Baldur's Gate 3 - Hardcore D&D simulator and amazing game!

[d-dave]

I've heard a lot about the BG3 early access, but I figured I wouldn't have time to play.  Well after seeing how much it brings D&D to life, I had to buy it.

My god, this is a fun game!  I love it!  Not only as a D&D fan, but just as someone who appreciates how well the wrote the characters and interaction system.  This is so much fun and I sneak in as much playtime as I can

Though I will say, my party members need to keep it in their pants...sheesh!  Everyone is horny for my dwarven cleric!

[CanadianCat]

Im loving the game. I had high hopes for it as DOS2 was one of my favorite previous games this studio made - bud damn this is better than i expected. 

As a D&D player its so fun seeing the how the game uses dice. 'rolling' dice is a fun aspect to the game. 

But yeah the game has lots of sex.. I have to be careful when the kids are around lol 

[Arroz con Panther]

I'm getting the itch to play this, but I've never played D&D and I'm not a huge fan of turn-based combat. Convince me!

[d-dave]

On 8/25/2023 at 10:16 AM, Arroz con Panther said:

I'm getting the itch to play this, but I've never played D&D and I'm not a huge fan of turn-based combat. Convince me!

I haven't played turned based since Baldur's Gate 2 some 15 years ago.  Not a huge fan myself either.  What I have figured out is that I have a LOT of strategic flexibility.  So it's different.  Not as fast paced, but very rewarding.  Using the environment, combo effects (grease + fire), and sometimes a simple shove are super effective.

So what is the selling point here?  The story and characters!  There's a LOT of questing going on, and the dialogue is just great!  You have a lot of options to complete different objectives and each one has it's own story outcome.  You've probably heard BG3 is the bear-sex simulator, but that's just ONE character!  You can have sex with a vampire, a hot bad girl with a past, a wizard with a bomb in his chest, a demon, a demon hunting warlock who can get really horny, there's a love interest for every kink!

There are so many cool story beats.  You mean some real bastards, so real gems, and a lot in between.  Want to murder everyone?  Go for it?  Want to play without killing?  Go for it!  Want to min-max the heck out of your abilities and skills?  Go for it?  Want to play only using auto saves?  You are quite brave!

I love the game.  I am a 30+ year D&D player, but I'm much more into my action and FPS games!  I played he old school Eye of the Beholder games along with a fair number if the isometric party games (Icewind Dale, Planescape, BG and BG2, etc) in my youth.  So I'm coming back after a long break.

So what am I really personally enjoying?  I love the exploration and the stories.  I am becoming a big fan of art and world design so I am having fun digging into every corner to see what the artists have added.  I love seeing the new characters and finding those emotional story beats for the main questline and my buddies.  Oh and the Paladin's smiting attacks are MONEY! 

[Cullenator]

31 minutes ago, d-dave said:

You've probably heard BG3 is the bear-sex simulator, but that's just ONE character!  You can have sex with a vampire, a hot bad girl with a past, a wizard with a bomb in his chest, a demon, a demon hunting warlock who can get really horny, there's a love interest for every kink!

You just saved me 60 bucks.

 

Thanks

[d-dave]

4 hours ago, Cullenator said:

You just saved me 60 bucks.

 

Thanks

I was being facetious - that's what people have called it because the companions are very "thirsty."  

 But if you're not down for that, that's fine!  Play the games you enjoy!  You don't have THAT much sex....

[Cullenator]

3 hours ago, d-dave said:

I was being facetious - that's what people have called it because the companions are very "thirsty."  

 But if you're not down for that, that's fine!  Play the games you enjoy!  You don't have THAT much sex....

Its a little funny.  A little.

 

Back in '77 a buddy's older brother brought the original 3 beige rule books home from a deployment.  I think its safe to say that we played DnD almost every weekend after that until it fell apart due to families and jobs and just life somewhere around 2000.  In all that time sex was a part of the game less than a handful of times.

 

Tried to play again recently and it was like an entirely different game with dragonkin and guns and sex and its all become a bit of a "get off my lawn" kind of thing.

[d-dave]

6 minutes ago, Cullenator said:

Its a little funny.  A little.

 

Back in '77 a buddy's older brother brought the original 3 beige rule books home from a deployment.  I think its safe to say that we played DnD almost every weekend after that until it fell apart due to families and jobs and just life somewhere around 2000.  In all that time sex was a part of the game less than a handful of times.

 

Tried to play again recently and it was like an entirely different game with dragonkin and guns and sex and its all become a bit of a "get off my lawn" kind of thing.

Yep, I started in 1992 or so.  The game has changed a lot.  I'm honestly pretty happy without THAC0...  And I do appreciate the DC based system.  

You don't have to do guns.  I don't mess with them because it really kills my vibe.  

As far as sex: it's a game known for ubervirgins playing while NOT getting laid.  So "if there are any girls there, I want to do them!" happens a lot.  From my college years

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kgx2b1sIRs&t=191s

 

[Arroz con Panther]

On 8/27/2023 at 10:53 AM, d-dave said:

I haven't played turned based since Baldur's Gate 2 some 15 years ago.  Not a huge fan myself either.  What I have figured out is that I have a LOT of strategic flexibility.  So it's different.  Not as fast paced, but very rewarding.  Using the environment, combo effects (grease + fire), and sometimes a simple shove are super effective.

