@Ravix “Time to stop worrying and start playing” 😄 I know… I’ve been following the discussion and getting more convinced I want to play the game, but I’m mopping up a few other games first.
In fact, I see that you went back to FF16, which is my current main game and I’m really enjoying it. Over on the other thread you hit on the concern I was having which prompted my question about BG3 and whether there was a ton of cut scenes or menu micro management , because like you say, one of the parts to FF16 is that there’s a lot of long cinematic cutscenes and prolonged boss battles. And they are awesome moments, to be sure, but it’s just something that I need to take into account when I sit down for a play session. I have to realize I might be stuck in a 30 minute sequence at any moment so I plan accordingly. With BG3, it sounds like there’s a nice balance and so it flows well without feeling chained to your console until a series of events completes.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution yeah, only a few big moments are like that in FF16, as it will still autosave the rest of the time, but once you're locked in to something major, you're really locked in haha. I did have one firey fight that I beat, and then I had to go out, and I thought, well I've won, so it will have autosaved at some point after or during this cutscene, but it had not, so I had to redo the whole fight lol
In BG3 you can literally save mid-conversation or mid-fight, or mid pretty much anything other than an actual cutscene, and pick it up again later with no issues. And there's not really any long cutscenes that don't involve dialogue input, so you're fine for stopping at any moment, if needed.
@Falcon94 haha the portal was taking loads of damage from the ravens and archers alone, and the other stuff was a lot more tanky and powerful, so I wasted most of my turns not letting the big stuff get close. Second time was a lot easier though, as I managed to get them to aggro Karlach while I cleared up. I'd hate to try that fight on Tactician mode, as I imagine the Portal would be even weaker 😅
Yeah, next time I'm on I head to Moonrise for the final meeting... I actually had more to do than I imagined before I went into the point of no return area (which went really well for my party, in a story arc investment kind of way) but I found some great bonus interactions, including getting a very sticky arm 👀 whilst exploring Moonrise some more, also met The Man Who Was, as I realised I had one tiny corner of the map undiscovered. I'd already found the item he sought anyway.
I've just remembered there's one thing I've definitely missed before the PoNR 😅 there was some lanterns lit somewhere and someone said to not extinguish them, or something, and Tav was like "maybe I can extinguish them...", but I left it long ago, and forgot to come back. But tbh, why would I want to ignore the warning and do that (in character), so I doubt I missed much other than some fight XP, which is the only reason I can think of for turning off the thing that is protecting that area, and that would be a player based reason, unless you're character is actively looking to fight monsters and risk the party's lives for the hell of it 😅
When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎
@Falcon94 hahahaha I've just done part one of the KT battle. And it was hilarious. I came in casting sleet storm on him to disrupt any concentration spells he might try, and then ice storm right after, and he just spent the whole fight falling over on his ass as I made my way towards him 🤣🤣🤣 there was something incredibly pleasing about the main boss being so helpless 😁
Downstairs, the main battle, was pretty easy too, with some AOE ice to start on their close group, and sending Gale misty stepping up to the rafters to rain fire down below afterwards. And then general ranged and melee in-between with the others that escaped the bowl of ice and fire. And some friendly Gnolls were taking out the archers for me 😁😁
Big story spoiler stuff relating to names and events for anyone not up to the end of act II, so do not click if you are just a casual browser of the thread
So, after clearing up everything in the sticky, red, nasty mind flayer colony, which was unsurprisingly pack with things to do, yet again. I made it to the main boss fight section of Act II. Absolutely epic btw. At first i randomly convinced Ketheric to fling himself into a pit, but I didn't really like that, as I was looking forward to a fight, so I reloaded. But id noticed he'd recaptured Nightsong, so what i did for fun was turn my Tav invisible, before speaking to Ketheric, sinply strolling by to release her, at which point Ketheric started talking to Karlach, She told him we were here to end his evil etc, naturally. Then I hopped my invisible tav behind him and initiated combat with some crossbows. Karlach threw that mind stone thing at him, the one you can pick up in one of the rooms in the colony, that made the party strong in melee but weak of mind, thinking I could debuff him for ranged spells, but it just smashed and knocked him on his ass again 🤣🤣 I then beat him and all the minions quite easily.
Then of course phase 2 kicks in, and I absolutely destroyed the big old bone apostle of Myrkul, to finally defeat Thorm.
So much fun, and the story really kicked up a few notches.
I'm only speculating, but something the dream visitor said did not sit right with me, either, with what I've learned from other notes and story events about the plans of the dead three, Bane, Myrkul and Bhaal, via Orin and Gortash, and previously Ketheic, so I'm keeping my eye out for something specific related to that too 👀
I just unlocked some really nice things and went on a prehistoric and unexpected journey 🧞♂️
This game continues to delight.
