Baldur's Gate 3

[SturmChurro]

So they just announced Baldur's Gate 3! It's being made by Larian the guys behind Divinity!





I have no doubt the game will be great! Some people are doubting their writing ability though. I am pretty hyped!

[z3n]

Yeah, I'm pretty hyped as well.

Their writing ability is... well, not absolutely stunning but it's definitely passable. I'm just glad their coop dialogue works great!

[Lifthrasir]

Sorry for necro-posting this.
I've been a huge fan of the 2 first opus and I look forward for the 3rd one. 20 years since Baldur's Gate 2, can't believe that time goes that fast. I remember whan I was using 5 CD's to play that game
Anyway, I think that I definitively needs a new PC now
Originally the early access was planned for August 2020 but I'd be more interested for the full version, even if I have to wait a bit longer.

For those who are interested (video quite long )...

[Vladyvid]

You must gather your party before venturing forth!

[Lifthrasir]

What I "fear" the most are the fights. I'd not like something like in Fallout 1, in which movements and fights themselves sucked tbh because each character involved in a fight was playing his turn before the next one could. On contrary, in BG1 and BG2 (and other similar games at that time like IWD or NWN), fights had some fluidity and that was appreciable imo.

[Akar]

If it's anything like the two Divinity Original Sins games they made I expect nothing but perfection. Divinity 2 is one of the best games I've played and has by far the best take on DnD style combat I've seen in a game.

What I "fear" the most are the fights.

That's actually what I fear most about playing the old Neverwinter and Baldurs Gate games; the combat. I grew up playing NWN1/2 and BG1/2 and far and away the thing I look forward to least about revisiting them is the dated take on combat mechanics. At least Bioware innovated with Knights of the Old Republic and then even further with Dragon Age, but it still was definitely the least enjoyable part of the games. With Divinity 2, I actually find myself wanting to play through the game not only for the story, but for the combat mechanics themselves. The higher difficulties are insanely rewarding when you finally manage to beat a difficult encounter.

Their writing ability is... well, not absolutely stunning but it's definitely passable.

I actually really enjoyed their writing, especially in the second game. If you haven't played it through since they released the "definitive" version of the game it's absolutely worth playing through again. They added a significant amount of content and depth to the story and it feels like almost a whole new game when you play it. From the list of things that they added, "A narrative overhaul with over 150,000 words of text changed and over 130,000 words recorded."

Steam says that I have ~1500 hours invested in the series, between both games.

[Vladyvid]

The combat system is turn based so some people will never like it. Im not a big fan of turn based combat, but from what was alrady presented it looks rather fun.

My main concern about the game as a whole is how much freedom it will give to the player and how much it will be a linear story that you just have to follow. In the past, both BG1 and 2 had the initial stage of the game begin in a more linear way, as a tutorial of sorts; in BG1 it was Candlekeep, in BG2 it was Irenicus' Dungeon. You just had to go through those stories/areas to acess the open world. Im wondering how will this be adressed in BG3. Also, in BG2 in particular a player could gain a base like a castle for a warrior, thieves guild for a thief and so on. Those were very interesting questlines and lots of fun to get one such base. Im really wondering what will BG3 offer in that regard. That whole campsite setting for group interactions doesnt seem very interesting so far.

Also, ive read somewhere that it will be possible to come across Volo, which on one hand is maybe a nice touch, but on the other hand he should not be alive.

[Akar]

Well, if the Divinity games are anything to go by the games will be pretty vast and non-linear.

I'm not typically a fan of turn based combat myself, but DnD is supposed to be turn based. Pause and play RPGs just feel more cumbersome to me than turn based does.

[Lifthrasir]

I actually think that the campsite is not a bad idea. For instance, it was a bit weird to get a romance right after an epic fight. It doesn't really makes sens. Same if one character decide to talk about his own story. It will really depend on how this is written imo. There's no much info on that for now But graphically speaking, it really looks awesome. Some screenshots can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/RMQ8QCi

I've read here that the engine has been at least re-worked about 2/3 for BG3.

