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

padr81

Full Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2015
Messages
11,933
Supports
Man City
I see where you're coming from, I may have come off too strongly. But I can pretty much guarantee you that if you're content to just sit with the game idle in your Steam library, you'll eventually be quite happy to play it. I understand the EA sentiment, but I wouldn't put Larian up with the rest. Their success with Original Sin 2 was partly down to this way of doing things. They want a conversation with the community from day 1. They could do closed or open alphas/betas, I suppose, but this is more reliable. And obviously it might pay the bills for the time being.

I think we can be pretty confident this isn't going to be Star Citizen 2, never ending development.
For sure, we'll get a good game eventually. I think 3 months down the line we'll actually have a pretty decent early access demo and eventually a great game, vibe I get is we're a fair bit from full release though.
 

nimic

something nice
Scout
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
31,386
Location
And I'm all out of bubblegum.
For sure, we'll get a good game eventually. I think 3 months down the line we'll actually have a pretty decent early access demo and eventually a great game, vibe I get is we're a fair bit from full release though.
The developers think Early Access is going to take at least a year. Hopefully we have all the Acts before then, so it's a playable full game.
 

jackal&hyde

Full Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2018
Messages
4,220
Just in the last couple of years I've put 200 hours in BG1 and 200 in BG2. This better be the best CRPG ever.
 

balaks

Full Member
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Messages
15,335
Location
Northern Ireland
Supports
Tottenham Hotspur
Really can't wait for this - I bought the game last year and played about an hour but then stopped as I didn't want to spoil the experience when it launched.
 

T00lsh3d

T00ly O' Sh3d
Joined
Mar 20, 2014
Messages
8,446
So fecking pumped :drool: August 31st

I randomly re-ran through BG2 a few times a year or so ago. Assumed I’d missed the release date for this, I’ll defo give it a blast and just hope it doesn’t spoil the old memories for me
 

RedSky

Shepherd’s Delight
Scout
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
74,250
Location
Hereford FC (Soccermanager)
It's a much better experience than Div Sin 2, far more options to avoid combats so it's not just moving from one combat to another. Your actions have genuine consequences. Hyped for the full release!

Played the old games numerous times.
 

Massive Spanner

Give Mason Mount a chance!
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
28,143
Location
Tool shed
It's a much better experience than Div Sin 2, far more options to avoid combats so it's not just moving from one combat to another. Your actions have genuine consequences. Hyped for the full release!

Played the old games numerous times.
D:OS2 is one of my favourite games so it's great to hear this improves on it. Can't wait.
 

Bebe

Full Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
5,575
Location
The true north.
Release date moved up to August 3 on PC, delayed a week to Sept 6 on PS5, presumably the PC change is to try avoiding Starfield.

I've never played a Larian game, but everything I've seen about this makes it look right up my alley. Is it worth playing either of the Divinity games this summer before BG3 comes out? I'll be playing on PS5; any feedback on how the Divinity games play on console is appreciated.
 

Massive Spanner

Give Mason Mount a chance!
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
28,143
Location
Tool shed
Oh god, there's too much to play, mad for this!
Release date moved up to August 3 on PC, delayed a week to Sept 6 on PS5, presumably the PC change is to try avoiding Starfield.

I've never played a Larian game, but everything I've seen about this makes it look right up my alley. Is it worth playing either of the Divinity games this summer before BG3 comes out? I'll be playing on PS5; any feedback on how the Divinity games play on console is appreciated.
The second is a masterpiece. No reason not to play it.
 

nimic

something nice
Scout
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
31,386
Location
And I'm all out of bubblegum.
Release date moved up to August 3 on PC, delayed a week to Sept 6 on PS5, presumably the PC change is to try avoiding Starfield.

I've never played a Larian game, but everything I've seen about this makes it look right up my alley. Is it worth playing either of the Divinity games this summer before BG3 comes out? I'll be playing on PS5; any feedback on how the Divinity games play on console is appreciated.
I'll echo what @Massive Spanner said: play the second one. It's a fantastic game, I was actually just thinking of having another play-through myself.

Edit: by second one, we mean Divinity: Original Sin 2.
 

FreakyJim

90% of teams play better football than us
Joined
Jan 16, 2006
Messages
9,077
Location
Glazers Out
I'll echo what @Massive Spanner said: play the second one. It's a fantastic game, I was actually just thinking of having another play-through myself.

Edit: by second one, we mean Divinity: Original Sin 2.
Another one for Divinity: Original Sin 2, it's a fantastic game.

