a potential 100+ hours, I definitely put loads of time into thinking about it, whereas in shorter games I'll just cobble something together. Dark Souls, Demon's Souls and Bloodborne I just went with some variation of Julius that seemed to suit each game, because I felt the options to take ownership of the character weren't too exhaustive 

It's funny, after seeing your message last night I tried to think of where it comes from, and I think it started with Pokémon? But not the Pokémon themselves, but the character. I used to stick with canon names, then I swapped it to the Japanese names, then for X I decided their name had to start with 'X'...but then weirdly since then I think I've mostly just chosen my actual name where I can 

Love Alcyon and Solus. I've always wanted to ask actually, where did 'Drahkon' come from? Is there an interesting origin to your screen name? 

23 hours ago, drahkon said:

I wonder if I should go with Ranger first and then multiclass into Rogue later or vice-versa.

I feel like whatever you decide you should go with RP reasoning, like the Ranger gets tired of the long, drawn out process of prepping for the hunt and so obvious pivots into utilising their hunting reflexes in more direct and potentially unnerving ways 

[drahkon]

Well, after helping my mate move I was pretty exhausted, but I did get some gaming time in

Meet Drahkon, the Wood-Elf Criminal Ranger:

Spoiler

Anyways, 3 hours in and...what the hell is this game...it's unbelievable.

I'm very early but I'm already impressed with every dialogue I've had so far. Facial animations and body language are incredibly well realized. Bethesda should take notes.
Already met a few companions and they all have their quirks. Love it Not sure who I'll stick with for now. They are all awesome.

I'm pretty overwhelmed with all the menus and mechanics. It's gonna take me quite a while to get to grips with everything.

Already have a plan of what to do first tomorrow:

1. choose my party composition
2. read up on all party members' skills
3. customize the radial menus for all characters

And then it's right back to exploring. Need to find a shovel

Can't wait to be done with work on Wednesday because then I'll have one week off.

12 hours ago, Julius said:

I've always wanted to ask actually, where did 'Drahkon' come from? Is there an interesting origin to your screen name? 

In my teen years I was into dragons, especially their aesthetics. I also loved the word "draconic" (both meanings, i.e. severe and resembling a dragon). Decided to make a name out of it and went with a weird spelling

Edited September 2, 2023 by drahkon

[Julius]

Put a little bit of time in just to get past the very opening of the game, after spending far too long on character customisation. Unfair to call these early impressions for the amount of time I've played so far, but the pre-rendered cutscenes are pretty spectacular (even if they buckled once or twice), I already love the amount of options in dialogue, and I already feel like this game has illustrated that it's going to get weird, and I'm here for it! 

So anyways, here's Alxodar (AL-SOH-DAR), my Brass Dragonborn Paladin who has taken the Oath of Vengeance! 

...and his Guardian! Who I spent way too long on considering I don't know what she's for/will do story-wise, originally I wanted my Guardian to be another Dragonborn, but that didn't seem to be an option? But hey-ho, she turns out looking pretty good imo 

So yeah, super early, I have very little else to say at this point. Oh, I love the dice rolls and their animations! Definitely going to be a game I chip away at for an hour or two here and there I think, really want to take my time with it is the sense I got from my first but of time with it.

Yeah, okay, that's it, that's all I've got to say for now  

[Glen-i]

7 hours ago, drahkon said:

In my teen years I was into dragons, especially their aesthetics.

[drahkon]

Almost reached the 8 hour mark (will definitely reach it later tonight ).
This game is something very special. I'm already invested in every little thing that's happening.

I loathe Asterion. He's been sent to the camp immediately and he won't get out anytime soon.
The other three companions are fun, mystic, secretive, constantly angry, a little weird. There's something for everyone

I've entered an encampment and have yet to talk to someone who seeks my help (and who might help me). I keep getting distracted, though...

Spoiler

Took a detour to a destroyed village and heard some noises from a barn.

I had to take a look, opened the door and...interrupted two beings doing the deed. Whoops.

They attacked me, I killed them. Sorry

Gotta say: Tactician is quite difficult. Haven't had too many fights, but most of then I've won by the skin of my teeth. Luckily I was able to avoid many battles by talking and some successful skill checks (I assume failures would've gotten me in trouble).

 

[drahkon]

14 hours ago, drahkon said:

will definitely reach it later tonight

To nobody's surprise: The 8h mark has been crossed. I'm now sitting at almost 11 hours

I kinda wanted to do something similar to what @Julius regularly does with games: Updates about my experiences and screenshots/videos. But if I did that, I would have to write a 2000 words post with 400 screenshots every time

There's also the issue of spoilers. It's impossible to share stuff without spoiling even the tiniest of interactions. Everyone should experience these things without any prior knowledge.

BUT I WANNA TALK ABOUT EVERYTHING!

