baldurs gate 3 is not only a poor baldurs gate - /v/

Anonymous10/25/26, 06:49No.750314978Baldur's Gate 3 is not only a poor Baldur's Gate, but also overrated on its own merits

I was going to comment in the other BG3 thread, but it had already been archived. Three years later, the honeymoon period over this game has ended, and folk who disagree with the praise are now less likely to summon a mob when voicing their opinion. Let's begin, shall we? * Larian's game required - and still requires - patching two years after release. That the public by-and-large accepts what is effectively an extended beta-testing period does not make the practice acceptable. It absolutely is not a metric indicative of "Game of the Year" levels of quality. When this kind of low-key scummy and lazy behavior is tolerated, it only encourages other negligent devs. * In Larian's game, virtually every NPC - from the destitute to the wealthy, from urban socialites to inveterate wilderness wardens - wears inordinately ornate and/or curiously spotless apparel and armor; it is as if they all strolled off a catwalk. Also, the homogeneity of stylized/exaggerated appearances makes the population come across as comic book superheroes. This may be understandable with nobles and accomplished heroes (both of which have coin and/or time to spare), but...everyone? The developer was apparently more interested in showcasing its artists than they were giving thought to in-setting demographics. Unfortunately, this results in the setting coming across as a theme park of sorts (more on that below). * In Larian's game, there are moments when the accompanying NPCs are statues during certain conversations/plot developments (e.g., destroying the squirrel with a football kick, frustrating the Tiefling child huckster, decapitating the red devil Jihadi-style, refusing Bhaal, et cetera); no comments, no sounds, no body language, no movement (or very little, such as a slight shifting of the head at best)...nothing. That vaunted reactivity was inconsistent. Ordinarily, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but, considering how much this was touted, it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Replies

Anon10/25/26, 06:50No.750315015

tl;dr?

Anon10/25/26, 06:50No.750315018

* Larian's game is so incredible that it took the formula that made Baldur's Gate noteworthy (i.e., a world with a sense of scale and thought afforded to the placement of structures/settlements/NPCs) and turned the region (i.e., The Sword Coast...a kind of fantasy wild west/rough frontier) into a narrower fantasy theme park designed to continually maintain dopamine levels, and remind the player that the world is centered around his character, verisimilitude be damned. Why are all these powerful/intelligent/dangerous monsters in relatively close proximity to one another without a hint of bedlam? Who cares: here comes another fight or zany NPC to distract me from such elitist thoughts.* Larian's game lacks both a day/night cycle (think of the immersion and/or tactical potential) and weather patterns (ditto); BioWare licked this one-quarter of a century ago. For all their limitations, there is more life and the sense of passage of time in the original games compared to the plastic and static theme park of "3".* Larian's game front-loads the majority of its spectacle - including monsters and locations - in a Michael Bay-esque burst within the first few minutes of the game, whereas BioWare's Baldur's Gate slowly trickled in progressively-fantastic/grander elements over the course of two titles. One title exhibits patience; the other title abhors the slow boil approach.* Larian's game is so incredible that, instead of respecting the player's intelligence/observational skill/patience/memory and/or encouraging a modicum of learning, it simply openly provides monster statistics during battle. Consequently, a degree of realistic uncertainty during hostile engagements was stolen away.* Larian's game allows the player to effectively teleport to a set camp, thereby taking away - or, at least, greatly diminishing - a core component of these games: inventory management. Why should a player have to make a hard decision? Why should a player have to put in the effort?

