Gaming Baldur's Gate III by Larian Studios (PS5, PC, Mac, Xbox Series X|S)

[Irwin99]

And finished.

Played a lot of games in my 35 years and this is right up there. Just outstanding, one of the greatest games of all time, and I say that as someone who has never touched a CRPG before this and had zero interest in them.

A part of me just wants to play it endlessly because I feel each playthrough could be so massively different. Different builds, using different party members, different choices but I started it back in August, time to try something else but I will definitely be back for another playthrough at some point.

I got the good ending, I think;

Being rode to death by Archducess Raphael is the good ending, yeah?

But really, I think I just got the vanilla good ending. I'm a completionist so I had loads of help to call on for the final battle, including a fecking armoured Owlbear cub. Actually pumped my fist seeing that. Killed The Emperor, didn't trust him. Killed the Netherbrain with Mindflayer Orpheus and then gave him the honourable death he wanted.

Sent Lae'zel off to help her people.

Astarion ran off after the sun started burning him.

Told Gale to give up his hunt for the crown.

And then the one I really cared about; Karlach. I thought she was going to die and was actually upset but Wyll said he'd to go Avernus with her. Nice guy.

But I'm in a relationship with Karlach and I'm the jealous type so I wasn't leaving Karlach and the smooth-talking playboy go to hell together so I went too. So it's Me, Karlach and Wyll tearing up Avernus for eternity.

Have the epilogue party to wrap up now.

I stupidly tried to romance Karlach on my evil dark urge run but it was taking forever to seal the deal, and Wyll made a move on me and i let it happen It was bad news for him because

Spoiler

my dark urge character got the urge to stab him in his sleep which is what happened. I convinced the rest of the camp he was turning into a mindflayer and they believed me. Poor Wyll. I've killed 4 other companions as well so he's not alone in that regard

I'd agree it's up there in my list of all time faves.

 

[Fortitude]

Is there a bigger game than this in terms of interactive traversable worlds? Every side quest or task is enormous, let alone the main game proper.

It’s the biggest game I’ve played by a distance, but wondered how it scales compared to other games?

 

[Redplane]

Is there a bigger game than this in terms of interactive traversable worlds? Every side quest or task is enormous, let alone the main game proper.

It’s the biggest game I’ve played by a distance, but wondered how it scales compared to other games?

Guessing BG3 feels so large because it is so content packed but travel distance wise I don't think it's even close to many on this list:
https://gamerant.com/open-world-games-biggest-maps

 

[Fortitude]

Guessing BG3 feels so large because it is so content packed but travel distance wise I don't think it's even close to many on this list:
https://gamerant.com/open-world-games-biggest-maps

Thanks for that, but what I meant was with genuine things to do rather than masses of empty space.

You’re right though; that feeling of content and things to do does distort perception somewhat. The amount of times I’ve been sent off on some smallish mission and it’s taken an age to complete is sensory warping!

 

[Shane88]

I stupidly tried to romance Karlach on my evil dark urge run but it was taking forever to seal the deal, and Wyll made a move on me and i let it happen It was bad news for him because

Spoiler

my dark urge character got the urge to stab him in his sleep which is what happened. I convinced the rest of the camp he was turning into a mindflayer and they believed me. Poor Wyll. I've killed 4 other companions as well so he's not alone in that regard

I'd agree it's up there in my list of all time faves.

I don't think I have it in me to do an evil run! I just don't want to be a cnut .

Guessing BG3 feels so large because it is so content packed but travel distance wise I don't think it's even close to many on this list:
https://gamerant.com/open-world-games-biggest-maps

You'd wonder why developers are still so stuck on big, wide as an ocean/deep as a puddle worlds.

Tight, focused, dense worlds are best. There is sprawling exploration in BG3 but it never feels like hollow checklist exploring like AC Odyssey or Starfield.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Thanks for that, but what I meant was with genuine things to do rather than masses of empty space.

You’re right though; that feeling of content and things to do does distort perception somewhat. The amount of times I’ve been sent off on some smallish mission and it’s taken an age to complete is sensory warping!

There aren’t really any small or meaningless missions, which I love. Most missions end up tying into the main quest or plot in some way, or changing the course of how the game goes. It’s incredible. I also love how intertwined your companions are to the main plot.

