Baldur&#x27;s Gate 3 is defying game industry trend-chasers — and is being rewarded for doing so

•

It's like the early 2000s again and it's great. Wonderful single-player experiences that can be enjoyed offline and no bullshit microtransactions or collectables.

egeres

•

I've never tried one of these games myself, but I'm happy about all the fuzz coming from this game!! I hope other companies take it as an example c:

Draedron

•

They will take it as an example. They will release more fantasy crpgs but will not learn not to include micro transactions

emptyother

•

Some corpo playing BG3 somewhere right now: "This game would have been so much better with a battlepass!" 😒 "And it need repeatable quests!" 🤨 "Oh, and if we put collectibles in the game, we can sell them the map to find them all." 🤮

Iron_Lynx

•

I generally have a 1 year delay for Triple-A games, to see if they're still relevant and then maybe look into buying. I might shorten that time for this game.

CaptFeather

•

Given Larian's history with the amazing divinity original sin series I bought this release day and have not been disappointed :)

morgan_423

•

I too normally have the approach of playing games on a 1-2 (or more) year delay and picking them up for a huge discount versus original pricing, but I picked this up in early access way back when. You won't be disappointed if you decide to pick this one up earlier than normal.

relative_iterator

•

Anyone here liking it? I haven’t played.

ItsEveNow

•

If you're into RPGs, or DnD, or general fantasy stuff, I would highly recommend it. I haven't finished it yet, but the first 20 or so hours have been incredibly fun. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a game this much, the reviews aren't wrong with this one.

canthidium

•

I'm not into DnD nor fantasy generally, but I am absolutely loving it. 40 hours in so far and I can't get enough. I have the itch where I'm just thinking about spells all day when I'm not playing

tool

•

If you feel this way, you should definitely look in to getting into D&D. This game is the closest you're going to get to playing a D&D campaign in a video game as far as translation to the medium goes.

If you like this game, you will absolutely love D&D.

canthidium

•

I will say it definitely has brought up my interest again. My ex used to play and I've watched some people play before, but I just feel like I'd have a hard time. I think it's just my insecurity of needing to be good at things and I feel like I'd be bad at playing. Feels like the pressure would get to me to think of good ideas and such.

Spike

•

I’m not into DnD nor fantasy generally, but I am absolutely loving it.

Well, to me it seems you are into it now lol

canthidium

•

So true! The world is fascinating.

Hnazant

•

Can I use a controller?

•

I'm playing using moonlight to stream to my shield and an Xbox controller and it's intuitive and works really well. They add controller friendly UI and features for controller use. It's handled exceptionally well. Would recommend 10/10

50hrs+ playtime at time of posting. Not enjoyed a game this much in a very long time.

•

I have an Nvidia Shield too. The controller support for Baldur's Gate 3 is super.

conciselyverbose

•

For what it is, it works exceptionally well on a controller. There's a reason most of the genre doesn't even bother, though. There are enough options that you will need to navigate through more than one layer of menus at times.

It's absolutely worth it, and I've played it a lot of hours exclusively on steam deck, but the nature of the genre is that it can't be quite perfect.

Chuymatt

•

I feel like everything works well on the steam deck except for inventory management. It feels so arduous.

conciselyverbose

•

I thought that was a little bit of a step back from Divinity Original Sin 2. Not having an "add all wares" is a little annoying, but I just like the horizontal version with equipment being separate better.

I sometimes click the wrong thing in the world, too. Especially when anything is moving, it changes what's selected unpredictably at times.

But again, it's nitpicks. The reason I haven't played many CRPGs is because I strongly prefer a controller and couch or handheld gaming and they usually just don't work at all unless you do a bunch of work to set up custom control schemes leveraging steam input hard.

•

The controller is fantastic on PC. This guy shows how it works if you want to see.
PC Controller

Slwh47696

•

How similar is it to Divinity: Original Sin II? I'm playing through it right now on my steam deck, and I'm really enjoying it so far. Also does anyone know how it runs on a steam deck?

