I've never made a piece of content in my life so this was really big for me. If you watched and enjoyed, I appreciate it more than you know! If nobody sees this, I could probably say something controversial right now but I'll pass
@@NokayYT mood. I was ambivalent towards astarion (and thought he was slightly annoying) until my dark urge romanced him. Now he’s MY problematic annoying drama queen of a vampire and no one can take him away from me.
The side quests really are something else in this game. They're not just out in a void, they tie into other quests in interesting ways. Save a guy from a windmill in act 1>find out the guy belongs to one half of a gnomish blood-fued>other half of the blood-fued is enslaved in the steel foundry, which gives you another reason to resolve Gortash's steel watch quest. Some dipshit wizard is hiring mercenaries to look for a powerful artifact in act 1>artifact is an character with ties to Shadowheart and Ketheric in act 2>meet dipshit wizard in act 3, whose tower ties into Gale and Aylin and Rolan's quests. It's all so tangled and busy in ways that other RPG's just aren't. If you're looking for an RPG that has as much, if not more reactivity than BG3, I'd recommend Roadwarden. If you're looking for a game that rewards player curiosity, Outer Wilds by Mobius Digital is head and shoulders the best I've ever played. Neither of these games have voice acting though, so be prepared to read a fair bit
You hit the nail on the head with this comment. Side content in this game is beyond special and gives it so much life and variety. I dont think theres a single game that I've played that compares to this one in that sense! Larian is just a different breed
@@AraJade I just finish Outer Wilds the other day and I'm gonna start working on a video for it asap! I have some opinions on it both good and bad so I'm excited to express that and see what people think!
My friend got me this game back when it first came out in early access and I remember telling him it's top down I'm not going to enjoy it. He told me "don't be a bitch just play it". I have 1000 pulse hours on it now. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a game as much as I did this one.
I keep trying to get my best friend to try it but hes too damn stubborn. I know he'd love it the same way you do but I calling him a bitch hasnt worked 😂
I watch an unhealthy amount of video essays so I guess that might have helped 😂 A lot of effort went into it so I really appreciate the kind words and hope you have a great rest of you're day!
For a while I agreed with you on Balduran’s random turn if you choose to free Orpheus. But after doing different playthroughs you sort of notice that Balduran(in the game) only cares about self preservation. Every action he takes since becoming a mindflayer has been about making sure he is always on top. I mean he killed his best friend and doesn’t seem to feel bad about it. The turn could’ve been handled better for sure but I feel like it makes sense if you really read in between the lines of what he tells you
There are perception checks in scenes with him that hint he doesn’t actually care about you. Specifically if you don’t romance him when you get to Elfsong and you succeed a check your character notices how easily he moves on from you.
On top of all that there are multiple books and people in the game that tell you that mindflayers are not the humanoid they were before they went through ceremorphosis. They lose their soul, and their nature is to treat people around them like puppets Also if you consistently choose to not trust him, he will tell it to you straight: that he thinks of you as his thrall, no more than a puppet to allow him to be free. The emperor never really cared about you, just himself
when the emperor romances you and you call him a freak he will also reveal his true motives all along as well as his intentions with you as a means to an end. That made my decision to betray him so easy and it didn't feel like a twist when he joined the brain
@mazerumaze I never played the first two, so maybe you're right, but I feel like having someone so mythologized in the world itself fall so far because they *accepted* being and becoming illithid when ansur was very shockingly in the right. Balduran is a legendary hero and illithid "potential" did this to him, Maybe he shouldn't, maybe he should have been here but to me it makes some sense to have someone established like that fall like he did
The best thing about Baldurs Gate 3 that most games cant say, is the fact that even when something is missing we *GENUINELY* want more because of how good it is. Not just for the fact that it is unfinished. We want to play more of this game and spend more time with it. So sad that there will be no DLC's.
It sucks even more because it seems like its a hasboro problem thats the reason they arent going to expand the game at all besides updates! Its just a special game
Wow, amazing for a first video! Just wanna point out when rating Astarion's character - he doesnt have much content until Act 3 *unless* you have him in your party. There's a lot to easily miss with him (necromancy book, gur hunter, the drow in Moonrise Towers, meeting Raphael and asking about his scars...) All those things are easily missed if astarions not in the party, which is a shame, but also kind of a cool thing to discover extra bits of lore depending on who is in party
I definitely agree with that, he was definitely a victim of not spending enough time in my party which sucks but I will make that right in my second play! And thank you for the kind words!
Bg3 literally ruins my sleep schedule... 1 more sidequest, 1 more level, 1 more long rest, 1 more battle, 1 more playtrough for this goofy ahh build i think of... Shits just keep going. Damn it Larian.
I have no clue how many hours I have in the game. I realized I was approaching 600 hours one day but then the next time I checked I it was only at like 530 and thought I missed remembered then I got to like 580 and then it went back down somehow and I realized Steam just wasn’t tracking and actively messing up my play time. I feel like I have 1000+ hours in the game but idk.
Great video! Some extra comments from my perspective: Astarion's storyline was so powerful and I cried just as if I were watching a movie. Also here had an evil alignment, so what do you expect with his approval, haha! He does care about kids and animals to an extent, and here has reasons for being the way he is, just like every character, which is so well done. I cried when Lae said goodbye. Karlach's story is super emotional too. None of the companions gets a straight up happy ending, even when you make the "good" choices, because life is complicated, and we all have hurt and trauma, but we can find hope, friendship and love. About Halsin: he's also a late addition, so don't judge his lack of story or dialogue. He of course has more if you romance him, but beyond that he's such a breath of fresh air because he's by far the most emotionally mature of the bunch 😂 He's really kind, patient and feels like a safe space in the storm. Particularly when I was stressed in act 3 with all the difficult fights and decisions, to just go talk to him was such a relief. He's also my favorite romance wise, even if he has less content (which makes sense since it only takes place in act 3), and also because it introduces polyamory to the game. They've added some lines and animation for him since my last playthrough, so I'm glad. And the epilogue party was great to have closure (except I couldn't hug Wyll, and he was the only one!). No matter how I felt about them at the beginning, they were all my friends by the end, and character development as well as the spectrum of choices you have, really makes BG3 the best game ever for me.
The fact that like 5 different people/groups are maybe able to cure the tadpole IN ACT 1 alone is insane XD Maybe Auntie Ethel can help with that, Maybe Nattie can, maybe Omeluum can bring this tadpole out or maybe the Druid Halsin. Or maybe the Githyanki in the Creche can pull it out. :D EDIT: If you spend 1/3 of your time in Act 2 --- you've done something wrong and missed like 90% of the whole game XD
tbf they had something similar in Divinity OS 2, you could get your collar removed super early on. Larian knows how to make big, highly detailed games.
@@ThePsycoNinja Thats kinda my problem with BG3. theres *too* much to do. In divinity, there were plentiful side objectives each act, true. But it wasnt like. 500hrs of content. I dont want 500hrs of content. I get super bored when theres *too* much to do.
Hit the nail right on the head. Not a damn thing felt like a chore, I just had a genuine love and interest that pushed me to explore everything on my own with no handholding. We're all adults, we dont need to be told when, where and how to do things
Another thing, that point you make at 54:00 about holding onto things because they might have a point drove me crazy on my first playthrough. Two examples. 1) There are several teddy bears in the game, and two of them are given proper names. I held onto all of them til the end. Why? Because in BG2 there’s a fetch quest where you have to help the ghost of a murdered child find rest by returning his damn teddy. 2) Rope. In BG2 and in Throne of Bhaal, there are two different moments where you have to have a length of rope on hand. Silly me; I thought I might need rope. Nope. Just like I didn’t need ink, quills, tongs, pots, pans, bottles, plates, etc. etc. etc.
The teddy bears are a clue to something. In act 3 anyway, but you don't know unless you do a side quest. Either way it gets resolved fairly quickly and doesn't have much in the way of consequence. There's also fork and spoon that's an easter egg, from earlier games, as to who the Emperor really is. Paintings that are references to other Larian games. And never underestimate things that you can throw.
You are not alone and I really enjoyed your analysis. I agree that BG3 is amazing on many levels and is a watershed in gaming as an art form. I have nearly 2000 hours in the game .. but I tell myself some of those hours I left the game running without me because my boss called. There are still lines and dialogues I have not heard and things I have not seen. Ive never played a game that much before in my nearly 50 years of computer gaming.
I am at 900 hours. Currently in an honour Mode attenpt and a tactical Multiplayer together with my son. Already deine 3 playthroughs with different Charakters Most played Game on Steam now. And still I find New Things and dialogues
I'm 30 years old, but it's interesting to share a similar sentiment with a 50-60 years old gamer. This game is indeed a milestone of what you can call an art form. There are many other RPGs, which may get the technical aspects better. But this game synthesizes all of the genre's legacy and gives to the player some of the most emotionally appealing and authentic experiences. A piece of media, which truly resonates with the soul. One of a kind.
I assume other's have already said this but I thought I'd leave the comment anyway. Regarding Shadowheart and her story, you mention how she flips her faith for seemingly no reason. There is a reason but it could be conveyed a bit better. The reason she is so easy to flip her faith is because of you, the player character. What Shadowheart decides to do in the important moments during Act 2 and Act 3 is based on on her approval of the player. If you have high approval she will pick the "good" options but if you don't, then she will do the bad options instead. This is even kinda conveyed in your dialogue with her when she constantly reminds you that she has never had someone like you and at moments she's unsure of her faith. Before she only had Shar and with her memories being suppressed, she had no alternative. Everyone she knew was always, a Stranger, Someone who hated her faith or a fellow cult member. Then you come along, accept her for what she is and slowly over time your non-Shar worshiping ways seep into her beliefs and actions. I 100% agree it could still be conveyed better in the game, but there was an attempt, even how subtle it was. Shadowheart is imo the best character and because of these decisions I felt deserved a few playthroughs, converting her to Selune or helping keep her shrouded in the path of Shar. It can be heart breaking seeing the outcomes knowing what the other path could've been.
A few people let me know that and its cool looking back on it now knowing why it happened that way! I love Shadowheart and the only person I can put above her is Lae'zel
@@NokayYT A point of clarification, the only downside to allowing Shadowheart's parents to live is that her Wound never heals and still occasionally hurts. She still freely worships Selune no matter which option you go with at that point.
an important thing to specifically laezel and shadowheart seeming to do a 180. shadowheart throughout the game is very much defying shar in different ways due to the relationship that she builds with the main character and the nail in the coffin is dame aylin saying the stuff about the wolves. shadowheart knows shars teachings and your relationship with her alone defies a massive part of the dogma. the fact she shared secrets, that shes built this very intimate bond with you, and even showing you to why shes with shar. all the little things add up and thats what let to the flip of imma not kill the nightsong. lae’zel is a warrior through and through. she cares for her people and culture and she also was a slave to the dogma spread by vlakkith. she is experiencing the most traumatizing moment in her life actively as we go throughout the game, her world is being flipped upside down by the tadpoles alone. then comes to her queen not being the goddess she claims to be but a parasite who feeds off her strongest warriors to ascend. lae’zel is experiencing all of this in a matter of weeks. so when she finally sees the truth fully to herself that orpheus is alive she knows completely that all she was taught were lies. to that i dont see her pledging to orpheus but to the freedom of her people and orpheus is the symbol for githyanki freedom. its the very small things that add up for those two a lot that lead to their decisions. thank you for coming to my ted talk
All incredible points that I hadnt considered. I knew they both were slightly leaning away from their faiths but I think the singular moment where they just dropped everything and joined the other team was a tad bit fast but what you say makes that make more sense to me!
