Baldurs Gate 3 - Release is now 3rd August 2023

[alt3rn1ty]

Baldurs Gate 3, was going to come out of Early Access 31st August, but thats now 3rd August on PC

The video here is about the game after Act 1 (which was the Early Access content), the game is going to be huge.

Announcement about all the new features (after Act 1) is here.

Its based on D&D 5e ruleset, and really well done. Some people have commented its more like DOS2 from Larian instead of a "True" Baldurs Gate sequel, I never played DOS2 but to me the game feels like all I ever wanted Neverwinter Nights to be .. Whatever the perception, Larian is now 400 strong team and doing a magnificent job on this game. Lots of really nice mechanics in the game, and the amount of spells announced in the link above surprised me, during the Early Access we didnt have a quarter of whats coming so what they have been holding back is waaay more than expected.

If you liked games like Neverwinter Nights 2 complete, or Dragon Age Origins Ultimate, their longevity and good story telling, this game is a superb advancement of computer RPGs with a good company behind it noted for their after sale polishing.

[chew-ie]

Good thing they changed the date ^,^. I played the early access once when it came out, but waited for a new playthrough for the release versions.

What I learned with BG3: early access for cRPGs isn't an enjoyable experience IMHO. There were too many changes (even new classes, skills, game mechanics) starting over and over again isn't doable if you have a life / job. More so as the overall experience is heavily tied to the way characters behave, the general party composition, the ruleset details and the story presentation.

[alt3rn1ty]

What I learned with BG3: early access for cRPGs isn't an enjoyable experience IMHO. There were too many changes (even new classes, skills, game mechanics) starting over and over again isn't doable if you have a life / job. More so as the overall experience is heavily tied to the way characters behave, the general party composition, the ruleset details and the story presentation.

Yep there was a huuge amount of bug fixing needed initially. Hope the same is not true for the rest of the game we havent tested yet which is about to be released, no doubt there will be bugs, but Larian are like Egosoft in that they eventually get there. Every one of the patches so far had an immense amount of fixes.

As Early Access participants we will be getting v1 of act 1 on 31st July, I guess that gives us a few days to pick up any last minute issues with Act 1, and anyone new to the game will then be playing through Act 1 from 3rd Aug onwards while Larian are getting our feedback about the rest of the game being introduced before the majority of players get there.

Edit : Oh and if you havent played since EA first came out, they have re-weighted the dice rolls .. ehm, I think they worded it something like they are now less random than pure random .. originally the dice rolls could be a bit harsh for ages if you were really unlucky. So you could say they are now slightly loaded to be in your favour .. Depends what game mode you are in. How that behaves is optional though in settings.

One thing I will not be buying is the Collectors edition, 269 notes for the privelege of some cards, a plastic figurine, a metal D20 .. I fancied that metal dice but I'm sure as hell not paying that much for it, bonkers

[fiksal]

as someone who enjoyed original sin game immensely, I have high hopes that it'll be good, for me, for that one.

what do games on release cost now, $400 + neighbor's soul?

[alt3rn1ty]

50 notes on GOG https://www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate_iii
Probably about the same on Steam.

If you start modding though and Sheson is involved you might need a sacrificial first born

[alt3rn1ty]

The last of the "Panel from Hell" for this game has been done ..
https://panelfromhell.baldursgate3.game/
Click play and then scroll through the countdown to the start of it.
There are some explanations of whats new since Early access, a few minor spoilers and an AMA.

[chew-ie]

BeeGee 3, BeeGee 3!

A "little" hyped - multiclassing my vengeance barbaric paladin for a first run Not sure yet which race to pick though...

[fiksal]

BeeGee 3, BeeGee 3!

A "little" hyped - multiclassing my vengeance barbaric paladin for a first run Not sure yet which race to pick though...

ah yes, a difficult multi hour task of picking a new character before playing the game

[chew-ie]

A good DnD game always takes place 25% of the gametime in the character editor :>

[fiksal]

A good DnD game always takes place 25% of the gametime in the character editor :>

yep

all my first DnD sessions were only character creation

[alt3rn1ty]

Kind of tempted with the Shadow Monk, but I think I will still go Wood Elf Rogue Assasin. And opt for Story mode to just enjoy everything first, then go for the Tactical game afterwards ramping up the difficulty and need to find good combinations.

After a few hours in the character editor and seeing what becomes available at various stages my wishes may well become a thing of the past though

[clakclak]

Certainly a game I will buy in a year or two when it is cheaper. I am sure it will be brilliant but it am not the biggest fan of the fights in these types of games, so I mostly play them on low difficulty for the story, thus not willing to pay full price. That being said I feel like this is a game where the price is justified.

[fiksal]

I enjoyed the fighting system in Divinity myself, but the prices on these games often push me to waiting a year

[chew-ie]

Soon™.

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Happy release day =) Now I've to wait until tomorrow for the 100 GB+ download to finish

[alt3rn1ty]

Party time https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.ph ... Post874988

But .. Note the preparations needed if you have had the Early Access version installed https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.ph ... 275&page=1

[chew-ie]

Party time https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.ph ... Post874988

But .. Note the preparations needed if you have had the Early Access version installed https://forums.larian.com/ubbthreads.ph ... 275&page=1

As a happy GOGgy I just did a

Code: Select all

mv "Baldurs Gate 3" "Baldurs Gate 3 EA"

Waiting for GOG Galaxy listing the actual release version was more of a hassle (had to reinstall it -.-)

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Seems like people have some issues with savegames if they used any of the cloud combinations during EA (steam / larian launcher / ...) - better to check that before diving deep into the game: Can't Save, Game is Still Syncing

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Amazing - @steam there are currently 308,126 people in the game

[Alerion_V.X3]

Also for me one of the highlights of the games this year... together with Starfield, of course. But that's another topic. But I'd rather wait a few days before buying it. Not that unforeseen things (bugs etc.) will spoil the fun.

Although I'm not a big fan of Divinity, which somehow didn't really pick me up, for various reasons.

But after a long time and the two predecessors, a must-buy for me... actually

[alt3rn1ty]

HotFix #1 for the release, is out now ..
https://baldursgate3.game/news/hotfix-1-now-live_80

[alt3rn1ty]

Hotfix #2 is out
https://baldursgate3.game/news/hotfix-2-now-live_81

And Hotfix #3 is being prepared.
Kind of expected there would be a heap of fixes needed, the whole game was not subjected to early release testers, but now the whole world is pounding it for problems.
Good stuff, I like Larian, they are like Egosoft but with far more people on the team and a healthy desire to make it perfect in the long term.

[Alerion_V.X3]

Good to know.

Maybe I'll buy it at the weekend. Let's see what my inner finance minister says