Quite the dilemma

Edited September 4, 2023 by drahkon

[drahkon]

I spent way too much time in Faerûn last night.

Managed to finish off some major quests. Without spoiling too much: I took my usual approach to these kinds of quests and I think a got a pretty good outcome.
I know what I will do in my next playthrough, though, which will most likely be quite evil given that I intend to make a character with the "Dark Urge" origin.

Anyways, got a few loose ends that I want to tie up before moving on to my next goal: the Underdark. And my goodness...I went there before via an elevator and had a trademark Elden Ring moment. It's gorgeous.
I did nope out pretty quickly because I came across a strong foe right at the start This time, though, I think I'm prepared.

Two more ours of work and them I'm off until next Wednesday. I know how I'm gonna spend all that free time

[drahkon]

When - after 24 hours - a scene starts and you think: "Hm, alright...this is interesting"; and then the scene plays out and you think: "Oh, alright. WHAT THE HELL?"; and after all is said and done you tell yourself: "Man, I can't wait to play this game again so I can handle this differently."...

...then you know it's a great game.

@Julius I hope you and your group are excited to finally start this. You won't be disappointed (aside from a few bugs here and there).

Edited September 6, 2023 by drahkon

[Shorty]

I've been playing this entirely in co-op and having a great time. I've been playing D&D for years so it's great fun to see the lore, recognise the races, to create facsimilies of players we've been in the past. Also the choices you get to pick in conversation, especially for difficult deception checks etc, feel exactly like the kind of laughable ideas a player would come up with that you all find hilarious when you actually land a 20 and it works.

That said, I'm not 100% convinced the game benefits that much from D&D as a play structure, especially in combat. It already changed a lot of fundamentals because they knew D&D is pretty flawed in combat. And I miss some of the great aspects of Divinity like all the mixing of elemental effects.

Still an awesome game though, despite that.

[drahkon]

On 9/6/2023 at 9:07 AM, drahkon said:

This time, though, I think I'm prepared.

I was.
I spent 3 hours in this area and still haven't uncovered the entire map. While exploring, I was, however, transported to yet another new area, which seems to be another huge part of the game.

The game will probably get its next big patch before I finish Act 1

Well...*turns on PS5 again*.
SEE YA!

[drahkon]

If there's one thing you can do to make me love your RPG, it's creating unique designs for certain pieces of equipment:

Spoiler

Love the helmet/hood.

This staff is of legendary quality. It is ice-themed and it shows

Here's a little something that made me chuckle (something that I've tried out way too late).

Spoiler

Since gfycat has shut down I uploaded the video to imgur.

https://imgur.com/hbJJNW6

It doesn't show here directly, so click the link (and don't be surprised, the quality is ass).

I need to use a lot more of the resources that I have. Definitely should get away from my hoarder mentality

[drahkon]

So @Julius what gives? WHERE ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS?

I think I'm closing in on the end of Act 1. I'll most likely finish it over the weekend and then wait with Act 2 until the next patch, which is supposed to be released next Thursday. Should give me some time to dabble with 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

Gotta say: some of the story beats have been incredible. Very tense, mysterious and fun. I changed my mind about one particular character approximately 5 times during one interaction/conversation Will be interesting to see what my decision will bring in the future...

[Julius]

1 hour ago, drahkon said:

So @Julius what gives? WHERE ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS?

Well, I made my solo build...and yeah, I figured I was planning to start my co-op playthrough with friends on the Friday anyways, so have left it as it is and decided I'd focus on playing the game that way first. 

Then, mine and my group's first session with the game got delayed...by over a month 

Basically, me and a friend bought the DE on Day 1, he played it pretty much nonstop launch weekend (I was busy wrecking mechs), and while not fully sold on the combat, yeah, he's fully onboard.

Then last Monday we hopped on with another friend in our group after we talked about all the customisation options (that and dialogue choices are why I feel like he's in), and ahead of wanting to start our sessions last Friday, all three of us - while in chat - got to work on our character looks and tried to figure out our classes (and figure out if we'd have any gaps to fill), so all of that got screenshot and is ready to go; I'm super happy with how my character turned out! We did this for hours and had an absolute blast, even going so far as making backstories for our characters and respective Guardians. 

Eventually we realised we just wanted to hop into the game, but our first session wasn't planned until Friday. We then had a brief talk when we realised that our fourth group member could potentially have commitment issues to the game (he's the one in our group who always leaves first, sometimes has other commitments on Friday nights, etc.) and so we got him into the chat...for him to tell us he'd planned his finances poorly for the month and couldn't afford the game, but his girlfriend would buy it for him at the end of the month..but we can't start at the end of the month because one of my friends is getting laser eye surgery on that Friday (this was booked long before we'd discussed getting the game, and plus: priorities), so we're going to give him a week to rest, and so now the plan is to dive in on the first Friday of October (the 6th). 

