Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Do YOU enjoy BG3's systemic design?

@The_Red_Queen thanks for the great response I will start with:


As Niara eloquently put it:
So first and formost I would wish for Larian (don't expect at this point) to go through systems they have and make them "immersive" - have them make sense within the setting of the game - so no more sucking up spilled potions with your boots, give characters hearing range so sneaking behind them isn't that easy to do with character with 0 skill in stealth, dipping iron in fire shouldn't add extra fire damage to it, etc. If things work more or less the way one would expect them to work then it's easier to come up with creative solutions.

Couple things that I am trying to think of at the moment: does wood in BG3 burn? If i have a wooden crate, can I set it on fire to create temporary light source to help me in combat? What will happen if I put explosive materials into a container? If I cast a firebolt will it act as custom made explosive barrel? I actually never tried those things, might the next time I try.

But from my experience on a purely systemic level, I think BG3 lacks consistency and quest designs that would take full advantage of its many systems. I think part of the problem might be scope of the title and how it was created. For example:

That's actually the feature that made me think about this subject. I played as bard and was looking for ways to take advantage of performances but majority of time I tried to use it game scripted got in the way. I mentioned the goblin kids who were psychicly aware of the fact that I looted the corpse, even though they were busy watching my bard's performance. Or there were couple NPC who just seemed to be set in place and were blind/deaf to anything that was happening around. Running into stuff like that really discourages playing around with abilities.

Part of the problem is this odd development cycle were new systems are added to existing content. One would assume that Larian would first design the toolkit in some kind of vertical slice and then go on to create content build from the ground up to interact with that toolkit. That is not the case, at least for act1 and I worry what the end product will be. Naturally it must be hard to go back to already made content and make sure it interacts and works will all the new stuff they added. I hope they will be able to do that before release, but at the same time I remain sceptical.

I don't think BG3 needs to embrace systematic design - I am more then happy with a more handcraft and guided content, but with how many incoveniences BG3 has in name of systems, I am confused as to why the game doesn't embrace more of it - or rather why I am being so annoyed with it's systems, while other games like Arcane's output make me giggle with glee.


I am glad you mentioned this - this was the very first thing that discouraged me from being creative. I didn't mention it as I didn't try to steal the Idol for couple patches now (at least early on one could cheese it though container exploit) but on my initial run I bought potion of invisibility, stocked up on arrows of darkness, performed perfect heist - and guards run up straight to me. Very disappointing.

Pickpocketing in general is just odd to me. They make sure that all items are there in the inventory to be pickpocketed, they have scripted reactions for when you the characters should give you that thing and realized the thing was stolen, they even made a big deal of you being able to steal the explosive barrel in the forge - but none of it feels good to me. It's very meta. I don't think BG3 is good in giving an objective, and allowing players to use their toolkit to solve the problem. It's more like there is linear story progression, but then they allow you to break it. That's not fun. At least not to me.


Yeah, to me it's just what feels right. I don't mind if BG3 wants to embrace scripted quest design, or want to be systemic - at the moment as a player I feel I just feel very confused as to how can I play the game. On one hand BG3 does add quite a bit of tedium for the sake of consistent systems, but on the other hand I don't see those systems being utilised much. I think about Fallout2, stealing life support from one character or explosive planting. I can't really think of anything like that in BG3 - things that are made (like explosive barrel) just tend to feel very meme-y and off.

To end this lengthy reply, I think I can list one section that I almost enjoyed from systemic level - and that's goblin hideout. The objective is very simple - kill three leaders. Yes, there are scripted events to follow for each, but any kill will do. That gives a lot of potential space for creativity and roleplaying. I also very like the drums - if enemy reaches the drum the camp goes alert. But you can destroy them - in combat, outside combat. If you think ahead you can disable alarm system using your skillset to make combat easier later on. There are also multiple enterances - the upper one being made of bricks is resistant to many damage types, so whenever it is or is not available to you will depend on you party composition or weapons you carry - that's kind of handcrafted scenraio build using existing systems, is what I am looking for. Last time i played, though, I had some major issues sneaking on the rafters. I went through a lot of effort to disable light sources, but it just didn't seem to make any differences. That combined with having to navigate 4 stooges using the chaining system, just made me give up on the "unseen assasin" attempt altogether.

Edit: Oh, an awful systemic interaction that I remember: Grimforge, blowing up the rock => fire surface appears for some reasons => gnomes run through the surface on scripted pathway => take damage from the surface you created => become hostile and attack