My love letter to Baldur's Gate 3 and Larian Studios
My love letter to Baldur's Gate 3 and Larian Studios
I'll try to keep this short, sweet, and to the point.
I, like so many of you, love this game. Possibly more than we should. But for me, before this game, I had truly lost most of my interest in video games as a whole. Every year, various problems get worse and 2023 was the final straw for me. Ever increasing greed (Blizzard, Unity, EA, just every studio really). To say they came out in a lazy, incomplete, greedy state undersells it I feel. I truly feel we're still on the brink of another video game crash. Because the crash wasn't just one game (E.T.) but was the general greed and terrible quality of the industry back then. Pushing new products (games, consoles, accessories, etc.) just to push new products with crazy turn around time all in the name of profit. And this year, just stacked with all prior years, I had enough.
This game is so good in all the right ways. The writing, the acting, the world feels alive. NPCs respond differently based on who you are and what you've done. Even banter between your party. A truly impressive amount of thought put into things allowing you the player to really play however you want. It's not a mad loot carousel because your character power isn't based on gear directly and is tied to the character which allows for far more interesting items. There's no greed either, no stupid 'sEaSoN pAsS', no excel spreadsheets worth of 'versions', no subscription, no shop using real money for gear/cosmetics, no 'planned DLC' that's obviously content they cut out in order to sell back to the consumer. Heck, this game supports multiplayer... REAL multiplayer in that I don't believe you ever actually need a dedicated server. I believe you can do direct remote, split screen co-op, and LAN play... what other game in the last decade does that?
It reminds me of how games used to be before Bethesda broke the seal with horse armor.
BG3 is just a complete, high quality game, for gamers. It feels like it was made with love, care, and respect. And playing the game brings me joy.
Do you know how much I would fucking love larian to do a shadowrun game next? By the gods that would blow my fucking mind
I'm only familiar with the name as I've never played. But given their track record, I'm confident it would be phenomenal and I'd have a while new thing to fall in love with.
Bg3 is amazing. Its been a long time since I played a game that made me sympathize with the charachters so much. And the charachters treat not only me, the main charachter, differently over time, but they treat each other differently over time. And there's so much to see and so much to try and do. I just got to act 2 (at least, I'm trying to complete three trials for Shar) and I can't wait to see what's next. Im having a lot of fun playing as a bard, too.
I won't spoil anything, but there's definitely some story elements coming up for you that when I first hit them made me stop and go 'damn that's dark'. But even the villains to an extent you can even sympathize with. None of them are cardboard cutout villains.
On your next playthrough make sure to pick different choices, it is well worth it.
On your next playthrough make sure to pick different choices, it is well worth it.
Oh I definitely have to come back and try as a different class. My bard is very entertaining, but I want to try a paladin next. Barbarian is another one I want to try, as my actual D&D charachter is a barbarian.
These voice actors (is it fair to call them that when they did mocap? Andy Serkis isn't credited as Gollum's voice actor, he's credited as Gollum.) Did an absolutely amazing job. Frequently the voice acting is the weak point of otherwise-strong games, but Lae'zel and Shadowheart and Astarion gave absolutely master performances, but even the less prominent character actors such as many of the Tieflings and goblins also gave great performances.
In a game where I can just pay 100 gold to respec to try a completely different build, I keep starting new games to discover new branches of dialog. Playing as a Gith was a completely different experience with Lae'zel. The writing and acting are great but of course without good gameplay they would be wasted efforts.
You nailed it on the head. So few games have characters that really come alive. Through tone and body language. So many games have the NPCs just stand there stiff. When Shadowheart is being a cold snarky b**** in the beginning of the game you can hear it you can see it. And then by the end of the game you can see she is far more warm and inviting again, in tone and body language. Or how Astarion trys to be cool, suave, and aloof. But, drop one building in him and I feel like who he really is comes out in that moment (well very shortly after...)
I had to make a choice between being able to be financially in the green and BG3. I'm afraid I won't get to share your joy for at least a few months. I am so happy that the hype is real. Can't wait!
I'm still nervous to get this game after playing DoS and DoS2
What did you have against those games? Dos2 is one of the greatest CRPGs ever made in its own right.
Maybe the great is like, DoS2 is like a good store bought cookie. If it's all you know then you're good to go. But BG3, is your grandma's secret double chocolate chip cookie recipe that wins blue ribbon at the State Fair year after year. You just can't look at those store bought ones the same again. They still good... But...
I didn't think either was good. I really don't understand how they're considered one of the best CRPGs.
The combat was a drag.
The story was simple and unengaging.
My girlfriend and I tried to play through both. On each we got a ways in, thought the game wasn't very good, and realized we weren't enjoying ourselves.