 

[Fortitude]

There aren’t really any small or meaningless missions, which I love. Most missions end up tying into the main quest or plot in some way, or changing the course of how the game goes. It’s incredible. I also love how intertwined your companions are to the main plot.

Yeah, I’ve played 1 and 2, but the vastness of this has really caught me off guard. I’m playing it in co-op too; it’s devouring our spare time and this weekend!

 

[Irwin99]

I don't think I have it in me to do an evil run! I just don't want to be a cnut .

Well the good thing about the dark urge run is you can actually spend the game resisting the urge and turn into a redemption story of sorts- you customize the character's appearance and race etc. but he/she has a unique backstory related to one of the game's bosses.

 

[DWelbz19]

Is there a bigger game than this in terms of interactive traversable worlds? Every side quest or task is enormous, let alone the main game proper.

It’s the biggest game I’ve played by a distance, but wondered how it scales compared to other games?

Act 3 is mental for that. It's just a condensed city of 'alive' NPCs and conversations. Every house or building has some sort of purpose.

The best example of 'traversable' quest-lines is "Free the Artist" -- you start the quest in Act 1 as an off-shoot of another quest where you need to pass a skill check to actually set the questline of. Once you do, it isn’t relevant in any way nor is any reminder given to you until Act 3, about 100 hours later.

When you do resume the quest in Act 3, it leads you onto the Mystic Carrion quest, which has its own side quest attached to it as well…

The craziest part about all of that – this quest is so easily missed either because you fail the skillcheck in Act 1, or just as possible, you just don’t explore that specific hideout in Act 1 to even find it!

Other games wave every quest and side quest in your face, to make sure you don’t miss any content they’ve worked hard on. BG3 is very true to RPG fashion.

 

[Solius]

Act 3 is mental for that. It's just a condensed city of 'alive' NPCs and conversations. Every house or building has some sort of purpose.

The best example of 'traversable' quest-lines is "Free the Artist" -- you start the quest in Act 1 as an off-shoot of another quest where you need to pass a skill check to actually set the questline of. Once you do, it isn’t relevant in any way nor is any reminder given to you until Act 3, about 100 hours later.

When you do resume the quest in Act 3, it leads you onto the Mystic Carrion quest, which has its own side quest attached to it as well…

The craziest part about all of that – this quest is so easily missed either because you fail the skillcheck in Act 1, or just as possible, you just don’t explore that specific hideout in Act 1 to even find it!

Other games wave every quest and side quest in your face, to make sure you don’t miss any content they’ve worked hard on. BG3 is very true to RPG fashion.

I only found that specific hideout on my second playthrough, and even then I almost missed it.

 

[Fortitude]

Act 3 is mental for that. It's just a condensed city of 'alive' NPCs and conversations. Every house or building has some sort of purpose.

The best example of 'traversable' quest-lines is "Free the Artist" -- you start the quest in Act 1 as an off-shoot of another quest where you need to pass a skill check to actually set the questline of. Once you do, it isn’t relevant in any way nor is any reminder given to you until Act 3, about 100 hours later.

When you do resume the quest in Act 3, it leads you onto the Mystic Carrion quest, which has its own side quest attached to it as well…

The craziest part about all of that – this quest is so easily missed either because you fail the skillcheck in Act 1, or just as possible, you just don’t explore that specific hideout in Act 1 to even find it!

Other games wave every quest and side quest in your face, to make sure you don’t miss any content they’ve worked hard on. BG3 is very true to RPG fashion.

Yes! This kind of madness is what I refer to; I’ve never experienced anything like it in terms of distractive depth, and I used to love going off the beaten path in open world game, but the games have limitations and side quests or what you might stumble into starts to become samey and repetitive, or simply absent.

It’s felt like any random twist or turn on this can potentially lead to a full day of distraction, or at least enough distraction to where you’ve lost your original bearings or will return to them the next time you play.

Really epic game.

 

[Klopper76]

A bit late to the party but I started this just after Xmas and it's incredible. I'm on Act III now and moving towards the end. Definitely doing another play through. Probably missed so much.

