Baldur's Gate III

[avatar! | 1,945]

One of the titles I'm genuinely excited for!

Not surprisingly work has slowed down a bit, but it's coming along.

https://www.pcgamesinsider.biz/news/70974/baldurs-gate-3-still-set-for-2020-release-though-work-has-slowed-down/

Supposedly coming out later this year, but wouldn't be surprised if it gets delayed until 2021.

This is one of the few games I'll pre-order at full price, no questions asked. I've actually followed Larian Studios for years. It was nice to meet Sven in person at PAX East. Attached are a few pics from the BG3 fortress they built! Oh, and just some flayer eating breakfast...

 

 

[avatar! | 1,945]

 

[avatar! | 1,945]

https://gameworldobserver.com/2023/07/12/baldurs-gate-3-new-standard-for-rpg-genre-opinions

Of course when I play an indie RPG I don't expect it to be a multi-million dollar production! That does not mean the game should not be amazing -- for example, Darkest Dungeon was a kickstarter project that raised about $300k -- a far cry from the millions in AAA games, and yet Darkest Dungeon is one of the most enjoyable RPGs I have played in my life! That said, AAA developers were also chiming in, and it sounds like they're terrified...  here is Diablo IV senior designer Chris Balser -

Blizzard has nearly 5000 employees!! Complaining that your IP which was started back in 1997 is not going to be as polished and wonderful as a game produced by a much smaller studio (Larian) is just complete bullshite! This is what we're hearing from game studios:

AAA game companies: "Hey! don't hold us to high standards! these guys truly care about their games and spend years developing it, instead of just milking it and rushing out an incomplete and buggy... and well, that's just not how we operate! Don't expect polished, passionate, amazing games from us... but we really want your money, really, we do."

This guy gets it -

 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,965]

I mean, didn't Diablo 4 just get rave reviews?  Seems this is less about AAA falling short,and more about how Larian needs to be celebrated for badassery.

I'm excited for BG3. 1 and 2 are among my favorite.  But I still need to get to my copies of Divinity 1 and 2.

[DefaultGen | 5,727]

I don't get it, Larian has tons of people working on it, a billion dollars of development, a very long development cycle, and it's a sequel in a hit franchise. Aren't these the exact conditions for hit AAA games like Grand Theft Auto V, Diablo IV, Elden Ring, TotK etc.?

In my view, Divinity OS2 already set the new standard for CRPGs so all the other companies have been behind Larian for years! But I guess I'm not supposed to let one game set a new standard, so I have to wait for BG3 to release then I can say "DOS2 and BG3 set the new standard for CRPGs!"

[Sumez | 3,167]

Having played and enjoyed most of Larian's games, I find the premise of an "unrealistically high standard" kinda amusing.

Their games always have a good amount of jank that you have to have appreciation for to really enjoy them. They feel completely like indie games. I'll honestly be disappointed if BG3 doesn't share this. 

They tend to be a complete mess on the technical side too, however, always close to falling apart at the seams, with tons of annoying bugs constantly hampering gameplay. This is especially true of the Original Sin games. If they improved this aspect I'll be happy

That said, as much as I enjoy the Divinity series, I find the Baldurs Gate games insanely dreary and dull. It's probably the primary thing making me less excited for this release. 

 

Edited July 18, 2023 by Sumez

[Reed Rothchild | 9,965]

11 minutes ago, Sumez said:

That said, as much as I enjoy the Divinity series, I find the Baldurs Gate games insanely dreary and dull

Dead to me!

[avatar! | 1,945]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

But I still need to get to my copies of Divinity 1 and 2.

Unacceptable! You need to get those gems now... I said NOW!!

[avatar! | 1,945]

31 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Having played and enjoyed most of Larian's games, I find the premise of an "unrealistically high standard" kinda amusing.

Their games always have a good amount of jank that you have to have appreciation for to really enjoy them. They feel completely like indie games. I'll honestly be disappointed if BG3 doesn't share this. 

They tend to be a complete mess on the technical side too, however, always close to falling apart at the seams, with tons of annoying bugs constantly hampering gameplay. This is especially true of the Original Sin games. If they improved this aspect I'll be happy

That said, as much as I enjoy the Divinity series, I find the Baldurs Gate games insanely dreary and dull. It's probably the primary thing making me less excited for this release. 

 

I didn't notice any annoying (not sure any?) bugs in Original Sin 1 nor 2. I played them on the PS4, so it may be a different story for the Switch or PC.

I really loved Baldur's Gate I and especially II. They are different though, and they do show their age. That said, the enhanced edition does make some quality of life adjustments. When everything is said and done, BG I and II are still among the most epic and beautiful RPGs ever released.

[Brickman | 4,215]

 

52 minutes ago, Sumez said:

Having played and enjoyed most of Larian's games, I find the premise of an "unrealistically high standard" kinda amusing.

Their games always have a good amount of jank that you have to have appreciation for to really enjoy them. They feel completely like indie games. I'll honestly be disappointed if BG3 doesn't share this. 

They tend to be a complete mess on the technical side too, however, always close to falling apart at the seams, with tons of annoying bugs constantly hampering gameplay. This is especially true of the Original Sin games. If they improved this aspect I'll be happy

That said, as much as I enjoy the Divinity series, I find the Baldurs Gate games insanely dreary and dull. It's probably the primary thing making me less excited for this release. 

 

 

 

Craziest hot take I’ve read on this site. Calls Divinty jank and then follows up with a slam dunk on one of the best RPG games ever made 

[DefaultGen | 5,727]

1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said:

I'm excited for BG3. 1 and 2 are among my favorite.  But I still need to get to my copies of Divinity 1 and 2.