I've always wanted to try and get into the Baldur Gates and Planescape Torments etc but just couldn't do it. Until Original Sin 2. Something clicked and I couldn't put it down.

You should also try Pathfinder: Kingmaker - it's what I'm playing right now. This game is so massive and has so much shit going on It's almost intimidating. Building up a Kingdom, dealing with your neighbours , quests that expire with time, a massive map. I think I'm at a half-way point and there's still so much left.

Badur's Gate 3 looks incredible though. Hopefully the story is too.
 

Bebe

Full Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
5,575
Location
The true north.
Agreed but in my humble opinion these sort of games really need to be played with M&K to get the best out of them.
This is what I'm wondering. I'd love to sit back and play one of these on the couch, but I'm worried using a controller will make all of the strategic gameplay more of a pain.

Also, is there any compelling reason to play D:OS 1 before playing the second? @FreakyJim @nimic @Massive Spanner ?
 

nimic

something nice
Scout
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
31,386
Location
And I'm all out of bubblegum.
This is what I'm wondering. I'd love to sit back and play one of these on the couch, but I'm worried using a controller will make all of the strategic gameplay more of a pain.

Also, is there any compelling reason to play D:OS 1 before playing the second? @FreakyJim @nimic @Massive Spanner ?
It's a decent game in its own right, but it's not a masterpiece.
 

SilentWitness

ShoelessWitness
Staff
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
30,457
Supports
Everton
Will get it on PS5 when it comes out. Can't wait. :)

ACtually, I echo what @Bebe says though... I played Div 1 and 2 on PC and they were obviously amazing so my only worry is the transfer to a controller!
 

padr81

Full Member
Joined
Dec 12, 2015
Messages
11,933
Supports
Man City
The developers think Early Access is going to take at least a year. Hopefully we have all the Acts before then, so it's a playable full game.
Some year, how naive were we? But at least its coming soon now.
 

Bebe

Full Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2010
Messages
5,575
Location
The true north.
Cheers all, sounds like I'll be playing D:OS2 once I've finished with Final Fantasy, and before this comes out on PS5.
 

KirkDuyt

Full Member
Joined
Nov 25, 2015
Messages
24,559
Location
Dutchland
Supports
Feyenoord
This is what I'm wondering. I'd love to sit back and play one of these on the couch, but I'm worried using a controller will make all of the strategic gameplay more of a pain.

Also, is there any compelling reason to play D:OS 1 before playing the second? @FreakyJim @nimic @Massive Spanner ?
Divinity 2 works fine on console. You miss the mod support, but the controls are fine.

Definitely play it, one of the best RPG's of all time.

As others have said, 1 is a good game too, but far inferior.
 

Siorac

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
23,815
I didn't really enjoy D:OS2: the plot and the writing were mediocre, and combat encounters always devolved into pools of blood/lava covering everything, with ludicrous amount of teleporting all over the place. Didn't like the whole 'origin characters' thing either - basically you meet all available companions right away in the prologue which is a poor experience for this kind of game.

Also, the easiest difficulty was completely trivial, there was no way to ever lose a fight while one difficulty above it quickly became a frustrating mess where you have to 'learn' every fight, its gimmicks, and piece together the puzzle.

I wasn't overjoyed when Larian got Baldur's Gate - I'm very much afraid they won't live up to the first two. I'll still get it though and the turn-based thing at least works in my favour: I'll have to get it on the PS5 and there's no way I could play a real-time with pause game on console. Hopefully they'll have improved their writing department, and having D&D rules instead of their own system leads to a more fun combat experience.
 

RedSky

Shepherd’s Delight
Scout
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
74,250
Location
Hereford FC (Soccermanager)
The main complaint I had with Divinity 2 was the bouncing around from one combat to another, it was endless. I don't think I ever found the game difficult, we tended to play the game on hard setting, but it was pretty clear that there was always an intended path the devs wanted you to follow, thus you could try and fight a group more powerful than you, but you'd tend to struggle unless they were only 1/2 levels above.

I wasn't enamoured by the story either, but I did enjoy the combat system. It was a satisfying game to master and although the crafting system was on the whole useless, it did allow you to do something with the vast amount of shit you find. Also thought the locations were well designed and the majority of the encounters were decent and fun to battle through. It's still a game with flaws though, but I enjoyed playing through it.
 

Ragnar123

Full Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2021
Messages
1,415
Supports
Barcelona
So, the game gets finally released today on PC. There is sadly no preload, so I hope the steam servers will hold when all start to download the 122gb. Does anyone here plan to play? If yes, which class you gonna pick? You plan to play a multi class? With 12 classes and 46 different subclasses, I propably spend my day until release thinking about what class to play in my first play through :lol:
I'm also excited to see those 174 hours of ingame cutscenes and cinematics they announced. It should be a huge game.
 