I properly grilled my friend who caused the delay to make sure he's even interested, explaining that the other three of us are ready to hard commit to this game, and starting a co-op campaign with the four of us for him to not turn up consistently/drop out could cause problems purely from a gameplay perspective (not to mention it'd be a little bit annoying for him to not commit to it after delaying the start of our campaign). 

In short: I'm ready to go, it's just on hold  

Personally, I still have some doubts over how much we'll commit to and play the game. This is the same group I convinced to play Monster Hunter World, we had a blast with our first session being 10+ hours long...and then we just shelved it for a year and a half (with me and another person in the group pushing for it every now and then), and by the time we got back to it, shocker, we couldn't get back into it. 

Whatever happens, it is what it is. Worst case I'll end up needing to bin off the co-op campaign in favour of a solo one, though personally I'd rather experience it co-op first and have a more thorough experience the second time around, rather than going the other way around. 

Though, I'll admit, I just want to play my instrument at awful times in the background during serious cutscenes already! If/when we start 

[drahkon]

2 hours ago, Julius said:

Worst case I'll end up needing to bin off the co-op campaign in favour of a solo one, though personally I'd rather experience it co-op first and have a more thorough experience the second time around, rather than going the other way around. 

If it's any consolation: I'm having an absolute blast with the game in my solo-campaign Even though I'm now taking a break to wait for the next patch.

 

[Julius]

Can't wait to be a bard 

@drahkon think you'll appreciate this artistry 

[drahkon]

17 hours ago, Julius said:

@drahkon think you'll appreciate this artistry 

I do, but I don't have a bard in my party so I can't relate

The next big patch will arrive today and one feature has been confirmed:

Not something I will use a lot, but people seem very happy it'll be in the game.

I just hope some performance issues (inventory lag...) will be fixed on PS5. I would also appreciate mouse and keyboard support just to give it a try.

Anyways, I'm still taking a break (thanks, Yakuza 5) but I enjoy reading patch notes so I hope they are released soon

[Julius]

Thought this was neat: Larian have shared stats for the most popular multi-class builds on PS5. 

In other news, looks like my co-op campaign is set to begin next weekend with my friends! 

[drahkon]

2 hours ago, Julius said:

In other news, looks like my co-op campaign is set to begin next weekend with my friends! 

YES! Can't wait to hear about your crazy stories

Still haven't continued playing this one after finishing Act 1. Not that I'm not in the mood, but 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim has me hooked!

Edited September 27, 2023 by drahkon

[Julius]

Acknowledging their TGAs nominations for various categories, including GOTY, Larian have teased an Xbox and physical release announcement for later this week:

Quote

Xbox fans, and fans of physical media, watch this space fora formal
announcement. It's going to be a busy week. 

Can't help but laugh at the separation of Xbox fans and fans of physical 

Having already picked the game up digitally at launch a couple of months ago, I'll probably wait a while until the prices are slashed to a low amount before picking it up for my physical collection, but glad to see it's getting a physical release outside of Japan either way  a GOTY Edition, perhaps? 

[drahkon]

17 minutes ago, Julius said:

a GOTY Edition, perhaps? 

Isn't that usually reserved for games with DLC?

Man, I need to get back to it...but Larian recently revealed that they found a pretty groundbreaking way to improve performance. Think I'm gonna wait for that, even though I haven't had any major issues in Act 1

[Julius]

16 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Isn't that usually reserved for games with DLC?

I feel like it's become synonymous with the inclusion of DLC/season passes these days, sure, but I don't think it's necessary seeing as it's just a re-package and a way to sell more units? Either way, I meant more in the 'Winner of ___ Game of the Year Awards!' sticker sort of way (like TLOU is very well known for ) rather than the DLC-including edition 

Though, I mean, I imagine it'll include a few of the updates that weren't available at launch, so maybe there's your DLC  

16 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Man, I need to get back to it...but Larian recently revealed that they found a pretty groundbreaking way to improve performance.

I was reading about this, and digging around it looks like Swen shared some nice graphs which show quite a difference! 

Really curious if the Series S situation has changed at all or if they've just given up on it (which I wouldn't blame them for, seems like a lot of hassle to deal with). 

 

Me and my group took a few weeks off due to things going on, but think we'll be back to it this Friday or next. We'd just come to the door of no return (I don't trust that we can't actually return) to, I would assume, complete Act I, everyone's up to Lv 6, we're having a fairly grand old time...but man, there's just so much going on in co-op that it's really hard to talk meaningfully about the playthrough because it feels so disjointed, so when the game is eventually completed with updates and all then I do look forward to a separate solo playthrough.

But, I mean, my Bard has Fireball, so that's pretty dope 

Edited November 13, 2023 by Julius