Anon10/25/26, 06:51No.750315052

* Regarding Larian's game: virtually no one discusses the terrible shift from the second to third Act; then comes a noticeable drop in quality.* In Larian's game, three out of four recurring BioWare characters were poorly characterized: weirdly sagacious Minsc (he is archetypal dumb muscle with a heart, whose lowest canonical ability score was Wisdom), shallow Viconia and subservient Sarevok (this last one was particularly gross, given that the man took second place to no one...not his Iron Throne allies, not the Dukes of Baldur's Gate and not even Bhaal himself).The fact that consumers either put up with and/or fail to recognize various sorts of game design nonsense only reinforces my belief that accolades - especially of the contemporary variety - are meaningless. In 2023, industry standards had plummeted to the point where this offering was seen as God's gift to gaming; couple that with industry politics (not to mention brand name recognition), and it is hardly surprising - though entirely undeserving - that it won "Game of the Year". By the way, if you are going to bleat "But mods!" in response to any of the above deficiencies, don't bother: post-release content does not absolve the base game of its flaws, any more than revising an essay which was turned in a year ago allows you to retroactively evade a failing score.All of that "woke" and "degenerate" stuff? The arsenic frosting and nightshade berry atop this excessively-sugary cake.P.S. By the way, the whole "alien tadpoles force a disparate bunch together" contrivance is flimsy, given the numerous in-setting ways in which these parasites can be extracted/destroyed. Curse of the Azure Bonds is positively ancient by D&D reckoning and *it* did a better job facilitating a similar arrangement.

Anon10/25/26, 06:51No.750315068

Thanks ChatJeetPT!

Anon10/25/26, 06:55No.750315184

rpgs aren't video games go away

Anon10/25/26, 07:02No.750315421

Frog Baseball

Anon10/25/26, 07:53No.750316918

Well, well, well.

Anon10/25/26, 07:54No.750316958

Listen I am 54 years old and I can remember when BG1 came out. BG3 was like everything I had ever wanted as a kid in a video game. I can honestly die happy at this point.

Anon10/25/26, 07:56No.750316992

1 billy you lost

Anon10/25/26, 07:59No.750317089

>larians game >larians game >larians game Just say BG3, you sound autistic.

Anon10/25/26, 08:01No.750317162

do aasimar give birth like humans

Anon10/25/26, 08:59No.750318789

>Larian's game front-loads the majority of its spectacle wrong, won't even continue reading. this is just another dishonest attempt to shit on something good. play the game

Anon10/25/26, 09:05No.750318946

I'm still a long way away from playing BG3 since I've got so many other older CRPGs I'd rather play first. Is the mod that adds RTWP actually good? Has anyone actually completed a campaign with it? Normally, I wouldn't want to use mods for a first playthrough, but I feel like it would just be wrong to play a fully turn based Baldur's Gate game.

Anon10/25/26, 09:06No.750318983

>Larian's game required - and still requires - patching two years after release. Oh no! How dare the devs keep supporting their game for free!? >virtually every NPC - wears inordinately ornate and/or curiously spotless apparel Welcome to modern DnD. >the accompanying NPCs are statues during certain conversations/plot developments Like in every RPG. >a narrower fantasy theme park designed to continually maintain dopamine levels, Nooo! Why isn't it an empty open woeld with nothing in it!? >Larian's game lacks both a day/night cycle and weather patterns (ditto); True. >Larian's game front-loads the majority of its spectacle No, it has plenty of spectacle throughout. >it simply openly provides monster statistics during battle. Good. I don't want to have to pull up the wiki because I died to some bullshit that there was no way to guess. >inventory management. Inventory management in old DnD games was always cringe and shit. This is better. >virtually no one discusses the terrible shift from the second to third Act; Everyone was complaining about that after release. >three out of four recurring BioWare characters were poorly characterized True. >given the numerous in-setting ways in which these parasites can be extracted/destroyed That's why they included the part about them being modified wit Netherese magic.tl;dr You are a pompous faggot with delusions of sophistication.

Anon10/25/26, 09:10No.750319104

WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WRITE A SENTENCE IN YOUR OWN VOICE BEFORE POSTING A BLATANTLY BOTTED WALL OF TEXT? WHY NOT JUST REWRITE IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS TO NOT GIVE THE GAME AWAY? ARE YOU TRULY THAT FUCKING LAZY?!

Anon10/25/26, 09:35No.750319764

BG3 isn't a perfect game and a lot of what OP said is true. It is still a good game and one of it not the best CRPGs ever made.The biggest problem with BG3 is it's scope, it tries to do too much with the choices and dialogue options and being dynamic.Because the game has to account for so many different options based on choices made, paths taken, race, class, background and all the other different things that affect the gameplay and story that the story, progression and gameplay suffer because of it.Like Kingmaker, also a really good rpg but because of all the kingdom shit the game and the progression is made worse because of it.