Baldur's Gate 3 | A Bittersweet Critique

[@vakna_1]

Hi guys. Thank you so much for watching! There were so many memorable moments in this game. Some really dark stuff too. What was your favourite one?

[@doloresabernathy9809]

Great thoughtful video! thank you for this and I hope you keep up the great work! One question about the backstory that I don’t think you mentioned: How/when did the Chosen Three discover the Elder Brain under Moonrise? is that ever stated in the game? I’d love to hear what you found out about that. another plothole .. how did the Chosen get the crown onto the Mindflayer? That would be quite a feat since the brain can just fly away if under threat. Thanks again for this!

[@jackbpace]

Traveling to hell with Karlach is my favorite ending. But the most memorable part of the game was the first time I fought Rapheal, and that song started - it was awesome game moment. Borislav Slavov did an excellent job with the music. But I wills ay that Shadowheart doesn't always make the "right choice" when you trust her. It depends on your decisions prior to that. I trusted her one play through and she actually killed the night song (which I didn't want).

[@vakna_1]

The battle with Raphael is a banger. And the fact that it all sounds/looks like a musical act is pure genius.

[@mihaisandu2410]

I have to agree Arcane Tower is one of the most memorable side quests, although I didn't realize the "person" she was waiting for was a dog and that the automaton was programmed to kill her if she becomes depressed. Even without those details you could feel the loneliness in that place, great piece of writing nonetheless. Awesome video by the way! "THAC0" cracked me up really well! 🤣

[@cosmicprison9819]

As far as I know, Shadowheart will only make the choice to save the Nightsong if you have high approval and/or a sufficient number of Nightsong points. If you don’t, trusting her may lead to her slaying the Nightsong.

[@celestialcass]

I mostly agree with your points, the game is fantastic but not perfect. I fully think Act 3 is not remotely as fun as the rest of the game, I vastly prefer the first 2 acts and found Moonrise Towers a very effective pseudo end point for many of my runs. Gortash is nonsensical and ineffective as a villain, and Orin could have been used better, even though she's my favorite of the villains. Ketheric's motivations make tragic sense, The best moments are often not in the cutscenes, but the wonderful environmental storytelling. Being able to track animals based on their marks in the dirt made me feel like a true ranger, speaking to animals along the way adds so much, there's so many beautiful moments to find. I disagree that the NPCs are unlikeable, but we can't all have the same taste. I am very charmed by Karlach, Minthara, and Astarion. I think the game's focus on responses to trauma and the masks we wear is very good, deception within the party nearly always makes sense and the character growth through interactions is satisfying, for the most part. What I don't enjoy is there are some moments that it would be nice to get unique dialogue for that there is nothing.

[@choleeron]

The most rememorable moment for me was killing Cazador and with him dead I lost the meaning in ending the game, because if I don´t ckfront the Brain it will wait for me until the end of time. Even Karlach will not die so it seems very perfect...

[@doloresabernathy9809]

Great thoughtful video! thank you for this and I hope you keep up the great work! One question about the backstory that I don’t think you mentioned: How/when did the Chosen Three discover the Elder Brain under Moonrise? is that ever stated in the game? I’d love to hear what you found out about that. another plothole .. how did the Chosen get the crown onto the Mindflayer? That would be quite a feat since the brain can just fly away if under threat. By the way it is explained how the Dark Urge ends up in the nautiloid but it is still a very big stretch. you are wrong about Gortash by the way .. he is a study in pathological response to trauma. Maybe you didn’t get to that content in the game. Thanks again for this!

[@vakna_1]

Thank you so much! Gortash finds out about the Elder Brain underneath Moonrise through the Emperor. The Netherstones and the Crown are connected, so whoever controlls the Netherstones can 'order' the Crown move on someone's head... funny image for me, this. The Three need a superbrain to create the Absolute. What I think happened was that the writers/designers needed an Elder Brain controlled by these Three, so they had to come up with a backstory for this to have happened. What we get then are details like: 'yeah, so that happened. They controlled an Elder Brain, just like that.' There is an interesting theory that Raphael actually 'let' them steal those, but that just makes everything even more complicated... I know Gortash is deeper than he appears, but I feel the game didn't give him enough room to develop. He was basically sold by his parents to a devil. Some dialogues on that or even a side quest would have been great. Again, everything is too compressed, so you kind of need to imagine the stories. Which we do when we love RPGs, I guess. Thank you again for the comment.