@@NokayYT hey im glad! those two stories are my favorites due to my own personal experience. so im super fixated on it, and i thought the same way my first play through but my second one really opened my eyes with those two. especially when you romance lae’zel she also has her life flipped like that due to still having issues of her growing culture and she becomes such a softie for you. lae’zel’s story is my favorite in the game right next to twink vampire and goth/emo lady (also spontaneously changing her hair color in a time of crisis is way too relatable) a really amazing video and ill be curious to hear how you feel when it comes to second third and durge playthroughs
28:00 It's not that Karlach was written later. It's that she has been written intentionnaly to have a bitter sweet ending (Larian com about that) . But i agree it feels bad. Sadly no DLC will ever come to complete those aspect of the game and it can't stay in development for 10 - 15 more years to get all the additional choices we wish for.
the point about the emperor switches so fast is because all he did the whole game is for self-preservation the biggest clue is from the quest under wyrmrock prison, basically dude's priority is 1) stay alive 2) be free he's help you because if you succeed, he's free of the brain, but when you decided to free Orpheus he's as good as dead, so he sided with the brain instead btw you've earned a sub :)
That makes a lot more sense and something I must have missed about him. I felt as if he was still Balduran because of the way he acts but now realize that being a mind flayers changes much of the personality while keeping some of it. Thank you for subbing I look forward to seeing you in future videos, Cyberpunk is up next!
@@NokayYT in my first playthrough I felt the same way, I have no dnd knowledge prior to bg3 so I went with what feels right I thought he was still Balduran until Ansur's quest, he killed his best friend because he didn't want to die, that's very off-character from the great passionate adventurer we saw in his past, and also his voice recording in this same quest, he sounds honorable my understanding from all that is that mind flayers are like animals (I've heard that the canonical pronouns of them is 'it') with extreme intelligence but still mainly operate based on survival instinct, he's so fixated on not dying
There is also the fact that he effectively mind r@aped Duke Stelmane because he wanted a companion. He also only stopped when she had a stroke because of it and died. Mfucker is a sociopath.
Some of your criticism about how seemingly simple it was to kill the 3 baddies is likely because you aren't into D&D in a general sense. I say that because in D&D no matter how intricate the story of a bad guy, they are all ultimately designed for you the player to be able to deal with and defeat within a timely manner. The board game itself already takes a lot of time because there is so much backstory explaining by the DM and then switching between each player takes even more time, the last thing they need is a bad guy who can't be killed in 1 battle lol. So taking inspiration from the board game and turning it into a video game this is what you'll get. Bad guys who no matter how awesome they seem, can be killed in 1 round by you, just like in the board game.
i mean i would agree if the game didn't literally did just what you talked about with Kethric. I think he was executed alot better than Orin and Gortash especially. He has 1 battle with him atop Moonrise,and a 2-phase battle inside the colony,and i think he feels great as the final boss of act 2. Orin i feel like is less climactic but still cool since you kinda work your way to killing her through act 3. I think the only one who fumbles as a boss is Gortash who just kinda stands atop Wyrm's rock almost alone after you destroy the steel watch. Like,his battle barerly felt like a boss encounter with how little of interest he provided as a fight. Like ok sure the grenades are kinda fun but meh. Anyways,i think that they showed that they could make a few battles with the bosses they just kinda didn't with Gortash for some reason.
So that means D&D is not a good system for a video game. It’s a fair criticism, I personally can’t stand the mechanics of the game because of the things you describe.
@@modarnwarfare2rull To me, this is what I find the most realistic (as realistic as fantasy can be). The idea that bosses need to be like Elden Ring having all these phases is crazy, in real life it doesn't matter if a grizzly bear has an epic reputation of killing 100 humans in it's lifetime, super infamous and the locals are all in fear of it... yet a single 5.56 bullet and a well timed shot out of an AR15 can still 1 shot said grizzly bear regardless of it's reputation in the streets. That is realistic, just because I become an infamous sorcerer that strikes fear into the hearts of men shouldn't mean I can't still be killed by a lucky arrow with no enchantments on it if I'm caught off guard while taking a crap on the toilet or something..
I just beat the game for the first time so this is great timing! I feel lucky to have had an epilogue party because i found it really cool, could not imagine beating the game and not having it tbh. Can't wait for the next big update in September!! Also PLEASE keep Jaheira if you decide to play again. She made act 3 so much better for me story wise
I'm working on another playthrough where I should get the epilogue party so I'm excited about that! And I was so mad at the time when I got her killed and strongly consider loading another save but couldn't bring myself to save scrub 😂 I didnt even know she could be a party member until way after the fact and I was definitely butt hurt
I think she had wayyy more potential than she was given in this game. Put her in Ketherics shoes, where we meet her in act 2 instead, and I guarantee she flies up peoples rankings of characters! Great voice acting and writing for her
I'm sorry, but I'm in this camp: "It's too bad that happened to you. Truely. As of right now, however, you are an unrepentant monster. If I have pity it's for the hundreds you have murdered and the hundreds more that will perish should you continue to exist. You have but one last murder to witness, Orin. Your own."
Amen to that, I was more saying the individual endings of certain characters felt lackluster in general and some closure would have been nice with some of them
9:00 you are not alone in that sentiment, i never really like potion crafting but I do wish something like skyrim's weapon crafting could be implemented- ESPECIALLY for magic items. I loved being able to destroy weapons to learn their enchantments and make my own. Also, i totally agree on the face customization thing. It makes it SO hard if you want an androgenous character (especially an androgenous masc character. Ive had an easier time making masculine woman/fem characters but the issue is DEFINITELY still there with them too, but hey at least they get muscle and in either gender you can wear any clothes (i think).) You have pretty woman and chad man and nothing really in between. Like I appreciate the gender customization but can we PLEASE have sliders or something? Maybe the ability to customize eyes, chin, eyebrows, nose, mouth, ect. Separately? All the men are chads and i want a skinny femboy.
Crafting is always polarizing but I definitely agree with you! And for how in depth this game goes with everything, its really weird that customization seems to have got the short end of the stick
You can play as gale in the new patch and save karlach from hell if you went after the crown yourself and she is you romance partner.. or you can save her by making her open up to the white tadpole in act 3 and then when she sees orphios ( ik the spelling is wrong) she will suggest that she will become a mind flayer and survive the last cutscene
@@NokayYT yeah…hard to watch you complain about things in the video and then seeing you straight up not know things about the game. Most of your story complaints were your choices for that story that could have been entirely different.
Having Karlach become a mindflayer would be even worse than her death imo: Her personality and soul would be destroyed in the transformation. Only a mindflayer with Karlach's memories would remain.
I went back to Skyrim as I do every few years the other day. Modded, it can really look great, but when completing the quests, I found the quest options, especially in character conversation, incredibly linear. I tried to make my character evil, but even when completing what you would assume to be 'darker' quests gives you honourable replies. It's like a good guy attempting to do the bad thing because it sounds cool. BG3 has revolutionised what I think the freedom of an RPG should entail.
Skyrim was great for its time but BG3 is the evolution of the genre and should be a shining light on what's possible when you respect and care about the people playing the game!
Oh, and I just read your pinned comment: congratulations on your first video, dude! Hope everything works well for You. The video itself was very enjoyable
Just adding to the Karlach point, I don't think you could keep her in the House of Hope. The moment Rapheal dies in Hell, he becomes a lemur. That means the property will likely get taken by someone else more powerful, despite hope. There are some mighty powerful individuals in the hells like Asmodeus (who probably wouldn't get involved) and Zariel that could absolutely destroy/reclaim Hope. I don't believe freeing Hope will last soon after you leave.
I've read that crafting was scrapped before early release, but that's why there's gems & stuff everywhere. Rope also had uses, and the infernal iron you find in act 3 was intended for Karlach's story. I look forward to an update when you romance Astarion & keep him in your party all of act 2, and go to the epilogue party. You can reload your first game just before you blow up the brain to go to that epilogue party. Because of his specific trauma & story, some things only come out for Astarion if you romance him. I think more of your questions can be answered by reading *everything*. After your first playthrough, its neat to read things and pick up on the foreshadowing or find clues you could have followed instead. Lae'zels romance is my second favorite (after Astarion). Having similar trauma, going from fanaticism to fanaticism isn't uncommon. do you know about Karlach's ending where she gets to stay (kind of)? Keep her in your party when you go to free Orpheus. At 1500 hrs, I'm getting down to testing story variations and I'm STILL finding new things hidden away in corners. I can feel the hyperfixation winding down, but there's still years of replayability in this for me. Best $60 i ever spent.
Crafting is also polarizing so I wonder if they just figured itd be better without it even though I wouldve liked it. And I think I definitely missed some stuff in my first playthrough which suck but I am definitely gonna be working through all of that in future play! And I agree, this game is worth every cent and honestly they couldve charged so much more and I would pay for it but I am glad they kept it there
The reason mister braineater here destroys the city is because he isn't balduran. He is the mind flayer born from Balduran. It no longer feels like he does. The player turning is an exception because old man withers is defending his soul or something
Talking about the side quests; you mentioned how its not like other games where you're just clearing out your quest journal. In BG3, I almost never look at my quest journal, except when I first load up after awhile to remind myself where I was and what I was doing. Which is all it's supposed to be. When you're in game, the only reminders you need are the interactions you're having. It's fantastic.
I loved my interactions with Astarion as a Retribution Paladin. Like as I heard him talk about his master I was like: "nah, I am not just gonna help you, my vow is literally to hunt down those wretched, I am going out of my way to kill that Cazador to my last breath". And Astarion was like: "alright, cool, that seems like a reason to stick to you". He disliked pretty much all of my good boy choices, but he loved when I moved out of my way to punish and be overly aggresive to any evil people. At the time of the Cazador's resolution I was like "That's it, you are free now, you don't have to be afraid or follow any orders anymore" and he was like "nah, I am gonna finish this unholy ritual for my self". At that point, I clearly stated "I have support you all this time but if you are gonna become the next Cazador I am gonna hunt you down here and now". Like I LOVED that set up so much, is such a grand finale for a Ret Paladin and a Vampire Rogue redemption arc. Sadly, he got mad and left the party forever and I am not allowing that (he was wearing like 20 hours of grinding worth of equipment, lol), so I had to reload and try the other approach of being a bit nicer and tell him that he is better than that and that he is free now, and can start anew a be a good person, starting by freeing his Vampire's slave companions. And he seemed so happy with that choice, such a constrast with just a single line of difference, it is amazing. I would had loved to have a choice of smite him down to go back to his senses though.
As the others have said, for this being the first video it's absolutely amazing and SO good. You're going to grow a lot, especially with how good your quality already seems.
36:49 This is exactly what makes Fallout New Vegas so good as well. Theres a failsafe for any decision you might want to make, but not a failsafe that removes consequences. You can work with the legion and betray them quite literally whenever you want, you can work with the ncr or mister house or anybody and betray them whenever you want. The only person the game doesnt let you betray is yourself.
There was a great video that proposed swapping act 2 and 3. If you shove some of the endgame stuff into the shadow land but still introduce Orin & Gortash in Baldur's gate, have them evade you until the shadow land (now act 3) and potentially have all three chosen into Netherbrain as a final encounter or Ketheric into Netherbrain. Ketheric is 100x more interesting than Orin AND Gortash IMO
100% agree that would be sick. I wish they included the upper city at the very least and fleshed out Orin and Gortash. I think Orin especially had a ton of potential to be a great villian and then you see her a couple times and then meet to take her out. It was all just so rushed at the end
Man this is a really good video, it's really wild that this is your first video!! Excited for the Cyberpunk video! :0) also: BAE'ZEL ENJOYERS RISE UP!!!!!
The facial animations might not be perfect, but at least they convey some emotion, unless basically all Bethesda games, where it feels like they are made out of wood
Honestly, Minthara is my favorite companion. She has so much to her character that she very well could've been an origin character in an evil playthrough. Hell, you can get her in a non-evil playthrough by knocking her out now, and she'll ridicule you to high hell lmao
I'm actually working on a second playthrough where I am getting her as a companion on a good playthrough so I'm excited to finally see what all the hype is about!
