This is not a criticism - I love how much attention this game has been getting. I’m just not understanding why BG3 has been blowing up so much. It seems like BG3 is getting more attention than all of Larian’s previous games combined (and maybe all of Obsidian’s recent crpgs as well). Traditionally crpgs have not lit the world on fire in this way. Is it just timing of the release? Is it a combo of Divinity fans and new D&D fans and Baldur’s Gate oldheads all being stoked about this release for their own reasons? Or something else?
Note:I have not played it yet myself, just curious what folks think?
My understanding is that it is a complete game with no microtransactions to shove along with it. After that I believe it is because it is really really good and not a common genre to get the spot light. Mainly the first part.
I think its based on timing with the state of the game industry being fascinated with various versions of P2W and how to squeeze more out of gamers through monetization of both ‘nice to have’ and ‘need to have.’ Larian and BG3 are a breath of fresh air when all the others are prioritizing greed over quality.
If we could just overcome our addictions and vote with our wallet, EA, Blizzard, Activision, M$, etc. would eventually learn, but we can’t, and this is the true sad part of the story.
It’s just a really good game. It’s complete, unlike the majority of things being released these days. The lack of monetization is really nice, but ultimately the fact that it’s basically an automatic dungeon master for 5e with compatibility for up to four cooperative players makes it the easiest entry point into Dungeons and Dragons in general. You can enjoy it by yourself solo and have a wild campaign that’s totally different than the group campaign you play with your friends.
I’ve always hesitated stepping into the dungeon master role because I’ve always wanted to help tell a story, but this negates the need for me to lead anything and I can bring friends with little to no experience and we have a blast. I can focus on helping people with the mechanics rather than having to focus on running the campaign.
Do you think the game has appeal for people who aren’t into DnD? I keep wanting to try it but every time someone calls it “DnD The Game” I get a bit turned off again. Might just be because I’ve had awful experiences in RL with DnD though.
See I’ve been seeing this take in the headlines, but this doesn’t seem like enough to me. Folks have been sick of microtransaction-heavy games in the same way for at least 2 years now, and most studios (outside of the ones you listed) have been releasing games that are light on microtransactions. The System Shock Remake is a good comparison point - it was a modern release in a traditionally niche PC genre, it reviewed very well, and to my knowledge it has no DLC. I guess it didn’t release on console yet, so maybe that’s a key difference?
To be fair, System Shock remake is of incredibly niche interest. (I speak from personal experience being someone who was waiting a long time for it, heh.)
The style of this game hems closer to Dragon Age or Mass Effect in presentation, and those are much more popular game series, by far. So naturally it appeals to fans of those series, of which there are quite large fanbases.
Aside from it just being a very good game (a new game in the all-time top 10 over at Metacritic is going to be news regardless), if you’re hanging out in gaming enthusiast discussion a lot, there are a few other things going on that explain why it’s generating so much buzz.
It came out at a lull in the release calendar. August isn’t typically a hot month for gaming unless you’re an NFL fan. It also ended up being a de facto console exclusive, so once the game started blowing up, the usual console war chatter spun up with it.
The other dimension–and one that surprised me–is it fed the “developers vs. gamers” spat to the point where it’s been making headlines again. As you’ve said, one price for admission games have been coming out more, but I think there are some sour grapes around over Larian’s successful graduation from AA by way of passion projects. I invite these developers to join in celebrating this release, as the success of games like these are bound to get more of the kind of game they’d rather work on greenlit.
The difference is that System Shock Remake is as the name implies: a remake, of a very old game no less. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a full on modern AAA game, with all the bells and whistles. It doesn’t need to hide behind nostalgia, it can stand head to head with all the other big games out there. And it comes as the successor to the Divinity games which themselves already were massively popular.
Demon Souls might be better comparison here, started out as a rather niche PS3 title, build a fan base over the years, had numerous sequels and follow ups that all matched or exceed the quality, and Elden Ring is a gigantic hit now.
I guess doing quality games for a decade or more just accumulates a lot of fans and positive word of mouth, so much that even people that aren’t hardcore into the genre get sucked in.
Vote with your wallet anyway. McDonalds sells a lot of burgers but few would say they are the best.
As someone who has never liked Elvis, it’s quite like the old “50 million Elvis fans can’t be wrong!”
Actually, pretty sure they can be. Also he co-opted his music style from the black community, so fuck him anyway.
It’s a perfect digitization of D&D 5th edition - it’s like having an automatic dungeon master using the rules and regulations we’ve been playing with on paper for ages.
It has a massive plot that can vary wildly on playthroughs depending on how rolls go, just like the real version.
