It's hype.
I hate tabletop RPGs, so I know no matter how good everyone says it is, I know it's not for me.
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2023
159 points (100.0% liked)
Gaming
32151 readers
107 users here now
From video gaming to card games and stuff in between, if it's gaming you can probably discuss it here!
Please Note: Gaming memes are permitted to be posted on Meme Mondays, but will otherwise be removed in an effort to allow other discussions to take place.
See also Gaming's sister community Tabletop Gaming.
This community's icon was made by Aaron Schneider, under the CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Why is it "hype" when it's not made for you?
I mean, the snarky side of me wants to say "tell me you completely misunderstood my comment without telling me you completely misunderstood my comment."
Though in case you are asking in good faith, I already wrote above "Just because I'm calling it "hype" doesn't mean I'm bashing the game, I'm making an observation where I give OP a concise response."
To elaborate further: it seems like people are assuming "hype" has negative connotations where I'm actually delivering some underhanded criticism of the game, or Larian, or themselves as fans of the game, or themselves as fans of the movement of a non AAA game studio experiencing runaway critical success. I am doing none of these things. OP was wondering "what is up with Baldur's Gate 3?" and I answered. It's hype.
There are other comments from people explaining the fine details of why BG3 is getting hyped up so much and those comments are rightly upvoted to the top, as they should be. However, for someone who doesn't have any skin in the game and is only passively interested in this whole thing (me, for example), this entire situation can be described as excitement, exuberance, noise, or... hype.
Holy fuck I miss the days when words actually had meaning.
It's good.
It seems like BG3 is getting more attention than all of Larian’s previous games combined (and maybe all of Obsidian’s recent crpgs as well).
Legendary brand name which the game actually lives up to.
Yeesh, I'm a "Baldurs Gate Oldhead" XD man I'm getting old.
I could just cry at the fact that BG3 is download only. If they never release it hardcopy I will never be able to play it. Being out in the boonies. Even if they could just put what they can on a disc ya know?
Been looking for a good split screen to play with my gal, and yet what I'm sure is a masterpiece is out of reach.
There's also the Dark Alliance Oldheads, they don't need to be quite as old as me to have played those. Just replayed Dark Alliance II with my gal and it was well worth the heavy price tag for such an old title. Unlike the new Dark Alliance garbage. Which I bought to play split screen and it is not.
Buy it on gog, head into town and download the installer to a usb stick.
What's gog? I was hoping for it on PS5, don't have a powerful enough computer I imagine. Just a 10 year old laptop.
PCMR knows what GoG is, console users don't need to know.
Have fun on ps5 when it releases!
load more comments
(2 replies)
Yeesh, I'm a "Baldurs Gate Oldhead" XD man I'm getting old.
Sorry pal 😂 for what it's worth, I'm old enough that I played part of BG2 on PC as a kid. But I was too young to understand THAC0 back then. Lol
I could just cry at the fact that BG3 is download only. If they never release it hardcopy I will never be able to play it. Being out in the boonies. Even if they could just put what they can on a disc ya know?
This is my first hearing this. Damn this seems like a big deal for a game of this scale?
Yeah I was teenager playing Baldurs Gate and 2 on PC. I only knew THAC0 because I was a D&D enthusiast and read my uncle's old books.
I'm still new to Beehaw not sure how y'all are clipping pieces of the conversation, and replying.
It seems like a big deal to me, but everyone has been saying the industry is moving to online only anyways. Like the new Diablo.
I read that BG3 is upwards of 150gigs and plenty of reasons and excuses for digital only. They can't fit it on one disc is the main one but still. All of nonDD people, love the studio who made a great game without any of the bullshit we get fucked over in other genres... it shows it can be done, it can be great, and it can respect the player...
People throwing money at Dev as fuck you to EAs, Bethesdas etc
It's Minsc obviously
The game is really, really good.
Genuinely, it’s just a really fucking good game and I think thats most of it.
Side question:
Is it worth playing if you're not into dnd? I saw lots of replies mention how it perfectly implements dnd 5e but that has 0 value for me. Is the game itself good not counting the dnd association, lack of anti features, release anticipation etc?
tldr: This is a great game if you enjoy rich storytelling, compelling character arcs, and actual consequences. This is also a great game if you enjoy turn-based, environment-aware combat of the likes of Fire Emblem or Final Fantasy Tactics. Overall, it's a well-oiled machine, with polish in all the right places to make it very welcoming to dnd newcomers and veterans alike. If you have played Larian's older Divinity: Original Sin games (which was not based on the dnd ruleset), there's a lot of quality of life updates that fix a lot of the gripes that I had with those games.