My favorite quest was when you had to defend Halsins portal. I died so many times on tactician and had to redo it so many times lol. Also I love playing act 1 as a Druid cause there’s sooooo much unique Druid dialogue. I think my next playthrough will be either gnome wizard or possibly a half orc
Yoo this video is soo good! But for Karlack death and House of Hope - she says it herself that she does not believe that it will be safe out there and even calls Hope delusional for trying. She hates it there and hates avernus, the only way for her to be there is to go with someone who will make it with for her. She still will be hunted till the rest of her day there but at least she will has us to make it less miserable. In some way she does not have a good ending and I guess that's just a harsh reality of that world. When you sell your soul to the demon you do not gain anything :(
But she didn’t sell her soul! She was sold by her employer (whom she clearly had a crush on). As the soul coins stories make clear: some are truly innocent!
Here is my own two cents, regarding the whole "Lae'Zel abandons Vlaakith and immediatly throws herself to Orpheus" thing. Premise: she was my chosen romance option for my first playthrough, so like you regarding Shadowheart I might be coming from a place of bias. With the prefice out of the way: to me it kinda Made complete sense, for the simple reason that My though process was "Well... She lived her entire life blindly devoted to someone else. Now that she found out that the person she was devoting herself to, never had her interest in mind, she still has difficulty escaping the mindset of utter devotion". The game sorta "proved" me right when (as my romance) she chose to NOT go with Orpheus, NOT devote herself again to someone else's cause as a mindless soldier, but instead chose a life of peace in persuit of her own happiness. If it wasn't clear, yeah: I'm on the "Lae'Zel storyline is even better if you romance her" camp 😂 Now for My second playthrough I'm playing Durge, and I plan to romance Astarion, another favorite character of mine as prickly and asshole as he was
I can agree about the ending to a degree. I could write a several page essay on what the options should have been, but tldr there should have been more persuasion/skill checks to influence the outcome, along with other smaller things during the game that should have influenced the other characters' opinion of you. That said, I was lucky that I still got a good ending, but I can imagine that not every player would have been as fortunate.
You had me checking your channel cause I did not believe this was your first video. The sound mixing with your voice and the music is so good, so's the editing! Keep up brother, +1 sub
I also love video essays and similar long form content like this! I love the video and you definitely earned my sub! I also love baldurs gate 3 and think a lot of your critiques were well-founded. I'm in the same boat as you in a lot of regards, like missing the githyanki chreche in my first playthrough. The one place we disagree is Act 3. I think act 3 has some of the most diverse and satisfying content in the game, especially with all the hundreds of nooks and crannies you can explore, as well as how all the storylines work together and eventually finish up. One of my favorite examples of this is Wyll's story and the worshipers of Umberlee. I was totally going to help the worshipers of Umberlee, but then I found out that in order to save Wyll's father, you need the submarine, so you cant't help the worshipers. This was a really cool interaction and was one of the events that engrained the game solidly in my top 3 of all time. Nonetheless, I love the video and look forward to any new ones you make. Thanks for an hour of enjoyment!
I appreciate the kind words! I'm also with you on loving most of act 3 I just think a lot of issues also pop up along side those great pieces. Weirdly enough act 3 was where I realized this is my favorite game ever but also where I had the most problems
You *CAN* do both. Use the submarine and then hand over the captain to the umberlee afterwards. It’s a shit move to the captain (bc you know that they are going to kill him and he’s begging for his life) but my paladin did it and it didn’t break her oath. However, the Umberlee didn’t do much in the final battle-so (2nd run) as resistant durge, I agreed to help Umberlee but then decided *NOT* to turn over the captain. He gives me gold and says that he’ll be in the final battle. I’ll see how he does
I disagree about the open endings. I feel making them too definitive restricts the player's imagination about how things could develop in the future and how the player character would handle everything. In a game that is so much about free choice I feel it wouldn't fit properly to basically dictate what happens after. Also, Astarion does have some plot development in the second act if you have him along at specific points. It's less easy to miss if you're romancing him.
I definitely agree and I probably didnt make it clear enough in my video. I like the open ended stuff but for me there was just too much of it left to imagination. I feel like some closure on certain stories would help and in this case it just felt like it put the burden on the player to imagine what happened with almost everything. But I mostly agree with you and respect your opinion!
@NokayYT I think it comes down to taste. I like the idea of seeing only a small piece of a vast world and history, and I find it exciting when some things remain a mystery. But I didn't mean to invalidate your opinion, only add my own :)
@@paperbird9817 No worries at all I definitely see your POV! Elder Scrolls for instance I love the mystery of the Dwemer and Snow Elves and would rather it stay that way!
@@NokayYTI think it's also a reflection of actual D&D play. When you finish a long campaign, assuming you survive, it often ends with "character A is going to sea with these old friends of his we saved, characters B and C are founding a city, character D is returning to his homeland to do a thing, maybe we see them again one day if the world is in crisis..." epilogue. About the only way a D&D character gets true closure is if they don't finish the campaign alive lol
Thing is, there IS a crafting element, both the adamantine and the blacksmith forge under the blighted village are there, and while I get what you're saying, I dont think making leather armors and iron shortswords would add much to the game- if you are looking for crafting make potions or the previously mentioned ways
I see your POV but I mean more maybe along the lines of enchanting or a simplified crafting system where you can make some stuff, but dont bloat it with BS. It comes more down to preference though
If you decide to follow up similar games, playing Divinity Original Sin, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment and the older Baldur's Gate games should scratch a similar itch as BG3. Yeah, they are far older, so it also means worse graphics, but outside of it, they are as plot-rich as BG3.
I agree completely about act 2. Would have been cool if you lift the curse, but that lets the absolute's army flood the area and the boss fight is much harder
Very good video. I have over 2,000 hours into this game. I was a bit addicted :) Astarion actually does have some interesting quest info and lore in act 2. When you meet Raphael outside the mausoleum. The things you do in there determine some of what happens with him next.
25:00 so uh... did you skip the part of the fight where you had to kill the red dragon, dream guardians, and the mind flayers, all under a timer while having to keep mind flayer alive or did you skip that somehow?
My gripe was more with the fight with the brain itself. I said in the video that the dragon fight was way more fun than the brain which is meant to be the conclusion to the entire saga with the illithids. It just felt underwhelming to me
Thing is with Balduran is that he’s an opportunist and just wants power. He is looking for the best route to becoming stronger. He wanted to use you as he’s used everyone else around him to get more power but when you refused he switched to playing the other side until he could get a foothold. Valid criticism of the final fight but I also feel like it makes sense. The brain cannot fight for itself and it relies on control and command in order to get what it needs. So once you penetrate the hard outer shell the fleshy inner core is soft and weak. Idk that’s how I thought of it at least.
Good job on the video. BG3 is unquestionably a masterpiece and you summed up why in a no bullsh*t way without pandering. I'll definately check out more of your uploads.
I appreciate that! I try to be unbiased and always point out bad and good so people and maybe even developers can see that and use it to help, even if its a small thing
This was really fun to watch! It sounds like you missed a lot of Act 1 and 2 interactions with Astarion that expand on his storyline, like running into a monster hunter who is hunting him in act 1 and him making a deal with Rafael in act 2. I romanced Shadowheart on my first playthrough and Astarion on my second. It opened up even more more information and allows you to see a more sincere side of Astarion as he grows to trust you and drop the mask he wears to protect himself. That is the awesome thing about this game. I admit I missed a lot on my first play-through and still find things for the first time, even though I have over 600 hours and three and a half play-throughs. After my first play-through, I knew BG3 was going to be my new Skyrim which I still go back and replay occasionally. Thanks for posting this! Also, I would love to see your tier list once you have played through again to see if anything changes.
I'm tired of earing about how the game changed because of "time restraints". Most of the things that were "removed" were decided years before release. Doing the upper city? They decided 3 years before release to not included it due to how bloated act 3 was going to be. The only time constraints we can see here is them deciding what was fun and what they wanted to include in the game. So unless we assume that they are lying, the only thing they cut short was some bug testing, some Minthara story bits and the epilogue. Really good video tho! This is just my sentiment of hearing this from a lot of people lol.
That makes sense. I was more going off what seemed to be the public consensus that time constraints messed some things up but I'm thats only true in some cases
I totally agree with most things said in this video. I'm also going through a second playthrough and trying to find all the little things I missed or try to solve them in a different way. I can see how the points in this video are some downsides but with official moding support in it's way this year, this beautiful game will live on for years to come
it's not immediately obvious but the Baldur that created Baldur's gate and the Baldur that became a mind flayer are not the same person, in that ever since becoming a mind flayer his personality and values changed to become... well more mind flayer like. Him choosing to betray you at the end lines up perfectly with who he is now because it's made obvious after several interactions that his main priority is self-preservation and if you side with the githyanki, he is essentially guaranteed to die whether you win or lose. If you win, the Githyanki will kill him, if you lose the Absolute will kill him, at least if he sides with the absolute and wins he'll stay alive even under control and possibly find a way to escape again even if it takes a long time, very logical and mind flayer-like.
I’ve got about 980 hours into this game. The re-playability is insane. Not to mention the hours I’ve spent looking and getting mods to change the experience even more. I’ve never been a big turn base player. Loathed click to move. This game is just next level. I can’t wait to see the future games they put out.
i think alot of the criticism is valid. I found myself anting more in certain parts of act 2 and more of act 3 in general. I did feel like most of the big fight were somewhat underwhelming except raphael and ketheric. I found myself wanting more even though my first playthrough was 300 hours. That shows how good the game is.
My thoughts exactly man. They could've done so much with Orin and Gortash if they had the same approach as act 1 but it seems like they phoned it in just a bit. But still my favorite game of all time even with that being said
Very clean video, great commentary. When I found out I missed Minthara bc of being “no witnesses” murder happy made me cry 😂 it’s not perfect but it’s a real treat to play
Well if this is your first video you did a pretty good job 👏 I agree with a lot of your points, especially your labeling BG3 a flawed masterpiece because it is. The quality in Acts 2 then 3 falls away and it's obvious that Larian ran out of steam and time before they released the game but boy... they still created something incredible. You really have missed a hell of a lot and seeing that this video is only 2 weeks old, I really wonder why you missed all the updates that include the epilog party that wrapped up a lot of the storylines? For me, it's Karlach and Minthara who are the most interesting romance options. Minty is probably the one who you can guide the most or simply let herself be herself, which is evil but oh so amazing. Karlach is just lovely and you're absolutely right in that she should have been able to go to the house of hope after the final battle if you've killed Raphael. I was truly hoping that Larian would have patched the game further, including the upper city and reworking endings like Karlach's, even including a DLC but Hasbro shat the bed by being a pack of greedy souless cnuts which pissed off Swen Vincke so he said "fuck you" and walked. And that means no more really good content for BG3. It's done. We're never going to see anything like it again. Sure they'll make a new game and it's got a real shot at being something special but nothing will ever take the crown from BG3. It's achieved something incredible despite the flaws. Play it again and get some mods which fix some of the issues like adding in more customization for character faces etc. I am hoping that the modding community will be able to take BG3 and add more to it. Anyway, well done for this video
I appreciate all the kind words! And I agree with all of what you said, Swen Vincke is a gangster, I love how much he seems to love making these games and from this point on will always support Larian. I plan on playing again for sure, I've just been playing other games at the moment to make videos on which is taking most of my time now!
@@NokayYT You’re welcome. Totally get that you need to branch out and cover different games for further content as it's probably the best way to grow your channel. An idea for you would be to play the original BG games as a comparison. BG1 is good but it's BG2 that truly shines. You can see how much influence this game had in the entire industry once you play it. Anyway, all the best for the future
I really appreciate it! I've always thought about making videos but it never felt like something I could do until Baldurs Gate 3 made me feel like I wanted to just talk about it at length
Its massive but also where things start to go off the rails in a few ways so its a weird thing for me where I absolutely love it, but also have the most problems with it
40:42 no, the alternative to the parents dying in Shadowheart's "good" (white hair) route is just always having that wound on her hand. That's it. From a utilitarian stance, that means she'll still have it long after her parents are dead but like... girl never really got to know her parents.
I'm glad you like the turn-based mechanics. It's truly an ambassador game for the entire genre as crpgs like this have been fostering this type of combat with RTWP for a very long time. Highly recommend Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous if you like the aggressive chess-like combat. A lot of crpgs are essentially just advanced puzzle games with stats and dice rolls.