V.O.

Last Man Standing finalist 2019/20
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
8,005
So, the game gets finally released today on PC. There is sadly no preload, so I hope the steam servers will hold when all start to download the 122gb. Does anyone here plan to play? If yes, which class you gonna pick? You plan to play a multi class? With 12 classes and 46 different subclasses, I propably spend my day until release thinking about what class to play in my first play through :lol:
I'm also excited to see those 174 hours of ingame cutscenes and cinematics they announced. It should be a huge game.
 

Massive Spanner

Give Mason Mount a chance!
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
Messages
28,143
Location
Tool shed
Got a key off a friend who works at larian. It’s a long time since I’ve been so excited for a game. The scope of it sounds monumental.
 

nimic

something nice
Scout
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
31,386
Location
And I'm all out of bubblegum.
Well it's out, and I'm currently getting a paltry 6MB/s. At this rate I'll have it downloaded in 5 hours. It actually went down to 3.5MB/s as I'm writing this, but I'm sure it will reach 60 MB/s in no time. Right? RIGHT?
 

RedSky

Shepherd’s Delight
Scout
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
74,250
Location
Hereford FC (Soccermanager)
It's blowing up on twitch right now.

I cannot wait for this game. I grew up playing Baldurs Gate 1 and 2. BG2 is in my top 10 list of all time.
 

Redplane

( . Y . ) planned for Christmas
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
10,357
Location
The Royal Kingdom of Trumpistan
Very excited to try this but after being disappointed with D4 and feeling like I wasted 70 bucks (for now at least..im sure it will be a lot better by next year) I think I'll wait a bit. The sheer size and complexity of this game probably means there are still a lot of bugs and imbalances that will pop up, despite the lengthy testing period.
 

nimic

something nice
Scout
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
31,386
Location
And I'm all out of bubblegum.
Very excited to try this but after being disappointed with D4 and feeling like I wasted 70 bucks (for now at least..im sure it will be a lot better by next year) I think I'll wait a bit. The sheer size and complexity of this game probably means there are still a lot of bugs and imbalances that will pop up, despite the lengthy testing period.
This isn't anything like Diablo, there's no reason to expect the same here. For one thing, the first act of the game has been out for years by now in Early Access. But it's always a good idea to wait.
 

Redplane

( . Y . ) planned for Christmas
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
10,357
Location
The Royal Kingdom of Trumpistan
This isn't anything like Diablo, there's no reason to expect the same here. For one thing, the first act of the game has been out for years by now in Early Access. But it's always a good idea to wait.
Good point. By the same token I'm one of those people (and I suspect many others are too) who either needs to fully commit to a game or drop it and never quite get fully back into it. Especially with adventure games like this. I want to play it like a good book I can't put down.
 

Siorac

Full Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
23,815
I am forced to wait, having become a filthy console peasant (my PC has crapped itself and currently I cannot justify getting a new one). But I'll definitely play it in September.
 

RedSky

Shepherd’s Delight
Scout
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
74,250
Location
Hereford FC (Soccermanager)
Good point. By the same token I'm one of those people (and I suspect many others are too) who either needs to fully commit to a game or drop it and never quite get fully back into it. Especially with adventure games like this. I want to play it like a good book I can't put down.
This is basically playing out your own story book. Countless different ways to playthrough, i'll be very surprised if you don't find it engaging and immersive. It's like the anti Diablo in many ways (I love Diablo too).
 

Ragnar123

Full Member
Joined
Apr 19, 2021
Messages
1,415
Supports
Barcelona
Steam servers running pretty smooth so far, I nearly load with full speed. 60% done.

It's blowing up on twitch right now.
400k so far, it's okay but nothing groundbreaking. I remember Cyberpunk had a little over a million during release. I think D&D is too niche to pull the biggest numbers.
 

nimic

something nice
Scout
Joined
Aug 2, 2006
Messages
31,386
Location
And I'm all out of bubblegum.
Steam servers running pretty smooth so far, I nearly load with full speed. 60% done.



400k so far, it's okay but nothing groundbreaking. I remember Cyberpunk had a little over a million during release. I think D&D is too niche to pull the biggest numbers.
400k for a CRPG by a non-massive developer is... well, massive. I don't think it's fair to compare it to Cyberpunk, probably the most highly expected game ever.