Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Technical & Gameplay Problems Bugged Gale romance, Buggy beards & incorrect icon (XboxSeriesX)

To my surprise I found that for some reason Hotfix #18 fixed/improved beard textures in my game, so that it actually looked like hair and you could see the individual strands, so both my Tav’s and Gale’s beards (same style) looked massively better and looked more realistic. But since Hotfix #19 came through however, it has now broken the beard textures yet again, so they’re now patchy, blurred and uneven, and look nothing like hair. They have unfortunately looked like this since release on Xbox, I had gotten used to it I admit, but after seeing how it’s supposed to look, it so frustrating that the fix I’ve been waiting so long for, only lasted for 2 Days!! Please Fix It! It clearly can be fixed, as it worked wonderfully for the 2 days or so between Hotfixes, so if they could re-apply whatever that fix was from #18, I would be most grateful.

Since patch 6 the player’s icon in the inspiration menu is now a completely random default tav, that looks nothing like mine. The issue was present in the past but was already fixed quite a while back in a previous update, but is now broken yet again since the latest patch, and neither of the 2 new Hotfixes corrected it either.
Also my character is always labeled as ‘Player’ in the menus, and never by their name, I know it’s been like that since release of course, but I’m wondering if it will ever be changed to actually show the name? Like all the companions have in the menus.

A new bug I came across (caused by patch 6 I believe?) was during Gale’s romance scene, the alt version on the bed seems to be bugged, in that the kissing animations don’t play at all. Gale’s head just hovers over my Tav’s head weirdly, so his face never touches my Tav’s, nor do their mouths ever move. The sounds seem to still play for the most part, but seem quieter/different to me, not unless I’m just imagining that? As I swear Gale is more quiet? Another thing I noticed is that beforehand during the conversation with Gale, and he kisses my Tav, there’s no kiss sound, but I honestly can’t remember if it was always like that though?
The romance scene in the weave is of course, frustratingly, still bugged, the body textures, or rather the normal maps, still don’t load at all, so the body’s have no definition at all, basically the raw models, and the neck seams are very clearly visible. It completely ruins the entire scene and has been like this since release on Xbox. Plus how come the bodies show as the sfw version when the spirits first appear and ascend, and then only change to the nsfw versions after you click on the option to proceed, I was never sure if that was a bug or intended? However the body textures/normals are still non existent in either case unfortunately. Additionally the scene during which you touch the book and the spirit figures ascend, the dialog option selection menu shows up during the entire scene, before the option should even be available. It obviously ruins the scene unfortunately as it covers the lower section on the screen.

Also I recently heard rumour mention that there was apparently, at some point in time, a picnic blanket on the ground in the forest scene of his romance, is that true? As I’ve never seen it, and I’m guessing is why the characters hover oddly over the floor?
Additionally the missing dialog option about Gale’s Surname after meeting Tara is still missing, is it actually a bug? Or has it actually been removed on purpose?



(I realise I’ve posted a couple of these bugs with Gale in the past, but nothing ever seems to be done about it unfortunately)

*noticed some more bugs and story issues as I came to the games end (and in general)...

-Forgot to add in my post above that there is still delayed Audio in battle when attacking or being attacked or effected, where a few seconds go by before it played the reaction sound. Some actions are also still delayed in combat on occasion, where your character stands there waiting for multiple seconds for the action to occur.

-In regards to the wrong player icon in the inspiration menu, oddly enough at Wither’s party, it actually shows the correct icon in inspiration menu for some reason.

-In end game when going to confront the brain, the conversation with Gale is bugged in any location other than Morphic pools, when asking for a last kiss. It will abruptly end and exit the conversation when you select the option outside of the Morphic pools.

-During the battle with the brain, after the Portal opens, when going through the npc’s turns, it keeps going back and forth between inside to portal, and outside on the brain (even though nothing was happening in the portal), but it changes very quickly so you can’t see what’s happening and so are basically starting at a black loading screen and flashes of the battle until it’s your turn, quite annoying and unfortunately hurts your eyes a little bit at times too.

-Karlach’s cinematic scene with Wyll after defeating the brain, before the party, is buggy, as it gets stuck on every sequence, and so you are forced to manually skip for it to go to the following sequence. (Is there a cinematic for Astarion? as I’m not sure if it gets skipped because of the buggy scene beforehand, my Astarion in still a spawn, or is it only if he’s romanced?)

-If you’re Tav gets married by the end of the game, could there please be a Wedding ring item, either it be equiped or in your inventory when your at the end party. It would be cool if it also actually visually showed on both your Tav’s and their partner’s hands. I know rings don’t normally show visually but thought at least the wedding rings should, as it would be a nice detail.