It was my number 1 turn off coming into playing the game. I am pretty diverse in what I like but turn based seemed boring just as a concept. Boy was I wrong because I ended up loving it and having to think through all my moves and think multiple steps ahead. I was very shocked at how much fun I had with it since I almost didn't play this because of it!
42:35 i mean... There's also the "problem" of the 7007 souls you doom in ascension, so it's not just power that goes to his head as much as guilt he'd never admit to
I assume the sex harassment came before they patched in a dial back. I find it hard except for wyll and gale to get romances with some of the party members to activate karlach especially.
Nice, same shoes - I took Starfield as the reason to do a major PC upgrade, to take advantage of the AMD Starfield bundle. What I played all year was BG3 while Starfield was the biggest disappointment and just lasted 2 days until I've had enough of it. Also, while BG3 might not cure cancer, it cured my hate for turnbased combat. Turnbased was the reason I didn't want to play it at all and pretty much ignored it. I love cRPGs and D&D but only played games like Neverwinter Nights etc. with real time combat, all the turnbased games I tried frustrated me and took me out of the story flow. When I heard BG3 was made by Larian I was just frustrated, so stopped looking further. Then an old friend convinced me to join a 4 player coop group to play it, so I bought it early, thinking coop might be ok when I don't have to manage a whole party, and just not to be an annoyance for the others as a newb, started playing alone to get warm with the game mechanics. And couldn't stop anymore. Best game of the decade, maybe best RPG I ever played.
I wish I could put the spiderman meme in the comments because I echo every statement you made here! I got my first PC for starfield and got the AMD bundle, and ended up falling in love with BG3 in the process and now its my favorite game of all time!
@@NokayYT As for the video, I'm not completely done with it yet, but I hope you played the extended endings in the meantime, most if not all your criticism of the finale should be adressed there. I also agree with the end fight, not only is the brain fight extremely stupid, you can also mostly run past the whole fight before that, so yes, pretty stupid - as was Balduran's decision to switch sides. Karlach I think... I'm gonna make no friends here and it hurts to say it out loud, but for the sake of the story she should've died there. No other solution, no happy end. I adore Karlach, her acting was absolutely brilliant too, but that there's an easy way out really ruins the drama and makes her more of a drama queen. It would've been such a bittersweet ending, all the time she and we all knew she was going to die and there's no way out of it, and in the end we have to say goodbye but she's made peace with it. What a tearjerker. But instead there's an easy solution (although your suggestion is even better), you don't even have to leave Shadowheart and go with her yourself because Wyll will, and everyone's happy. I don't know, that's what you usually expect - an Happy End, and not doing it would've been such a brave and impactful move from Larian, a missed opportunity to tell a really mature story.
@@chrissoclone Karlach was a weird situation because I do like the idea of larian not being afraid to kill off characters but her situation is written in a way where it feels pretty simple to write a better ending thats happy since Avernus is always an option. And my suggestion is that she lives in the House of Hope and stays there forever and we have the ability to visit, or theres a world where eventually you can find a cure. Not against a more somber ending but this one feels like theres too many easy ways to solve her issue. Maybe the writing wouldve needed to change to make a difference in that
@@NokayYT Yeah sure, since there are easy ways out everyone would use them, and there are. I didn't even think of the House of Hope - but I think it would've been a stronger end if there wasn't. Anyway, great first video with really good production quality too, no need to hide. I agree 100% on the companion tier list, plus: Jaheira I like very much - A, Minsc is more a running joke and maybe a B-, Minthara is... phew, I have her on my current run and like her, but didn't see too much. Maybe A too. Note you can get her too when siding with the Grove. No S because none of them have such a strong personal quest as the mains). Looking forward to your Cyberpunk video, another really great game that left a huge impact on me, but secretely I was hoping for a 1 hour Starfield rant. :D
@@chrissoclone I'm working on a second playthrough so I'll get all three of them and see how I like them! And I'm glad you are looking forward to Cyberpunk, the video is ready to go and I think its much better than this one so I hope you like it. And a Starfield rant is likely going to happen at some point because what a disappointment that was as a massive Bethesda fan. Elder Scrolls 6 is not looking too hot if this is their standard
got baulders gate cause my friends love it. got bored after i got off the ship. played with friends we all died. haven’t touched it in a few weeks. this video made me wanna play again lol
I appreciate it! I definitely know what you mean, I wasn't in love with it at the beginning either but once you realize how much freedom you have and how great the characters are, it changes everything. Highly recommend giving it another shot!
Hell no I don’t want a crafting system. There’s too much stuff as it is, the world is already huge and I already feel like I’m missing stuff. If I had to worry about finding certain items to craft the best gear on top of that I’d be so annoyed. I’m really glad they only added crafting potions/elixirs. Also this game is already like 140gb so the fact that you want more and bigger in some places is kind of crazy. I think you are forgetting real people had to make this game with all the thousands of possibilities that already exist in it. If there isn’t enough in it for you, I think the problem is you and your expectations and not the game. Base your expectations in reality. And the stuff with Balduran does make sense. He doesn’t care about the city, he cares about power. He wants to kill you and take the stones so he can control the brain. He doesn’t have feelings or morals, he’s a mind flayer. He’s simply trying to stop you from killing the brain so that he can control it. That’s as far as I’m gonna watch. Your criticisms feel half like they’re coming from a place of fantasy where money, time and effort aren’t constraints on a game, and half from a place of not paying that much attention to the game you’re playing. All this from someone who loves Bethesda games is crazy.
Yeah you're probably right on the crafting system but I do feel like there was no point to include a lot of the random items if there is nothing to with them. For some reason I've always loved crafting stuff but now that you say it I agree it probably would a pain if added. And I am definitely nitpicking when saying that I wanted the upper city to be included but I think my issue was mostly with the fact that it was there, within reach and you could never see what it was like so it was a let down at the end realizing that you couldn't go there. I definitely didnt consider the size of the game already so you definitely have a point there but I would say that I would be fine if some stuff was downsized to make room for parts of the upper city. Just my two cents but I respect your opinion and you make some good points that I didnt consider!
Having played BG1 (and especially) BG2 as well as Neverwinter Nights 1 (and especially) 2, it’s more of a surprise how many characters get a somewhat happy ending. I still vividly remember the horror of finding what BG2 throws at you in Irenicus‘ laboratory as a warm welcome to the game. I 100% expected Astarion to turn on me at any time of BG3, too, because of some of those sinister companion plot lines I remembered from the past.
It being my favorite game ever I figured would be a bit weird since its new and people love to talk about recency bias. It also wasnt mean to be a hot take, just something I thought people would think is a bit soon to call. And also I have had a few people comment that this game is overhyped which I think we all can admit is insane
Crafting was originally planned to be in the game during development, but they decided to remove it as it was low priority to everything else. That is why you may find so many useless items that are only good for selling, an example are gems which were probably going to be used in a crafting system.
I'm a bit confused, is this a dig at me? If so that fine if you disagree with me, but did you watch the video? I had zero experience with D&D and little to non with point and click, turn based combat so I wasn't sure what to expect and was hesitant because of my ignorance. I ended up playing BG3 and loving the combat and movement systems and everything else about the game, hence why I've put over 300 hours into the game and made an hour long video on it. I guess I'm not sure what you're getting at with this comment but either way you are entitled to your opinion so all respect here. Side note, I was born in 2001
@@NokayYT TBH, I watched like 5 minutes of it and got annoyed when you started trying to explain the 'R' in RPGs (to someone who has played many CRPGs). I think I judged you too quickly, and I'm sorry about that. You are just sharing your experience. You are welcome to delete the comment if you wish. :)
Act I is a highly engaging master piece, but the game goes down hill from this point on. When I reached Rivington on Act III, I stopped playing for two months or so, then came back to finish it later. Act III has so many cut content it hurts. I also agree about the lack of character customization, it sucks. I'd expect at least CP2077 levels of customization for this game.
I'm a completionist, so the level 20 mod is great. No single class on your characters can be more than 12, but you can multiclass as needed. You can get to 14th level pretty easily with normal play.
I will say that whoever you romance, you are going to end up liking a lot more no matter what because romancing them ends up giving you a lot more character development overall. Also, if you do a dark urge run, the supposed best romance is Astarion for durge. It's worth it
Great Video, try some of the classic isometrics like BG1, BG2 and planescape torment, as well as some of the renaissance era games like Disco Elysium and Tyanny The older games have weird rules but you can get your head around it and they are absolutely fantastic
I've never made a piece of content in my life so this was really big for me. If you watched and enjoyed, I appreciate it more than you know! If nobody sees this, I could probably say something controversial right now but I'll pass
This is a good video 👍🏼 you earned a sub
@@Illuniara That means a lot to me, Thank you so much!
Top notch. Subbed
@@gregorshepherd3561 Top notch comment! Thank you so much
Well. Done!
Romancing a companion totally influences how you see them I think. There’s so many extra cute scenes with all of them
100% Shadowheart definitely gets a boost from me and now on a second play, Lae'zel was already my favorite and I am liking her even more!
@@NokayYT mood. I was ambivalent towards astarion (and thought he was slightly annoying) until my dark urge romanced him. Now he’s MY problematic annoying drama queen of a vampire and no one can take him away from me.
Makes it harder to discover the rest.
I seem to just pick Gale on replays because I wanna go on boat ride among the stars.
Didn't like Lae'zel much. Got her romance in my multiplayer run with a friend and Jesus Christ, she shot up to best girl instantly in Act 2.
the companions that arent good aligned have even 2 whole personalities, depending on Tav being good or evil aligned.
The side quests really are something else in this game. They're not just out in a void, they tie into other quests in interesting ways. Save a guy from a windmill in act 1>find out the guy belongs to one half of a gnomish blood-fued>other half of the blood-fued is enslaved in the steel foundry, which gives you another reason to resolve Gortash's steel watch quest. Some dipshit wizard is hiring mercenaries to look for a powerful artifact in act 1>artifact is an character with ties to Shadowheart and Ketheric in act 2>meet dipshit wizard in act 3, whose tower ties into Gale and Aylin and Rolan's quests. It's all so tangled and busy in ways that other RPG's just aren't.
If you're looking for an RPG that has as much, if not more reactivity than BG3, I'd recommend Roadwarden. If you're looking for a game that rewards player curiosity, Outer Wilds by Mobius Digital is head and shoulders the best I've ever played. Neither of these games have voice acting though, so be prepared to read a fair bit
You hit the nail on the head with this comment. Side content in this game is beyond special and gives it so much life and variety. I dont think theres a single game that I've played that compares to this one in that sense! Larian is just a different breed
Outer wilds is such a strong contender for people who enjoyed the way this game rewarded curiosity. Couldn’t recommend more.
@@AraJade I just finish Outer Wilds the other day and I'm gonna start working on a video for it asap! I have some opinions on it both good and bad so I'm excited to express that and see what people think!
Man I wasn’t paying attention and pulled the wrong lever. launched him off the wind mill and ended him 😂
My friend got me this game back when it first came out in early access and I remember telling him it's top down I'm not going to enjoy it. He told me "don't be a bitch just play it". I have 1000 pulse hours on it now. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a game as much as I did this one.
I keep trying to get my best friend to try it but hes too damn stubborn. I know he'd love it the same way you do but I calling him a bitch hasnt worked 😂
Normalize calling our CoD addicted friends bitches
you weren't a bitch and played it... respect.
The production value and quality is actually insane on this video for it being anyone's first, well done
I watch an unhealthy amount of video essays so I guess that might have helped 😂 A lot of effort went into it so I really appreciate the kind words and hope you have a great rest of you're day!
For a while I agreed with you on Balduran’s random turn if you choose to free Orpheus. But after doing different playthroughs you sort of notice that Balduran(in the game) only cares about self preservation. Every action he takes since becoming a mindflayer has been about making sure he is always on top. I mean he killed his best friend and doesn’t seem to feel bad about it. The turn could’ve been handled better for sure but I feel like it makes sense if you really read in between the lines of what he tells you
There are perception checks in scenes with him that hint he doesn’t actually care about you. Specifically if you don’t romance him when you get to Elfsong and you succeed a check your character notices how easily he moves on from you.