Skip DOS1. It's entirely unrelated to DOS2. They cut out all the random filler battles in DOS2 and made basically every single part of the game better. You're welcome.

[Sumez | 3,167]

1 hour ago, avatar! said:

I didn't notice any annoying (not sure any?) bugs in Original Sin 1 nor 2. I played them on the PS4, so it may be a different story for the Switch or PC.

I played 1 on both PC and PS4, 2 on PS4.

You not "noticing any annoying bugs" on PS4 sounds insane to me. The games are drenched in them to the point were we had to restart the game several times just to make some of them go away.

1 hour ago, Brickman said:

Craziest hot take I’ve read on this site. Calls Divinty jank (...)

How many Divinity games did you play?  

[Reed Rothchild | 9,965]

This is where I mention I haven't done the Pillars games or the new Torment either.

RPG backlog to the moon

[Brickman | 4,215]

1 hour ago, Sumez said:

I played 1 on both PC and PS4, 2 on PS4.

You not "noticing any annoying bugs" on PS4 sounds insane to me. The games are drenched in them to the point were we had to restart the game several times just to make some of them go away.

How many Divinity games did you play?  

Both and never ran into issues on the PS4. 

[Gloves | 12,277]

6 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Both and never ran into issues on the PS4. 

Sumez did the thing where he didn't specify "Original Sin", so look forward to the "gotcha" where he points out the following games:

Divine Divinity
Divinity II
Beyond Divinity

And potentially also with a side-eye smirk: Divinity: Dragon Commander

All of which I've played and if you don't expect some jank from any CRPG in the early 2000s or a dragon flying third person shooter RTS from 2013, you're crazy.

[Brickman | 4,215]

57 minutes ago, Gloves said:

Sumez did the thing where he didn't specify "Original Sin", so look forward to the "gotcha" where he points out the following games:

Divine Divinity
Divinity II
Beyond Divinity

And potentially also with a side-eye smirk: Divinity: Dragon Commander

All of which I've played and if you don't expect some jank from any CRPG in the early 2000s or a dragon flying third person shooter RTS from 2013, you're crazy.

Ahhh ok. Yeah didn't actually know there were other games in the series besides Original Sin but I agree, RPG's back then were known to be a bit janky. Neverwinter Nights is probably one of my favourites but I can't deny that it had its issues.

[Sumez | 3,167]

10 hours ago, Gloves said:

Sumez did the thing where he didn't specify "Original Sin", so look forward to the "gotcha" where he points out the following games:

Not sure I'd call that a "gotcha" as much as I straight out said as much up-front!  I couldn't imagine anyone who's played most of the Divinity games would think calling them jank is a hot take.
And given how frequently the Original Sin games reference the other titles, I'm surprised Brickman wasn't aware of them, if he's played those. 

I wouldn't say Larian's games have "issues" either, they just are what you'd expect from an rpg from a smaller company, and there's something homely and personal about that, that you don't find in a super-polished faceless triple A (or even singular A) title. They don't take themselves as seriously and get away with a lot of really weird stuff. This definitely goes for the Original Sin games as well! 

Edited July 19, 2023 by Sumez

[avatar! | 1,945]

14 hours ago, Gloves said:

Sumez did the thing where he didn't specify "Original Sin", so look forward to the "gotcha" where he points out the following games:

Divine Divinity
Divinity II
Beyond Divinity

And potentially also with a side-eye smirk: Divinity: Dragon Commander

All of which I've played and if you don't expect some jank from any CRPG in the early 2000s or a dragon flying third person shooter RTS from 2013, you're crazy.

I played Divinity I on the PC, it was fabulous. That game 100% deserves a remastered edition.

As wonderful as Divinity I was, Divinity II -- the Dragon Knight Saga was a masterpiece. One of the best RPGs I have ever played. I played it on the 360 over a decade ago and still fondly remember much of the game. It was clear to me at that time that this studio (Larian) truly loved and cared about their games. Basically, they were the anti-EA  

[Webhead123 | 756]

I'm excited for BG3. I've still never found time for the Divinity games but as a big fan of the old school CRPGs, I'd been hoping for years that BG3 would actually materialize and not just turn out to be another piece of vaporware. Time to start thinking about my gnome spellsword of the Well-Respected Order of the Badger.

[Reed Rothchild | 9,965]

Speaking of, I watched the new Dungeons and Dragons movie the other day.  It's actually set in Faerun, home of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale, Waterdeep, etc.

It's really good.

[Gloves | 12,277]

16 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Speaking of, I watched the new Dungeons and Dragons movie the other day.  It's actually set in Faerun, home of Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter, Icewind Dale, Waterdeep, etc.

It's really good.

I saw that in theatres with my DnD group, and we were all surprised at how good the film was. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,965]

2 hours ago, Gloves said:

I saw that in theatres with my DnD group, and we were all surprised at how good the film was. 

Today we learn Gloves has a DnD group

[Gloves | 12,277]

43 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Today we learn Gloves has a DnD group

They're so inconsistent these days I'd hardly call them that anymore, sadly.

[Webhead123 | 756]

1 hour ago, Gloves said:

They're so inconsistent these days I'd hardly call them that anymore, sadly.

My game group (mostly board games these days but I'm trying to get them to play more RPGs) also made a trip to see it in theaters but I couldn't make it that day. I saw it has now appeared on streaming, so I'll probably give it a watch there, as I've also heard generally good things.

I have a long history with D&D although, interestingly enough, it was never one of my favorite RPGs or settings.

[DefaultGen | 5,727]

22 hours ago, Gloves said:

They're so inconsistent these days I'd hardly call them that anymore, sadly.

So its a D&D group