[Vladyvid]

I'm not typically a fan of turn based combat myself, but DnD is supposed to be turn based. Pause and play RPGs just feel more cumbersome to me than turn based does.

Yeah i think its a nice touch that each time there is a test roll, you can actually see the dice and its very clear what you need to roll to succeed. The idea of a turn based fight will need some getting used to for me.

I actually think that the campsite is not a bad idea. For instance, it was a bit weird to get a romance right after an epic fight. It doesn't really makes sens. Same if one character decide to talk about his own story. It will really depend on how this is written imo. There's no much info on that for now But graphically speaking, it really looks awesome. Some screenshots can be seen here: https://imgur.com/a/RMQ8QCi

While i agree that the campsite could be a good setting for those kinds of stories or character plots, i meant to compare the campsite to a player base that you can use for maybe storage and other things. In that regard, im not impressed with the campsite. Something like that existed in Dragon Age, and while it was sometimes useful, i never thought of it as a cool feature.

[Flinn]

the sad part about great new games is that I won't be buying them, damn

However, if you are up to make a D&D game you cannot avoid to stick in full to D&D rules and mechanics.. the great part about the old D&D games (I started with Icewind Dale ages ago) was that you had to know the D&D tabletop game if you wanted to play those games (at the least at higher difficulty settings, which is what I always did since I found casting fireballs in the middle of my fellow party members without harming them to be even worse than cheating.. also it makes casters OP, IMO)... the Neverwinter series were somewhat a step behind, even though Storm of Zehir was a nice try to replicate an open free world mechanic.

Honestly, my experience tells me that I would be focusing more on game mechanics than on cool killing moves or great graphics for such a game, not to say about RPG .. I mean, I can't believe it's possible to have true RPG with a game like this, too many things are scripted and the balancing of encounters make it hard for the developers to avoid players going OP if you don't put some limits to characters developments and to what they can or cannot do... I still believe that games like TES series, where you have actually no limits and the main plot isn't really main (since the game does not end) and where everything works like IRL (the guards are mean guys who will beat the crap out of you if you knife someone in public, no matter if you have saved the world like 10 times before; or there's no limit to what you can morally do, just the moral you decided that your character must have) are better suited as real RPG games.

anyways, hopefully someone will enjoy that game

[Lifthrasir]

According to this interview (and from my understanding): https://twitter.com/larianstudios/st...42517946331138

To summarize what's new in this version?
- Beside the graphic aspect, all dialogues will be "played" instead of written as previously, for a deeper and more emotional feeling.
- The D&D system (D&D5 to be precise) will be based on classes which will make it pretty different to DoS for the team creation and gameplay. Here, each class has its own skills and specific capabilities which affect the character's evolution as well.
- The environnemental aspect will be very important, allowing interaction while respecting the D&D rules (set fire, destroy elements, etc...).
- The atmosphere will be darker which will make evil characters more interesting to play with, including real rewards for these alignments.
- The scenario should be non-linear, with a lot of permutations and deeper interactions with your party.

Finally, it says also that there are curently 250 people working on that game, without the subcontractors. DoS2 employed 120 people at the most (and for a temporary period). If BG3 respects its promises, it should be at a higher level compare to DoS.

Edit: a bit more about the subject

[Vladyvid]

- Beside the graphic aspect, all dialogues will be "played" instead of written as previously, for a deeper and more emotional feeling.

That was not the case in the gameplays that were presented so far, so either this is not yet finished or some other reason but im sure there were unvoiced dialogues in the last gameplay ive seen because i remember quite specifically noticing that.

- The D&D system (D&D5 to be precise) will be based on classes which will make it pretty different to DoS for the team creation and gameplay. Here, each class has its own skills and specific capabilities which affect the character's evolution as well.

The dnd system was present in the earlier BG games aswell, just based on a different edition. That the current edition is 5, its pretty obvious they are using that one, but the post-spellplague Faerun to me feels a bit like Disney Star Wars with so much devastation. I liked the old world better.

