Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General The game isn't fun

So after a few attempts to get into the game i just don't like it. The main issue here is DnD. I have never played nore do i care for the tabletop game, more of a Shadowrun guy, but one thing was obvious: DnD is just bad in video game format. I tried Pillars of Eternity 1 and i immediately hated the DnD systems. I was glad that all these DnD faithfull games failed more or less because of the obvious lack of fun. Seeing all those games undersell should have been enough of a hint that this type of videogame doesn't work but apparently we are still trying to make it work. If you followed the feedback, the forum threads and all the complaints you can all track it down to the same culprit.

The conclusion should have been to move on from DnD but here we are again. It is kind of funny because Bioware learned this lesson decades ago with Dragon Age Origins, a much more streamlined but ultimately more enjoyable game. So what happened? Are we evolving backwards? But enough of this, let's dig in.

First of all the abilities all lack impact. None of the abilities feel good to use on one hand because they are limited to a few uses, on the other because they don't do much of anything. You have this spell that has 2 uses, it does like 10 damage and has a 50% hitchance. You fire it off and it misses or does 1 damage. It feels like a waste of time even using any of these. Having to rest to get your abilities back is also a system beyond terrible. I mean they even acknowledged this ingame by making you rest in order to advance the story. So what do you do? You mostly resort to auto attacks...well sneak attacks to be precise wich brings me to my next point.

Sneaking is a nesscesity. In every encounter at every turn i enter sneak mode because it simply increases my hitchance. I don't know how hitchance is calculated in this game nore do i care but it's just terrible. In games like Pathfinder where you have rtwp and 6 people flailing away it isn't as noticable how bad DnD truly is in that regard (in turn based it is ridiculous) but here your lack of hitchance is full on display. So you sneak every turn. You simply sidestep the visdioncone of that guy in front of you, press sneak and voila...60% hitchance instead of 40%. Warrior? Mage? Doesn't matter everyone has to sneak. This is just stupid.

The cutscenes are mostly bad. Not only do they chug along in like 30 fps, they are pure unfiltered uncanny valley. In a game with the ammount of content as this why on earth would you opt for cinematics? I tell you here and now, the bottleneck of the entire development is these cutscenes. The funny thing: noone who is a fan of crpgs even cares about that stuff. So who was this for? Swens ego? Mainstream audiences don't play crpgs let alone the abomination that is the DnD ruleset. It is such a massive waste of ressources that could have been invested elsewhere it baffles the mind.

Traps...just remove them, all of them. In Divinity 1 + 2 people mostly didn't mind all the trap nonsense because you had unlimited heals or could just bedroll through them but in this game? Holy hell. Add to that the unoprimized nature of the game, the time it takes to even save or load the game, it is just bad.

Narrative and storytelling are mediocre again. Nothing memorable really wich makes the descision to emphasize that aspect of your game with unnesscesary cutscenes even more of a headscratcher. I really don't understand this, there are a lot of talented authors out there with a rich trackrecord of quality books, why do you make some noname write your story? It's like you completely neglect and at the same time emphasize the story of your games...what?

So you stripped away the main selling point of your games: fun combat in order to get the Baldurs Gate nostalgia crowd but Baldurs Gate wasn't memorable because of the combat but because of the story wich was the weakest aspect of your previous games. It is a double downgrade.

This is all for now, i add stuff later if i remember more to add.

Edit:
I just played this fight again with these teleporting cave spiders after aimlessly walking arround and some more cutscenes i already forgot about. I took my rogue and sneak attacked every turn or followed the spiders arround when they were teleporting away. I completely skipped my other characters because frankly i didn't need them and moving them arround just to use another auto attack? Why even bother? It was really boring, well not entirely because when i wasn't bored i was annoyed by the traversal and glitchy camera.

My point is that in this encounter or any other for that matter characters don't matter. All i do is sneak and auto attack/cantrip. Classes don't matter, characters don't matter. I have never been less engaged in any rpg ever.

