Baldur's Gate 3 Playthrough Discussion

[ZedClampet]

I think it's time for a fresh thread on this since the game is releasing tomorrow (or you can ignore this and continue to post in the other one).

It will be a few days before I get it, but I'm interested in your thoughts on 1.0

 

[SWard]

Excited to hear your thoughts folks!

 

[PCG Lauren]

Have fun playing!

 

[Alm]

I liked D&D in school. I'm taking a bit of a punt on it, but I have bought it and currently downloading.

I'm sure it will be great.

 

[mainer]

Looks like I've got about 1 1/2 hours of downloading left, should be able to play around 2:30 PM EST. I've been waiting for BG3 for over 20 years, and it looks like it will be worth the wait.

 

[SWard]

Still downloading....

pls

 

[Brian Boru]

I've got about 1 1/2 hours of downloading left

Ding Ding! Ding Ding!!

Mainer disappears thru the Gate into The Mist—have a blast

@PCG Lauren "Geralt of Trivia" good one, haha

pls

Which of 'em got to start first?

Answer in approx 3 months, they won't be seen before then

 

[Frindis]

Pffff, now it is 10 hours. It's going up/down like a Jojo. I want to play noooow!

 

[Brian Boru]

It's going up/down like a Jojo

Ah, new concept—first boss battle before game installs!

 

[Sarafan]

I have the game, but there's a lot of other games which I started and didn't finish lately, so I'll wait until I finish at least some of them. No point in starting BG3 while I'm distracted by other titles. I don't feel I can fully dedicate to BG3 at the moment and the game requires this for sure.

 

[Alm]

I'm in!

edit: I'm about an hour in. So far very enjoyable and impressive graphics. I'm guessing there's a no spoiler policy in this thread so I won't talk about in game moments.

 

[Ryzengang]

Looking forward to reading everyone's experiences. 10 minutes away from being done with the download for me. I just don't know if I'm gonna hop in right away. I really want to check it out, but it's a heck of a commitment given how massive it is. I got it gifted to me in EA though so I haven't had to worry about the cost side of things.

 

[Pifanjr]

Baldur's Gate 3 launch slams into Steam like a rogue iceberg, but the servers refuse to sink

Some users are reporting slowdowns, but overall, it seems to be going well.

www.pcgamer.com

The player numbers have more than doubled since this article was written, passing 450,000 now. It's nice to see a big game release that isn't plagued by issues at launch.

 

[SWard]

I'm in, goodbye everyone

 

[mainer]

'm guessing there's a no spoiler policy in this thread so I won't talk about in game moments.

That was my assumption as well, it might make it tricky to describe some in-game experiences, but it's for the best. I know I'd rather find things out for myself than read about it somewhere else first.

*********************************************

Played about 7 hours so far, and it's an amazing game, not just graphically, but in exploring, character/companion conversations, as well as how you interact with the environment. Very immersive, with a lot of options both in and out of combat. Also, a lot of key bindings to remember for different actions. Nothing unbearable, and I'm sure they'll become instinctive the more I play.

No major combat yet, just mostly minor skirmishes, but it's really intuitive and there is no grid on the ground. Just hit level 2 last night, and so far have found 3 companions, with wildly different personalities. The voice acting in BG3 may be the best I've ever experienced, including the narrator.

Probably spent well over an hour in character creation because there are so many options. In past BG games I've usually played a ranger or fighter, but I ended up playing a half-elf bard as I never played a bard before and I felt like charisma was going to be pretty huge in BG3.

What character are the rest of you playing? I would be great to see them.

 

[Alm]

I didn't take a screenshot during the character creator unfortunately. But here's a screengrab from the HUD:

https://imgur.com/a/48JocJm

View: https://imgur.com/a/48JocJm
[EDIT: I'm a paladin btw]

I must be rushing through the game because I'm level 3 after 2 hours....

 

[Brian Boru]

I'm guessing there's a no spoiler policy in this thread

Ye can always open a separate spoiler thread.

Nice to hear game seems to be technically in good shape, enjoy

 

[Alm]

My only minor niggle so far is the camera. It seems to be limited in distance and in battle can be a hindrance. But enjoying the game in spite of this.

 

[Zloth]

Mort has a not-100% review out (and he also called out the camera)

View: https://youtu.be/8h64EYMoLF8


In short, he really loved it. "New benchmark" Plans to play it through many times. Thinks the people that are going to wait for some bugs to be cleared up first are incredibly smart and good looking. Well, OK, he didn't outright say that last part, but you know he's thinking it if you listen between the lines.

