Baldur’s Gate III: Early version preview

Good RPGs are now worth their weight in gold, so the gaming community closely followed the development Baldur’s Gate III. Each news caused waves of discussions. Some people thought that Larian Studios, previously released Divinity: Original Sin I And II, ruined the classic series of games by introducing a turn-based mode, while some were anticipating a non-linear, large-scale RPG with well-developed characters, important dilemmas and consequences.

And here is the first act in early access. On the one hand, players can enjoy some of the content now, on the other hand, they are forced to endure all the “delights” of an unfinished project. We played and now we can answer an important question: buy Baldur’s Gate III now or is it better to wait for release?

Sequel to Baldur’s Gate II?

If you are just getting acquainted with this series of games, you need to know that they are based on Dungeon & Dragons. Several settings have been invented for D&D, but the Forgotten Realms (Forgotten Realms), where the events take place Baldur’s Gate, – the most famous gaming world.

The two previous parts constituted one campaign and told the story of the children of Bhaal. Many fans of the classic Baldur’s Gate hoped that Larian will focus on the further adventures of the heir to the god of murder, but the studio is looking at the setting from a completely different angle. The game takes place in a city located several miles from Baldur’s Gate, the main character is an adventurer still unknown to the world, and the antagonists this time are the illithids, a mysterious alien race.

In 2019, a module was released for the board game Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, which can be considered a prequel to the third part. In it, the heroes travel through Baator (local hell), and Avernus itself (the first level of the plan) will be mentioned more than once in the “troika”.

Baldur’s Gate III does not continue the previous parts, but tells a completely new story, and this attracts players unfamiliar with the Forgotten Realms.

The introductory video was released a long time ago, so the large-scale illithid attack on Baldur’s Gate did not come as a surprise to anyone. The once powerful race of psionic creatures was virtually wiped out by their former slaves, the Githyanki, and the mind flayers were forced to hide in the Underdark for a long time.

IN Baldur’s Gate III The illithids have finally emerged from the shadows and have begun abducting creatures to replenish their numbers. Since they are hermaphrodites that reproduce via larvae (a parasite in the brain of the victim, which serves as an incubator for a new individual), mind flayers require living material. During the attack on Baldur’s Gate, they teleported many creatures onto their ship, including the main character.

The larvae look disgusting, but since illithids are psionic and in every possible way encourage one to accept the parasite… What a beauty!

The process of becoming an illithid takes about a week, so the entire plot of the first act is focused on finding a healer. The heroes they met on the road of travel were also infected, and the poor fellows have some kind of incentive to work together, despite mutual hostility and constant conflicts of interest. On this pessimistic note, the adventure in the world of the Forgotten Realms begins.

Wide variety of races, classes and biographies

Larian has repeatedly clarified that the new game in the series will be based on the simplified and revised fifth edition of the rules, which was released in 2017. This applies to the social component, combat and character creation. One of the features of the fifth edition is the choice of origin, thanks to which the hero receives two additional skills.

The editor has eight races to choose from (humans, elves, githyanki, tieflings, dwarves, drow, half-elves and halflings), as well as several subraces and six classes (priest, warrior, ranger, rogue, sorcerer and wizard). In the full version, the developers promise to add other representatives of the Forgotten Realms (perhaps this time lovers of lizardmen will finally get lucky) and several important classes (where are we without paladins?).

Both class and race affect dialogue. Thus, a tiefling raises the self-esteem of its interlocutors when they complain that they didn’t come out looking good, and one of the drow subclasses often mentions the spider queen Lolth and can act in accordance with their beliefs.

Additional remarks do not always help resolve a conflict or start a conversation – your “expert” opinion, on the contrary, may anger someone.

A huge selection of races and classes allows you to create unique heroes who have their own gods, preferences and appearance features. So I was surprised that the average adventurer, according to Larian, – this is a simple person. Think about it, when will they give us Githyanki and tieflings at our disposal??

Your paladin has burst, bring a new one..

