Baldur's Gate 3 - An In-depth Critique

[@_Qwi_]

I was at least half expecting the dog to play fetch with me when he brought me the ball in camp, but was still pretty delighted when he did. What I did not expect, however, was that after teaching him this trick he would then "fetch" the leather armor I threw down to cover up the cloudkill vent and helpfully give it back to me as I was trying to cross, killing my party.

[@stjimmerz]

That's just accurate to dogs lmao

[@KrokusOfDagon]

this is unironically the funniest shit ive read ever

[@RainOn2SunnyDay]

when i found out he did that, he became my covert spear retriever

[@nickalberda1]

Thx alot dude your always great!

[@nickv1212]

Fetch is life dawg

[@denni8998]

Imagine respec is disabled but dialogue line is still there: - I wish to change my class - No.

[@TheBigWindows]

You mean the oathbreaker paladin experience

[@TheYoutubeUser69]

Classic Withers

[@Nasferatu_Padre]

"Too bad. Cry about it, nerd"

[@DirtyCheesecake]

Baldur's Gate 3 was a massive commercial success. And not a single microtransaction or season pass in sight, imagine that!

[@TheDungeon11]

Or DRM.

[@literallyjustgrass]

​@@TheDungeon11I played the game through steam with friends and they didn't even have to buy it

[@MrArchilus]

Probably doesn't rake in nearly as much cash than let's say GTA V does selling in game money though. Or any successful live service game.

[@davidgenkin9387]

Wait what how ​@literallyjustgrass

[@Zakemaster]

@@davidgenkin9387probably Remote Play, I’d guess.

[@mackerelmafia2898]

The difference between "Ranged Spell Attack" and "Spell Attack Rolls" is that the latter also applies to melee spells, such as Shocking Grasp. Ranged Spell Attacks are the ones that have disadvantage if your character is Threatened.

[@bodkie]

Also, some spells use attack rolls and some use save DCs, the attacker will roll an attack roll and the defender will roll a save. Where a fighter always wants biggest bonuses to hit and barbarians and rogues want advantage, a spellcaster can choose to either target an opponent's AC or one of their weaker save scores.

[@itsJPhere]

There is a tooltip that explains this, I'm looking at it right now. Go to inventory > Spellbook > at the top next to Spellcasting Ability (in my case WIS for Druid) are 2 numbers > mouse over the number on the right > the tooltip about Spell Attack should come up.

[@Borggablöff]

Yep. Someone isnt as well-versed in RPGs as they try to make it sound..

[@MrWertheron]

Volo is another 'quite good' option to remove tadpole as he extracts your eye but replaced it by a very very useful eye that can see invisible character.

[@LuizOtavioZen]

It also changes the Eye visualy and gives you a different interection with the Hag and Because Wyll already lost an eye he can't go through the procedure.

[@teenietinytony]

and makes you throw up irl while you get it :D

[@trengilly01]

Despite all the camp supplies available in Baldur's Gate 3 . . . not a week goes by without several posts on Reddit from players who have run out of food, can't rest, and are desperately seeking help. I honestly don't know how they manage it . . but somehow they do!

[@gamingweasel4633]

Same, I have no idea how anyone can run out of food/drink in the game. It's laying around everywhere free for the taking, especially all the alcohol. Along with the lack of dresses for female characters, it made me imagine the BG3 dev team as a bunch of alcoholic dudes.

[@Icefear1986]

Many people just don't loot crates and boxes.

[@ehrtdaz7186]

I imagine going long rest after every fight in the early game could make the supplies run out eventually

[@hhdhpublic]

@@ehrtdaz7186 I pretty much did that and even then I had way too much supplies left at the end. I just looted absolutely every fucking food item I could find.

[@ehrtdaz7186]

@@hhdhpublic On Tactician?

[@AndrielChaoti]

There are actually quests that are timed, that will fail if you rest during the quest. Rescuing Nere is one of these, to avoid spoiling anything too severe.

[@hanli5416]

Actually nere quest even fails if you move to camp without resting a few times. Larian assumes moving to campzone requires time. Personally i kinda dislike that at times cause i like to switch stuff in camp alot. Same actually applies to almost all remarked upon quests when characters say something is happening. Like finding andrick and brenna and fire at waukeens trade. Zone out after game has noticed it and encounter will change dissapear.

[@hhdhpublic]

The issue with these are the fact that this isn't clearly indicated to the player so one can easily play the game and realize that this is in fact whats happening. I am quite sure that I wouldnt have realized it unless I had happened to read about it in an article before I played the game.

[@AndrielChaoti]

@@hhdhpublic they are quite clearly telegraphed in the dialogue with related NPCs though. If you go to camp once during the quest example above, *every* single companion has something to say about the fact that you're wasting time. the newspaper defamation quest has the npcs literally telling you "you have until tomorrow"

[@qienriot]

Wauken rest too if I remember correctly, if you get close enough you can trigger it,I did a short rest and boom whole place burned to ashes...

[@RaoulBorges]

@@AndrielChaoti Indeed, but it's a game where time has otherwise no real meaning. As it is a change in the "rule of the game", it should have been explicitly directed at the player, by a messagebox, not to the player character, by NPCs.

[@Slyslug]

the level was capped at 12 because, if you play dnd, you know that high level spells are not only absurdly powerful. they just arent something easy to compensate for in a video game, some of them can even stump a DM.

[@gewurzgurke4964]

Imagine accounting for wish

[@idrinkcofe]

feels a little strange though when they’ll throw higher than 12 enemies at you in act 3 like the dragon. I dont disagree with cap it just feels like larian is a bit inconsistent in thiss regard.

[@j0nnyism]

They stuck to the rule book almost to a fault. It’s a shame that wasn’t really appreciated by dnds owners

[@darkmatter9643]

@@gewurzgurke4964 Wish isn’t actually that problematic if they either made it work just like the suggestions in the spell description suggest, or made it a once per playthrough divine intervention type feature. To be completely honest the most problematic spells in dnd for bg3 would be the resurrection spells, “Resurrection” and “True Resurrection” which could potentially remove most threat from the story as a whole via resurrecting dead NPC’s, and just making the spells only usable on player characters would just make them useless. But other than that conundrum, most high level spells could be adapted into the game, with a few omitted due to lack of use in video game form.

[@slipknotpurity00]

Also the original plan was cap at level 10. In early access they decided to raise it to 12 so players could experience level 6 spells, like Chain Lighting, Disintegrate, and the game breaking Globe of Invulnerability.

[@rhelerinnon5553]

Minsc simply joins your party wayyy too late into Act III to have any real agency in the story. Sure, he hits hard but you only have him for a little while before the end of the game.

[@tomekk.1889]

Minsc would have made sense if they hadn't cut the upper city from the game

[@dopaminedrought395]

@@tomekk.1889 yup. and i'll be forever mad at WOTC squandering the chance of us ever getting the upper city

[@LemonLicker]

@@dopaminedrought395 can i get an explanation as to why they did this?

[@joedatius]

@@tomekk.1889 this is a misconception. they never cut the upper city from the game. they chose not have the upper city early in development. the game was basically always designed to be just the lower city because the upper city would of just been padding.

[@HansWurst1569]

@@joedatius yeah? Im pretty sure there was also backlash from hasbro/wotc for them taking too long with the IP while they wanted to divide act 3 into act 3 and 4. Because act 3 is such a weird combination of tacked on shit plus world ending quests. I always thought act 1 and 2 are a set and conclude one half of the story and then act 3 and 4 were one going to be the other. Especially since act three has a lot of “vacation times” vibes to it but instead is also filled with end game stuff. The balance between act 1-2 fitting nicely together and 3 three feeling way to overwelming. And upper coty buildings being in the lower city. Astarions entire story line was suppost to be up there but instead its in act 3.

[@moonverine]

I'm starting to get the feeling that this channel is really into RPGs.

[@heitorcruz7895]

NKB hates RPGs, thats why he is a Critic!