 

[Fortitude]

So I have two play throughs: one multiplayer and one I am playing solo. The multi was started first and I used Gale as a main, so in the solo, I switched him out to use other characters. I got to act 3 solo and was met with a letter from Gale saying he’s off… and it seems like in this game, that’s permanent, or can I find him anywhere?

(He wasn’t kidnapped by Orin.)

 

[harms]

So I have two play throughs: one multiplayer and one I am playing solo. The multi was started first and I used Gale as a main, so in the solo, I switched him out to use other characters. I got to act 3 solo and was met with a letter from Gale saying he’s off… and it seems like in this game, that’s permanent, or can I find him anywhere?

(He wasn’t kidnapped by Orin.)

Well, you haven't been feeding him, I assume, so he buggered off?

 

[Fortitude]

Well, you haven't been feeding him, I assume, so he buggered off?

He left a note and fecked off. He didn’t actually ask for anything in the dialogues and I kept checking in intermittently. I literally never took him out of camp, so maybe that’s why it never triggered? I have the same with Karlach - never took her out of camp, but the infernal iron issue never kicked in, but I can use her no problem now.

So annoyed because I always intended to use him in act 3.

 

[harms]

He left a note and fecked off. He didn’t actually ask for anything in the dialogues and I kept checking in intermittently. I literally never took him out of camp, so maybe that’s why it never triggered? I have the same with Karlach - never took her out of camp, but the infernal iron issue never kicked in, but I can use her no problem now.

So annoyed because I always intended to use him in act 3.

Oh, that's weird. I thought that you simply haven't given him the items so he left.

 

[Irwin99]

I'm on my fourth run and aiming for the platinum. Tactician is a challenge but it's not unfair (so far). Looting absolutely every food item you come across seems to be working very well as resting requires 80 food points instead of 40.

One thing the game should get more credit for is the humor. Probably the funniest game I've played for many years.

 

[Fortitude]

Oh, that's weird. I thought that you simply haven't given him the items so he left.

I kept waiting for him to ask too, as I had known what to expect from the multi-player playthrough, but he never did.

I had Googled and people were saying Orin kidnaps one of your chars sometimes, but I've rescued who was there (Yanna) with no sign of Gale, which was what I went there to do.

I don't know where else he could even be. Been in every dive and place I can think of and it really looks like he's 100% gone for this play through, which feels incredibly harsh. I also have no wizard now unless I turn someone else into one from their own class with Withers.

Makes for a very different game without him and his bag of tricks.

 

[harms]

I kept waiting for him to ask too, as I had known what to expect from the multi-player playthrough, but he never did.

I had Googled and people were saying Orin kidnaps one of your chars sometimes, but I've rescued who was there (Yanna) with no sign of Gale, which was what I went there to do.

I don't know where else he could even be. Been in every dive and place I can think of and it really looks like he's 100% gone for this play through, which feels incredibly harsh. I also have no wizard now unless I turn someone else into one from their own class with Withers.

Makes for a very different game without him and his bag of tricks.

Maybe his dialog bugged out. Because he does leave you forever, saying good-bye in a letter, if you don't interact with him & give him magic items.

 

[Fortitude]

Maybe his dialog bugged out. Because he does leave you forever, saying good-bye in a letter, if you don't interact with him & give him magic items.

I made the whole game go haywire with my actions in the goblin camp. The bit before they come to invade. Thought I’d slaughter the entire camp and come back a hero. Did that bit, which was an epic achievement, but when I got back to the grove… everythingggg had been slaughtered and the game was adamant I had sided with the dwarves and slaughtered the camp! Halsin and all his quests disappeared from then on, too, and even now, the game glitches my completed quests and still has exclamation marks around the Halsin stuff. Dammon and everyone else got slaughtered there, obviously having a run-on consequence, so yeah, there are a few glitchy things that need fixing for sure.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

I bought this yesterday and I have severe regret. It’s my own fault as I didn’t think it would be a turn based game but my word it’s boring and the camera angle is so frustrating.

How can anyone play these types of games, Its truly awful so far, actually I’m not even sure I want to push on with it. Horrendous.