GM: I looked at your character sheet and I have questions. You will play as a necromancer wizard?
Player: Yes.
GM: And your worldview is lawful good?
Player: That’s right.
GM: Explain.
Player: Unlike others, I’m good at recycling and reusing materials.

D&D is loved for its variety. https://lowdeposit-casinos.co.uk/review/slots-amigo/ In a real campaign, it’s difficult to go far from the master’s “rails,” but Larian tried to give players complete freedom of action. The worldview required on the character sheet for the fifth edition is not here, but nothing prevents you from declaring the hero a defender of the downtrodden and rushing with a sword into the thick of the goblins.

Having decided to test Baldur’s Gate III to variability, I embarked on a slippery slope of crimes and murders. And yes, the game allows you to turn the hero into a complete maniac who watches the murders of children, yells at crazy people and sends gullible followers to certain death. In the first act, if you are smart, you can choose not to take either side, create a quarrel between the druids and tieflings, let the goblins finish off the survivors, and also lose your last hope for a cure.

Any master would have long ago found a way to prevent such roleplaying, so a reasonable question arises: is there any Baldur’s Gate III the punishing hand of the law? Well… no.

The companions were unhappy with the spontaneous exhumation, and I was unhappy that there was no money in my pockets.

Head of the studio Sven Vincke (Swen Vincke) in one of the videos dedicated to the development Baldur’s Gate III, said that the game will focus on social interaction with companions. Party members will be able to react to decisions, support or condemn the leader’s opinion, and if disapproval is too strong, they will even try to kill you in your sleep. And vice versa, the life of the latter depends on how the player resolves the conflict with his companion.

The early version did not allow me to fully appreciate the integrity of my comrades: either I did not find their boiling point, or a brutal night reprisal awaits my character in the future.

Since in Baldur’s Gate there is no worldview, no certain pattern that the hero follows, your actions will be assessed by your party members. But you shouldn’t blindly evaluate yourself and your actions through the prism of your companions (or try to please them) – each character has his own moral framework and hidden aspirations that may contradict your code of honor.

Who we managed to find a common language with was Astarion, who himself doesn’t mind stabbing a knife in the back. "Tell me who your friend is…"

When playing a villain, the player wants not only his companions, but also the world to react to his actions. Unfortunately, this is not implemented in early access, and the illusion of non-linearity is present while the main character is engaged exclusively in good deeds. It is almost impossible to go to the dark side. Stealing in a game is criminally easy, lying or convincing the owners of valuable things that you are just an innocent bystander is even easier.

The goblins will not pay attention if their leader goes into another room and does not return, and the druids will not care that their healer fell asleep on the floor in a pool of blood forever. Because of this, the world feels dead, and actions, even the most monstrous ones, lose their value.

Critical miss club

GM: You decide to push an orc off a cliff, roll a D20.
Player: 1.
GM: But instead you gently pat him on the back. He feels uncomfortable.
Player: Me too.

There is good variability so far only in some tasks and dialogues. Knowing how to persuade people, you can peacefully resolve most conflicts and avoid bloodshed. But if the battle does begin, you have to move from the social component to the combat one. And here everything is much more interesting..

…But it’s still far from ideal. You can’t escape from the battle, it’s a long time to run, so you can only watch the bugbear kill the damsel in distress.

Noble and fair battles in Baldur’s Gate III almost always end in death. Every battle in the game requires maximum concentration, pre-thought-out tactics and good positioning. As in Divinity: Original Sin, the player can take advantage of the terrain, place oil barrels, trap opponents in a narrow passage, or shoot them from cover. This prompts preliminary reconnaissance, the search for a workaround, or a compromise with the enemy.

Battles can easily last 30–40 minutes. Time is spent on preparation, long thoughts and loading, because you will have to die often and at an average difficulty level. The early version is unstable even after patches, and if the game crashes (and breaks several saves) right in the middle of a difficult battle, there is a risk that you will not want to return to it.

All locations are now vertical. Using a jump, you can escape from enemies, overcome fire, or climb onto a high ledge. In the early version, companions do not know how to jump over obstacles and avoid dangerous terrain – at first it’s fun to lead the characters “by the hand,” but after a few hours the lack of independence begins to irritate.