[@majestyzx9081]

8:47 Hey, no need to crap on rat killers. My Father, his father, and his father's father are a proud lineage of rat killers. Sure we might not be "Saving the village from a goblin raid", but when you wake up tomorrow and there's not nibbles in your loaf of bread, or grain sacks spilling everywhere, you'll thank us.

[@nifftbatuff676]

Well said.

[@MapleFried]

"Rats in the cellar?! How cliché..."

[@xXMasterXx22]

I'm sure he meant no offense, but said it that way just in comparison to other rpg protagonist activites. I guess any activity we as real people do would be underwhelming in the context of a realm saving hero. I think in our world we can all be heores by contributing to everyone else and providing for our families, just like your father and grandfathers have done. Respect to you and your family bro!

[@ikaemos]

Do you happen to own a small but vicious dog?

[@PalleRasmussen]

I have a ferret, no rats here.

[@AltumDolor]

1:42:17 This feels a bit like oversimplification of Wyll's backstory. He didn't want to help people, he had to make a deal with a devil in order to save Baldur's Gate from cultists which seemed to be successfully performing a ritual of summoning Tiamat, a dragon that would level the whole city if the ritual was to be finished.

[@Panachiguiro]

He also missed the fact that Gale's and Wyll's stories are ALSO about abuse, which is the central theme of the game. The several betrayals he mentions come from people that held power over the betrayed characters, Mystra groomed Gale and got mad at him when the "gifted kid" tried to overachieve to please her while Wyll became a literal servant for the metaphorical servitude he was on to the city. Seeing him miss like this on a property I'm more knowledagble about made me worried of his other takes on works that I'm unfamiliar with lol.

[@Deuce7Off]

The entire essay is an oversimplification of both DND and Baldur's Gate 2. It's a dissaservice to BG2, the greatest CRPG of all time to be created still to this day. There was no progress from BG2 after for CRPGs imo. No game has surpassed it in terms of story, sidequests, mechanics , every game has attempted to copy it. No game has come close, I've played enough of Larian games to know it won't do it. Few games can make a sidequest feel like a main storyline quest like BG2 did.

[@Mortiel]

​@@Deuce7Off I'm guessing that you haven't played BG3, then? From my view, I think it's a bit silly to say, "Because this new things isn't as good as an old thing, I won't even give the new thing a chance". It's silly because I loved BG3, when while I think BG2 was better in many ways. I can enjoy both. Shocking, I know

[@charless1145]

​@@Deuce7OffI flatly disagree that bg2 is the GOAT crpg.

[@emmagorington4559]

​@@PanachiguiroGale was never "groomed" by Mystra, it was specifically mentioned that he was an adult when their relationship began. And in what world her anger is can be called "an abuse" when she got mad because Gale literally opened a Pandora's box and endangered the whole realm only because he had too much of an ego? I wouldn't critique other creators just because their opinion is different from yours.

[@TrippyTigre]

One of my main and really only criticisms of baldur's gate 3 is NPCs, specifically, companions, have little to no agency once they are a part of your story. There should be no reason. Shadow heart doesn't go into the temple of Shar with or without you. Gale should force himself to be at the initial motherbrain area and you have to talk him down from blowing himself up. Halsin should do the antishadow ritual with or without you. Once they're in you're party, they're amazing characters if you play their game, but are otherwise mannequins if you chose to outright ignore them

[@alsaiduq4363]

At least the game always give to let the companion decide for themselves when comes to key moments of their story. My issue with them is the lackluster amount of interaction between them and other npcs. Maybe it was intentional, but I don't get the feeling of them being a party , that even if they hate each other, still a group of people traveling together. That's something that I feel Wrath of the righteous nailed. All character have some kinda relationship, be good or bad with each other.

[@MrWertheron]

I don't know, some of your suggestions (Gale for instance) are easily explained, as without you, he would not be here on time or alive (Gale even died if you 're not saving him from the portal). And for those who ignored him or went blind, it would be weird to have the final boss resolved by a random guy showing up 5 min before. And would I convince this guy to not sacrifice himself (I don't know him).

[@toadonwheels]

But you have the artifact, so everyone (except Halsin) needs to be near you. Shadowheart can't go to the Temple without you, Gale can't get to the brain wiithout you, Astarion wouldn't be able to go to Cazador without you, etc.

[@gloomy_gus]

In the original games party members could get into arguments, attack each other or leave the party if you acted against their interests

[@majestyzx9081]

@@gloomy_gus They still do that in 3, that's what the "approval" and campground systems are for.

[@Troopertroll]

I was actually shocked the passage of time wasn't taken into account when resting. My first time playing I did the entire Nautiloid Crash Region on one rest because I really thought everyone would turn into squid monsters if I took too long.

[@andrewchapman1494]

I was legit paranoid to rest because I was worried about what might happen if I let too much time pass. I ended up missing so many great camp scenes because of it. I'm glad the rest system doesnt pressure you like that, but I wish it was more clearly communicated, since I bet a lot of people ended up missing story content from trying to rest as little as possible.

[@joecantina7580]

I was so scared of this too. Then my friend who has like a million hours said I could long rest all i want to and I was like, huh?

[@funkyfreshwizardry]

There actually are at least two questlines that are affected if you long rest too often (that I can think of) plus a few minor things (like companions dying if you don’t add them to your party by a certain point). But it is not used often, for sure.

[@GiveMeTheRice]

i mean, the events of the story kinda can’t be progressed without you and the prism’s involvement, so it makes sense

[@JimJamTheAdmin]

The passage of time is taken into account, there are quests you can fail by resting and areas you cannot rest in. Also, in case you forgot, you were never at risk of turning into an illithid, it's a whole plot point.

[@WolfheartFPS]

hell yeah! Larian represents a by gamers for gamers studio. Glad we have a company around like this in modern day. Good thing is they are currently working on 2 more RPGs. Great vid so far (still working through it).

[@DazeyChaineMusic]

Nobody wants to admit that this game is just neo Marxist garbage

[@thomasrosendahl2783]

Not even Daggerfall had the same impact, compared to Baldurs Gate 3. The Wayward Realms has the potential to rival BG3, but that scenario is still years away.

[@MrArchilus]

Ironically, gamers don't deserve games like BG3. At least those who actually call themselves that (Cringe)

[@rateater1857]

@@MrArchilus Oh, do shut up.

[@SMJSmoK]

@@MrArchilus Try getting off the internet for a while.

[@cloweee__]

"you're introduced to many different terms that mean the same thing ... so youre captured by mindlfayers and get infected by an illithid tadpole and now you have to escape the ghaik ship" 1:30:20

[@Aturnadagar]

mindlfayers = illithid = ghaik, Got it

[@bjg8638]

There's certain youtubers that when a new video drops, you sit back and watch with full attention instead of multitasking. Good stuff dude.

[@bjg8638]

​what really gets me is when a real person types out a comment like this and thinks "yeah this is the thing that will change someone's mind, I'm totally not being a pretentious dick head" No, I don't think I will listen to music while gaming and such lol

[@clandon9624]

@@tydendurler9574yeah I think you have adhd my friend. “Normal” people don’t feel the urge to be doing more than what’s necessary like that.

[@tydendurler9574]

@@bjg8638 you "lol" about it like it's the craziest thing to consider and i get called the weirdo xD You guys talk about consuming multiple media at the same time and someone tells me "bro i think you have adhd bro" xD Get the f outta here 😁👏

[@iomegaman72]

Am currently doing laundry. Most stuff on KZbin I would just turn my screen off and continue listening to the audio. But not for one of Never's videos. I paused it until I'm done so I can commit my full attention 👍👍

[@Verchiel_]

That's the case for many of the animation/documentary style channels for me Kurzgesagt, Lemmino, Arch, Legion, Ahoy all make immensely high quality dense videos exploring a specific topic with important information both said and shown.