[@cozdugunuzanneden]

While I agree that Gortash should be a more mature character, what his mother said in his family's shoe shop in Baldur's Gate and the diary in the room upstairs helped me complete his story on my own. After all, he was sold to a warlock as a child and later did the same to Karlach. I think he acted out of an instinct to be strong and not be under anyone's control again.

[@choleeron]

I have to laugh so much since you got to the not so sweet stuff because you are so right with it. My first character decided not to end the game at all because it could get worse and it wont if you don´t force it to. Of course I ended the game another time with another character but I really don´t like the main story. Nonetheless I love the game dearly. ❤

[@cosmicprison9819]

The subtitles are confusing, as “Shaar” is a place in Faerûn, whereas Shar is the goddess involved in the game’s plot. A “Shaarian” would be someone from the Shaar, not a servant of Shar. 😂

[@vakna_1]

@@cosmicprison9819 thanks for letting me know!

[@ChoseeComprende]

Its not true with Shadowheart ... What she chooses depends on all your previous conversations and choices you picked ... its masked really well, but there is no way to let companions choose anything for themselves, they allways reflect us. :(

[@vakna_1]

Ah, that makes sense! My gith friend had a very good relationship with her. But it's too easy to choose the wrong dialogue option with SH...

[@Cyberlucy]

FYI the person that the owner of the Arcane Tower was waiting for is not a dog but a former lover. The dog was dead already. The biggest problem I see with this Critique is the lack of understanding and also supposition that you make about some of the story elements. Otherwise some of what you are saying makes sense. One thing that I will point out is that the fact that Mind Flayers don't have souls is NOT irrelevant to the rest of the game. Gives a clue about why this whole situation came about. It's not about what the Dead Three wanted but what the Elder Brain wanted.

[@vakna_1]

@@Cyberlucy yes, his name is Yrre. I believe I mentioned that.

[@clarencewalters338]

You have stints pegged wrong. Facial cues are important in Cyberpunk. He complied and let his piggy cronies beat you until the corpo is out of earshot and then, because he fucking HATES being ordered around by corps so much he let's you go without so much as a citation when he originally planned on booking you to meet a quota. Edit: Also vastly misunderstanding the tadpole mechanic, its insidious as it should be. It FEELS TOO FREE and your character can express that and that's because you can straight make getting the better endings of the game harder on yourself by doing it.

[@disneymaniac001]

Ai pus muzica pe privat??? 😢 Le aveam inca in playlist acu putin timp (1-2 sapt) si acum nu le mai pot asculta. 😢 aveam 2 piese preferate, cea cu Jaina si Fractals. pretty pleeeeeease bring them back, they were good! ❤

[@vakna_1]

I’ve unlisted them. Should be back in your playlist now ;) Thanks.

[@disneymaniac001]

@@vakna_1 yes! they're back! thank you!!! ❤️

[@cosmicprison9819]

Not power - *authority* 😁. Versus autonomy.

[@vakna_1]

Interesting. You're referring to the narator's voice who constantly says 'authority'. But authority comes from one's need to assert themselves, to establish a hierarchy, so it's even harder to justify and implement as a narrative theme. I like the alliteration though.

[@cosmicprison9819]

@@vakna_1 The characters are mostly caught in the conflict whether they pursue a position of authority (Gale as a god, Astarion as a vampire lord, Shadowheart as a Dark Justiciar, Lae’zel as a Kith’rak etc.) or one of autonomy (Gale becoming a professor and no longer subject to Mystra, Astarion freeing himself from Cazador, Shadowheart turning away from Shar, Lae’zel rejecting Vlaakith etc.). Usually, the “autonomy” position is presented as the “good” option.

[@vakna_1]

@@cosmicprison9819 Very good! This could be a whole new essay in itself.

[@keskes1338]

Just a tip for future videos: maybe don't jokingly insult half your audience based on the endings they choose in their video games.

[@vakna_1]

@@keskes1338 any choice you make in a rpg is a legitimate choice. I was ‘joking’ about MY choices or possible choices. Just to be clear, not meant to insult anyone

[@keskes1338]

@@vakna_1 Sorry, it can be hard to tell with the BG3 community. Some of these people are unhinged.

[@herbertwraczlavski896]

I dunno... A friend tried to lure me in to coop BG3 ... Being fan of BG1, I agreed. But boy, I havene seen more atrocious story than in BG3, inane gameplay, bland graphics... Where are all the 10/10 coming from? It must be akin to crowd-bombing unpopular developer, only in inverse.

[@doloresabernathy9809]

No you just have odd taste. i’ve played computer games since 1978 and BG3 is the best I’ve played. But to each their own.