Wootz

•

It's extremely similar to Divinity. The combat system is based on D&D 5th edition, so there is less teleporting people onto flammable surfaces and setting fire to them, but it's still similar enough to be called a spiritual successor.

Hizeh

•

I'd say it's feel very similar. But the system is based on D&D 5e. It feels slower and more restricted. Still super fun.

I'm not familiar with 5e stuff and I'm having a blast.

oo1

•

I've just started playing on steam deck about a week now. Overall its great and well worth it. it very much feels like the originals, but modernised with more options and choices. So long as you have the 100GB or so free.

As others have said, a few bugs in quests and stuff- probably more than i expected for a game that been in beta for a long time.
Save often and be prepared to go back.

Specific issues to (my) steamdeck - I've had a few graphics crashes at first.
It's supposed to run in dx11 mode on steamdeck, but I think mine was launching in vulcan for some inexplicable reason.
I have stable up to date system, and i got it straight from steam - so it should be fine.
Vulcan a bit unstable even at low setttings - playable, but annoying and low is a bit too blocky.
All the fixes on line talk about a "launcher" that doesn't exist any more.
It was hard to find relevant help and ignore the issues for windows and pre-release circumstances.

In the end I figured out I had to find the launcher.sh config file and manually edit it to point to use the dx executable.
Pretty simple fix once you know that's what you need to do.

Switching to DX11 seems stable on medium settings (40fps locked) and no crashes so far.
I've not tried higher gfx settings yet - I don't really care about high - medium is great.
it's pulling about 12W give or take, at medium - so you might be looking 1-2 hours tops on battery.

Playing experience is pretty good on the steamdeck controls.
I was fully prepared to have to use mouse, but haven't needed to.
I had to get used to the radial menus, but I've not even bothered mapping the back buttons to anything yet.
The interface has obviously been designed with a lot of thought about console controllers.

I'd say go for it - i think most people do not seem to have a vulcan issue - otherwise there'd be more comments about it - and it can be fixed easily enough

LeberechtReinhold

•

It's basically DOS3 with different combat, better dialog mechanics and generally better designed. The way exploration, stealth and general flow is essentially the same as Divinity and will play very much the same way, with some improvements on most areas.

babatazyah

•

I played 72 hours of EA, and now I'm 54 hours into the official release. I'm having a great time. When I'm not playing it, I'm thinking about it.

Gelcube69

•

Seriously, it's invading dreams at this point.

TelKaivokalma

•

I'm closing in on 80 hours, 2 hours in EA, 77 hours since release.

Send help, can't stop.

astanix

•

I'm an hour into it and it feels like an old school rpg in a good way. I recommend giving it a try.

Spike

•

It feels like how i remember Neverwinter Nights

•

You are in for a treat! Have fun!

DillonBrooksEnjoyer

•

Best RPG I’ve ever played and I’m 95% positive that’s not just recency bias talking.

•

I was sure Starfield (regardless of quality) would win GOTY most places this year. I didn't expect BG3 to be this successful or even this good. It is definitely the best RPG I've played since at least Dragon Age Origins, but I'm pretty confident ever.

carl_dungeon

•

Yeah I didn’t even play the first two, too technical for me at the time, grabbed this one on hype alone and loving it!

BradleyUffner

•

I'm loving it. I have only 2 frustrations so far; the camera control is annoying, and the insta kill of getting pushed off cliffs.

SadTrain

•

My only complaints would be not being able to control the pitch of the camera and sometimes it's hard to walk through corridors because the wall cutaway doesn't happen fast enough.

•

Controller makes the game easier to move around and have the camera follows you. I couldn't play it with keyboard and mouse.

tool

•

You can get the camera to follow you with K&M. Just left-click and hold it for ~2 seconds and the camera will go behind the active character and lock-on/follow.

Ethanice

•

I got it Sunday night and I'm 35 hours in.