The environnemental aspect will be very important, allowing interaction while respecting the D&D rules (set fire, destroy elements, etc...).

Thats actually rather interesting, if the environment will be open for interaction and so what extend. So far from the gameplay vids im missing some good old fashioned "im lost in the woods" situation, where we could see just some random enemies like ogres, wolves, orcs, not the main storyline related Ilithid minions.

Ive seen there were some goblins in one gameplay preview, but im rather dissapointed with them looking funny and whimsical and not very much like a goblin should - so that gives me a clue about the artistic choices, but maybe its just my overinterpretation.

The atmosphere will be darker which will make evil characters more interesting to play with, including real rewards for these alignments.

Im wondering what do they mean by that exactly. I had some BG2 characters that were so evil (and eventually powerful) that i would kill multiple groups of city guards with cowled wizards each time i entered the capital; turning most enemies to stone for the cool effect of random people statues. Im wondering what kinds of rewards could such character gain in BG3.

The scenario should be non-linear, with a lot of permutations and deeper interactions with your party.

Sounds good to me.

Finally, it says also that there are curently 250 people working on that game, without the subcontractors. DoS2 employed 120 people at the most (and for a temporary period). If BG3 respects its promises, it should be at a higher level compare to DoS.

I cant really be more hyped for this game that i already am. Thats a huge team no doubt, and having said all that what they have said already, puts a lot of pressure of Larian Studios. They seem to be pretty confident of the product they have, which can be part of their marketing strategy, or maybe genuine, we will see.

[Lifthrasir]

More about the gameplay:

1st part:


2nd part:


Sounds promising

[Lifthrasir]

Some more info about the combat and stealth here

[Vladyvid]

Classes are obviously important too. "The stories are very much tied to class at times," says senior writer Adam Smith. "Class is such a part of identity in D&D, in a way that it wasn't in DOS2." Larian say that in the full release of BG3 we'll be able to play as any class from the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition ruleset. During early access we'll be able to play as a Cleric, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Warlock or Wizard.

When picking a class, you'll also be able to pick a specialised archetype. Check out he full list below:

• Fighter - Battle Master, Eldritch Knight
• Wizard - Evocation, Abjuration
• Rogue - Arcane Trickster, Thief
• Ranger - Hunter, Beast Master
• Cleric - Life, Light, Trickery
• Warlock - Fiend, Great One

Can anyone confirm/deny that there will only be so few classes? I simply dont know what to say here, im really disturbed....

[Sar1n]

[COLOR=#333333][FONT=&quot][/LIST]
Can anyone confirm/deny that there will only be so few classes? I simply dont know what to say here, im really disturbed....

I doubt so. It 's probably just early access list. After all, DnD has what, half a dozen magic specializations at least.

[Lifthrasir]

Sar1n is right. According to Larian Studios, only a few will be available during the early access but there should be a lot more later on.
Btw, the early access has been postponed a bit obviously. There's an announcement planned next August 18th (see here).

[Vladyvid]

Now im wondering how big will the game world be. We have been already told that the developers are not planning to include the entirety of the city of Baldur's Gate. Some parts of the city will not be accessible at all. Im wondering how much of the city will actually be accessible. If i remember correctly, back in BG1, most if not all of the BG disctricts could be accessed.

Also, how big will be the area to explore outside the city. From what i know already, i think the adventure starts somewhere nearby Yartar, but that is rather confusing because Yartar is located north-east from Waterdeep. So does that mean that Waterdeep will make an appearance in the game? I think not, so maybe the adventure starts further south... but where, does anyone know? Then what area of the sword coast will be available to explore? I would imagine some parts of the werstern heartlands, but considering that the earlier BG games mostly focused on the areas south of BG, maybe this time we are going to be focusing on the areas north of the city?

Just wondering...

[Vladyvid]

I think some of the locations on this map should be available for adventuring:



You can see Yartar in the north - the city that gets attacked in the BG3 trailer i believe. Then, there is a really long way down to the city of Baldur's Gate from there. So what do you think will be included in the game world?
Maybe some of the locations on the map above can give us some ideas.