So what is the selling point here?  The story and characters!  There's a LOT of questing going on, and the dialogue is just great!  You have a lot of options to complete different objectives and each one has it's own story outcome.  You've probably heard BG3 is the bear-sex simulator, but that's just ONE character!  You can have sex with a vampire, a hot bad girl with a past, a wizard with a bomb in his chest, a demon, a demon hunting warlock who can get really horny, there's a love interest for every kink!

There are so many cool story beats.  You mean some real bastards, so real gems, and a lot in between.  Want to murder everyone?  Go for it?  Want to play without killing?  Go for it!  Want to min-max the heck out of your abilities and skills?  Go for it?  Want to play only using auto saves?  You are quite brave!

I love the game.  I am a 30+ year D&D player, but I'm much more into my action and FPS games!  I played he old school Eye of the Beholder games along with a fair number if the isometric party games (Icewind Dale, Planescape, BG and BG2, etc) in my youth.  So I'm coming back after a long break.

So what am I really personally enjoying?  I love the exploration and the stories.  I am becoming a big fan of art and world design so I am having fun digging into every corner to see what the artists have added.  I love seeing the new characters and finding those emotional story beats for the main questline and my buddies.  Oh and the Paladin's smiting attacks are MONEY! 

You had me at bear sex.

Thanks for the write up, man. I bought it. I'm definitely enjoying the story more than the combat; I'm not very good at positioning and strategy yet. Trying to be, but man those dice rolls aren't working in my favor. It's pretty complex and I have no D&D background. The game definitely makes it easier for you and I'll get the hang of it eventually. It's all trial and error right now. The exploration is fun for sure. Wish the inventory management was a bit easier, but again, I'll get the hang of it. It will hold my interest until Starfield comes out.

[d-dave]

On 8/28/2023 at 11:13 PM, Arroz con Panther said:

You had me at bear sex.

Thanks for the write up, man. I bought it. I'm definitely enjoying the story more than the combat; I'm not very good at positioning and strategy yet. Trying to be, but man those dice rolls aren't working in my favor. It's pretty complex and I have no D&D background. The game definitely makes it easier for you and I'll get the hang of it eventually. It's all trial and error right now. The exploration is fun for sure. Wish the inventory management was a bit easier, but again, I'll get the hang of it. It will hold my interest until Starfield comes out.

LOL, glad to help!

It does take some time to get combat straight.  When Gale turned level 5, the game changed lol.  Lighting Bolt and Fireball are super strong AoE spells.  When you can hit five enemies' in that spell, that's DOPE!

The biggest adjustment for me as a long time D&D player (Theatre of Imagination not a miniature guy) was the flanking/threatened system.  I kept getting frustrated that I couldn't use sneak attack when I was flanking a dude.  Now I know that Astarion needs to start at ranged (with his good initiative score) while my pally comes in and makes everyone angry.  Then he can start piling up the Sneak Attack damage!

Also, using things like misty step and jump are really important in the positioning battle.  You don't want your own guys to get nailed by a fireball either.  I'm a total save scummer.  I quick save every 5 min it seems so that if I start off getting fugged up in combat, I'm not going to lose too much.  heck, even in combat I'll save!

I'm looking forward to Starfield, but I do like the slower pace of BG3 with the ability to pause the game.  Starfield is going to again require my family to leave me a long for longer than 10 minutes at a time!

[Harbingers]

On 8/30/2023 at 8:36 AM, d-dave said:

LOL, glad to help!

It does take some time to get combat straight.  When Gale turned level 5, the game changed lol.  Lighting Bolt and Fireball are super strong AoE spells.  When you can hit five enemies' in that spell, that's DOPE!

The biggest adjustment for me as a long time D&D player (Theatre of Imagination not a miniature guy) was the flanking/threatened system.  I kept getting frustrated that I couldn't use sneak attack when I was flanking a dude.  Now I know that Astarion needs to start at ranged (with his good initiative score) while my pally comes in and makes everyone angry.  Then he can start piling up the Sneak Attack damage!

Also, using things like misty step and jump are really important in the positioning battle.  You don't want your own guys to get nailed by a fireball either.  I'm a total save scummer.  I quick save every 5 min it seems so that if I start off getting fugged up in combat, I'm not going to lose too much.  heck, even in combat I'll save!

I'm looking forward to Starfield, but I do like the slower pace of BG3 with the ability to pause the game.  Starfield is going to again require my family to leave me a long for longer than 10 minutes at a time!

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Act 3 needs a lot of polish still but it’s serviceable and not nearly as buggy at least in my experience as some say.

Nearly through my tactician run. Rocking my Dwarf Barbarian, Karlach, Astarion and Shadowhart. Lowish magic build. There’s only been 2 fights that have really been an issue for a low magic/AoE build. 

[d-dave]

12 hours ago, Harbingers said:

Nearly through my tactician run.

My god, you're brave =P  I'm just enjoying the balanced run.

[Harbingers]

1 hour ago, d-dave said:

My god, you're brave =P  I'm just enjoying the balanced run.

I wasn’t really sure what the difference is on difficulties. I know “balanced” was the early access difficulty which I had played through a couple different times so I figured tactician would be the most true to current D&D edition. 

Not that I’m a big fan of 5e personally but to each their own. It just starts to break after a) to many magical items or b) 12th level(no wonder they capped bg3 at 12th). I’m much more of the insane number crunching and true character flexibility of 3.5e. That was not the goal with 5e though. I get it. More casuals  = larger fan base = more $$$.

That said I guess they do give some buffs, 30% health to enemies, and other stats on tactician. 

Edited September 4 by Harbingers

[carpanfan96]

Really, really want to get this game but can't right now.