Edit2:
After thinking about it i came to the conclusion that the Larian concept of designing a few large areas stands in direct conflict with good pacing. You cannot develop a narrative journey in just a few areas. The first "act" is so cramped chock full of high fantasy high stakes plotlines and monsters that everything loses it's meaning and becomes a blurr of i don't care. There is no pacing and this is a direct result of this level design and committe writing. See you can't have a single coherrent vision when 5 people sit in a room and the all want their own little epic plotline. As a result there is no comfy fantasy journey that starts out slow and builds up momentum over time but nothing more than a themepark with every ride competing with eachother for attention.

Funny it is because of Dnd and Forgotten Realms World I am super interested in this game. Larian as game developer has very good reputation and had great success witn specially DOS2.
Oh and I am ultra fan of BG1 and BG2 and so is my brother as well he will buy this when game is released and play with me.

I played through Pillars of Eternity 1 that you mentioned... and could not even finish DOS2 guess since not DnD. For the record Pillars of Eternity is not Dnd they do not have the license for that so they did something close to that.

Traps? Yes there are nasty lethal traps... however so far traps I have seen have been in so called sidequest areas more or less... except if you try to free the Goblin from Thiefling camp perhaps.

In the Crypt area I admit that there in one room was so nasty traps so I skipped it when could not figure it out. However I did meet the supernatural encounter there and that was excellent side story supernatural encounter.

"The cutscenes are mostly bad. Not only do they chug along in like 30 fps, they are pure unfiltered uncanny valley. In a game with the ammount of content as this why on earth would you opt for cinematics?"
First of all this is not a shooter where you have some super (more then 60 FPS ) screen and want to play in 100-120 Fps.
Compare to Witcher 3 pump settings up there and see if you can see super frames go very high.

Now this game has more demanding system requirements then say DOS2. One constructive feedback woul be say to Larian please try to optimize BG3 to better system performance.

That said if you complain about system requirements.
I ran on old desktop computer this game BG3 in FULL HD and maximum settings.
Nvidia 1070 Titanium 8 GB DDR5
16 GB RAM DDR4
Fairly fast for being such old CPU AMD RYZEN 2600 X with in TURBO speed 4,2 GHZ 6 cores 12 threads and it runs fine on FULL HD resoluton max settings.

With my budget I think I buy laptop as well with Nvidia 3060 or better (and with minimum 16GB RAM) since I also travel fairly much and will not take my desktop with me on my travels.

If you complain about system requirements could you please tell your hardware such as CPU processor, amount of RAM, graphiccard? Well and what settings do you run the games and resolution FULL HD, 1440p or what?

The only thing I can agree with you is that would be good if Larian try to optimize performance a bit more. That said this game has better graphics and higher system requirements then DOS2.

Well and I generally like the cinematics and you can by the way fast click through them if you restart the game or want to ignore them. The start I give even praise is quite Epic feeling and it is absolutely Dungeons and Dragons. Generally good cinematics.

Well and no fun? You can play with other players and in group have fun. In Alpha state perhaps not easy to find other players but when full released more people will be interested to play (including my brother). In addition I had really fun in one sceen when tried to save a gnome which did not succeed very well at a place with a windmill, but I laughed so much that I almost fell of my chair. You have your environment and that should be familiar to you from DOS games.

There are many Dnd fans that want this game more to Dnd and I sure would like to have Spiritual Weapon spell example to Clerics and more Cleric Domains. Please that is a wish Larian studios.