My wife and I are loving it (individual saves, although co-op is supported in this game). We are not dnd tabletop players; the extent of my experience is the recent dnd movie that came out. I don't know the difference between 5e and 3e, but I do know I'm having an (eldritch) blast playing this game. I bought it on a strong recommendation from my friends (although, these friends do have dnd experience), and I can confidently say it's a fun game.
The most overwhelming experience you might have as a newcomer is during character creation, where a healthy amount of reading is involved to understand what classes, races, subraces, spells, and cantrips are (among other things). They provide very neat tooltips that provide the information you need, when you need it, without getting in your way - there is no pause-every-5-seconds-for-a-tutorial-notification deal here. You can get involved as much (or as little) as you wish. If you've ever made a character in a game like Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, or Dragon Age: Origins, and messed around with the relevant skill trees, it's around that level of involved.
If you do get overwhelmed with character creators, fret not - you can choose one of the pre-built characters that come packaged with their own personalities, builds, and stories. Speaking of stories: I personally feel like the writing is compelling and is leagues better than previous Larian titles, if that means anything to you. Make no mistake, this is a fantasy story and you'll have your fantasy tropes in this game, but I've yet to encounter a moment or twist in the story that feels cheap or unearned. It depends on how much you like this sort of genre. There are times when it takes itself seriously and times when it doesn't, but it has never felt out of place.
Besides the narrative, the other major part of the game is combat, and I think it shines there too. From a non-dnd perspective, it's a turn-based, environment-aware tactics game. It doesn't feel exactly like any one type of system I've played before, but I feel a lot of different aspects that get utilized in ways that mesh well. Unit placement on the field matters. Typically your party's makeup plays a role in how you approach encounters. I've never felt like my party couldn't figure out their own way to solve a situation, and it never felt like it was just handed to me. The encounters are flexible enough to allow multiple approaches without depriving them of the depth each approach needs to remain engaging.
Just so you can gauge how well my suggestions will apply, I love playing tactics games but don't always have a lot of time, so I typically adjust the difficulty when possible to emphasize story progression over tactical difficulty. I'm not a maddening-difficulty Fire Emblem: Three Houses player (more power to y'all out there); I just casually enjoy combat puzzles. I think games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars, Tactics Ogre, Brigadine, Battle for Wesnoth, etc., are fun to play, and I don't necessarily need to "win" every combat encounter to feel like I had a good time either. I really enjoy is a story that presents fresh ideas, even if it means remixing some old tropes here and there; Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age: Origins, etc. - any game that gives you characters who mesh well (or "contrast" well) with one another usually can maintain my attention.
Thanks for the in depth response! It's probably too early to answer this, but does making your own character instead of choosing from the pre-built ones result in a more generic storyline? Are there stuff that are exclusive to those characters that you know of?
The pre-built characters are all recruitable party members, so you'll be able follow their stories once you find them.
As @bigevildan said, they'll all be recruitable. There is also the option to play as an amnesiac custom character that gets their own origin background. No spoilers as to what that is like, but it's a possible option if you're not quite sure. (I've seen it recommended to avoid that for your first playthrough, however).
Still has the shitty locked camera though and lots of the same little issues DOS2 had. They are great games, so the small problems stick out a lot more.
load more comments
(3 replies)
I have no exposure to dnd but am loving the game. I like turn based games in general though.
load more comments
(1 replies)
I'm being peer-pressured into playing it with friends, it's an ok game. The quality is there, it's full of content, though I wouldn't say my lack of hype was misplaced - I'd still rather play some other niche games in my library.
What rubs me the wrong way is it's GPU load even with lower graphical settings, and the hundred gigabytes of mandatory high-res textures and whatnot;
I find the UX clunky and infuriating at times, which is not ideal but acceptable for the genre.
What I really respect BG3 (and Larian) for is that its overall a very solid game and it's making the AAA industry seethe, apparently.
It's also DRM-free, but I would definitely buy it rather than Steam-Familying it if I were into its subgenre (and if it wasn't a GPU hog).
Marketing. It generally being a good game and part of a beloved series, set in a beloved franchise (D&D). WOTC has been marketing and growing the Hells out of D&D lately. The recent movie and this game are part of that.
it fills a lot of inches to the point where it's unique but also approachable. reminds me a lot of dungeon and dragons mixed with dragon age/mass effect mixed with fire emblem
I have managed to stay off the hype train quite a bit, so honest question: Is the game good? I've possibly perhaps all the 80s and 90s AD&D crpgs, and both Baldur's Gates, and I mostly liked them.
Part of the hype train is that the game is reviewing incredibly well. And Larian is well-known for making high-quality games in the vein of those old crpgs. I know they worked very hard to faithfully adapt 5th edition, so if you're a fan of the old games, this seems like a good one to get!
I've never been much for crpgs (I do play DND though) and haven't gotten very far into the game because it's hot as balls right now in the PNW, but from the bit I have played it is very fun.