On top of all that there are multiple books and people in the game that tell you that mindflayers are not the humanoid they were before they went through ceremorphosis. They lose their soul, and their nature is to treat people around them like puppets
Also if you consistently choose to not trust him, he will tell it to you straight: that he thinks of you as his thrall, no more than a puppet to allow him to be free.
The emperor never really cared about you, just himself
when the emperor romances you and you call him a freak he will also reveal his true motives all along as well as his intentions with you as a means to an end. That made my decision to betray him so easy and it didn't feel like a twist when he joined the brain
To be honest the main problem with the Balduran is that he shouldn't even be there at all in the first place...
@mazerumaze I never played the first two, so maybe you're right, but I feel like having someone so mythologized in the world itself fall so far because they *accepted* being and becoming illithid when ansur was very shockingly in the right. Balduran is a legendary hero and illithid "potential" did this to him, Maybe he shouldn't, maybe he should have been here but to me it makes some sense to have someone established like that fall like he did
The best thing about Baldurs Gate 3 that most games cant say, is the fact that even when something is missing we *GENUINELY* want more because of how good it is. Not just for the fact that it is unfinished. We want to play more of this game and spend more time with it. So sad that there will be no DLC's.
It sucks even more because it seems like its a hasboro problem thats the reason they arent going to expand the game at all besides updates! Its just a special game
@@NokayYT Sadly the CEO makes it seem heavily like its their own choice, but we all know how WOTC and Hasboro play.
@@halfdrankdrpprA DLC wouldn’t really work for a game like BG3 IMO.
I'm actually so shocked this is your first video. so well made
That means a lot to me! Way too much time and google searches went into it so I'm glad you liked it!
I didn't even notice this isn't some big youtuber till I saw you comment :O
@@katarinalapoo4416 I appreciate that, I'm glad you liked it, that means a lot!
omg that's a first video!?
@@ennaa2577 It sure is!
Wow, amazing for a first video! Just wanna point out when rating Astarion's character - he doesnt have much content until Act 3 *unless* you have him in your party. There's a lot to easily miss with him (necromancy book, gur hunter, the drow in Moonrise Towers, meeting Raphael and asking about his scars...) All those things are easily missed if astarions not in the party, which is a shame, but also kind of a cool thing to discover extra bits of lore depending on who is in party
I definitely agree with that, he was definitely a victim of not spending enough time in my party which sucks but I will make that right in my second play! And thank you for the kind words!
Bg3 literally ruins my sleep schedule...
1 more sidequest, 1 more level, 1 more long rest, 1 more battle, 1 more playtrough for this goofy ahh build i think of...
Shits just keep going. Damn it Larian.
Its just a great game so it makes sense!
@@NokayYT indeed, It is fair.
Only 300 hours? Get on my level, I have over 1,200 hours! ...I know, I have no life...
If it wasn't for work I'd be up there too so respect! 😂
I have over 1000 hrs too. I have 4 separate games going.
You have 1200 hours in the game because you have many lives.
I have no clue how many hours I have in the game. I realized I was approaching 600 hours one day but then the next time I checked I it was only at like 530 and thought I missed remembered then I got to like 580 and then it went back down somehow and I realized Steam just wasn’t tracking and actively messing up my play time. I feel like I have 1000+ hours in the game but idk.
Let me guess still in act 1
Wait, the House of Hope callout for Karlach is so good. Great first video!
I appreciate it! I love Karlach so any way to give her a better ending for me is preferred!
After one of the new ending scenes happened I don’t think that’s an option anymore.
It wasn't an option for karlack to go to the house of hope as when she went to "hell" she would be taken by zar something
Great video!
Some extra comments from my perspective: Astarion's storyline was so powerful and I cried just as if I were watching a movie. Also here had an evil alignment, so what do you expect with his approval, haha! He does care about kids and animals to an extent, and here has reasons for being the way he is, just like every character, which is so well done. I cried when Lae said goodbye. Karlach's story is super emotional too. None of the companions gets a straight up happy ending, even when you make the "good" choices, because life is complicated, and we all have hurt and trauma, but we can find hope, friendship and love.
About Halsin: he's also a late addition, so don't judge his lack of story or dialogue. He of course has more if you romance him, but beyond that he's such a breath of fresh air because he's by far the most emotionally mature of the bunch 😂 He's really kind, patient and feels like a safe space in the storm. Particularly when I was stressed in act 3 with all the difficult fights and decisions, to just go talk to him was such a relief. He's also my favorite romance wise, even if he has less content (which makes sense since it only takes place in act 3), and also because it introduces polyamory to the game.
They've added some lines and animation for him since my last playthrough, so I'm glad. And the epilogue party was great to have closure (except I couldn't hug Wyll, and he was the only one!). No matter how I felt about them at the beginning, they were all my friends by the end, and character development as well as the spectrum of choices you have, really makes BG3 the best game ever for me.
The fact that like 5 different people/groups are maybe able to cure the tadpole IN ACT 1 alone is insane XD
Maybe Auntie Ethel can help with that, Maybe Nattie can, maybe Omeluum can bring this tadpole out or maybe the Druid Halsin. Or maybe the Githyanki in the Creche can pull it out. :D
EDIT: If you spend 1/3 of your time in Act 2 --- you've done something wrong and missed like 90% of the whole game XD
They put so much effort in this game its crazy I cant help but appreciate the amount of options they give you!
tbf they had something similar in Divinity OS 2, you could get your collar removed super early on. Larian knows how to make big, highly detailed games.
I have no idea where I'm at or what act I'm in because there's so much to do
@@ThePsycoNinja Thats kinda my problem with BG3. theres *too* much to do. In divinity, there were plentiful side objectives each act, true. But it wasnt like. 500hrs of content. I dont want 500hrs of content. I get super bored when theres *too* much to do.
Larian does not need to force-steer the gamers to the good content, because the game has so much of it.
Hit the nail right on the head. Not a damn thing felt like a chore, I just had a genuine love and interest that pushed me to explore everything on my own with no handholding. We're all adults, we dont need to be told when, where and how to do things
It's more that they knew they had to avoid "railroading", the #1 complaint in tabletop D&D
Another thing, that point you make at 54:00 about holding onto things because they might have a point drove me crazy on my first playthrough. Two examples. 1) There are several teddy bears in the game, and two of them are given proper names. I held onto all of them til the end. Why? Because in BG2 there’s a fetch quest where you have to help the ghost of a murdered child find rest by returning his damn teddy. 2) Rope. In BG2 and in Throne of Bhaal, there are two different moments where you have to have a length of rope on hand. Silly me; I thought I might need rope. Nope. Just like I didn’t need ink, quills, tongs, pots, pans, bottles, plates, etc. etc. etc.
My biggest fear was being in a situation where I didnt have an item I need to uncover something cool, so to combat that I grabbed one of everything 😂
The teddy bears are a clue to something. In act 3 anyway, but you don't know unless you do a side quest. Either way it gets resolved fairly quickly and doesn't have much in the way of consequence.
There's also fork and spoon that's an easter egg, from earlier games, as to who the Emperor really is. Paintings that are references to other Larian games.
And never underestimate things that you can throw.
You are not alone and I really enjoyed your analysis. I agree that BG3 is amazing on many levels and is a watershed in gaming as an art form. I have nearly 2000 hours in the game .. but I tell myself some of those hours I left the game running without me because my boss called. There are still lines and dialogues I have not heard and things I have not seen. Ive never played a game that much before in my nearly 50 years of computer gaming.
No judgement here! This game is worth all 1500 of those hours
I am at 900 hours.
Currently in an honour Mode attenpt and a tactical Multiplayer together with my son. Already deine 3 playthroughs with different Charakters
Most played Game on Steam now. And still I find New Things and dialogues
I'm 30 years old, but it's interesting to share a similar sentiment with a 50-60 years old gamer. This game is indeed a milestone of what you can call an art form. There are many other RPGs, which may get the technical aspects better. But this game synthesizes all of the genre's legacy and gives to the player some of the most emotionally appealing and authentic experiences. A piece of media, which truly resonates with the soul. One of a kind.
I assume other's have already said this but I thought I'd leave the comment anyway. Regarding Shadowheart and her story, you mention how she flips her faith for seemingly no reason. There is a reason but it could be conveyed a bit better. The reason she is so easy to flip her faith is because of you, the player character. What Shadowheart decides to do in the important moments during Act 2 and Act 3 is based on on her approval of the player. If you have high approval she will pick the "good" options but if you don't, then she will do the bad options instead.
This is even kinda conveyed in your dialogue with her when she constantly reminds you that she has never had someone like you and at moments she's unsure of her faith. Before she only had Shar and with her memories being suppressed, she had no alternative. Everyone she knew was always, a Stranger, Someone who hated her faith or a fellow cult member. Then you come along, accept her for what she is and slowly over time your non-Shar worshiping ways seep into her beliefs and actions. I 100% agree it could still be conveyed better in the game, but there was an attempt, even how subtle it was.
Shadowheart is imo the best character and because of these decisions I felt deserved a few playthroughs, converting her to Selune or helping keep her shrouded in the path of Shar. It can be heart breaking seeing the outcomes knowing what the other path could've been.
A few people let me know that and its cool looking back on it now knowing why it happened that way! I love Shadowheart and the only person I can put above her is Lae'zel
@@NokayYT A point of clarification, the only downside to allowing Shadowheart's parents to live is that her Wound never heals and still occasionally hurts. She still freely worships Selune no matter which option you go with at that point.
an important thing to specifically laezel and shadowheart seeming to do a 180. shadowheart throughout the game is very much defying shar in different ways due to the relationship that she builds with the main character and the nail in the coffin is dame aylin saying the stuff about the wolves. shadowheart knows shars teachings and your relationship with her alone defies a massive part of the dogma. the fact she shared secrets, that shes built this very intimate bond with you, and even showing you to why shes with shar. all the little things add up and thats what let to the flip of imma not kill the nightsong. lae’zel is a warrior through and through. she cares for her people and culture and she also was a slave to the dogma spread by vlakkith. she is experiencing the most traumatizing moment in her life actively as we go throughout the game, her world is being flipped upside down by the tadpoles alone. then comes to her queen not being the goddess she claims to be but a parasite who feeds off her strongest warriors to ascend. lae’zel is experiencing all of this in a matter of weeks. so when she finally sees the truth fully to herself that orpheus is alive she knows completely that all she was taught were lies. to that i dont see her pledging to orpheus but to the freedom of her people and orpheus is the symbol for githyanki freedom. its the very small things that add up for those two a lot that lead to their decisions. thank you for coming to my ted talk
All incredible points that I hadnt considered. I knew they both were slightly leaning away from their faiths but I think the singular moment where they just dropped everything and joined the other team was a tad bit fast but what you say makes that make more sense to me!
@@NokayYT hey im glad! those two stories are my favorites due to my own personal experience. so im super fixated on it, and i thought the same way my first play through but my second one really opened my eyes with those two. especially when you romance lae’zel she also has her life flipped like that due to still having issues of her growing culture and she becomes such a softie for you. lae’zel’s story is my favorite in the game right next to twink vampire and goth/emo lady (also spontaneously changing her hair color in a time of crisis is way too relatable) a really amazing video and ill be curious to hear how you feel when it comes to second third and durge playthroughs
28:00 It's not that Karlach was written later. It's that she has been written intentionnaly to have a bitter sweet ending (Larian com about that) . But i agree it feels bad. Sadly no DLC will ever come to complete those aspect of the game and it can't stay in development for 10 - 15 more years to get all the additional choices we wish for.
the point about the emperor switches so fast is because all he did the whole game is for self-preservation
the biggest clue is from the quest under wyrmrock prison, basically dude's priority is 1) stay alive 2) be free
he's help you because if you succeed, he's free of the brain, but when you decided to free Orpheus he's as good as dead, so he sided with the brain instead
btw you've earned a sub :)
That makes a lot more sense and something I must have missed about him. I felt as if he was still Balduran because of the way he acts but now realize that being a mind flayers changes much of the personality while keeping some of it. Thank you for subbing I look forward to seeing you in future videos, Cyberpunk is up next!
