Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General gameplay criticism today 18.6.20

I very much agree with the first post by Wolfenring in this thread.

there is simply too much flashy visual effects and childish extras...even for the main market of this game, which is young gamers.

I feel that the DOS series has great mechanics for 3D action combat, turn based, with elemental effects.
That...we could only dream with, back in the days of BG1 and 2.

But...all the good things developed here get mixed up with excessive flashes, barrels, gold, items to trade, economic trading up...
I mean...the characters are supposed to be heroes, not Merchants...

Maybe if Larian teams up with Lord of the Rings folks, the result would reach its potential for story and gameplay mechanics, combined.
At a cost of freedom to explore?! maybe...possibly...but honestly...I would trade some of the freedom for more focus on the main story, characters and flow.

You're right, there's something in the left corner here but impossible to see exactly what it is : https://youtu.be/XSc17QXxfyU?t=1553
Anyway when you see the AoE, it look like this barrel is twice his size.

Same strange thing when you see the fire arrow a few min later : https://youtu.be/XSc17QXxfyU?t=1694
I really doubt a single fire arrow can ignite anything (like that), especially rocks, and especially all arround the target when it reach his body first.

Whats the problem with a fireball setting things on fire. seirously.

>childish
-> codex

5e rules says a fireball is pure flame that sets light to flammable objects that are not carried or worn. Most rocks don't burn ( oil-bearing shale does ); most metals don't burn.

You COULD argue that, in fact, almost anything will burn if you pour enough energy into it, but that argument is not implied by the 5e description.

The Larian version of fireball looks like it coats everything in viscous burning goo; probably because they are simply reusing the mechanics of exploding barrels of viscous burning goo.

That could just be laziness; or it could be that for unexplained story reasons, the entire FR world around Baldur's Gate is somehow coated with viscous goo waiting to be set alight.

rocks arent flammeable, but stuff on rocks is.
remember that a round is 6 seconds.
the flame didnt last as long or look as ridiculous as it does in OS2.

It's because what exploded was a barrel of flammable firewine.

https://youtu.be/XSc17QXxfyU?t=1613

Pause at 27:01, and you'll see spilling out over the ground is a bunch of orange/brown liquid, which quickly gets almost immediately consumed by fire. It looks exactly like the firewine which spills at 1:12:53.

MYSTERY SOLVED.

Not to mention there are probably still a lot of placeholder animations/vfx from DOS2 that are going to get a BG3 makeover.

If "stuff on rocks" burns for only 6sec and if the fireball is 1 action, I don't understand why the characters in the area of effect should take damage over time and/or while moving on the surface after he already had the classic D&D fireball damages.

Not sure we already see another fireball that's not throw on explosives but I'm not sure it's only about the barrels.
As I said, just look at the fire arrow a few seconds later. This arrow also ignite the dust on rocks, giving extra damages over time/on movement.

I love the palette art choice. I am tired of playing RPGs that always look dark. I am tired of RPGs being always in dungeons and barely exploring the surface level. I get why dungeons are a compelling setting, its by definition an area where the DM can very well define walls and limit the area of play. BUT the more technology we have and the more we diverge with pen and paper the better to simulate appealing rich scenarios in the surface, with forests, meadows and diverse natural formations.

The only thing I would say, is what stood out to me is how clean the armor was on everyone. The goblins looked like they lived in Beverly Hills , same with the player characters. Maybe Larian will scuff up the armor before launch, but as it stands now looks super clean.

Would you prefer Dragon Age style? (I only played origins).
A blood bath every time you swing your sword.
I admit the finishing moves were cool sometimes.

Imagine you play a paladin in (not so) shiny armor:
I am Sir Galahad the pure. Do not mind all the blood, its not my own.

Maybe he's talking about dust and durt ?
Something like blows or scratches on armors ?

theres also always the option for "doing the thing but not overdoing it"
having dirt and blood effects would be cool, as long as they dont go compleltey overboard like dragonage

I'm looking forward to the game. The only thing I don't like is during the conversations when the camera goes back his character, he makes a pose switch that is just unnatural to me. Like he was switching legs to stand on, every time, like a kid who missed his Adderall dose.. The NPC he is speaking to is fully animated and vocalized, then it switches back to your character and you look like a dummy. There were subtle attempts in the face to show emotion of response but they added the additional animation of pose swaps that just didn't fit. He looked almost impatient in every conversation, swapping stances, combined with no mouth movement or vocal reply, it's just uncomfortably weird.

I would love that my created character had a voice.

It's not a deal breaker for me, I know there's limitations etc. but just because the camera is on you doesn't mean you have to change your pose unless it fits the NPC response/situation.

I agree that good surface settings are important and often overlooked. They can be more difficult to depict than enclosed settings, since the "background" in a clear atmosphere can be over 100 miles away, compared with very limited visibility for underground settings.

I did notice that BG3 uses a "fog" effect with an unnaturally strong extinction value that destroys distant views on the surface, so they must have difficulty with performance or with deciding how to provide acceptable backgrounds.

They also seem to be using a literal fog effect fading to white, rather than the more normal atmospheric scattering to blue or purple. This is all a shame, since their local surface environments are actually good, but they ruin the impact with the universal fog.