Well, let me just say that I am a "streamline audience" as you put it and I enjoy the game. I come from playing Dragon Age, Witcher and Assassin's Creed series. I know nothing of DnD nor do I wish to get in to all those rulesets. The game as of this moment is easy enough to play solo even without knowing all the nuances of the DnD rules. Sure, it took some time to get used to slow pace combat, oh boy, talk about goblin's camp fight, you have to wait for 20 mins for all the goblins to take their turn... But in general I don't mind it too much, it's different for sure. If traps bother you then get the skill to remedy the problem or raise your attribute. Healing potions are plentiful as are the resurrection scrolls. I always run with Astarion only and never had problems identifying the traps, granted I always take the Perception skill if not elf, and have my wisdom at 12.
As for cinematic I LOVE them, I can sit back and enjoy the conversation instead of reading 100 pages of text...
I like the narrator voice. As for the story, it's not too bad, I've played worse😄.
I do not think that sneaking is a must. I do ambush enemies sometime because I only have one NPC running with me (Gith fight). Most of the time I have 70-90 hit chance, granted I do min/max to raise hit chance and damage.
I'm sure that the performance have not been adjusted yet, I think they'll do it before release.
I have a modest pc: i5 11400; gtx 1080 8gb; 16 gb ram at 3200mhz ; 1080 HD screen. Everything on max. A few hiccups here and there, 98% of the time runs stable at 60 fps.
I like the game as it is, I do not care if it is a Larian's homebrew or true to DnD rulesbook😀

"I am a streamline audience","I know nothing of DnD", "I always take the Perception skill if not elf", "I have 70-90 hit chance","I do min/max","homebrew"
-joined a year ago, still here
-passive aggressive use of emojis
Yep it's a dnd fan.

What?

Does this mean you won't be hanging around very long?

What is it with people demanding Larian re-design the core engine of the game recently? The game has issues, yes, but you're basically asking them to scrap the game and recreate the it from the ground up using a different engine. It's an outrageous ask. I enjoy D&D, and play it on actual tabletops regularly, but Larian's interpretation of D&D 5e leaves a lot to be desired, and I have complaints of my own about D&D itself.

Pretty much the only thing that I agree with you on is the traps, not in the "get rid of them" sense, but in how awkward they are to handle, quicksave helps, but save-scumming traps isn't fun or fast. But this leads into a greater complaint that I have regarding dice rolling in general in BG3 and how I don't really like how it's been implemented in this game.

There are lots of extremely popular games that I have never played because I knew I wouldn't enjoy the core gameplay. But if I buy a game and I happen to not enjoy or like it's core gameplay, I do this thing I call "not playing the game" and "getting a refund" because giving feedback with your wallet has always been more effective at getting companies to pay attention to customer opinions than walls of text on forums.

I joined when I bought the game in November of 2021, so 6 month ago to be precise... I'm a casual gamer now as I have husband and kids. Oh, and most importantly I do know how to read and have a mental capacity to actually understand what is written... so anyone with said abilities can do just as good in this game as I do. I read the tooltips and try how things work and from my extensive DAO, DA2, DOI experience I can figure out the best strategies for any game situation. It is NOT a rocket science. Oh, and I do apologize for my overuse of emojis, I used a whole 2 of them...

Yes I am DND fan and proud as such. I have played with my brother also Pen and Paper Dungeons and Dragons. Well and I explained to you that I have played also Pillars of Eternity 1 through despite it not being Dnd.

I have enjoyed some shooters all the way from Unreal Tournament 2004 days and I have played also back in the days MMO:s such as World of Warcraft so no my gaming is not limited to Dnd.

Said by lady andromedia087:
I have a modest pc: i5 11400; gtx 1080 8gb; 16 gb ram at 3200mhz ; 1080 HD screen. Everything on max. A few hiccups here and there, 98% of the time runs stable at 60 fps.

Nice! Comparison:
You lady andromedia087 have
CPU released 2021 so quite new CPU.
INTEL I5 11400 with TURBO speed 4,6 GHZ and 6 cores and 12 threads.

Mine is released 2018 CPU and that year 2018 I bought it.
AMD RYZEN 5 2600 X with in TURBO speed 4,2 GHZ 6 cores and 12 threads.