@@NokayYT in my first playthrough I felt the same way, I have no dnd knowledge prior to bg3 so I went with what feels right
I thought he was still Balduran until Ansur's quest, he killed his best friend because he didn't want to die, that's very off-character from the great passionate adventurer we saw in his past, and also his voice recording in this same quest, he sounds honorable
my understanding from all that is that mind flayers are like animals (I've heard that the canonical pronouns of them is 'it') with extreme intelligence but still mainly operate based on survival instinct, he's so fixated on not dying
@@dooflegoof That makes a ton of sense!
There is also the fact that he effectively mind r@aped Duke Stelmane because he wanted a companion. He also only stopped when she had a stroke because of it and died.
Mfucker is a sociopath.
No, his goal is power.
Some of your criticism about how seemingly simple it was to kill the 3 baddies is likely because you aren't into D&D in a general sense. I say that because in D&D no matter how intricate the story of a bad guy, they are all ultimately designed for you the player to be able to deal with and defeat within a timely manner. The board game itself already takes a lot of time because there is so much backstory explaining by the DM and then switching between each player takes even more time, the last thing they need is a bad guy who can't be killed in 1 battle lol. So taking inspiration from the board game and turning it into a video game this is what you'll get. Bad guys who no matter how awesome they seem, can be killed in 1 round by you, just like in the board game.
Please tell my DM this and I might enjoy fighting in DnD more
i mean i would agree if the game didn't literally did just what you talked about with Kethric. I think he was executed alot better than Orin and Gortash especially. He has 1 battle with him atop Moonrise,and a 2-phase battle inside the colony,and i think he feels great as the final boss of act 2. Orin i feel like is less climactic but still cool since you kinda work your way to killing her through act 3. I think the only one who fumbles as a boss is Gortash who just kinda stands atop Wyrm's rock almost alone after you destroy the steel watch. Like,his battle barerly felt like a boss encounter with how little of interest he provided as a fight. Like ok sure the grenades are kinda fun but meh.
Anyways,i think that they showed that they could make a few battles with the bosses they just kinda didn't with Gortash for some reason.
So that means D&D is not a good system for a video game. It’s a fair criticism, I personally can’t stand the mechanics of the game because of the things you describe.
@@modarnwarfare2rull To me, this is what I find the most realistic (as realistic as fantasy can be). The idea that bosses need to be like Elden Ring having all these phases is crazy, in real life it doesn't matter if a grizzly bear has an epic reputation of killing 100 humans in it's lifetime, super infamous and the locals are all in fear of it... yet a single 5.56 bullet and a well timed shot out of an AR15 can still 1 shot said grizzly bear regardless of it's reputation in the streets.
That is realistic, just because I become an infamous sorcerer that strikes fear into the hearts of men shouldn't mean I can't still be killed by a lucky arrow with no enchantments on it if I'm caught off guard while taking a crap on the toilet or something..
very well made vid for it being your first one definitely glad UA-cam recommended this one. Keep up the good work
Thats means a lot to me! I definitely will, have a great day!
@jaxonmanning3785I absolutely will, cyberpunk video coming soon! Thanks for the kind works my man
I just beat the game for the first time so this is great timing! I feel lucky to have had an epilogue party because i found it really cool, could not imagine beating the game and not having it tbh. Can't wait for the next big update in September!!
Also PLEASE keep Jaheira if you decide to play again. She made act 3 so much better for me story wise
I'm working on another playthrough where I should get the epilogue party so I'm excited about that! And I was so mad at the time when I got her killed and strongly consider loading another save but couldn't bring myself to save scrub 😂 I didnt even know she could be a party member until way after the fact and I was definitely butt hurt
omg thank you for the little orin rant and recognizing the depth of her character
I think she had wayyy more potential than she was given in this game. Put her in Ketherics shoes, where we meet her in act 2 instead, and I guarantee she flies up peoples rankings of characters! Great voice acting and writing for her
I'm sorry, but I'm in this camp: "It's too bad that happened to you. Truely. As of right now, however, you are an unrepentant monster. If I have pity it's for the hundreds you have murdered and the hundreds more that will perish should you continue to exist. You have but one last murder to witness, Orin. Your own."
The thing is: we don't get all the happy endings we wish for...
Amen to that, I was more saying the individual endings of certain characters felt lackluster in general and some closure would have been nice with some of them
@@NokayYT you should reload after patch 5 installed and enjoy the party night. It gives the closure the game deserves.
@@NokayYTthey did cut a lot of them tbf, I think when the deluxe edition comes out we’ll get the upper city and different endings
@@C1umsyJester I sure hope so but I was under the impression that they are moving on from BG3 to work on their new IP
@@esachan I definitely will and I'm working through a second playthrough now!
9:00 you are not alone in that sentiment, i never really like potion crafting but I do wish something like skyrim's weapon crafting could be implemented- ESPECIALLY for magic items. I loved being able to destroy weapons to learn their enchantments and make my own. Also, i totally agree on the face customization thing. It makes it SO hard if you want an androgenous character (especially an androgenous masc character. Ive had an easier time making masculine woman/fem characters but the issue is DEFINITELY still there with them too, but hey at least they get muscle and in either gender you can wear any clothes (i think).) You have pretty woman and chad man and nothing really in between. Like I appreciate the gender customization but can we PLEASE have sliders or something? Maybe the ability to customize eyes, chin, eyebrows, nose, mouth, ect. Separately? All the men are chads and i want a skinny femboy.
Crafting is always polarizing but I definitely agree with you! And for how in depth this game goes with everything, its really weird that customization seems to have got the short end of the stick
You can play as gale in the new patch and save karlach from hell if you went after the crown yourself and she is you romance partner.. or you can save her by making her open up to the white tadpole in act 3 and then when she sees orphios ( ik the spelling is wrong) she will suggest that she will become a mind flayer and survive the last cutscene
I always forget how many different scenarios can play out, the playing as gale one seems really interesting!
@@NokayYT yeah…hard to watch you complain about things in the video and then seeing you straight up not know things about the game.
Most of your story complaints were your choices for that story that could have been entirely different.
Having Karlach become a mindflayer would be even worse than her death imo: Her personality and soul would be destroyed in the transformation. Only a mindflayer with Karlach's memories would remain.
This channel is about to pop off, I can just feel it. Especially if you keep it up!
I appreciate it! I hope so but either way I enjoy making these, have a great day!
I went back to Skyrim as I do every few years the other day. Modded, it can really look great, but when completing the quests, I found the quest options, especially in character conversation, incredibly linear. I tried to make my character evil, but even when completing what you would assume to be 'darker' quests gives you honourable replies. It's like a good guy attempting to do the bad thing because it sounds cool. BG3 has revolutionised what I think the freedom of an RPG should entail.
Skyrim was great for its time but BG3 is the evolution of the genre and should be a shining light on what's possible when you respect and care about the people playing the game!
Oh, and I just read your pinned comment: congratulations on your first video, dude! Hope everything works well for You. The video itself was very enjoyable
I really appreciate it, it was a big deal to me so I'm glad it came across to you!
@@NokayYT I'll bet, man! Wish you all the best in this new endevour!
on Orin's story, if you go past the area into her bedroom, and cast speak with dead on the corpse in there, you get more story...
Just adding to the Karlach point, I don't think you could keep her in the House of Hope.
The moment Rapheal dies in Hell, he becomes a lemur. That means the property will likely get taken by someone else more powerful, despite hope.
There are some mighty powerful individuals in the hells like Asmodeus (who probably wouldn't get involved) and Zariel that could absolutely destroy/reclaim Hope.
I don't believe freeing Hope will last soon after you leave.
I've read that crafting was scrapped before early release, but that's why there's gems & stuff everywhere. Rope also had uses, and the infernal iron you find in act 3 was intended for Karlach's story.
I look forward to an update when you romance Astarion & keep him in your party all of act 2, and go to the epilogue party. You can reload your first game just before you blow up the brain to go to that epilogue party. Because of his specific trauma & story, some things only come out for Astarion if you romance him. I think more of your questions can be answered by reading *everything*. After your first playthrough, its neat to read things and pick up on the foreshadowing or find clues you could have followed instead.
Lae'zels romance is my second favorite (after Astarion). Having similar trauma, going from fanaticism to fanaticism isn't uncommon.
do you know about Karlach's ending where she gets to stay (kind of)? Keep her in your party when you go to free Orpheus.
At 1500 hrs, I'm getting down to testing story variations and I'm STILL finding new things hidden away in corners. I can feel the hyperfixation winding down, but there's still years of replayability in this for me. Best $60 i ever spent.
Crafting is also polarizing so I wonder if they just figured itd be better without it even though I wouldve liked it. And I think I definitely missed some stuff in my first playthrough which suck but I am definitely gonna be working through all of that in future play! And I agree, this game is worth every cent and honestly they couldve charged so much more and I would pay for it but I am glad they kept it there
The reason mister braineater here destroys the city is because he isn't balduran. He is the mind flayer born from Balduran. It no longer feels like he does. The player turning is an exception because old man withers is defending his soul or something
Talking about the side quests; you mentioned how its not like other games where you're just clearing out your quest journal.
In BG3, I almost never look at my quest journal, except when I first load up after awhile to remind myself where I was and what I was doing. Which is all it's supposed to be. When you're in game, the only reminders you need are the interactions you're having. It's fantastic.
I loved my interactions with Astarion as a Retribution Paladin.
Like as I heard him talk about his master I was like: "nah, I am not just gonna help you, my vow is literally to hunt down those wretched, I am going out of my way to kill that Cazador to my last breath". And Astarion was like: "alright, cool, that seems like a reason to stick to you".
He disliked pretty much all of my good boy choices, but he loved when I moved out of my way to punish and be overly aggresive to any evil people.
At the time of the Cazador's resolution I was like "That's it, you are free now, you don't have to be afraid or follow any orders anymore" and he was like "nah, I am gonna finish this unholy ritual for my self". At that point, I clearly stated "I have support you all this time but if you are gonna become the next Cazador I am gonna hunt you down here and now". Like I LOVED that set up so much, is such a grand finale for a Ret Paladin and a Vampire Rogue redemption arc.
Sadly, he got mad and left the party forever and I am not allowing that (he was wearing like 20 hours of grinding worth of equipment, lol), so I had to reload and try the other approach of being a bit nicer and tell him that he is better than that and that he is free now, and can start anew a be a good person, starting by freeing his Vampire's slave companions. And he seemed so happy with that choice, such a constrast with just a single line of difference, it is amazing.
I would had loved to have a choice of smite him down to go back to his senses though.
As the others have said, for this being the first video it's absolutely amazing and SO good. You're going to grow a lot, especially with how good your quality already seems.
I really appreciate that! I hope so but I had fun making this so it'll be worth it regardless!
36:49 This is exactly what makes Fallout New Vegas so good as well. Theres a failsafe for any decision you might want to make, but not a failsafe that removes consequences. You can work with the legion and betray them quite literally whenever you want, you can work with the ncr or mister house or anybody and betray them whenever you want. The only person the game doesnt let you betray is yourself.
There was a great video that proposed swapping act 2 and 3. If you shove some of the endgame stuff into the shadow land but still introduce Orin & Gortash in Baldur's gate, have them evade you until the shadow land (now act 3) and potentially have all three chosen into Netherbrain as a final encounter or Ketheric into Netherbrain. Ketheric is 100x more interesting than Orin AND Gortash IMO
100% agree that would be sick. I wish they included the upper city at the very least and fleshed out Orin and Gortash. I think Orin especially had a ton of potential to be a great villian and then you see her a couple times and then meet to take her out. It was all just so rushed at the end
Man this is a really good video, it's really wild that this is your first video!! Excited for the Cyberpunk video! :0) also: BAE'ZEL ENJOYERS RISE UP!!!!!
Lae'zel is one of my favorite character of all time! I really appreciate the kind words, and Cyberpunk is ready and will be out in a week or two!
