Btw I ready there will be early access in August.

Not sure how you feel about that, i prefer to play a game that's finished.

Oh yeah I'm definitely not playing it in Early Access. Even if I were to buy it (because it had a nice early bird discount or something) I am too old to playtest the products I'm paying for.

Having said that I'm not against Early Access per se. I'm sure the devs get a lot of valuable player feedback on the game and its systems from people who enjoy that kind of stuf or have a lot of time on their hands.

In my defense, that cinematic trailer seemed to have dropped right around the time I moved countries.

Lol I'd seen the one in Feb and thought that looked good! The latest one just... bored me.

I think that a Baldurs Gate game to match all the different expectations is impossible. It is by pure chance in that moment of time we all enjoyed the BG product but we have grown in different ways from that moment. And the odds that our enjoyment would align once more are non-existent.

No amount of Minsc or Boo or developer insistance of the upcoming product being Baldurs Gate 3 is convincing enough. Because the story of the child of baal is complete and that knowledge is going to be detrimental to adventures in the new game. And thats why naming it BG3 was a really bad idea.

I'm still going to play it but it's most definitely going to feel "off".

Precisely what I feel about it. I'll probably wait until it's on sale, mainly coz I haven't finished Original Sin yet, let alone gone near 2 and still have so many other RPGs to do that there's no point paying full price for it. I'm sure it's going to be an excellent game but it doesn't, to me, shout Baldur's Gate 3. My view is they should've called it "Something else: Baldur's Gate" so it's still tied in to the world, they can still do cameos if they like, but people wouldn't be expecting story continuity/gameplay to be identical/all their fave characters back.

It's always a danger keeping things numbered. Sacred, for example, has a dedicated fanbase. We're split on whether 1 or 2 is best but generally love them both as they're very much the same game. Sacred 3 however was made after the studio went under and the rights were sold on. Instead of being a Diablo-like game it is more of a 3d action rpg. Apparently not a bad game in its own right but the majority of fans saw the huge change in direction from the trailers and just haven't even tried it. Myself included. Dungeon Siege is another one, although I have played and enjoyed 3.

Actually had this discussion ages ago with a friend regarding Pokemon and how it's always the same game just extra pokemon. My reasoning was that what we need are more Pokemon-like games that differ, but not for Pokemon to differ drastically, although of course quality of life tweaks are good. Players know what to expect from Pokemon so not getting that wouldn't be welcomed. But to have the choice between that and another, similar game that has a feature you'd really like is always good and if people then complain that it 'isn't Pokemon'... well go buy Pokemon.

Yeah I can see what you guys mean. And I agree that there's no way that this game (or any game) could ever live up to the 20 years of built-up expectations. Apparently Larian initially just wanted to make a game in the Forgotten Realms setting and contacted Wizards of the Coast who then either suggested or forced them to make BG3. It's not clear which one is the case but let's be honest, if you're Larian you're not going to say no to making BG3 even if it was only offered to you. So it matters little.

Very long gameplay video was released yesterday btw:



I'm a bit worried about the camera angle...it all looks very close up and small, very unlike the sweeping isometric 3D view and rendered backgrounds of BG1 and 2. But I do like how everything looks apart from that (the general presentation), and the skill checks and combat look interesting too. No problems with the dialogue either.

More than it being BG3 I'm excited that it's Larian who are doing this. They have a track record of a few great RPGs now, clearly love the franchise and the genre but are also still independent and hungry enough to deliver a game that has been audience tested to death or filled with bloat (like most AAA games these days). Apart from maybe Obsidian I don't think there's any studio in the world I would have preferred to take this on.

I watched maybe 10 mins of it. Weirdly, it sort of reminds me of DA: Inquisition.

Surprise, I never finished it I did enjoy it though but I'd say gameplay wise it's the weakest of the series (I oddly really loved #2 as well as Origins despite it being far less 'BG'). The combat in Inquisition was good but my god the repetitive side quests... *bangs head on wall* I think it's the viewpoint and vibrant landscapes that are making it feel like Inquisition.

Apparently they're speedrunning through Early Access!

https://www.gamesradar.com/baldurs-gate ... 7-minutes/

So Shiny and I bought it a while back, played it for one day, and haven't gone back yet. It's a good game so far for sure, we just haven't really played it. Hopefully by the time we pick it back up, a lot more content will be released.

Mmm yeah. I feel like the early access model may not work so well (for me) in a game that is focused pretty heavily on narrative. I mean you'll end up playing say 50% of the game now and then when the game is fully released you already know the first half of the story when you start the game 'for real'. It's different for a game like Rimworld or Minecraft where you kind of create the story yourself anyway.

Either way, would be very interested in your impressions once you do play it a bit more!

Yeah I've bought just a couple of games in early access and any with stories... well it's almost (but not quite as bad) as old closed beta testing, doing the same thing over and over and over multiple times each time your progress is wiped and by the time it's finally released, you're so fed up with it you never touch it! Good for mass picking up of bugs but only by accident since most aren't buying it with the intention of testing it really. Always funny when things like this get found though. I can only imagine playing the entire game like that, somehow getting to the end boss and realising you're 30 levels too low to complete it