Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General New interview with Sven by Gamespot

See, I'm fine with VO, but I'd much rather it be a partial thing, like Pathfinder did, or even the Yakuza series (ya ya, laugh at me). Josh even said that they started with only partial VO but he was overridden by the owners. With how expensive it is to fully voice tens of thousands of lines, it's simply an impossible reality for most studios that don't have almost unlimited budgets. Also, i will always hate the idea that we're creating games based on how many streamers would like to play it. I don't blame the streamers, it would be super awkward to try to keep a chat entertained while you're sitting there reading dialogue quietly, but I don't have to like it.

i have almost the exact opposite impression about Wrath of the Righteous.
They voiced SO MUCH more stuff compared to the first that after the last beta I started to wonder if at this point it wasn't better to go few extra steps and go ALL-IN with the voice over.

It literally feels like 50% of the game or so is already voiced, at least into the early acts I played.

Story (specifically the main plot and faction politics) and characters (most of the new companions) are where Deadfire suffered for me too, especially in comparison to the first game. But I really enjoyed the side quests and the exploration, and I liked enough companions to build a fun party. Also Obsidian really stepped up on their modding support, which I always appreciate. And they made Aloth romanceable FINALLY.

*Aloth rolls his eyes*

installs mod

*Aloth elopes with you to fantasy Tahiti*

Once we again we see that with great power comes great irresponsibility...

We're talking POE2 now? Personally I loved it. I think it's the standard obsidian formula at the end of the day some factions fight that are grey enough to make me go independent but regret it when the credits roll. The world and lore is fascinating but I agree the main story was rather short and lacking. But there is still much to do and almost all the side quests were superb. Also pirates

The thing is... you weren't really siding with the natives. You were siding with the Queen and the nobility. The same people who allowed the poor in the gullet to suffer. They had no real incentive to change the status quo. I didn't view this as a comment on the actual abilities of the native peoples at all...

Just have to chime in here because I've been lurking for a while and I'm compelled by a devilish pact to talk about POE 1 & 2, likely my best games ever.

The tone, the settings, the writing, the gameplay, itemization, the music... it was everything I hoped for. Yes, the story and characters could have been improved (especially in Deadfire) but by far, it was a solid experience in both (I have over 1500 hours in both games).

I can still remember starting of POE1 and arriving in the first town with the hanging kith on the tree and saying... "finally, this is the baldurs gate game I've been waiting for"...

Which brings us to BG3.

I've only 4 hours in the EA, but so far, its not a spiritual successor to the originals and its iterations since (POE, Pathfinder). Yes, the production is on point, but the feel just isn't. Mechanically, there's a lot of work to be done (which has all been detailed previously) to be closer to 5e d&d.

I really hope Larian listen to the critical feedback, because to me, it CAN achieve its "freedom at all cost" approach to CRPGs while keeping tactics grounded into the 5e framework.

(Full disclosure, I very much did not care for DOS1 and DOS2, couldn't finish either because of the tactical repetiveness, the itemization and ungrounded writing and story.)

Good voice-over is HOW to good writing's WHAT and on some levels it makes a good voice-over as important as a good writing. There are lots of characters in videogames and movies, who are insufferable, disgusting or outright evil, but their voices make people like them or at the very least sympathize with them. When an unvoiced text tells you that a certain NPC has a deep pleasant voice it simply doesnt affect you the same way when you can actually hear that kind of voice.

Good voice work can really enhance good writing. Completely different genre but my favorite Fire Emblem game is in fact Shadows of Valentia because they put a lot of work in updating a classic with great voice acting.

Not fully a spoiler but a moment I love:

Its basically a PNG with some voice acting over it, but the voice acting really brings things out, like how good voice acting is supposed to.

I found a lot to love in Deadfire’s setting lore and story. But “found” rather then “loved”. Openness of the game essentially means that there are little to no coherent arcs or developments - many praised DLCs on “how better written” they are, and I genuinely believe that the gap between base game end DLCs is structure. DLCs are more linear - and therefore have momentum, while Deadfire is full of cool things, that never really add up, or get properly explored nor developed.