It’s four-player co-op with PVE in an age where cooperation is increasingly rare outside of competitive team games.
It’s a well designed, properly built, finished product that can be expanded on with DLC, rather than using them to address core gameplay issues. (looking at you Paradox)
Can you imagine what the mod scene for this game will look like in a year or so? It’s going to be amazing.
@ivanafterall @theangriestbird @canis_majoris Did they announce mod support?
https://larian.com/support/faqs/mod-information_77
We loved what our modding community did with DOS2, and we’re excited to see what they’ll do with BG3. Modding will be supported after the full release, though not exactly at launch.
I would expect some news in the coming weeks.
Sure, but people were really mad earlier this year because Wizards of the Coast, the company that owns D&D tried to pull some licencing related shenanigans that would have massively fucked over the community. People were boycotting the movie a couple of months ago over that. It’s interesting, that Baldurs Gate seems to not be affected by this at all.
Yeah because Twitter is not a real place. The actual D&D community spoke with their wallets and they said “we like a good, finished product without stupid terms of use” and all bought BG3. People who don’t even play D&D bought BS3 to play with folks who do play D&D.
Well, I had already bought BG3 in Early Access before the OGL debacle, and before Hasbro (WotC’s parent company) sent the Pinkertons to intimidate some small time Youtuber into giving back some unreleased Magic: the Gathering cards that he had been erroneously sold early by a distributor. So I couldn’t very well boycott it when I had already purchased it and played like 30 hours of it.
I’m still not buying new D&D books or MtG cards.
You don’t need to justify your purchasing decision to me. I am not even calling for a boycott of the game. I know people at Larian and I wish them all the success they can get.
I am just surprised that this whole thing seems to be completely absent from the larger discussion about this game. I would have assumed, that it would have been at least a footnote.
It’s just a quality Western RPG, the like of which we haven’t seen since Bioware was bought.
Good products create buzz; I really think is is simply that.
That and it’s a tire-screeching exit from the abusive road we thought gaming was going down. Microtransactions, lootboxes etc. Baldur’s Gate 3 is refreshing from that perspective and, like me, I think many are amazed that it’s actually working.
I see nothing revolutionary about a game not having things like microtransactions and loot boxes. Those are mostly restricted to multiplayer games, and the industry never stopped making good single-player games without that bullshit.
Even a lot of the AAA single player games have day 1 DLCs with skins or 15 different deluxe packages for preorder or something similar though
Doesn’t need to be the in-game microtransactions but it’s very rare today that everyone starts out with the same stuff in AAA games today
But bg3 is a multiplayer inspired game.
Bg 1 and 2 set the rpg world on fire. 3 lived up to the hype.
DOS 1 and 2 were almost on par with BG3 imo.
Pillars of Eternity was also really good.
The short version:
- Game is good, came out at the right time, had a lot of hype and lived up to the hype
Longer details:
- The game is just really well made. It’s extremely fun, very polished (except for a few weird bugs), and complete
- It has a massive IP tied to it. This game had impossible levels of hype and it met those expectations somehow
- The recent D&D movie was a large success, and D&D in general has been the most popular it has ever been lately
- Divinity OS 2 Definitive Edition was very well received, people trust Larian to deliver a good product
- People are sharing this game with their friends. They had a strong marketing push as well as really strong word of mouth
- Final Fantasy 16 left a lot of us wanting a more traditional RPG after FF16 was anything but traditional
- We currently live in an era of games like Diablo 4 which ask for a $70 price tag, and then also have a paid battle pass and paid cosmetics. This game came out at $60 content complete with no additional microtransactions. Ultimately that makes this game much easier to reccomend to people.
Game is good. People like to talk about stuff they like.
Most great games never get anywhere near this much buzz.
I think it’s a product of the genre. BG3 is in the CRPG category, which had a bit of a resurgence lately between Pillars 1+2, Pathfinder 1+2, and (perhaps most relevantly) DOS 1+2. Good games in an existing category of game helps build up buzz in that category and more players. More players creates more demand… but there hasn’t been that much being made in the CRPG bucket lately.
Then, on comes BG3. It fits in that bucket. It has much higher production values than the other recent games in that bucket. It’s got one of the most valuable CRPG IPs attached to it with Baldur’s Gate. And it’s reportedly amazing as a game on top. The last part wouldn’t get it anywhere near this much attention on its own, but in conjunction with the others it’s gotten lots of buzz.
I also feel like Larian handled the early access part really well for keeping the game in discussion without making the game oversaturated in gaming circles. They got a lot of “free” (not actually free, but you know what I mean) marketing out of that.