[@MaxHaydenChiz]

I suspect that Larian stopped at level 12 because that's where most 5e players like to stop. High level 5e play is not popular. The usual complaints are that the combat starts taking too long, the choices become less strategic and impactful, and the characters become so powerful that meaningful problem solving goes out the window. Maybe that's the reason. Or maybe it just didn't feel good having to remove a lot of the fun high level stuff that would probably break a video game, with planar travel and reality warping power. I'm not sure how they could have combined high level out of combat abilities with the interactivity they wanted the world to have. My hope is that working on BG3 gave them some ideas that we'll see in their next few projects.

[@jorgemontero6384]

And this isn't new: There's a reason that Krynn basically caps experience, in universe, as the gods are unhappy when your character becomes borderlike godlike in 2 or 3 extra levels.

[@JacobYaw]

As a DM, I can confirm that past 10th level, 5e throws balance out the window completely. It is impossible to challenge players with the rules as written, and you basically have to tweak every monster from the ground up. It's a chore to run, and I can't imagine it's any different to design for in a video game. Because players would expect a power level that would make the enemies seem pitifully weak or so overcorrected that they'd be dissonant from the earlier experience.

[@JacobYaw]

(incidentally, for any 5e dms struggling with this problem ... Switch to Pathfinder. I know it's a cliche to say it, but I tried PF2e and after the beginner box I have never looked back)

[@nugieboy]

Making a Rock Lee vs Gaara reference amidst this gargantuan review is why you’re one of my favorite KZbinrs

[@carteljameson8395]

Baldur's Gate 3 is the the cRPG evolved through AAA presentation and production. As if it comes from an alternate universe where Dragon Age Origins was the most influential RPG of 2000s.

[@OGfisk]

What do you intend to say here?

[@JimJamTheAdmin]

​@@OGfiskthey weren't ever following Larian before a youtuber told them that they make good games.

[@Rzepik]

Not sure what are you trying to say here. Dragon Age Origins? BG3 is reversed DA:O - almost zero trash combat but writing can be a total mess.

[@lethaltoconcrete2194]

@@Rzepik Opinions about the quality of writing and gameplay notwithstanding, it's pretty obvious to me that the comparison is being made because both are traditional CRPGs made with bug budgets and strong production values (which makes sense since both were meant to follow up on BG2). While they don't explicitly say this, IMO it's pretty clear they're comparing DA: O to Mass Effect, which had a huge influence on the kinds of RPGs made after it.

[@lethaltoconcrete2194]

@@OGfisk Like I write in the above comment, I think it's got to do with how Mass Effect was much more influential than DA: O. BG3, like DA: O, is a big budget CRPG with cinematic cutscenes.

[@shadowmil]

Great video. To explain a Ranged Spell Attack, this is a subset of a Spell Attack. The other type of a Spell Attack is a Melee Spell Attack. Spells like Inflict Wounds are melee spell attacks, while spells like Scorching Ray are Ranged Spell Attacks. If something gives a +1 to Spell Attacks then it will give a +1 to both a Ranged Spell Attack roll and a Melee Spell Attack roll. So there is a mechanic difference between the two. You also have spell save DCs, which is the target number an enemy needs to hit when rolling a saving throw.

[@michaeli5018]

To add. Every spell has a range. If range is touch then it's affected by the +1 spell staff only. But if the range is say 30ft then it's ranged and affected by both staffs. Shocking grasp: spell attack only Elritch blast: Both staffs. Okay maybe I didn't add much

[@Aturnadagar]

All touch spells are consider melee spells, the property touch is just a legacy from 3.5 and was not change on the verbose on all the spells on 5e. Which is one of many example of why is understandable the confusion since there many thing on the DnD rules that many ppl new to the game cant intuit and others that are redundant. which is which create confusion.

[@dumbghost3109]

​@Aturnadagar the difference is that some spells (such thunderclap) are melee spells, but are not touch spells. a touch spell is only melee in the sense that you must make physical contact.

[@michaeli5018]

@dumbghost3109 correct. Cure wounds is a touch spell without an attack roll. Shocking grasp, on the other hand, would be a melee spell with the range of touch. Way I view it is like this: does it need an attack roll?if no it's not affected by the staves. If yes, is it melee or ranged? If ranged, it's affected by both if melee it's only the right staff.

[@Reflexion89]

Not gonna lie. I really admired the unhinged off the rails humor you brought with this one. There's nothing more authentic than trying to explain an obscure anime analogy to further the point of a sensation of a dungeons and dragons video game mechanic being used sparingly to increase satisfaction, because God dammit it's just proper.

[@jeromealday614]

Naruto? Obscure? 😭

[@tomekk.1889]

​​@@jeromealday614 you'd be surprised how little people know about naruto. Sure they can recognize the characters and symbols but they have absolitely no idea about the plot

[@shadowbunny7892]

I think it's very interesting how much our opinions on the story differ, lol. I don't think there's a game who's illusion fell apart so hard for me as Baldur's Gate 3. Act 1 truly had me believing in magic. It felt like every single possible choice in dialog or in gameplay was somehow being accounted for. But by act 2 there were fewer places where there even appeared to be large divergences and by act 3 I had begun to see all of the game's tricks to make you feel like you're making choices. The companions stop bantering during travel, stop commenting on your choices, and eventually just become mannequins one by one as you finish their stories. I just remember having a moment where it felt like all the color had drained out of the screen. I went from gleefully completing every single quest I could find to just forcing myself to finish the game. I think realizing that it doesn't even matter if you use the tadpole or not was the ultimate death blow for me. Definitely didn't help that the overarching story was so unfocused and strange and the endings so quick and unsatisfying. Your perspective on the story being about trust definitely helps me appreciate it more but ultimately I find myself in a really unique place with BG3's story where I just wish it was different. It's typically a hard rule of mine to not give criticism that boils down to "write a different story," but with BG3 it's hard for me to imagine a story that looks anything like what we got that I personally like. I wish it had focused on the Mind Flayer Gith stuff or the Dead Three Bhaalspawn stuff, not both. Even as I was watching it for the first time the reveal of the Dead Three involvement felt comical and strange. I hate that after all that buildup, your conflict with the Emperor ends up feeling so petty and inconsequential. If, in a game about trust, the Emperor is my character's personal struggle with trust, then kicking that motherfucker's ass should have been the culminating moment of the story, not just an incidental prerequisite to beat the Netherbrain, which it's self doesn't even feel like the main villain due to aforementioned Dead Three shenanigans. I hate that the world is so dense, as you say, because even though I know this game has an absurd amount of content it feels so small compared to BG1 and 2. Only having three major areas, seeing the same faces everywhere I go, I didn't feel like I was going on a grand adventure, making a lasting impact and forming lifelong bonds, I felt like we had simply taken a quick roadtrip to go deal with this Illithid thing before my character would go back to traveling and finding small adventures and doing the stuff I wished I was actually doing in the game. I hope one day my disappointment with the end of the game will wane enough that I can enjoy it again because the gameplay is truly truly special and the characters are too.

[@Merknilash]

Very typical of Larian games First act is loaded, 2nd act has lots of stuff, and everything else sucks

[@skelton4795]

The thing i love about letting shadowheart decide herself, is that it is not a guarantee how she will decide, she can also kill the nightsong. It actually depends how u have interacted with her and if u picked up some hints.

[@boo5860]

gale was also manipulated like the others btw!! mystra started manipulating him when he was basically a child

[@PippetWhippet]

Yes, exactly! She wanted him to do exactly what he did and used his everything she had to make that happen. Then turned her back on him as a reward.

[@adventpsyop]

Yeah Gale was 100% groomed by a god.

[@seliamila1005]

He was an adult when he got with Mystra Larian won't add pedo stuff to bg3

[@teenietinytony]

​@@seliamila1005she knew him before that and he was still very young. mystra is known to go after young men.