 

[mainer]

I must be rushing through the game because I'm level 3 after 2 hours....

I just hit level 3 last night about the 15 hour mark, but I'm a notoriously slow player, mainly because I try to explore every part of the map, pickup all the flowers/ingredients for alchemy, mess around in the inventory by trying to distribute things between characters, and talking to everyone, even NPCs. Everybody plays a little bit different.

My only minor niggle so far is the camera. It seems to be limited in distance and in battle can be a hindrance. But enjoying the game in spite of this.

Yeah, I noticed the camera could occasionally be a bit rebellious in combat, where I couldn't quite get the angle I wanted, and a few instances of it not wanting to turn left or right (only forward or backward). But so far, only a few times. I do wish that I could zoom in a bit closer, and zoom out farther.

*****************************************************​

I like the fact that you can hit F10 to get rid of all UI elements, which is really nice when taking screen shots. Almost as good as a photo mode.

Another thing that I'm really enjoying is rolling the dice on skill checks, it's really fun to see how & why you succeeded or failed a certain check, as well as seeing what modifiers come into play.

Hotfix #1 was released yesterday and addresses quite a few bugs/glitches. I haven't noticed any issues so far, but apparently some people were having issues saving and/or loading saves, which was apparently related to cross-saves (which wasn't fixed, but disabled until Larian finds the reason).

Baldur's Gate 3 - Hotfix #1 Now Live! - Steam News

Version Number: 4.1.1.3624901

store.steampowered.com

 

[Frindis]

I'm playing as a seldarine drow rogue. I took a stand against Lloth, Queen of Spiders and goddess of the drow, and escaped from the Underdark's tyranny. I am disliked by many of my own making me worry about assassins wherever I go. As a drow, I see myself as superior to others, but I am also looking for learning more from other races so I can improve myself.

I have ash-colored skin/hair and dark orange/yellow eyes. My eyes are rare for a drow and there is talk about a lineage to the legendary drow ranger Drizzt Do'Urden who also had uncommon eyes, but I don't read too much into it because his eyes were lavender hue.

I do not know how I got captured by the mind flayers as my memory is hazy, but I know I feel both angry and envious of their ability to do so. I am quite ashamed of myself for getting caught and while normally such a failure would make most drows want to kill themselves or get killed for that sake, I have come to the realization that these mind flayers might give me the insight I need to redeem myself. I admire the mind flayers for their intelligence and deception and see them as worthy adversaries and ones to learn more about.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

If one of the character options is a Tiefling Barbarian made of fire, then I'm going to play as that.

I've not played and D&D in such a long time, the combat rules are going to take a minute, bigger number is better for AC now? Feel like I'm also going to need to pore over some class descriptions a to figure out some good multi class options.

Theres a lot to learn and theres a lot of options already. Game seems great, dont forget to quick save..

 

[ZedClampet]

Went ahead and purchased the game. Am downloading...

 

[SWard]

Ok hi everyone,

I'm having a blast with it - the music is wonderful and the charecters are so good. The gameplay is a bit different from what I'm used to with Divinity, so I'm taking it quite slowly, but I really like it.

Stevie

 

[Frindis]

It's fantastic so far. What I enjoy the most is how different the enemy types are which makes you have to approach the fight in different ways. I also love the loot! The loot in Act 1 has been pretty good, even got myself a hold on a unique weapon. Been opening and picking up just about anything I come over which has made me have to pay a couple of fines, but I guess that is a reasonable punishment for digging up a corpse and looting it.

The level/art designer has done a great job at making each nook and cranny stand out (especially the lighting is awesome!) with also several ways to get to a destination. I enjoy the camp system and how you can talk to your companions though I have to say that I have already gotten rid of one of them and thinking about a second one.

There was a pretty bad chronological error in a quest that I experienced which made absolutely no sense and basically made you have to say something that you already finished with. It's not game-breaking by any means, just something they should have noticed.

I like how you can adjust the UI bars so you can put more items on them and basically make that into your personalized inventory. The inventory bag system could have been done much better with for example more slots for different item categories like they already have with the ingredients pouch. Divinity: Original Sin 2 Definite Edition had an option where you could toggle for having loot placed in different bags.

This made it tidier in solo play but unfortunately made it hard to see what other people had in multiplayer or when trading because it would be "locked" inside the bags. Larian could have made this system better and put something like it in BG3 and I do wonder why they didn't. Still, no biggie, you'll just do it the old-fashioned way and sort it yourself while making your own bags.