 

[Irwin99]

I bought this yesterday and I have severe regret. It’s my own fault as I didn’t think it would be a turn based game but my word it’s boring and the camera angle is so frustrating.

How can anyone play these types of games, Its truly awful so far, actually I’m not even sure I want to push on with it. Horrendous.

Well for what it's worth, it's a game that is difficult to pick up initially and doesn't tell/explain to the player an awful lot but once you get the hang of it and become immersed in the world and its characters it becomes very addictive. I just got the platinum and i think it's in my top ten games of all time. Astarion has probably become one of my favourite video game characters

If you enjoyed something like the Witcher 3's world and the decisions you have to make then I'd stick with it a bit longer, otherwise it might not be the right game for you.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I bought this yesterday and I have severe regret. It’s my own fault as I didn’t think it would be a turn based game but my word it’s boring and the camera angle is so frustrating.

How can anyone play these types of games, Its truly awful so far, actually I’m not even sure I want to push on with it. Horrendous.

Maybe watch a YouTube video before buying it then?

 

[Bebe]

I bought this yesterday and I have severe regret. It’s my own fault as I didn’t think it would be a turn based game but my word it’s boring and the camera angle is so frustrating.

How can anyone play these types of games, Its truly awful so far, actually I’m not even sure I want to push on with it. Horrendous.

Fair enough, if you don't like turn based games this one probably won't change that.

Some simply don't have the head for anything beyond "bright light, click button!" gameplay.

 

[Solius]

I bought this yesterday and I have severe regret. It’s my own fault as I didn’t think it would be a turn based game but my word it’s boring and the camera angle is so frustrating.

How can anyone play these types of games, Its truly awful so far, actually I’m not even sure I want to push on with it. Horrendous.

Might not be your thing (and you should’ve researched before buying) but it is absolutely not horrendous. It is first in class in its genre.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Some simply don't have the head for anything beyond "bright light, click button!" gameplay.

This is a bit of a weird comment given this seems to be exactly what the game is with no need for any skill or thought.

 

[Andersons Dietician]

Well for what it's worth, it's a game that is difficult to pick up initially and doesn't tell/explain to the player an awful lot but once you get the hang of it and become immersed in the world and its characters it becomes very addictive. I just got the platinum and i think it's in my top ten games of all time. Astarion has probably become one of my favourite video game characters

If you enjoyed something like the Witcher 3's world and the decisions you have to make then I'd stick with it a bit longer, otherwise it might not be the right game for you.

I did love the witcher and I do love a story immersive game but I’ve found myself skipping most of the dialogue in part because I’ve found the lead up to these conversations so tedious, I think my frustrations have just gotten the better of me.

I wish the trailers for the game had shown some actual in game play I've found the combat really boring to this point and not really being any sort of challenge This is with the combat difficulty turned up. Will this become more challenging eventually with the need to combine skills from my party and so on because right now it feels like a story mode.

 

[pacifictheme]

I did love the witcher and I do love a story immersive game but I’ve found myself skipping most of the dialogue in part because I’ve found the lead up to these conversations so tedious, I think my frustrations have just gotten the better of me.

I wish the trailers for the game had shown some actual in game play I've found the combat really boring to this point and not really being any sort of challenge This is with the combat difficulty turned up. Will this become more challenging eventually with the need to combine skills from my party and so on because right now it feels like a story mode.

It's a shame you are not enjoying the combat, what difficulty are you playing on? Could always up it? I don't think many people found the combat mind numbingly easy.

And more generally I would never buy a game without checking out stuff like combat previews on YouTube.

 

[Siorac]

I did love the witcher and I do love a story immersive game but I’ve found myself skipping most of the dialogue in part because I’ve found the lead up to these conversations so tedious, I think my frustrations have just gotten the better of me.

I wish the trailers for the game had shown some actual in game play I've found the combat really boring to this point and not really being any sort of challenge This is with the combat difficulty turned up. Will this become more challenging eventually with the need to combine skills from my party and so on because right now it feels like a story mode.

Where are you in the game, what level are your characters, and what difficulty level are you playing at?

The early stages - the Nautiloid and its immediate surroundings - are essentially the game's tutorial. Later on, the complexity and difficulty of combat encounters ramp up considerably, particularly on Tactician.