The facial animations might not be perfect, but at least they convey some emotion, unless basically all Bethesda games, where it feels like they are made out of wood
Its hard to believe this was your first video, you did an amazing job! I'm excited to see what you post next!
Im glad you feel that way, it means a lot! Cyberpunk is up next
Honestly, Minthara is my favorite companion. She has so much to her character that she very well could've been an origin character in an evil playthrough. Hell, you can get her in a non-evil playthrough by knocking her out now, and she'll ridicule you to high hell lmao
I'm actually working on a second playthrough where I am getting her as a companion on a good playthrough so I'm excited to finally see what all the hype is about!
@@NokayYT I HIGHLY recommend you also watch her party banter videos. She absolutely destroys Gale and I love her so much more for it
@@kinsan89 I absolutely will and now I'm more ready to play again!
Can't believe it's your very first video? Your are off to an amazing start!
Also 1st video about BG3 and the 2nd about CP2077??? HELL YEAH, subscribed
I'm really glad you liked! I hope you like Cyberpunk, its all ready to go, probably in like a week or two!
My favorite quest was when you had to defend Halsins portal. I died so many times on tactician and had to redo it so many times lol. Also I love playing act 1 as a Druid cause there’s sooooo much unique Druid dialogue. I think my next playthrough will be either gnome wizard or possibly a half orc
I died a ton even on an easier difficulty doing the portal quest! I'm using a human bard on my second playthrough which has been fun
Yoo this video is soo good! But for Karlack death and House of Hope - she says it herself that she does not believe that it will be safe out there and even calls Hope delusional for trying. She hates it there and hates avernus, the only way for her to be there is to go with someone who will make it with for her. She still will be hunted till the rest of her day there but at least she will has us to make it less miserable. In some way she does not have a good ending and I guess that's just a harsh reality of that world. When you sell your soul to the demon you do not gain anything :(
I agree with that I just believe there were some ways around it to give her a few more options and maybe a positive one! But I see what you mean
But she didn’t sell her soul! She was sold by her employer (whom she clearly had a crush on). As the soul coins stories make clear: some are truly innocent!
Here is my own two cents, regarding the whole "Lae'Zel abandons Vlaakith and immediatly throws herself to Orpheus" thing.
Premise: she was my chosen romance option for my first playthrough, so like you regarding Shadowheart I might be coming from a place of bias.
With the prefice out of the way: to me it kinda Made complete sense, for the simple reason that My though process was "Well... She lived her entire life blindly devoted to someone else. Now that she found out that the person she was devoting herself to, never had her interest in mind, she still has difficulty escaping the mindset of utter devotion".
The game sorta "proved" me right when (as my romance) she chose to NOT go with Orpheus, NOT devote herself again to someone else's cause as a mindless soldier, but instead chose a life of peace in persuit of her own happiness.
If it wasn't clear, yeah: I'm on the "Lae'Zel storyline is even better if you romance her" camp 😂
Now for My second playthrough I'm playing Durge, and I plan to romance Astarion, another favorite character of mine as prickly and asshole as he was
Lae'zel is #1 for me even without romancing so I cant imagine how much better it would be seeing even more of her character! She is amazingly written
@@NokayYT For an hypotetical third run, of you ever get around to it, I definitely suggest you to try her romance
Insanely well made video! Keep it up! :)
Thank you so much! Maybe I will have to make a video on subnautica at some point!
I can agree about the ending to a degree. I could write a several page essay on what the options should have been, but tldr there should have been more persuasion/skill checks to influence the outcome, along with other smaller things during the game that should have influenced the other characters' opinion of you.
That said, I was lucky that I still got a good ending, but I can imagine that not every player would have been as fortunate.
You had me checking your channel cause I did not believe this was your first video. The sound mixing with your voice and the music is so good, so's the editing! Keep up brother, +1 sub
I really appreciate it! Its hard not to be critical on yourself but hearing people like you saying that, means a lot!
I also love video essays and similar long form content like this! I love the video and you definitely earned my sub!
I also love baldurs gate 3 and think a lot of your critiques were well-founded. I'm in the same boat as you in a lot of regards, like missing the githyanki chreche in my first playthrough.
The one place we disagree is Act 3. I think act 3 has some of the most diverse and satisfying content in the game, especially with all the hundreds of nooks and crannies you can explore, as well as how all the storylines work together and eventually finish up. One of my favorite examples of this is Wyll's story and the worshipers of Umberlee. I was totally going to help the worshipers of Umberlee, but then I found out that in order to save Wyll's father, you need the submarine, so you cant't help the worshipers. This was a really cool interaction and was one of the events that engrained the game solidly in my top 3 of all time.
Nonetheless, I love the video and look forward to any new ones you make. Thanks for an hour of enjoyment!
I appreciate the kind words! I'm also with you on loving most of act 3 I just think a lot of issues also pop up along side those great pieces. Weirdly enough act 3 was where I realized this is my favorite game ever but also where I had the most problems
You *CAN* do both. Use the submarine and then hand over the captain to the umberlee afterwards. It’s a shit move to the captain (bc you know that they are going to kill him and he’s begging for his life) but my paladin did it and it didn’t break her oath. However, the Umberlee didn’t do much in the final battle-so (2nd run) as resistant durge, I agreed to help Umberlee but then decided *NOT* to turn over the captain. He gives me gold and says that he’ll be in the final battle. I’ll see how he does
I disagree about the open endings. I feel making them too definitive restricts the player's imagination about how things could develop in the future and how the player character would handle everything. In a game that is so much about free choice I feel it wouldn't fit properly to basically dictate what happens after.
Also, Astarion does have some plot development in the second act if you have him along at specific points. It's less easy to miss if you're romancing him.
I definitely agree and I probably didnt make it clear enough in my video. I like the open ended stuff but for me there was just too much of it left to imagination. I feel like some closure on certain stories would help and in this case it just felt like it put the burden on the player to imagine what happened with almost everything. But I mostly agree with you and respect your opinion!
@NokayYT I think it comes down to taste. I like the idea of seeing only a small piece of a vast world and history, and I find it exciting when some things remain a mystery. But I didn't mean to invalidate your opinion, only add my own :)
@@paperbird9817 No worries at all I definitely see your POV! Elder Scrolls for instance I love the mystery of the Dwemer and Snow Elves and would rather it stay that way!
@@NokayYTI think it's also a reflection of actual D&D play. When you finish a long campaign, assuming you survive, it often ends with "character A is going to sea with these old friends of his we saved, characters B and C are founding a city, character D is returning to his homeland to do a thing, maybe we see them again one day if the world is in crisis..." epilogue. About the only way a D&D character gets true closure is if they don't finish the campaign alive lol
Thing is, there IS a crafting element, both the adamantine and the blacksmith forge under the blighted village are there, and while I get what you're saying, I dont think making leather armors and iron shortswords would add much to the game- if you are looking for crafting make potions or the previously mentioned ways
I see your POV but I mean more maybe along the lines of enchanting or a simplified crafting system where you can make some stuff, but dont bloat it with BS. It comes more down to preference though
If you decide to follow up similar games, playing Divinity Original Sin, Icewind Dale, Planescape: Torment and the older Baldur's Gate games should scratch a similar itch as BG3. Yeah, they are far older, so it also means worse graphics, but outside of it, they are as plot-rich as BG3.
"i have 300 hours clocked in this game."
Me with 600+ hours on my ps5
*Sweats nervously
I'll be up there soon dont you worry 😂
I'm right there with you, with 891 hours on steam and at least 100 on ps5 >o
I agree completely about act 2. Would have been cool if you lift the curse, but that lets the absolute's army flood the area and the boss fight is much harder
Listening too this made me realize just how different my full playthrough was.
That the beauty of this game!
You can craft some items in under dark you can craft an weapon and in near the grove you can also craft a weapon
Very good video. I have over 2,000 hours into this game. I was a bit addicted :) Astarion actually does have some interesting quest info and lore in act 2. When you meet Raphael outside the mausoleum. The things you do in there determine some of what happens with him next.
i definitely think there was supposed to be a more elaborate crafting system (aside from the spear, the staff, the sussur tree weapon, etc.)
That would've been cool for me but I know a lot of people arent a fan
25:00 so uh... did you skip the part of the fight where you had to kill the red dragon, dream guardians, and the mind flayers, all under a timer while having to keep mind flayer alive or did you skip that somehow?
My gripe was more with the fight with the brain itself. I said in the video that the dragon fight was way more fun than the brain which is meant to be the conclusion to the entire saga with the illithids. It just felt underwhelming to me
Thing is with Balduran is that he’s an opportunist and just wants power. He is looking for the best route to becoming stronger. He wanted to use you as he’s used everyone else around him to get more power but when you refused he switched to playing the other side until he could get a foothold. Valid criticism of the final fight but I also feel like it makes sense. The brain cannot fight for itself and it relies on control and command in order to get what it needs. So once you penetrate the hard outer shell the fleshy inner core is soft and weak. Idk that’s how I thought of it at least.
Excellent video, I really enjoyed it
Just what I want from a lengthy analysis video, might be the best one for bg3 I’ve seen
Good job on the video. BG3 is unquestionably a masterpiece and you summed up why in a no bullsh*t way without pandering. I'll definately check out more of your uploads.
I appreciate that! I try to be unbiased and always point out bad and good so people and maybe even developers can see that and use it to help, even if its a small thing
This was really fun to watch! It sounds like you missed a lot of Act 1 and 2 interactions with Astarion that expand on his storyline, like running into a monster hunter who is hunting him in act 1 and him making a deal with Rafael in act 2. I romanced Shadowheart on my first playthrough and Astarion on my second. It opened up even more more information and allows you to see a more sincere side of Astarion as he grows to trust you and drop the mask he wears to protect himself. That is the awesome thing about this game. I admit I missed a lot on my first play-through and still find things for the first time, even though I have over 600 hours and three and a half play-throughs. After my first play-through, I knew BG3 was going to be my new Skyrim which I still go back and replay occasionally. Thanks for posting this! Also, I would love to see your tier list once you have played through again to see if anything changes.
I'm tired of earing about how the game changed because of "time restraints". Most of the things that were "removed" were decided years before release. Doing the upper city? They decided 3 years before release to not included it due to how bloated act 3 was going to be. The only time constraints we can see here is them deciding what was fun and what they wanted to include in the game. So unless we assume that they are lying, the only thing they cut short was some bug testing, some Minthara story bits and the epilogue. Really good video tho! This is just my sentiment of hearing this from a lot of people lol.
That makes sense. I was more going off what seemed to be the public consensus that time constraints messed some things up but I'm thats only true in some cases
I totally agree with most things said in this video. I'm also going through a second playthrough and trying to find all the little things I missed or try to solve them in a different way. I can see how the points in this video are some downsides but with official moding support in it's way this year, this beautiful game will live on for years to come
The potential for modding in this game makes me feel like a little kid with how excited I am to see whats possible when talented fans start creating!
it's not immediately obvious but the Baldur that created Baldur's gate and the Baldur that became a mind flayer are not the same person, in that ever since becoming a mind flayer his personality and values changed to become... well more mind flayer like. Him choosing to betray you at the end lines up perfectly with who he is now because it's made obvious after several interactions that his main priority is self-preservation and if you side with the githyanki, he is essentially guaranteed to die whether you win or lose. If you win, the Githyanki will kill him, if you lose the Absolute will kill him, at least if he sides with the absolute and wins he'll stay alive even under control and possibly find a way to escape again even if it takes a long time, very logical and mind flayer-like.
I’ve got about 980 hours into this game. The re-playability is insane.
Not to mention the hours I’ve spent looking and getting mods to change the experience even more.
I’ve never been a big turn base player. Loathed click to move.
This game is just next level. I can’t wait to see the future games they put out.
I'm in that same boat with you! Its truly special and it was an experience I dont we'll all forget
i think alot of the criticism is valid. I found myself anting more in certain parts of act 2 and more of act 3 in general. I did feel like most of the big fight were somewhat underwhelming except raphael and ketheric. I found myself wanting more even though my first playthrough was 300 hours. That shows how good the game is.