[@joedatius]

The encounter design alone puts BG3 above most other RPGs. each fight feels unique because it is and the game does everything it can to make each encounter feel different and have its own flow and solutions. Fighting a bunch of kobolds isn't just fighting kobolds, its fighting drunk kobolds in a wine cellar that you have to be careful not to blow yourself up in or use it to your advantage along with variations in verticality. There are almost no real copied encounters and each fight is hand crafted to feel unique. Its something almost no other CRPG really can claim

[@uxti3556]

yeah i agree with this greatest encounter design ever made.

[@segenshin1894]

Yeah, the game reminded me of Pikmin 1 while i was playing it, in how a lot its very unique enemies from a large cast of hostile creatures are only used once, or are completely optional, and even for ones that aren't bosses.

[@Icefear1986]

And there's no repeated enemies unless it makes sense (IE, the ghithyanki hunting you). In other games you will see recycled and reskined enemies everywhere.

[@Rzepik]

I wish the plot was half as good as the encounter design. I honestly can't think of a cRPG with as good encounters. Maaaybe some tactics games with rpg elements, but that's not a fair comparsion.

[@ManlyTear]

DoS2 has this too, and even DoS1 to a lesser extent (lack of verticality there), which rly shows Larian knows their stuff about what makes good encounter design. In such huge games, I'm amazed at how non-repetitive encounters can feel. I look back to each and remember most due to that.

[@Lionbug]

Man, imagine if you were a less zen, less iron-willed unshakable reviewer, you might’ve really been messed up by that Minthara failure!

[@ScozzWasTaken]

Truly I am in awe of how Not Mad he is about it

[@Vasiliy9hells]

Dude, Minthara is the best girl! Shame she lacks content, esp in Act 3. So much locked potential

[@ManlyTear]

HE MADE IT, HE FINALLY MADE IT! And right as I'm going through my DoS2 playthrough that'll thus complete my Larian Holy Trinity that started with BG3, which'll likely cement them as one of my fav gaming studios of all time, but more importantly, the one studio that brought back my hopium that there actually IS a strong audience for these types of RPGs & they aren't just a relic of a bygone era and Dragon Age Origins was their peak. And here I was worried you'd never make a review of this...phenomenon of a game... and we'd just have to make due with brief mention of it in your History of RPGs vid at the end.

[@MrArchilus]

Yeah, that's amazing. I don't mind action RPGs, but I also like CRPGs. It's kinda sad that DA:O was pretty much the last big one before BG3. Then in 2010s, everyone decided players just want action RPGs Though wha kinda sours my hopium is that there might only be an audience as long as it's DnD and the characters are hot. :D

[@ManlyTear]

​@@MrArchilus I thought that until I played DoS2 whom I may like as much as BG3 tbh (not done yet), altho' I'm part of what'd be the target audience for such games, while BG3 went far beyond so there's quite a bit of truth to your statement, but audience comes from multiple angles here. Former bioware BG fans, fans of Larians previous titles, DnD fans, party based RPG fans like DAO/Mass Effect like yours truly. That's already a sizeable audience, but then you add a more casual one, including some non-gamers, who never touched any of those games or style, nor DnD, and enjoyed it but let's be honest, that was mainly due to the big budget cutscenes/animations during face to face talks with chars.

[@Cleverboots]

Brief tangent but it really feels like the emperor is designed to always be exactly the result you want it to be. You can dig deeper, or even just enough to make him suspicious of you and he gets heavier handed and becomes potentially a betrayer. Or you can just be chill and do what you need to do without throwing anything off and he gives you everything you wanted exactly with 0 consequences. He just wants to be free, and as a mindflayer, free will is something he has little trust in. Yet he can be easily viewed based on your playthrough as a mastermind duping you, or just a dude who needs you while you need him. Plus there's 0 reason for anyone to believe the prince won't immediately kill you off when he first sees you. If you read his mind I believe it's even confirmed.

[@ManlyTear]

That's exactly how I saw him, and why I had a pretty fruitful colab with him from start-to-finish, with a few squables at most (like ofc, imma go into Raphael's domain , I need to explore every corner Emps! dw, I won't free Orpheos - his brain is yours) . He's like the perfect true neutral-pragmatic-amoral-apolitical char for me. Whatever side he takes, is if it benefits survival, and the pros beat the cons. Even a suggestion of controling the Elder Brain to rule - a megalomaniac couldn't resist the temptation and go for it consequences be damned - but not Emps, he points out how that'll bring the cons of having to face legions of gith & other armies, and basically goes "nah, not worth, let's just kill it". He's so unhingely pragmatic that he's even chill in a charming way. "You've rejected evolution, but you have been a fruitful ally" , followed by sending you a letter on how he thinks you should cooperate more in future. And while such a char would be reserved to an AI or mindless drone like alien race , here he's an illithid with personality, and quite the background to boot, even if his illithid survival instinct takes precedence over all, he knows how to mingle & match everything to aid that, rather than two sides clashing. And he can even be a mirror of yourself in a way - act like douche to him and expect similar treatment, treat him well and he'll do his best to aid you & treat you well. Easily one of my fav chars in the game, and in gaming.

[@pompom8315]

The first Baldur's Gates did a rather good job at playing evil. It locked you out of a couple characters and a couple quests but the same is true for playing a good character. If you really did want to minmax "Good" was still better but overall didn't make much of a difference.

[@Mortiel]

I think that post-Skyrim Bethesda style is an example not of "dumming down" mechanics, but rather if soulless corporate game design. You could have a simple game that still has a soul. Example: Starting with Skyrim, enemy encounters in dungeons are algorithmically placed to simultaneously never overwhelm you but also be spaced apart to that you're always killing an enemy at specific intervals. It's paint by numbers of an AI generated rendition of the Mona Lisa. Also, the House of Hope quest in BG3 (which is entirely a missable side quest), is more fulfilling than pretty much all of Starfield.

[@James-u1y]

Knowing about Bethesda and how some of the leads over there voice opinions of criticism hurts my soul man, I wish they understood we just want them to learn from mistakes and previous games to build something new for fans to stand on as an achievement in game design. The writing in recent Bethesda games actually hurts my heart. Except for some reason faction quests are generally good (maybe written by a different writer?). I'll still be excited for TES6, but I'll be pretty depressed if it's as bad or worse than Starfield. I want to say more but we are just on the internet and it is what it is.

[@DemonLordSparda]

There isn't a single character in Starfield that is as good as minor or major recurring characters in BG3. Not to mention the origins and companions.

[@otacon-link]

Great video as always! By the way, there are quests in Baldur's Gate III where resting leads to failure, happened to me at the end of act 1 when I had to get explosives to open a rock on the mine. I rested before delivering the explosives and when I got there everyone was dead lol

[@Nicottia]

Heh, 1 balanced, 2 tactician and 1 honor mode runs later and I still can't get over the fact of how badly Viconia and Sarevok's characters were ruined... Viconia, even if not romanced, is not the same person... BG1/2's Viconia was exiled because she flinched and refused to sacrifice a child to Lolth, but BG3's Viconia? Kidnaps a Selunite kid to turn her over to her goddess, via a lot of torture. What gives? Don't get me started on Sarevok, who I turned to the side of good 9 times out of 10... so he not only regressed back to evil, but somehow started worshiping Bhaal? In OG he only "worshipped" Bhaal as a manipulation tactic, to garner Bhaal cultists on his side, he didn't give a damn about Bhaal or worshiping him, aside from what he would get out of it. Come BG3? He turns into a religious zealot. Again, what gives? They should've let Vicky and Sarevok rest, together with Minsc...

[@majklkiller859]

I guess they Just used the Book version of the events which are considered Canon now I think (I think thats what I heard), also heard the book is pretty bad but never read it myself. It does take away a lot of the player's choice and Canon since their Gorion's Ward's choices dont really matter.

[@Merknilash]

They butchered the original characters and didn’t even bring back the voice actors who are still around and working and sound great

[@azza4044]

​@Merknilash they butcher Baldurs Gate in my opinion. It's not Baldurs Gate 3, it's DoS 3.