D&D is originally a board game with turn-based battle mode. By introducing this system into Baldur’s Gate III, Larian wanted to get as close as possible to Dungeons and Dragons, since she has experience creating turn-based games.

In dialogues, heroes will constantly have to roll dice to check their abilities, but when exploring the world this happens automatically. You can discover a hidden door, show off your religious knowledge, or avoid slipping on oil. But when the dice start to affect battles..

Dice rolls introduced into the combat system turn any battle into pure “randomness”. When the characters take turns missing a large and not very dexterous enemy, and he is lucky enough to score a critical hit, you will remember many times with an unkind word XCOM..

A lot of interesting but crude content

There is only one location in early access, but it is very large, diverse and beautiful. These lands seamlessly coexist with ancient ruins, camps of goblins and tiefling refugees, a grove of druids, the Underdark and the very place where the nautiloid fell.

Quests are found at almost every turn. After completing all the tasks, you can be stuck in the game for 25–30 hours. At the time of writing the preview, I have played about 20, and the end of the act is not soon (mainly due to bugs).

Many additional tasks are related to the main one (getting rid of the parasite). You can ask for help from your grandmother who lives in the swamps, turn to druids, goblins or githyanki.

But there is also a fly in the ointment. Because quests are related, they often conflict with each other: NPCs give conflicting or outdated information, quest steps are confused, and if you have completed 10-15 quests, you are unlikely to be able to keep all the problems of the local population in mind. The diary also fails to cope, and the quest page cannot be scrolled to the end.

Despite all the elaboration, the first act is still far from complete: some cutscenes are missing, characters do not move their lips, and non-standard ways of passing are not taken into account. The first act already has a lot of tasks, books and interesting details, but if you start the adventure in early access and break several story quests, it will spoil the impression of the whole passage.

Those going to death greet you!

Everything was fine until the heroes had to spend the night at camp for the first time after a long day of wandering. The health of the infected worsened, and each subsequent long rest clearly hinted that the adventure would have a tragic ending. The heroes began to have visions and strange voices, and that same larva in their heads gradually gained strength.

During the conversion process, the main character learns to control the minds of creatures. The dice roll is formal – a 1 is enough for success. The narrator’s voice keeps hinting that the consequences will be irreversible..

I felt something between fear and delight when it seemed to me that the game had a limited time. There was an incentive to look for a healer instead of stealing potatoes from the goblin camp, quarreling with squirrels and killing spiders in the well.

With every long rest, a new (darker) scene arose, so out of interest I began to visit the camp at every opportunity… And it led nowhere.

Did it disappoint me? Yes, definitely. There is a feeling that Early Access is a sandbox that prepares players for the irreversible consequences of delay. It is quite possible that in the full version of the game the heroes will have to not only carefully plan resources in battles, but also keep track of time. However, now, without the sword of Damocles over my head, there is no desire to rush somewhere or worry about the characters, because the consequences of bad deeds, illithids and the promised cerebromorphosis are in completely different acts..

After 20 o’clock at Baldur’s Gate III feelings… contradictory. The game already has everything that RPG fans will like: non-linearity and replayability, interesting characters, battles whose outcome depends on ingenuity, and a working combat system. But all the advantages of the early version are shattered by a huge number of bugs, and the illusion of a living fantasy universe is destroyed due to broken tasks, crooked animations and mute interlocutors.

If you want to immerse yourself in the atmosphere, and such individuals are capable of ruining it for you, it is better to wait for the full release.

For those who love the Forgotten Realms setting and have been looking forward to the release all these years Baldur’s Gate III, I would advise you to be patient a little longer. By buying a game now, you are committing a charitable act – spending money on the development of the project and knowingly agreeing to all the shortcomings of early access.

It will be much more pleasant to rush into Faerûn a year or two later to experience an exciting adventure and enjoy the finished product. Baldur’s Gate III has every chance to become a good RPG, but for this it needs a little more time.