I have found throughout the game that there are some bad or unfairly written options when conversing with Gale. Some of the wording for options in dialogue is not nicely worded either, whether it be slightly mean or sarcastic, or slightly disrespectful, and you can’t even share in his interests either (like at the teifling party). An example of of an unfair/bad option is when you are about to face the brain, the game forces you to reconsider the orb, even though I have repeatedly persuaded for him not to, plus I am also romancing him, so reconsidering the orb is so wrong and cruel, he trusts my Tav, and my Tav adores him, it shouldn’t be an option or even occur if you are romancing him.
After defeating the brain and dissuaded him from the crown, when he talks about returning it and finally being free, the only supportive option to choose is purely about him being her chosen, rather than about being free and moving on and growing. No good supportive option, as it makes it out that Mystra never did anything wrong, and that returning the crown is about pleasing Mystra, when it’s actually about him healing himself.
There seems to be no conclusion/ realisation/growth in the end for Gale in regards to Mystra and what she did to him? I believe there used to be more content in the game in regards to What Mystra did to him? Is all that just gone from the game now? I know other things have been removed over time I believe, like changing his personality slightly, but there seems to be no realisation or even a reflection or information/discussion about what Mystra did. How is he meant to move on and heal if it’s all brushed under the rug and never even touched on?
One thing that irritates me is that in order to dissuade him from using the crown, you are Forced to tell Gale to ask for Mystra’s forgiveness, implying she did nothing wrong, when in reality Gale has nothing to apologise for, and Mystra is very much in the wrong. Why is there no neutral option, so he can agree to give her the crown, without apologising? If you do selecting the one neutral option available before meeting her, he will still want the crown, even if you’ve asked Gale not to take it, still doesn’t actually dissuade him, so are forced/locked to ask forgiveness, which is unfair to Gale. Yes he made a mistake, and he knows that, but that doesn’t excuse what she did. No options or opportunity or conversations to help him come to terms or reflect of what she did. No conclusion in this regard? Is there a conclusion/realisation if you’re not romancing him?

The neutral option is and not engaging with Mystra at all. From my understanding, if you return the Crown to her, they sort out their differences become friends again (as much as this is possible with the divine) and that is nice too. I also don't think that Gale's growth is directly related to Mystra. At the beginning he takes all his self-worth from his abilities as a wizard and sage, during the game he learns that there is more to live for than his job - unless you play Lady Macbeth to him and encourage him to take the Crown.

I might be wrong, but I think for bug reports it is better to send them directly through the bug report form, where they are processed and send to the devs.

https://larian.com/support/faqs/how-to-submit-a-bug-report_85

I never got an option to suggest leaving it in the Chionthar, only to take it for himself or be Mystra’s chosen. So if that’s an option then it did not show up for me for some reason?. Maybe it’s tied to your selection when talking to Mystra earlier in the game then?

And yes I know what you mean, there is a lot of growth in regards to himself in relation to his powers/abilities and his job and reputation, so I completely agree. I just meant that there is also some emotional growth/realisation in regards to his relationship with Mystra, but it’s definitely not his entire storyline or growth of course, only part, but I only meant that some of it seems to have been toned down/removed from what I’ve heard others say, especially before official release.
But thank you for letting me know about there being another option during the end game sequence, it’s news to me so I’ll definitely have to go look into it then.
And yes I am admittedly relatively new to reporting bugs for games so not always sure the best way to go about it.

It's apparently what happens if you don't give him the book or encourage him not to talk to Mystra at all - though I have never tried this myself since I really don't want this crown just lying around, ready to be snatched by the next tyrant.

The "trouble" with Mystra might also be, that she herself isn't an evil goddess and apparently a fairly popular character. So some people seem to get upset that Gale doesn't grovel enough in front of her, taking his dialogue about it being hard to feel affection for a lover who condemned you to death as "bad mouthing the ex". I kind of like the weird relationship parallels in the story: they either become spiteful exes (Gale takes the crown), just part ways (Gale leaves the Crown in the river) or he accepts that she as an entity/guiding principal is something he holds dear, while she makes an abysmal partner or source of affection (he does the right thing and gives her the Crown and uses his position as her Chosen to do good stuff for the wellbeing of others.) They could have explored that more, that is true and probably things have been removed or toned down too.

Oh ok then, never thought about people doing/not doing that, as I of course wanted to follow his quest line and help him, but yeah I agree, no way would I leave that thing in the water lol.

You're so true about that with Mystra though, because she's supposed to be "good" and people don't like seeing otherwise, especially since she's a pre-established character in DnD with lore, and because this game strays from that, they all throw a tantrum for some reason. This game doesn't follow all the rules and lore of DnD from what I've heard, so why does it matter anyway lol. I think it's also because there's so much misunderstanding and dislike around Gale, that people automatically assume he's bad and take her side maybe? Idk. People seem to not understand the emotional stuff Gale has been through, or that emotional manipulation is even a thing, since everyone sees Astarion's abuse and manipulation, and therefore nothing else counts by comparison apparently, even though comparing such things is not fair to anyone.
But I digress, you're right that it's because she's a liked character, and Gale is not, that it causes issues/friction on people, and unfortunately has therefore caused them to tone down or remove some of that stuff, and even slightly change Gale himself too, as far as I know.
Thank you for bringing such a good and respectful perspective on the matter, it's most refreshing to see from all the misunderstanding and hate surrounding him.


*These dang gateway timeouts on this site have been making it a pain to even get on here for days ugh lol*