[@Merknilash]

@ 1000% I’m glad some people really enjoyed it but it wasn’t really a baldurs gate game

[@Harrapsshorter]

About the balancing of rests, I feel that it was best done in Pillars of Eternity 2, where food had specific bonuses, and many rare ingredients were, well, rare.. It meant that you wanted to rest to be maxed out on your spells, but at the same time, you were potentially giving up huge bonuses from rare foods that were limited in availability. Something that I found very well done in PoE2's rest system.

[@MulberryDays]

in the same breath, they also solved the buffs problem without having to track Concentration the same way - spell slots refresh per *encounter* and most of the self-buff spells don't cost actions. it is very satisfying to just tick the boxes on your Arcane Veil and Ironskin, etc etc, feels like starting up a jet plane.

[@connorsimpson9423]

100% agree with the elimination of excessive pre buffing. It makes the combat in this game so much more enjoyable than bg1 and 2. Was happy to see it mentioned. Excellent work as always!

[@hanli5416]

Understand what you mean but i did like the fact that this aspect made spells like spell trigger and contingency amazing in bg2.

[@connorsimpson9423]

​@@hanli5416 true, there were definitely some up upsides to it!

[@JimmyMon666]

I played those games on Core difficulty, so often pre buffing isn't necessary on that difficulty. Other than stoneskin of course, that's pretty much mandatory so your wizard doesn't essentially get one shotted. Okay it is necessary for the dragon fights, but there aren't that many of those.

[@fish5671]

having to pre-fight buff your party is the most annoying thing ever, i played Pathfinder wrath of the righteous and before every single battle in the endgame you had to buff your party the most you could if you didn't want to get destroyed

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

Thanks for your loving review of BG2. The new Baldur's Gate is a fine achievement, but BG2 remains my favorite RPG of all time. And you explained exactly why.

[@marchwhitlock6455]

1:03:22 Hearing you talk about this took me back to the Blackpit Voidling battle in Divinity Original Sin 2. Wow. What an incredible puzzle of a fight that was. I know some people found it frustrating but finally being able to save Gwydian after numerous attempts and knowing it was thanks to my careful planning, strategy, and understanding of the game's combat was one of the greatest feelings I've gotten from any RPG ever. I hope the success of BG3 encourages more people to play the rest of Larian's games because they're truly worth it.

[@vince77-z27]

fire mage with all of their dmg glory finally being useless just for once in their entire existence xD

[@zenrand4507]

For the confusion at 39:31, range spell attack roll is for spell attacks at range while spell attack rolls are for both melee and range spells. Example of melee spell is Inflict Wounds

[@xxdmn]

glad to hear minthara and you are still on good terms with each other!

[@Markk0630]

Ahhh!! I had to drop everything; watching this is how I’m gonna spend my Friday night! Thank you!! 🙇‍♂️

[@DevDawg323]

Patch 7 just made using the Illithid powers MUCH more consequential and added a TON of new evil cinematics and endings! Looks like Larian might’ve watched your video lol

[@mocharosa6473]

Sometimes I wonder about the original team at BioWare that made the first two Baldur's Gate games all those years ago. I imagine most of them are long gone from BioWare at this point, but I'm interested what they might think about BG3; how it came about, the differences in design and storytelling, the megahit popularity of a series that is no longer under BioWare's direction. Especially since BioWare has been struggling so much in recent years, it's interesting to think about Larian having their own moment in the spotlight like BioWare did all those years ago, both with the release of Baldur's Gate games.

[@tydendurler9574]

...also curious about the fact that Larian achieved all this by essentially releasing Divinity Original Sin 3. People just love to be lied to if the outcome is great it seems (same topic with Elden Ring...).

[@Neb448]

I imagine they would be quite happy seeing as BG3 feels much like the child of of BG1/2 and Dragon Age Origins , both Bioware games.

[@theviniso]

@@tydendurler9574 What lie are you talking about?

[@tydendurler9574]

@@theviniso if one don't mind, totally fine, to each their own. But how does one not see / know what i mean? On a quick glance they look like the same game. And on a long glance you can tell that they changed what they could with their Divinity-Engine, but...yeah...it's obviously still Divinity. Just like Elden Ring is obviously still Dark Souls.

[@majestyzx9081]

@@ThomasPolman1983 Yes, and the Divinity: Original Sin titles are just an iteration on the SSI AD&D Gold box titles. It all loops around.

[@luccamostra]

The lack of upsides on a evil run is why I thought The update that allows you to recruit minthara without massacring the grove takes away so much from doing an evil run

[@redtreatrick5265]

I mean, SH's dark story is better and all of the evil choices provide you with powerful items that help you the most with evil deeds. Hag does give you an intimidation boost, SH has amazing gear, Astarion has powerful abilities and it's only poor Minthara that sadly does not get anything great. She doesn't even have any sex scenes past act1 which matters and her insane abilities are available even on good playthrough

[@seliamila1005]

​​@@redtreatrick5265but a lot of super rare and legendary items can only be obtained from good choices which is unfair to evil run, same with allies for final battle. Ascendant Astarion is awesome tho

[@oodhin-c3t]

I agree so much about the part on saves and honour mode. Being able to save mid dialogue or mid combat is ludicrous. The returning joke with Minthara is also hilarious. Gj mate, glad to see your channel grow

[@Dafunco]

40:00 So, in 5e you have 2 types of spell attacks, ranged (long distance, like a fire bolt) and melee (like shocking grasp) so that weapon gives you a +1 in ranged spell attacks

[@CompleteAnimation]

Larian has garnered so much good will that their next game will have every benefit from the start. I truly hope that they can live up to the bar they've set with Baldur's Gate 3.

[@caulfield78]

Was wondering why this took so long and now I understand why. You did a great job with this in-depth piece and in the end, I totally understand the time involved in getting over that wretched drow Minthara.

[@mesmedor]

I was aware the emperor was manipulating me. But Lae'zel and Voss and the entire githyanki people got on my nerves really hard so I wasn't interested in helping them. It turned out fine in the end, I don't think there was any implication that working with the emperor ultimately had any negative consequences for me (or anyone actually). Lae'zel and Voss even managed to lead the fight against Vlaakith by themselves.

[@khankhomrad8855]

Rock Lee vs Gara is legit one of the best moments in Naruto.

[@zOOmer991]

Thank you so much for your hard work as always, the in-depth analysis of this channel is unmatched on yt

[@Hydus]

I just want you to know that I really appreciate the Lee vs Gaara comparison. It was stupid fun but also on point

[@joecantina7580]

I really enjoyed it too. It was a wonderful comparison

[@Hydus]

@@joecantina7580 i had to rewatch the scene after this and almost teared up haha

[@kristhebard]

Early access for them worked because they used the time to listen to players and pivoted whenever there were complaints about the content, like companions not being likeable and class balances. Early access titles often languish for years until they crap out a 1.0 release, but bg3 kept the hype by only making act 1 accessible.

[@AtomicGT55]

I think the biggest achievement of BG3 is actually making the DND 5e ruleset fun.

[@RobertFletcherOBE]

Something I really respected about BG3 is it had the confidence to move away from 5e where it made sense but still managed to make it very familiar for for experienced players.

[@Father_Qese]

When I see this video posted I dropped everything, grabbed some snacks and a beverage, turned played this on my tv and sat for the two hours straight just focused on your analysis. Thank you again for the great content and as always I’ll be waiting patiently, looking forward to whatever you post next.

[@otakon17]

2:07:31 You can't side with Orpheus early because you don't have the Orphic Hammer to free him; your choice is The Emperor or nothing.

[@TheScavv]

That is admittedly a problem that is made by the developers. They could have let you kill the Emperor and free Orpheus then and there but they made it so his imprisonment requires the orphic hammer to free him. I love the game, and there is more than enough player agency already, but there could have been a decision here.

[@Chestyfriend]

@@TheScavv No, that's unfair. You get warned dozens of times in advance you need the hammer to free Orpheus. A real critique is that they force someone to turn into a mindflayer, and that even with the powers of a literal God the transformation never, ever, gets reverted no matter who does it.