 

[Solius]

This is a bit of a weird comment given this seems to be exactly what the game is with no need for any skill or thought.

Maybe you're just elite at the game but the whole point of the style of combat is it requires thought and strategy, no? There will be multiple enemies all over the map and you'll have to prioritise who to save, what magic to use, how to position yourself, etc... between almost every turn.

 

[Massive Spanner]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone call BG3 an easy game Especially in early chapter one, when you've never played a game like it before.

 

[weetee]

I don't think I've ever heard anyone call BG3 an easy game Especially in early chapter one, when you've never played a game like it before.

I found the Tutorial almost the hardest part


There are mods to massively change up enemy encounters - didn‘t try them out though.

 

[Laurencio]

I did love the witcher and I do love a story immersive game but I’ve found myself skipping most of the dialogue in part because I’ve found the lead up to these conversations so tedious, I think my frustrations have just gotten the better of me.

I wish the trailers for the game had shown some actual in game play I've found the combat really boring to this point and not really being any sort of challenge This is with the combat difficulty turned up. Will this become more challenging eventually with the need to combine skills from my party and so on because right now it feels like a story mode.

It's a game that can be made as easy or hard as you want to. I think the initial part of the game is rather easy - depending on your chosen class - but you can make it tougher on yourself, and the game will reward you for it. Early on you get the choice to kill the demons or flee. On the Nautoloid did you kill the demons or just flee? Killing them is harder, and gives you a very nice sword for instance.

There are also a bunch of optional battles you can chose to take or not take. If I'm not entirely mistaken, someone correct me if I'm wrong, a part from an easy encounter outside the walls, every battle in Act 1 is optional and skippable with the right skills/magic/items/conversation options, but are not necessarily the best choices.

Act 2 gets tougher as more battles are unskippable and it introduces new status effect mechanics, and Act 3 is pretty damn tough regardless of your play style.

 

[Moby]

I haven't played this yet as I was a bit apprehensive due to not being a huge DnD fan, but just read the last few posts and checked a few combat gameplay video and it looks fantastic! Love games that come with such varied and diverse combat mechanics and this seems to be right towards the high end in that aspect. I think I will pick this up once I am done with FF7, so thanks for the bump @Andersons Dietician

 

[DWelbz19]

It's probably a top 3 of all time for me. One of those games that leave you hollow when you try and play anything else afterwards for ages.

 

[Moby]

It's probably a top 3 of all time for me. One of those games that leave you hollow when you try and play anything else afterwards for ages.

I had a similar experience after finishing Persona 5 Royal which I regard similar to what you've said for this and yeah I can understand people getting absolutely immersed in something like this. You can't really go back to bog standard action games or whatever once you get to experience such highly detailed and sophisticated gameplay and game mechanics.

 

[pacifictheme]

I haven't played this yet as I was a bit apprehensive due to not being a huge DnD fan, but just read the last few posts and checked a few combat gameplay video and it looks fantastic! Love games that come with such varied and diverse combat mechanics and this seems to be right towards the high end in that aspect. I think I will pick this up once I am done with FF7, so thanks for the bump @Andersons Dietician

I had never played d and d and I loved it. If you like turn based combat and or fantasy settings then I struggle to see how you could dislike this game. Absolute masterpiece.

 

[DWelbz19]

I had a similar experience after finishing Persona 5 Royal which I regard similar to what you've said for this and yeah I can understand people getting absolutely immersed in something like this. You can't really go back to bog standard action games or whatever once you get to experience such highly detailed and sophisticated gameplay and game mechanics.

Funnily enough, P5 was one of those games for me too!

 

[Moby]

I had never played d and d and I loved it. If you like turn based combat and or fantasy settings then I struggle to see how you could dislike this game. Absolute masterpiece.

Yep. I was completely wrong in thinking on those lines. I'm a massive sucker for any turn based combat let alone that's so brilliantly constructed. Really looking forward to picking this up next.

 

[Fortitude]

It's probably a top 3 of all time for me. One of those games that leave you hollow when you try and play anything else afterwards for ages.

I’m on my third playthrough… in a row. Been playing it religiously since before Christmas now.

Last non-Vs game I had this with was Skyrim.