Congratulations you lady andromedia087 have faster CPU then mine not that there is practical difference in BG3, but some other games. Both seems good enough for BG3 FULL HD maximum graphics at least.

Your lady andromedia087 RAM
16 GB DDR4 3200 MHZ

My RAM:
16 GB DDR4 3200 MHZ

You lady andromedia087 have Nvidia 1080 8 GB DDR5 that is nice released 2017 and still good enough for FULL HD graphics and certainly good enough for BG3.

I have also graphiccard released in 2017.
Nvidia 1070 Titanium 8 GB DDR5... that is slightly faster then Nvidia 1070, but your lady andromedia087 Nvidia 1080 8 GB DDR 5 is slightly faster then mine. That said I guess hard to notice difference in BG3 with FULL HD graphics.

Cool lady andromedia087 your husband and children can be happy the mother in household have a very good computer for BG3 FULL HD gaming .

Now what is the point with all this? OP complained about system performance and despite we (me and lady andromedia087) have graphiccards (ok highend during release time) from 2017 they run well BG 3 FULL HD graphics.

To OP if you complain about system performance please tell your hardware otherwise it is hard to estimate. Now this game is better graphics
then DOS 2 and higher system requirements then DOS 2 that I know from another thread that people with slower computers complained. Oh and Larian could perhaps slightly optimize system performance still so say people with slower computers migth have better gameplay.

That said if you have clearly slower computers then mine and lady andromedia087 and are not happy about system performance then perhaps you should upgrade your computer to BG3 better gameplay.

This topic is pure gold ... i was smiling every second reading it.

Not sure what i liked more tho ...
If is it this "nobody want what i dont like" kind of attitude ...
This "i ruin my game ... but i keep doing it anyway" ... thats my favourite one.
Or "i buyed tickets for comedy but i DEMAND horror".

Anyway it was lots of laughs ... and i thank you OP.

For the record: PoE is not in any way, shape or form a DnD game.
And as of DnD games and success: I guess, BG 1&2, NWN 1&2, Planescape, Icewind Dale don't exist in ops world?

I for one want a more faithful adaptaion of 5e, because right now, BG3 don't feel very much like DnD.

And I have to agreed with Rag and others here: you can't buy a ticket for a romantic comedy and expect a horror movie. So why buy a game based on DnD ( however loosely) and then demand it not to be DnD? That doesn't make a lot of sense.

It could be somewhat salvaged by putting the fun back into combat.

-remove resting and replace it wich cooldowns
-increase chance to hit accross the board by 30%
-include the parties skills in the conversation system
-nerf sneaking
-remove shove,throw,dip and all other quick actions

Why'd you buy a D&D game if you don't like D&D?

I don't know. I smell a troll here.

You should care so you wouldn't have a low 60% when you sneak. Lazy player

Op is probably a fan of Larian. Nothing wrong with that but I personally get the feeling that their fans wants to pidgeonhole Larian into just making the same game over and over again(DoS) instead of letting em try something new. As for you OP, it's sad to hear that you don't find the game fun. I personally do even though I'm not 100% happy with the direction that Larian has chosen so far and I do feel you have some points I can agree with. Removing DnD is not one of them. It's the DnD part that got me interested in the game, I'd never heard about Larian Studios before they announced BG3(I'd played DoS2 before but found the game mediocre and never bothered noticing who developed it)

Well, since it seems you enjoyed the dragon age series let's hope you'll enjoy part four that will probably be finished before Larian release their next DoS game. Or maybe Diablo 4 will be something since I get the feeling you prefer more action oriented rpgs. As for your suggestions to quite rework the whole combat system I don't see that happening now that Larian has revealed that they aim for a 2023 release.

People replay Baldur's Gate to this day a lot - I don't get why you would claim people only used to play it for the story. Games only beloved for their stories don't have the modding scene and the replay count that BG has. Cooldowns and increased hit chance both sound terrible to me. I'd agree on including party skills in certain conversations and not having so many home-brewed quick actions, but this would make the game closer to D&D.