I now have a ring that allows me to perform a weapon attack and then cast an illusion or enchantment as a bonus action afterwards, which seems perfect for my build, as I lack bonus actions beyond healing/second wind, unless dual wielding crossbows 😁
I think I can now land a sword Critical, get 10 extra hp from that, then perform a second melee attack, then action surge for another attack or Bardic attack, and then end with a spell like fear, dissonant whispers, hypnotic pattern, which then will kind of rule out any retaliation against me from my target, paired with my high AC, this could now make my Sword Bard even more fun, as I don't always have the chance to use my spells as much as I'd like 😁
@Ravix Impressed that it sounds like the game doesn’t drop off in quality on the latter parts. Do you know what your playtime is at this point and how close you are to the end?
I assume there’s multiple endings and multiple ways to get there, given the games intricate adaptability. I know that the amount of side content you engage with will greatly influence your playtime, but I reckon there are also decisions in the main quest that might have you skipping through story beats and thus modifying a runtime.
Regardless, it seems a safe bet that it’s a 100 hr type of game. I noticed that you took a couple small breaks over the last few weeks and played some other games, but if I read this correctly, you’ve really not strayed away from BG3 much since you started. Which for this long of a game is impressive.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution yep, not been getting burned out with it at all. Just the few occasional day or two breaks every so often, but usually play it most evenings. Normally if a game is this long, I can tend to tail off and then end up starting something new, even with some 30/40 hour games I end up falling off them, then either pick them up at a later date, or leave them in the graveyard of unfinished games that I kind of enjoyed.
Normally with a AAA I will focus on just the one story based game anyway, so thats nothing new, and supplement it with the usual Fifa nonsense, of course, or general stuff that doesn't require any brain power or emotional investment. But BG3 is so fun, I'm barely even playing much Fifa and it's already been about 3 games worth of content 😁 basically if the ps5 goes on, it'll be for Baldur's Gate 3 (or tv streaming)
Probably about 150 hours 😁 And I guess I must have 50 or so hours to go, as it's only the very start of act 3. But I am literally doing every thing I possibly can (it feels like I could do a new playthrough and get to act 3 in a quarter of the time, in future, but that is if I RP a character that doesnt care about anyone's problems, or just mindlessly follow one quest rather than taking advantage of the branching, overlapping nature of quests) It seems like act 3 might progress quicker, tonaly, but then yesterday evening I played for a few hours and basically just ended up investigating a wierd circus and did some random early area content that kind of sets the story beats of life in the city, rather than progress the main story, but these still had elements of the overarching story creeping in, in a really cool way, too.
My only regret is that I didn't finish FF16 first, because I was really enjoying that, but I just really wanted to jump right in and learn BG3, as a proper RPG always wins for me. And that means a game I feel is a 9/10 for me, has been neglected, as if it were a 7/10 so I will still make sure to play that again this weekend and hopefully finish it 😅
I'd say BG3 will sit atop the playtime list when I'm "done" with it. With the likes of The Witcher 3, Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 2 and Kingdom Come: Deliverence not far behind, but still noticeably so.
Content wise (and by that I mean sheer amount of worthwhile, fantastic to experience, and well written content) it's probably on par with the PS5 version of The Witcher 3 with all the DLC's, but at launch. Be interesting to see of BG3 gets DLC at some point too 😱
@Ravix It would seem BG3 is a type of game that would be amenable to DLC expansions. So yeah, it will be interesting to see if they do that.
I’m in the same spot with FF16, as far as shooting to complete it before my next adventure. But I’m exploring around and doing all the optional activities so it’s taking me a longer time. But I’m enjoying it, so I haven’t yet felt the need to ‘mainline’ it. Granted the side quests are dross mostly but they’re so short that I don’t mind. And it makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something grand when I knock out 3 side quests in one play session! 😂
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I hadn't played in ages and when I got back to it I totally forgot where I was and I decided to just totally reset. Gone with a Drow Half-Elf Druid this time round. Shapeshifting into a bear or spider for combat is awesome and the cat form allows me to be sneaky. Auntie Ethel got slapped silly and Minthara fell to her death. Absolutely great stuff.
Also discovered some new quests that I missed previously as well, so I've explored those and found some cool stuff.
Finally, you already know I'm romancing Shadowheart. She's a babe.
"A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you, from your wild curiosity." - Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.
@Falcon94 yeah, pop in and textures is always a bit annoying in games like this, but then again it's never really detracted from epic RPG's for me in a way that truly affects my enjoyment, and I'm kind of used to it, where the games are so packed full of choices and details and objects, there is rarely never an issue. Elden Ring, TW3, KCD, all games like this can struggle for years, this is why I was happy enough playing Cyberpunk at release initially too, until the big crashes caught up to it, and then it really was unplayable
Hopefully it does get sorted down the line though.
Going to take a laughing pendant to, I guess, a monk/monestary next time out, look for a clown, also, I think J... wanted to do something or meet some people too, but I'm going to have to check what exactly that was, or where it was, as I forgot, she said it during an information dump after the ACT II boss fight ffs lol.