[@TheScavv]

@@Chestyfriend Yes... because they wrote it to be that way. They could have written whatever they wanted. I didn't say it doesn't make sense within the context of the story. And for the record, when you get to the Emperor and Orpheus at the beginning of Act 3, the monks are breaking him out without the Orphic hammer.

[@vee6961]

Man, what a great video! You seem super sympathetic, I loved listening to your thoughts. Your closure with Minthara made me gasp and then laugh out loud. Thank you for these nearly two and a half hours of great entertainment about a topic/game I love!

[@Duckman8213]

BG3 is the first time I ever played a game of its kind and the next thing I noticed I had 350 hours in it by December on my PS5 with the platinum trophy. I decided to support Larian by buying the physical deluxe edition because they deserved it. It became one of the favorite games of all time. I even tried Skyrim for the first time last year and I hated it. I watch one person play BG3 for like 10 minutes and I was instantly obsessed because it’s something I’ve never seen nor experienced before. I then bought played and got the platinum trophy on both Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 because I wanted more.

[@Aut-O-Mizer]

Tbh most people who play Skyrim nowadays (myself included) do so modded. Almost anyone who picks up Skyrim in 2024 will probably hate it simply because of how dated it is.

[@Duckman8213]

@@Aut-O-Mizer that is exactly why I hated it. I was playing the Special Edition on my PS5 and it was buggy and dated as hell.

[@Verchiel_]

Understandable not to like skyrim when the things you play bg3 for are important to you. Very different games. Skyrim even vanilla is very much "if you like the vibe of it just exploring the huge open world, you're gonna love it despite all the countless issues" if the vibe isn't enough to make you infatuated with the game, no singular part of the game will. and modding can only go so far, especially with console limitations. Not that pc modding doesn't come with it's drawbacks of being immensely complicated and convoluted.

[@merlylvsm]

I'd recommend Dragon Age: Origins for a similiar feel factor! (though they are mechanically very different games)

[@Duckman8213]

@@merlylvsm I played dragon age inquisition and I hated it… yet I still got the platinum trophy

[@KonStarStudio]

Unfortunately, there's still a pretty exhaustive list of pre-buffs before major fights. Just a few examples for min-maxers: 1) longstrider 2) 4 Hireling cleric casting warding bond, death ward, freedom of movement on all 4 characters 3) elixirs 4) drakethroat glaive elemental weapon buff 5) Summon all minions (Us, Scratch, major + minor elemental, druids, Wyll rapier, etc) 6) Aid and buffet to increase HP 7) Phalar Aluve debuff 8) Using angelic reprieve potions on your sorc after getting a bunch of Level 5 spell slots and sorcery points 9) Astarion (and your character if you romanced Ascended Astarion) using bite on a hireling to get the happy buff 10) Splashing other potions like fly, enhanced leap, mind reading

[@mildlyannoyed1]

This video is worth it for the classified info on Minthara alone. I feel the urge to try this out myself now. Awesome vid as always!

[@SwordThatCleavesEvil]

I personally liked Siege of Dragonspear, but I understand why many fans of BG 1 and 2 didn't like it. Instead of aiming to be a grand adventure like BG1 or BG2:SoA, it funnels you through a series of linear areas and a straightforward plot with few sidequests, similar to Throne of Bhaal but not as good on the story or character front. The attempts to link the stories of 1 and 2 together are also a little weak. The dungeon and enemy encounter designs are very solid though, better than most content in 2 and basically anything in 1, and that's what you'll be doing for most of the expansion's playtime. As a dungeon crawler RPG it's quite good.

[@JimmyMon666]

It's not bad. I rate it as average. I don't want new players to be put off from it. Some of the hate was due to one character people had a problem with for narrow minded reasons. That character can be ignored.

[@willb6913]

I can appreciate what everyone likes about this game even though it's not for me. Got about 10 hours in and I'll never play this or any other CRPG again but that's fine because there's plenty of other games out there for me to enjoy.

[@CorpusFisty]

What did you not enjoy about it?

[@lixyororke]

I have played almost 500 hours in this game and in my latest playthrough I found a whole new bizarre area in the underdark with fish people worshipping a garden gnome. This game is quite handily the most densely packed and enjoyable experience of at least the last decade for me. even doing the same content again without finding anything new is fun, because theres new ways to play with that content, new characters you can take with you to change up the flavour, new builds to give you new dialogue options, not to mention the three different styles of player character that all add more seasoning on top of all those things. Its just unbelievable how much there is in this game

[@SteveHylton1969]

I paid the $100 to play Starfield early… I bought BG3 on a whim during a Steam sale. I have about 350 hours in BG3 on my second play through… I booted up Starfield and played until I realized how bored I was. Lesson learned.

[@Seriouspizza]

In regard to the tadpoles, WAY back in the alpha using Ilithid powers too often was greatly implied to cause you to turn into a mind flayer. It was also implied that you would eventually turn into a mindflayer if you rested too often. Sadly all of that was removed, even if they were empty threats the alpha/beta had such a differnt feeling to the main game. Also Minthara can be "saved" by using a non-lethal take down when you fight her, but it's barely worth it.

[@vukodlak5]

I started a replay just as I finished the video :D One thing occured to me pretty quickly that you dodn't mention, but I think really contributes to the feel of the game is the excellent use of a narrator.

[@jamesserrano3550]

On your section about "Spirit of Adventure" I think you hit the nail on the head for one of the reasons I loved Baldur's Gate 3 but just kind of bounced off Divinity Original Sin 2. In D:OS2, it felt like you had to do a completionist run of an area or else you would be underleveled for the next and it just got monotonous after a while, feeling like I HAD to explore every nook and cranny just to stay in line with the power curve. With Baldur's Gate 3 I felt like I could just explore at my own pace and ignore areas I didn't feel like visiting, but it made it more rewarding when I would explore and found something cool.

[@hanli5416]

To me the greatest thing BG3 did better than the older games is how Larian managed to build interactive reaction to choice and actions within the game; most noteable in the early acts. Older games had better and more complete stories but it was much more railroaded then bg3.

[@vietimports]

ranged spell attacks means spells that are ranged, which is why that item grants you fireball for example. spell attacks means all spells including ranged spells, which is why the item grants you blight for example

[@Dext3rM0rg4n]

I love this game, but I feel like I fucked over myself by playing it at release. The story section were you go over the companion story sounds great, but that's not my experience with the game at all because most of my companion quest bugged : - Gale's romance triggered the second time I talked to him, way before I was done with the gobelin camp, and at this point of the story you still believe you might turn into a mind flayer any minute so going for romance at a time like this made him look insane. He also asked me out again three additional times and acted as if we were an item despite me rejecting him everytime, he was a creep that couldn't take no for an answer. That made him really unlikable and led to me making the most stupid choice on purpose during his story quest. But then I learned it was all caused by a bug and he's not supposed to be a sex pest ... - Voss never showed up at camp after the creche meaning Lae'zel had almost no story moment after act 1. - Shadowheart story was probably missing a lost of scene and I somehow could never romance her despite my reputation with her being the hightest possible and all others companions throwing themself at me. - Karlash quest broke during act 1 and I almost never had new dialogue with her the entire game. - I ignored Astarion pretty much the entire game so that one is on me. - Will was really the only companion working as intended. Not to mention the many technical bug, particularly in act 3 were my FPS were bellow 20 for certain fight. Now I feel like I need to replay that game making mostly the same choice just so I could experience it as intended. Months latter I played Rogue Tradder, another CRPG that was so broken at relase that quest just didn't trigger after act 4 (even the main quest) and I had to use a mod to manually start them. And literally hundreds of others smallers bugs. All that to say that as much as I love CRPG I really should wait a good year before playing them, and that's a bit of a shame.

[@malkavthemad4249]

Actually I the the sex pest thing was the result of the devs making last minute changes to the romance stories. Gale in the early access could only be romanced by women and right before release they wanted to change it so that everyone could be romanced by your character no matter your sex or their previous relationships etc...