And reputation system was a complete disaster. Factions are brilliant though. It’s a bit too derivative of Fallout: New Vegas, but it is the first RPG where I can wholeheartedly ally with any faction depending on what character I create (and all of them being sensible kith beings). On my last playthrough I created a tradition respecting elf from White at Wends and I was surprised how well he jelled with Huana, and how satisfying ending with them was (and I liked where Takehu’s story ended up on that run). It got better with DLCs and patches, but there is definitely a confusion as to what the story actually is. It’s a pretty darn cool world to dig into though.

Edit: ah, also romances. Bad idea that never works. PoE1 - no romances, an a great cast of varied, memorable companions. PoE2 romances, and the whole thing feels like some kind of reality show, where there is reward for sleeping with PC.

Edit2. And reactivity in PoE2 when it comes to PoE1 choices was disappointing. Anyway, I will stop. I can write about what I love and hate about PoEs without end. I will keep that to Obsidian’s forums, as it’s of little consequence to Larian’s work.

So why wasn't it commercially successful? And yeah, they made the budget back but that doesn't qualify as commercially successful.

My own experiences with it were I found the narrative ungrounded and fractured with all the factions versus go find a walking God but also fix everyone's problems for no reason. The combat was really boring - uninspired and unchallenging.

I made it halfway through both games and just stopped out of boredom. It just felt like work.

Also a new system that is needlessly complicated, yet every class manages to feel the same basically. I've tried to re-start once they made turn based an option but I can't get past character creation. Apparently there is a significant difference in class build effectiveness between turn based and RTWP.

And its sad because Obsidian is a great company, they deserve the win! Especially after Bethesda screwed them over with FNV.

I had basically the exact opposite experience. But at least Obsidian made a 'go it alone' option, and I respect and applaud them for realizing that not everyone was going to like the faction stuff and providing an alternative. I do agree about the DLC, they were very enjoyable.

That could be a 20 page branching conversation all by itself, but my money is on bad marketing.

Bad marketing followed by lukewarm word of mouth in regards to the main story and pacing. Practically sent to die for a game whose main selling point was the writing to begin with.

I'd say this is why sales picked up later for the game. People who had not heard of it eventually came across the game and gave it a try; or else people who had received negative word of mouth about the game decided they would see for themselves and found themselves surprised that the game is actually good.

I still would like a generic vague timeline at a minimum. If he came out and said by the end of the year we hope to release a couple more classes, are debating a stat roll mechanic, and a new race and then if time introduce level 5, its still vague to not show their full hand but lets us know what their priorities are and lets me know if and when I may want to come back and play the game some more.

Also I feel that fighter isnt a tutorial class, but theres just too much limiting it at low levels before it becomes a better character. I tend to think that fighters are one of the more amusing characters to play when you get one good stat rolled and the rest are mostly meh. like an 18, 14, 12, and three dumpster fire stats on a bad roll you can still make a pretty good combat fighter. Though I miss the days when intelligence was tied to your ability to speak well or know languages, I understand 5th ed (maybe 4th ed, i didnt pay much edition to Warcraft Edition) removed the link of intelligence and languages, you dont necessarily need the skill rolls if you have other party members capable of rolling.

Stay fresh, people. Today it might be the day for the update.

It's either going to be today or we are back waiting for the next week!

Every week that passes gives us more information on what time range Larian considers "soon." The lower limit from Patch 3 is 1 week (for the Panel; it was actually 2 weeks for the Patch)
The upper limit is 6 weeks and counting?

Didnt Swen in that last interview say something like "it tooks us more time than we expected" ? O_o
I mean, im not quite sure if its fair to talk about "how much time they concider "soon"" ... if there is complications. O_o

I would not mind at all tho, to get that promised Community Update, with highlights what can we expect ... and get actual patch, even another month later. :P