Ketram

•

Personally I really want to like it more, having just finished it at 80 hours. But from what I can tell, it just doesn't have much that makes me want to replay it and endgame is very buggy. I have a whole host of issues but after starting very unsatisfying re-run through today (I played 125 with different people in early access a year or 2 ago) I looked up some stuff and realized how few of the choices felt like they actually mattered, or were straight up broken/cut content. Very disappointed. LOVED the first playthrough, though.

pikasaurX4

•

I don’t exactly love these kinds of top down, turn based, save scum games, but the D&D 5e mechanics pulled me in. I will say the game is quite fun even as someone who gets burned out quickly on this style. I’ve played about 20 hours so far and there have been plenty of bugs and crashes, but I can definitely say I’m enjoying it

LunarFox_

•

Yeah it’s great. I encounter bugs here and there but non are game breaking. Worth the buy, if your unsure pirate it first. By far the best DND game I’ve tried.

JJROKCZ

•

Just got done with a 5 hour session, eating dinner and doing another 5. Gonna have my wife design my second campaign

omgarm

•

Haven't finished Tears of the Kingdom and moving into a new house so I will get it during a sale.

BaroqueInMind

•

Nice. Care to please share more intimate info about your personal life here since your comment is essentially off topic af

•

If you want a good single player RPG with bullshit, collectables, or microtransactions that you can play offline if you want, it's great. If you want a modern game with all that stuff, it would suck. I don't know why you'd want that stuff, but some business people think we do.

•

I'm really tempted to buy it, but I have little time to play nowadays. It seems like the kind o game that you need to invest time to enjoy.

Kolanaki

•

It is incredibly long. I've got over 50 hours now, and I'm not even seemingly anywhere near the titular city that is the game's namesake. I know it's in the game; I have quests to visit people there. I don't know how many acts there are, possibly 3; I've not even finished act 1 and I've been glued to this game super hard.

But you can also save literally at any time. Mid combat, mid sentence of dialogue, wherever. So you can always stop exactly where you are, at least.

•

Damn everything about this game sounds exciting.

•

It is. You also have actual choices with actual consequences too. The "normal" route is to side with the good guys, but I'm pretty confident you can also choose to play evil and have another campaign on the complete opposite side of the fight.

Kolanaki

•

They really push the moral ambiguity thing hard. Especially with the first few companions you get. And especially if you pursue their personal quests.

•

I wouldn't call it moral ambiguity usually, more that it pushes the idea that previous mistakes don't define a character totally. It's basically the typical TTRPG character tragic backstory. Some of them are more greedy than others, but it's usually just that they did something wrong in the past and are trying to make up for it, or they're a different person now, or whatever. It is strange there's not a single normal character in the party though. I'd love to have some person there who's just wondering Wtf is wrong with all these people.

•

I'm probably mid way through act 2 (hard to tell, but it feels like it won't be too long) and it seems like Baldur's Gate is still a long way off. I'm assuming after taking care of the main act 2 thing Baldur's Gate will be right around the corner though. Still, if that city is anything like the rest of the game so far, it's going to have a lot to do.

focusedkiwibear

•

It’s definitely meant to be savored.

ThayWizGwar

•

That's a good way to put it. I am savoring this game.

•

I've played it for 50 hours and I'd estimate I'm about half way through. So you are right. Though I've enjoyed every second of those hours. Also if you're constantly so busy you can't play a game or have you time, you're definitely living life wrong.

•

Have you ever heard of Capitalism?

I work most of the day and when I finish I have little time to share between studies, chores, family, partner, friends and games. Maybe during the weekends I can play more but I don't have the time I had during uni.

Edit: Fuck I'm mad with the

you’re definitely living life wrong.

Pay me a salary and I'll stop wasting my time going to work so I can go play games.

•

you’re definitely living life wrong.