[@rateater1857]

@@malkavthemad4249 That's just straight up not true lol.

[@malkavthemad4249]

@@rateater1857 They didn't make a change during development to make every party member romance able?

[@rateater1857]

Re: rest spamming, in early access there was an exhaustion mechanic that applied progressive debuffs whenever you went too long without resting, which was tied to camp events being ready to trigger, but they eventually removed it, because it was really wonky. There was also a fail condition if you rested too much tied to the Grove, but I think they also nixed it.

[@xcbzxv194]

Other than a couple of brief asides, this video doesn't discuss the biggest criticism of the game that I've seen a few times. That is, its later acts are significantly underdeveloped compared to the first one, a typical Larian trait of biting off more than they could chew.

[@Theguyunderyourbed22]

Wait till he finds out you can knock out Minthara and recruit her later on.

[@hideshiseyes2804]

I agree with most of your praise of the game, certainly about the combat, gameplay, level design and implementation of the 5E rules, which are all amazing. Where I disagree with you and seemingly everyone else is with the story and characters. Around 1:55 you say “don’t feel bad if you didn’t see through the Emperor’s manipulation” - and I didn’t. I also didn’t feel I had enough information to make *any* of the highly impactful choices the game threw at me. I was wandering around in a state of total confusion for pretty much the entire game, watching the narrative twist and turn in ways I couldn’t possibly have predicted or exerted agency over. The way you describe the game posing the “who can you trust” question sounds great, but my experience of playing it didn’t bear that out. I wanted so badly to like this game as much as everyone else did, but for whatever reason it didn’t land for me. I’ve done two playthroughs (second one co-op) and have given up halfway through Act 3 both times. Regardless, thanks for another excellent and insightful video.

[@bendon82]

Spells that require an attack roll come in two forms: melee (like shocking grasp or inflict wounds) and ranged (like witch bolt or scorching ray). The first item you showed gave +1 to ranged spell attacks only. The 2nd item gives +1 to all spell attacks, ranged and melee.

[@Neb448]

BG3 encounter design was so amazing and underappreciated . SPOILER!!!!!!!!!!!!! In the underdark, off the top of my head, I fought: a pair of minotaur, a bulette, robotic constructs, dark dwarves, a beholder, a swarm of hook horrors... not to mention the other potential encounters with mushroom people and whatever else I may have missed. Each of these enemies had vastly different mechanics and felt like different encounters. As much as I love Owlcat Games I wish they would take this more quality over quantity approach to encounters.

[@ThePsychoRenegade]

This is something Divinity does too and it's great in that as well. The encounters are actually memorable.

[@rateater1857]

Owlcat is much better at character writing, but combat-wise, going from BG3 encounters to Rogue Traders' 20-bandits-every-five-minutes combat encounters *hurt*.

[@Neb448]

@@rateater1857 Exactly that!

[@leonenjoyer]

There are so few spellcasting enemies in game it's actually funny how you praise their encounters.

[@comyuse9103]

i love their work, but their encounter design hasn't evolved from the first pathfinder and is clearly designed for real time encounters (and has a sadistic, killer-DM streak to it as well). it is a big issue they need to address at some point.

[@GoDirectly2Jail]

Oh man what good timing, i JUST rewatched your original sin 1 and 2 critiques yesterday and now this!

[@DarthRadical]

Kingmaker did rest requirements better. It wasn't that camp supplies where limited. They were super cheap (which makes sense - it's just food while you're buying magic gear and funding a kingdom) but heavy. So how much you could haul was limited. Plus you constantly had kingdom management hanging over you to hurry you up.

[@joedatius]

I'd agree but pre-buffing ruins any of the flow that the rest system offered. and the horrible kingdom garbage was just annoying. its a shame owlcat keeps wasting their time on boring side game BS that people just end up wanting to skip

[@wurzelbert84wucher5]

Lot's of talk, but the reality is way simpler I think: In a sea of mediocre to bad games, this one stood out, simply because it's well made. Exciting and convincing characters, a well made story, beautiful graphics, scenery and music, good cinematics and a right balance between complexity and simplicity. I would have prefered a bit less "modernity", in case you know what I mean, but it hit the nail on it's head in most aspects.

[@marshallscot]

Yeah whenever the game pushes "the message" my fucking eyeballs rule back into my skulk, but it really is one of the few decent games out right now so it looks like a masterpiece by comparison.

[@kiernan5031]

@@marshallscot”the message?”

[@LeonJohnson-yi3hg]

@@marshallscotwhat message?

[@415Sterling]

I know this is controversial and many will disagree, I will always be depressed that Bioware or Obsidian didn't get to continue the legacy of Baldur's Gate 2. Origins and POE are more the direction which I wish the genre would go.

[@Jay-qh6uv]

So glad to see the “evil in RPGs” issue addressed. I noticed-via Astarion’s (who I really liked and related to) disapproval-that I was making NICER decisions in games than I ever would in real life. I was being selfless and heroic in games, which is something I don’t tend to do in real life. Why is Astarion, who I sense a kindred spirit in, disapproving of my actions when I know that we’d get along better in real life? That’s what really blew open the whole issue for me. I knew that no matter how developers try to deny it, there isn’t an actual freedom of choice, and that I will be punished both through the narrative and via denial of content if I make more callous decisions that reflect my real-life personality. This doesn’t just suck because, well, being evil is fun sometimes, but because it is so divorced from actual reality that it feels weird. Being evil SHOULD feel tempting and easy, because that’s how the world actually works. You should have to go the extra mile in order to help people, and there should be downsides to acting selflessly. I knew that if I were making choices that reflect my real-life decisions, there’s no way I’d pause my desperate search for a healer for my ticking time bomb tadpole so I could help a random group of refugees. I knew that I agreed with Astarion, and that doing shit like that is stupid and will get you killed or worse. I knew that realistically, I could help all the orphans I’d like AFTER I took care of myself first. But there I was, like an idiot, accepting every plea for help no matter what. I guess it’s because I KNEW these were QUESTS. They are CONTENT. I knew that evil play throughs are always starved of content, and by making callous decisions, all I’d be doing is cutting my fun short. I’d really love to see an RPG with evil content that is fully fleshed out and just as rich as the good side. I think Baldur’s Gate did try to give evil options a bit more weight than some other games-I happily Ascended Astarion and honestly…it was awesome and he seemed happy and I was thrilled for him. But even then, it’s still desperately lacking and the developer’s urge to either “punish” the player or to starve them if content is around every corner.

[@Ekaustonian]

Maybe YOUR "real life" is an "evil playthrough", but the vast majority of people try to be decent. What a sad world view you have - try to go and meet some real people.

[@BrovarSpirytus]

​@@Ekaustonian there's a difference between being decent and being a dnd heroic lawful good paladin. Stop virtue signaling. I bet you wouldn't help a random person in need when your life would be on the line.

[@yaboul8159]

NeverKnowsBest, Salt Factory and Joseph Anderson. You guys are the kings !

[@SMJSmoK]

I would add Noah Caldwell-Gervais.

[@JimmyMon666]

I've never caught Anderson's, but yeah TSF, NKB, and Noah are the ones I catch. At least if they are covering games I've played or am interested in.

[@magikot]

Spell attack roll: affects all spells that require an attack roll. Ranged attack roll: affects all spells that require an attack roll at range. Does not affect melee spells like Shocking Grasp.

[@CaptnKrksNippls]

Idk I felt alot of the character writing fell a bit short. It felt at times they were moreso playing a "character" rather than feeling like a real person.

[@TheR6R6R]

This is the thing I was so confused at. I see so many high praises for the writing, characters, etc. but really the only piece of dialogue that stuck with me was Aradin's "Open the bloody gates!" at the beginning and that's just because I suffer from restartitis. Was I too dense? Maybe that's my fault for playing too much 'interactive books' like Disco Elysium.

