Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
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Joined: Oct 2021
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I feel like there are too many angled and distanced shots in cutscenes now. Characters stand pretty far away from the player and it feels unnatural in some scenes.

The shots with the npc's head angled slightly away during dialogue causes problems as well. The neck can spin at an exorcist like angle, or they are looking in an entirely different direction. People tend to face each in conversations so to have that angle there so often when it causes issues doesn't seem worth it to me. I miss the more zoomed in shots and scenes where the characters faced you instead of looking a little off to the side.

There's also a shot that seems to be coming from the ground and pointing up from a distance... it makes me feel like an outsider spectating on the scene rather than the person being spoken to. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?

Joined: Mar 2020
Location: Belfast
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It’s still a bit messy, but I find cutscenes to be far better then they were before. Having constant closeups was distracting to me. Now close ups happen to emphasise stuff, as it should be. I don’t remember characters ever talking “at you”. It was always third person camera - it’s not first person game, and we never see things through character’s eyes. Cutscenes still could use more work, so we will see how they will look in the end.

Joined: Aug 2022
Location: Belgium
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I agree. I wonder if it's experimental because of how weird some of those camera choices seem.
This one is obviously a glitch but I already had it on imgur : [Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

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I also think we should not see Tav's face that often.
1) Their facial expression sometimes just seems off
2) It prevents the player from enjoying the properly acted characters
3) Most importantly, their facial expression might not fit for RP reasons (!)

Two of the examples that stand the most in my head are during cutscenes with Astarion (again) :

  • At the end of the bite scene, he says something like "I'm still feeling a bit peckish". Personally, I would be puzzled by this info (How much blood does he bloody need?). Especially because, usually, I play a Tav that, whilst accepts to give blood, isn't thrilled about the situation. Even if my Tav could absolutely politely/slightly smile to his eccentricities, currently, Tav just grins in a way that I find hardly fitting.
    [Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
  • At the end of the romance scene with him...same ordeal. Astarion is talking about a seemingly tough subject for him (his scars and Cazador). And by the end of the conversation, the camera focuses on a Tav that just has an unfitting blank expression or smile (depending on face model).
    [Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
    [Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

It was fine in previous patch when the camera stayed on Companions/NPCs and we could just see our character from the back, just tilting their heads or crossing their arms was enough (in my opinion).
Again, as it is now, Tav's given facial expressions don't necessarily match for RP reasons. Which breaks immersion at times.

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Something else on the matter of what is displayed and how it is displayed …although my thoughts aren't fully made-up about this...so please, do bear with me :
  • I think that some of those nude shots do feel a bit "crude"/unnecessary/odd(?) at times (to me at least).
    The way the game works, (1) with dialogue options that force the camera to linger and (2) with those scenes following the gentle/lingering flow of the soundtrack, is probably why it hits extra weird for me in this case(?). I would appreciate the fully released version of the game to present those scene in a "better way". It's subjective, of course, but some shots could be improved.
  • In truth, I'm not that impatient to learn about what is under the "under construction" sign (most of it at least) 😅.
    Thing is, I'm usually not a fan of in-depth nude/s*x scenes in media that are otherwise not meant to be erotica or p*rn.
    In cases like this one, I would usually prefer implicit over explicit. Namely, showing what leads to it and the after. Maybe (at most) a glimpse of the beginning. The rest usually feels gratuitous since it's unlikely it would add any characterization.

    On the other hands, I'm willing to accept however they decide to present those scenes anyway (the artist's choice). It's not that big of a deal. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter 🙂

T.L.D.R : Ideally for me, in terms of nude/s*x scenes, show less...but what is shown should be well "presented" (better camera angle, "cinematography", be artful).


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