Yes indeed. Well and OP then wish that D@D would be removed from BG3 when BG1 and BG2 were 2nd Edition and BG3 is 5th edition D@D.

Well and since OP complained about system performance I asked what hardware he has no answer. Usually if you order something Online you can find the order confirmation unless you can find that info already in Windows. OP could answer with one line his hardware and what settings he runs BG3 when he complains about system performance.

Said by lady andromedia087:
I have a modest pc: i5 11400; gtx 1080 8gb; 16 gb ram at 3200mhz ; 1080 HD screen. Everything on max. A few hiccups here and there, 98% of the time runs stable at 60 fps.

D@D license does not only come with rules. Larian made investment to buy that and also got access to the rich world of lore and story in Forgotten Realms fantasy world.

Well and OP also wanted now to remove the cutscenes after Larian has used lots of resources and many players like them including me.

The only thing I can understand is some constructive wish that could system performance slightly be improved for players with less good hardware then me and lady andromedia087. That said at the end of day BG3 is better graphics then DOS 2 and maximum settings at least will have higher system requirements then DOS 2.

Hilarious, because the clumsy and half-assed custom ruleset used by DA: Origins was by far one of its weakest parts and played a big role in making it far worse than the originals as an alleged "spiritual successor" of the BG series.

Sorry, but your title is wrong: fun is very subjective. At moment I don't like many games, though I found them fun once and may play them again. They can feel fun once again. State of mind, mood, focus, and so on, not like I can explain it why, but a bit of many factors.

I'm not a "fan" of DnD, or Larian or BG series, though played a few, and some parts were fun. So it's not a "white knight" telling you that you are wrong again: DnD isn't "bad in video game format". Recently I played Solasta, and I enjoyed it a lot, mainly because their very customizable difficulty settings - from almost God mode level very easy to extremely difficult, so the hit and miss and such details can be custom fit to what each of us desire, to allow most fun. While I played all DnD games mainly for the story, the dice system wasn't the reason to consider them annoying, but the difficulty settings (which can be solved with cheats and mods in some) or the puzzle on top of puzzle that can't be skipped or made easier, or the story "forcing" you to do things you don't like, and so on.

As someone who loves stories and RPG, I can't agree that BG3 storytelling is "mediocre". I quite enjoyed it, though I played only the early access part so far, but can't wait for the rest.

I'm not saying BG3 EA had a perfect start, there are many things I don't like:
1. the UI is worse than in any RPG I ever played, time consuming to do basic things and difficult to position your party properly, or move them
2. the character customization may seem best ever in an DnD, but sadly is very limited and can't make something I like (there's no ugly and beautiful, rather all mediocre, but of course, this is just my subjective view)
3. after I played it, I will miss the Solasta level difficulty options in every game, BG3 included
I could go on, but I just wanted to give a few examples.

These are just my opinions of course. The game could still be a fun experience to many, despite anything we think -- or could be a disappointment, especially because the BG3 title sets the expectations high. But I still have hopes that the game will be okay. Larian puts a lot of love in making it right, though they rarely listen to anyone from outside their team, so there is the risk of echo chamber effect. They have the EA feedback, but somehow looks like they won't or can't use it to change much -- or they do it in secret.

I totally get your frustration. For the opposite; not ENOUGH D^D and too slow turn base combat (and a boat load of other stuff tied to immersion...)

This game just isn't for you. Go play DOS2 instead or wait for DOS3. I think these are way more <mainstream> fun RPG games. Hell, I do bash so much on BG3 (for not being even more like a classic Baldurs gate game...) I totally recognize that DOS2 has really fun addicting gameplay, and a great fun silly world. I just hate the itemization/progress...this kills it for me.

Now if these games aren't also your cup of tea, then what in hell are you doing here? Go play Diablo/Witcher 3 or whatever latest action RPGs. You sure in hell wont like Solasta or Pathfinder either lol.