[@peddazz2365]

Yeah, it was not really bad, but nothing too interesting to engage with, like the old Bioware games were. All characters are just different levels of "Oh, im so quirky and snarky" The clumsy "romances" did not help. Was super annoyed when basically any dialogue option you chose, even when nothing hints at it being romantic leads to some homosexual romance scene, I'm here just trying to talk to my bro, and with zero input it turns into romantic eye gazing. The devs must have been some serious porn brained people. That it is basically impossible to avoid this bs

[@malkavthemad4249]

​@@peddazz2365 You're on to something about porn brained. There's the foot fetish scene in the Goblin camp, the guy that begs you to torture him, etc.... lots of weird sex stuff in that game.

[@andybodle7560]

You're disappointed that characters in a computer game felt like characters in a computer game?

[@zhanibek8384]

@@andybodle7560 they feel like overenthusiastic theatre kids playing they first session in months.

[@thedamntrain3467]

1:18:50 prebuffing in bg3 still definitely exist. most buffs have 4-10 rounds of uptime so if you buff for 1 round before initiating combat you still have 3 rounds of buff uptime, almost every fight i would start by buffing my fighter with haste+armor+long jump+bless. the reason most people don't gravitate to pre buffing is because the game is so generous even on tactician that it doesn't really matter what you do, you'll just win as long as you do something every turn.

[@LeonJohnson-yi3hg]

That’s total horse lmao

[@nlysts]

Privatly owned is the way to go if you want to make unique stuf

[@theviniso]

I'm so glad Sven doesn't want to sell the studio. It would break my heart to see Larian being acquired and ruined by a larger company.

[@KedaiCiplak]

@@theviniso Lucky Microsoft thought they were not important studio to acquire.

[@Sudgy]

I rarely comment on youtube, but I just wanted to leave a comment to how much i appreciate your videos and this one in particular really resonated with me. BG3 really is a work of art that transcends above the plane of just 'videogame'

[@johnbendheim8163]

So knocking Minthara unconscious is one of the most uncanny ways to recruit a party member I've ever seen in a game. It's about the implication really.

[@Aturnadagar]

Minthara is not as evil as is looks while the absolute have the hold on her.Once you recruit her and know her story you will know.

[@JimmyMon666]

Even more implicating when you take her clothes LOL.

[@kingofgrim4761]

@@JimmyMon666oops

[@Pampelmusenklaus]

They fixed that, she get her casual clothes back now luckily :D

[@Aturnadagar]

Yep, you end with 2 of her cloth now. Some how when she wake up she find another on her closet and put it on.

[@Gliese380]

The fact that a small relatively unknown Belgian studio made such an impact is quite a feat.

[@Letaxo]

I love that you kept the "ranged spell attack +1"-thingy in the video at ~39:11. And I don't mean it as "haha look at this guy, he doesn't understand". I do get most things on my first or second try at understanding them, but sometimes I don't get very simple concepts, so it's nice to see, that others sometimes have similar problems :D Spell ranges can be self, touch or ranged. The staff with +1 to ranged gives you a bonus to JUST ranged spells, while the other gives all spells a bonus.

[@mikaellofdahl3731]

I agree, after 2 hours and 15 minutes there is nothing more to say 😊

[@christina.morris]

I had a pretty rough experience with the game, both as someone who loved the originals and someone who's played so many other RPGs. I almost always start out with an evil character (or at least an anti-hero), and I made the choice to start with a githyanki, too, since that was something pretty new to this game as an option. Playing a githyanki makes it easier to miss some of the earlier quest hooks, leading me to follow Lae'zel's questline since I didn't have others, which runs into the missed content thing full-on (plus being under-leveled for the creche, but I used my elite gamer knowledge to actually beat it anyway). I also had the issue with the rest events since I didn't need to rest often as an experienced player, making the story feel like complete nonsense at the start, and I just wasn't having a good time as a result So eventually, I started over, abandoning the evil plan and playing a more standard heroic one, and I did find things to enjoy, but I also found a number of things that I actively disliked (especially the game's treatment of returning characters and also the Bhaalspawn in general). I was also someone who never used an illithid tadpole on either playthrough (why would I? it makes no sense to!), and I actually almost quit at the end of Act 2 at the point where I was forced to side with the Emperor, only going on out of a stubborn need to finish the game after pouring so much time into it. In the end, the negatives overpowered my experience with the game. Even if I'll always love Karlach, she wasn't strong enough to carry the entire game on her back for me (and to be honest I kind of dislike how they changed her story endings post-launch, since I feel like the happy endings undermine the strength of her narrative) In the end I'm pretty torn on where I want to see RPGs go from here. There are enough things I didn't like about Baldur's Gate 3 that I could see games following in its footsteps also not being to my taste, depending on what developers end up being most inspired by. But I do like the idea of a future where mainstream games aren't so afraid of having things like depth in character building and things of that sort. So I'm hoping it's those things that people carry forward, rather than Larian's approach to narrative and quest design, which ended up falling flat for me in a lot of ways

[@lloydparaz5044]

Great video as usual! It kinda sucks that you didn't have a chance to explore Minthara's story though. Given how you describe the origin characters her story is kind of a mix of all of them. Like Wyll, she is of the nobility in her home. She is also an exemplar of what the drow are, kind of like how Lae'zel is to the githyanki. She is proud and arrogant like Gale and also like Gale it is what eventually lead to her downfall (Getting lured by the cult of the Absolute by sending preachers in her hometown). She led a detachment of drow warriors to Moonrise towers where she expected a fight but was greeted by a feast (appealing to her pride) which she was subsequently tricked (Like Karlach?) and tortured/ traumatized by Orin kinda like what Cazadore did to Astarion and then brainwashed into following the Absolute like Shadowheart was to Shar. Admittedly some of these might not be a perfect fit but she definitely has a similar story to the origin characters than to the secondary companions. I am glad that Larian added a way to get to her with a good playthrough so more people who aren't as keen to playing evil can experience her story. Although I would've preferred if they didn't. I like consequences to the game and if you are worried about the evil playthrough not having a satisfying conclusion apparently Patch 7 will add evil endings (Dark urge and non-dark urge).

[@CybenX_yt]

aw man, you missed that bg3 actually has quests that fail if you rest too much, like you suggested. i noticed it in the shadow cursed lands with the tiefling prisoners and also in the city proper with the newspaper slander article. this is such a well done video that its a huge bummer that you missed those, i hope people don't parrot the suggestion with no research :( those are some really neat quests and it would suck if people didnt appreciate them as much because of that little oversight in the vid

[@cagoenlaleche]

Mate, everytime you make something new I'm like, damn, he is really good at this. Thank you for still making awesome videos and to everyone else that supports this creator. KZbin should be all about content like this.

[@nielsB_FPV]

Baldur's gate 2 was peak Bioware

[@S0LIDSNEK]

I say Mass Effect 2 was peak BioWare. Sorry we can’t be friends.

[@nielsB_FPV]

@@S0LIDSNEK haha. ME2 is a close second for me

[@theofriese4162]

Can I just tell you how much I love your videos! Your voice is so pleasant, I really enjoy your subtle humor and you always bring something new to the table when it comes to game critiques!

[@the_metamancer]

As a game, bg3 is phenomenal and deserving of every accolade As a crpg, I like WotR & DOS2, a lot more

[@nicholasrova3698]

Agreed.

[@thesongoflunch]

I was really enjoying the first part of WotR but the pre.buffing is just so outrageously boring to me. Might give it a go on an easy difficulty but I feel I do end up losing out on the gameplay challenge

[@nicholasrova3698]

@@thesongoflunch I do a custom difficulty that is still pretty hard and don't buff at all, and it's fun. My only real complaint with WOTR is the campaign management stuff. I'm sick of being the head of some huge organization, I just want to be a plucky group of adventurers solving problems and saving the day.

[@zOOmer991]

just wanted to say that I appreciate the gaara vs rock lee metaphor and I get chills when I see that fight to this day