Hard to get context across in a post, this was only intended as a playful jab. I know all too well the consequences of aging and how it sucks your time away. Though I got divorced sometime ago and my (adult) kids live with me. I work full time but from home, the time I save on the commute allows me time to cook etc and not having to be up as early allows me to stay up later at night. But because of this isolation I don't really get out much There's no "other half" and friends are in short supply, no co-workers to hang out with in my free time. Which leaves me plenty of time for video games. Now is this a good trade off! I don't think so, would much prefer to be in your shoes.

•

Sorry, you're right, is difficult to get the tone just from a post.

Kolanaki

•

Being down voted for being stuck in the machine of capitalism and having little time for entertainment is bonkers. "Living life wrong?" Motherfucker, it's not like most people have a god damn choice in the matter. Sure, let's just quit our jobs and starve in the gutter. 🙄

•

I'm losing my shit over this. Some people are so out of touch with reality.

focusedkiwibear

•

we all have a choice. we didn't just 'end up' where we are, every decision we made along the way got us there. so yea you had a choice you didn't just land some horrible job that doesn't give you time to game.

•

I'd argue you have plenty of time for this game. It's big, but it isn't filled with bullshit and doesn't waste your time. Treat it like playing pen and paper D&D. You can play a campaign over many sessions and possibly hundreds of hours spread out over a long period, but if it's time enjoyed it's time well spent. You don't need to sit down for an eight hour session. Just play for an hour or two and come back some other time. It'll still be there and there's no battle pass or anything to miss out on.

Most modern games suck because they treat your time like nothing. They have you doing bullshit quests and collecting meaningless items. BG3 doesn't do that. It treats you like an adult who can make their own decisions. It doesn't waste your time and everything you choose to do will be fairly meaningful. It is what gaming should be in my opinion.

Thadrax

•

How is the combat? I bounced off of Divinity 1+2 hard because combat seemed to be too aoe focused and save scumming required, because just going in as you'd usually do would result in one or two members of my party being killed before I could even get my first turn in.

Amaltheamannen

•

It is hard but very rewarding. Often if a fight seems too hard you can use the environment to your advantage.

Way way way less surface spam than in DOS2, and less aoe.

Nalivai

•

It is definitely not aoe focused. I played through all of early access, and in my experience it required some tactical thinking, you couldn't just bum rush everything

•

I find the combat just right. I'm playing in balanced mode (there's story mode, balanced mode and the mode you play if you hate yourself).

I find the combat super rewarding, I can think I'm about to lose but manage to pull it back by the skin of my teeth. It seems incredibly well balanced. Some fights really do have me on the edge of my seat.

There is surface effects but it's not as ingrained as it was in divinity series, sometimes creating and exploiting the right surface can give you the edge, but it's not always needed. Aoe sure helps but with the limited amount of casts and spell slots, it's something you save for when it will be most effective.

As for save scumming, they seemed to have covered a lot of bases, and failing might open a different story arc etc, so worth sticking at it even in the face of defeat. It strikes me as a game with a lot of replay ability because of this, though I find it hard not to reload if something doesn't go my way, it's definitely worth running with the consequences just to see what might happen. My character lost one of his eyes :(

Thadrax

•

Sounds way more to my liking. I'm not totally averse to area of effect spells or reloading if stuff went pear shaped, I just don't like it being the default to blow up half a firework factory every fight or using reloads as a tactic constantly. Definitely hoping it will arrive on Xbox soon.

•

I'm sure Larian and Mirosoft will get it working on the Series S.
Do you have the Series S? I was wondering how many people bought the Series S over the Series X.

•

Tactician difficulty (the hardest) isn't too bad. I'm not sure what changes, but I haven't struggled much. You need to have decent builds and know what you're good at, but it's not hard.

One issue I have though is my character is a wizard and I normally control them. Ending up in a random ambush with them at the frontline is bad. I wish there was a way to customize your movement pattern and have your controlled character behind somewhere. I'm pen and paper, a good DM always asks how you're moving and in what order. I wish this did something similar, but let you choose who would talk or whatever else.