Orin keeps visiting me in Rivington, too. It's really quite good how I'd just be doing a side quest or exploring, talking to just a regular person, and then suddenly they start to get a lot weirder 😂 I literally trust no one now
It seems like some companion quests will continue here too, so it is looking like a good few hours of gaming just for those few things to unfold more 😅
Played a huge amount of this over the past week or so and made some decent progress. I've missed out on saving Wulbren, the tieflings from Moonrise Towers but I managed to persuade Shadowheart not to kill the Nightsong, so I'm feeling good about that.
This game has been absolutely brilliant so far and I've been pleasantly surprised with it. I'm sure I have some more exploring of the Shadow-Cursed Lands to do but I'll hopefully get to the assault on Moonrise Towers at some point this week!
"A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you, from your wild curiosity." - Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.
Leaving the poor Tieflings. Less so Wulbren. Wulbren is a bit of a d***head, although I did save him
It does seem like you are catching up fast, must have been some epic game sessions 😁
It's at its best when you just stumble across things, isn't it? I got arrested at one point, and thought "hmm, I'll just roll with it and see" and then that led to finding another story element, some information, and a fun, daring escape, and then discovering a new area that led to more exploring and possible routes to other things.
@Ravix I actually was intending to save them, I just didn't realise you had to do it before the assault! I'm not sure I want to go back about two hours and redo a lot of stuff. 😅😂
"A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you, from your wild curiosity." - Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.
@Ravix I didn't visit the tower first so it seems I've missed out there! I'm kind of annoyed as I assumed you'd get the chance to save them during the assault so I could do everything there all at once, but it is what it is. The temptation to save-scum has certainly taken a downturn which I'm pretty happy about, though I have had some seriously lucky dice rolls in some bigger decisions.
The most important thing is Shadowheart has my heart and I have hers. 😂
I have a Drow Warlock playthrough waiting in the wings as well, so that'll be my evil playthrough, which may end up seeing me possibly killing almost everyone once that comes around.
"A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you, from your wild curiosity." - Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.
Jaheira gives you the task to infiltrate Moonrise. I.e pretend you are a true soul with your tadpole, and sneak around to get the lay of the land, rescue people, talk to the cult members and learn things of interest etc.
I spent quite a while there, and there's some nice secrets hidden away (although that stuff gets revealed later anyway, so you wont miss out on anything other than a bit of awareness and understanding of things to come) but the gist of the visit was, play along, go to the dungeons, escape with the prisoners and melt some of the dungeon guards, no one find out how they escape, as there are no survivors down there, and then return. As they think I'm one of them, those in charge end up giving me the order to go and find/help Balthazaar, to help him help Ketheric, and I play along, eventually find him, lead him on, take him to the caged nightsong, and then f*** him over. Before returning to a slightly less powerful moonrise towers (I sowed a little chaos while there, but nothing substantial, just a few bonus allies, and a few dead goblins etc)
I imagine you met Balthazaar in the temple on the way to nightsong anyway, was he just hostile, or did you have deception options etc?
When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎
@Ravix Yeah, I probably should’ve gone there initially. I had planned to go there, like I mentioned, but one thing led to another and before you know it, I’m ready to begin the assault.
Balthazaar had deception options when I met him initially. He gave me a whistle to summon Flesh but I never used it. I found a good trick for the fight against him though which made the fight significantly easier, which was just to stay on the elevated platform above all the enemies and to just shove those that jumped up into the abyss. The bigger enemies couldn’t jump up and attack me so it made the fight next to trivial.
"A corpse... should be left well alone. Oh, I know very well. How the secrets beckon so sweetly. Only an honest death will cure you now. Liberate you, from your wild curiosity." - Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.
I had a glitch back when I was in Moonrise. When I rescued the tieflings from Moonrise for some reason the pathing got stuck for the male(forgot his name). Everyone else followed me out. When I went back in he was just standing there. I tried thunderwaving him closer to the door, but no luck. He was pushed closer, but no response. I then just roleplayed in my head that be was frozen with fear and could not be helped. I didnt restart a save as it has been a while. Otherwise no major glitches as im nearing the end of Act 3 and only had one crash. I have slowed down playing as well jumping into a couple other games for a bit.
This game is absolutely crazy. When I read about other people's stories and playthroughs, they are so different to anything I have done. I hear about characters that are doing lots of stuff but died early in my playthough but then I have characters in mine doing things I haven't read anywhere. The amount of detail and work that has gone in to this game is incredible. I can't wait to play it again once I have finished just to see what things I have missed.
I'm currently stuck in a jail cell in Act 3 with a skull. Can't seem to get anywhere at the moment, I have no weapons and keep getting in to battles. I'll perservere and see what opens up eventually
Can't think of anything good to put here just yet, watch this space...
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