My thoughts exactly man. They could've done so much with Orin and Gortash if they had the same approach as act 1 but it seems like they phoned it in just a bit. But still my favorite game of all time even with that being said
@@NokayYTagreed. Thanks for the good content. I enjoy videos like this that give insights into games I might not have otherwise.
@@mushukotenseii Really glad to hear it! Cyberpunk should be next. I have a whole list of games that are on the to do list 😂
Very clean video, great commentary. When I found out I missed Minthara bc of being “no witnesses” murder happy made me cry 😂 it’s not perfect but it’s a real treat to play
Well if this is your first video you did a pretty good job 👏
I agree with a lot of your points, especially your labeling BG3 a flawed masterpiece because it is.
The quality in Acts 2 then 3 falls away and it's obvious that Larian ran out of steam and time before they released the game but boy... they still created something incredible.
You really have missed a hell of a lot and seeing that this video is only 2 weeks old, I really wonder why you missed all the updates that include the epilog party that wrapped up a lot of the storylines?
For me, it's Karlach and Minthara who are the most interesting romance options. Minty is probably the one who you can guide the most or simply let herself be herself, which is evil but oh so amazing. Karlach is just lovely and you're absolutely right in that she should have been able to go to the house of hope after the final battle if you've killed Raphael.
I was truly hoping that Larian would have patched the game further, including the upper city and reworking endings like Karlach's, even including a DLC but Hasbro shat the bed by being a pack of greedy souless cnuts which pissed off Swen Vincke so he said "fuck you" and walked. And that means no more really good content for BG3. It's done. We're never going to see anything like it again. Sure they'll make a new game and it's got a real shot at being something special but nothing will ever take the crown from BG3. It's achieved something incredible despite the flaws.
Play it again and get some mods which fix some of the issues like adding in more customization for character faces etc. I am hoping that the modding community will be able to take BG3 and add more to it.
Anyway, well done for this video
I appreciate all the kind words! And I agree with all of what you said, Swen Vincke is a gangster, I love how much he seems to love making these games and from this point on will always support Larian. I plan on playing again for sure, I've just been playing other games at the moment to make videos on which is taking most of my time now!
@@NokayYT You’re welcome.
Totally get that you need to branch out and cover different games for further content as it's probably the best way to grow your channel.
An idea for you would be to play the original BG games as a comparison. BG1 is good but it's BG2 that truly shines. You can see how much influence this game had in the entire industry once you play it.
Anyway, all the best for the future
You did a great job! I was shocked when I discovered this was your first video. You had a great balance between brick bats and bouquets. Well done! 👌
Undress Shadowhearth
Make lezell less monstery
Ah i see man oh colture as well
😂
for the first video you've ever made, this is absolutely fantastic! I'm glad this amazing game has spurred you on to make content like this!
I really appreciate it! I've always thought about making videos but it never felt like something I could do until Baldurs Gate 3 made me feel like I wanted to just talk about it at length
…act 3 is absolutely massive. I spent more time in act 3 than 1 and 2 combined?????
Its massive but also where things start to go off the rails in a few ways so its a weird thing for me where I absolutely love it, but also have the most problems with it
40:42 no, the alternative to the parents dying in Shadowheart's "good" (white hair) route is just always having that wound on her hand. That's it. From a utilitarian stance, that means she'll still have it long after her parents are dead but like... girl never really got to know her parents.
I'm glad you like the turn-based mechanics. It's truly an ambassador game for the entire genre as crpgs like this have been fostering this type of combat with RTWP for a very long time. Highly recommend Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous if you like the aggressive chess-like combat. A lot of crpgs are essentially just advanced puzzle games with stats and dice rolls.
It was my number 1 turn off coming into playing the game. I am pretty diverse in what I like but turn based seemed boring just as a concept. Boy was I wrong because I ended up loving it and having to think through all my moves and think multiple steps ahead. I was very shocked at how much fun I had with it since I almost didn't play this because of it!
People want to unsee the bear scene? I had no idea...
😳😳
I know that squirrel does.
@@glochevalier 😂
42:35 i mean... There's also the "problem" of the 7007 souls you doom in ascension, so it's not just power that goes to his head as much as guilt he'd never admit to
I assume the sex harassment came before they patched in a dial back.
I find it hard except for wyll and gale to get romances with some of the party members to activate karlach especially.
Lae'zel cannot be patched 😂
16:45 I am pretty sure you could just use the scroll of revivify to resurrect jahira there. Anyways great video.
Nice, same shoes - I took Starfield as the reason to do a major PC upgrade, to take advantage of the AMD Starfield bundle. What I played all year was BG3 while Starfield was the biggest disappointment and just lasted 2 days until I've had enough of it.
Also, while BG3 might not cure cancer, it cured my hate for turnbased combat. Turnbased was the reason I didn't want to play it at all and pretty much ignored it. I love cRPGs and D&D but only played games like Neverwinter Nights etc. with real time combat, all the turnbased games I tried frustrated me and took me out of the story flow. When I heard BG3 was made by Larian I was just frustrated, so stopped looking further.
Then an old friend convinced me to join a 4 player coop group to play it, so I bought it early, thinking coop might be ok when I don't have to manage a whole party, and just not to be an annoyance for the others as a newb, started playing alone to get warm with the game mechanics.
And couldn't stop anymore. Best game of the decade, maybe best RPG I ever played.
I wish I could put the spiderman meme in the comments because I echo every statement you made here! I got my first PC for starfield and got the AMD bundle, and ended up falling in love with BG3 in the process and now its my favorite game of all time!
@@NokayYT As for the video, I'm not completely done with it yet, but I hope you played the extended endings in the meantime, most if not all your criticism of the finale should be adressed there. I also agree with the end fight, not only is the brain fight extremely stupid, you can also mostly run past the whole fight before that, so yes, pretty stupid - as was Balduran's decision to switch sides.
Karlach I think... I'm gonna make no friends here and it hurts to say it out loud, but for the sake of the story she should've died there. No other solution, no happy end. I adore Karlach, her acting was absolutely brilliant too, but that there's an easy way out really ruins the drama and makes her more of a drama queen. It would've been such a bittersweet ending, all the time she and we all knew she was going to die and there's no way out of it, and in the end we have to say goodbye but she's made peace with it. What a tearjerker. But instead there's an easy solution (although your suggestion is even better), you don't even have to leave Shadowheart and go with her yourself because Wyll will, and everyone's happy. I don't know, that's what you usually expect - an Happy End, and not doing it would've been such a brave and impactful move from Larian, a missed opportunity to tell a really mature story.
@@chrissoclone Karlach was a weird situation because I do like the idea of larian not being afraid to kill off characters but her situation is written in a way where it feels pretty simple to write a better ending thats happy since Avernus is always an option. And my suggestion is that she lives in the House of Hope and stays there forever and we have the ability to visit, or theres a world where eventually you can find a cure. Not against a more somber ending but this one feels like theres too many easy ways to solve her issue. Maybe the writing wouldve needed to change to make a difference in that
@@NokayYT Yeah sure, since there are easy ways out everyone would use them, and there are. I didn't even think of the House of Hope - but I think it would've been a stronger end if there wasn't. Anyway, great first video with really good production quality too, no need to hide.
I agree 100% on the companion tier list, plus: Jaheira I like very much - A, Minsc is more a running joke and maybe a B-, Minthara is... phew, I have her on my current run and like her, but didn't see too much. Maybe A too. Note you can get her too when siding with the Grove. No S because none of them have such a strong personal quest as the mains). Looking forward to your Cyberpunk video, another really great game that left a huge impact on me, but secretely I was hoping for a 1 hour Starfield rant. :D
@@chrissoclone I'm working on a second playthrough so I'll get all three of them and see how I like them! And I'm glad you are looking forward to Cyberpunk, the video is ready to go and I think its much better than this one so I hope you like it. And a Starfield rant is likely going to happen at some point because what a disappointment that was as a massive Bethesda fan. Elder Scrolls 6 is not looking too hot if this is their standard
Bro, this is your first and only video? I would have had no idea. The quality of it really shines. Great job. :)
I really appreciate it! It took a lot of time and effort but it was well worth it so I'm glad you think so. Cyberpunk up next!
got baulders gate cause my friends love it. got bored after i got off the ship. played with friends we all died. haven’t touched it in a few weeks. this video made me wanna play again lol
I appreciate it! I definitely know what you mean, I wasn't in love with it at the beginning either but once you realize how much freedom you have and how great the characters are, it changes everything. Highly recommend giving it another shot!
Good job man, heluva first vid and I concur, BG3 is my favorite game since Kotor in ‘03
Hell no I don’t want a crafting system. There’s too much stuff as it is, the world is already huge and I already feel like I’m missing stuff. If I had to worry about finding certain items to craft the best gear on top of that I’d be so annoyed. I’m really glad they only added crafting potions/elixirs.
Also this game is already like 140gb so the fact that you want more and bigger in some places is kind of crazy. I think you are forgetting real people had to make this game with all the thousands of possibilities that already exist in it. If there isn’t enough in it for you, I think the problem is you and your expectations and not the game. Base your expectations in reality.
And the stuff with Balduran does make sense. He doesn’t care about the city, he cares about power. He wants to kill you and take the stones so he can control the brain. He doesn’t have feelings or morals, he’s a mind flayer. He’s simply trying to stop you from killing the brain so that he can control it.
That’s as far as I’m gonna watch. Your criticisms feel half like they’re coming from a place of fantasy where money, time and effort aren’t constraints on a game, and half from a place of not paying that much attention to the game you’re playing. All this from someone who loves Bethesda games is crazy.
Yeah you're probably right on the crafting system but I do feel like there was no point to include a lot of the random items if there is nothing to with them. For some reason I've always loved crafting stuff but now that you say it I agree it probably would a pain if added. And I am definitely nitpicking when saying that I wanted the upper city to be included but I think my issue was mostly with the fact that it was there, within reach and you could never see what it was like so it was a let down at the end realizing that you couldn't go there. I definitely didnt consider the size of the game already so you definitely have a point there but I would say that I would be fine if some stuff was downsized to make room for parts of the upper city. Just my two cents but I respect your opinion and you make some good points that I didnt consider!
Having played BG1 (and especially) BG2 as well as Neverwinter Nights 1 (and especially) 2, it’s more of a surprise how many characters get a somewhat happy ending. I still vividly remember the horror of finding what BG2 throws at you in Irenicus‘ laboratory as a warm welcome to the game.
I 100% expected Astarion to turn on me at any time of BG3, too, because of some of those sinister companion plot lines I remembered from the past.
You're complaints about karlach are 100% avoidable of you find her cure
I absolutely love the humor and commentary. You deserve so much more subscribers for sure !!
I really appreciate it! Some people didnt love or understand the dry humor so I'm glad you did!
@@NokayYT legit my type of crowed homie !
BG3 is your favorite game ever and you think that’s going to be controversial? Literally everyone loves this game. It’s the coldest take ever.
It being my favorite game ever I figured would be a bit weird since its new and people love to talk about recency bias. It also wasnt mean to be a hot take, just something I thought people would think is a bit soon to call. And also I have had a few people comment that this game is overhyped which I think we all can admit is insane
Crafting was originally planned to be in the game during development, but they decided to remove it as it was low priority to everything else. That is why you may find so many useless items that are only good for selling, an example are gems which were probably going to be used in a crafting system.
A spotty 90s kid who has never played a CRPG or D&D tabletop game before and finds the combat system too point-and-click. 😂🙄
I'm a bit confused, is this a dig at me? If so that fine if you disagree with me, but did you watch the video? I had zero experience with D&D and little to non with point and click, turn based combat so I wasn't sure what to expect and was hesitant because of my ignorance. I ended up playing BG3 and loving the combat and movement systems and everything else about the game, hence why I've put over 300 hours into the game and made an hour long video on it. I guess I'm not sure what you're getting at with this comment but either way you are entitled to your opinion so all respect here. Side note, I was born in 2001
@@NokayYT
TBH, I watched like 5 minutes of it and got annoyed when you started trying to explain the 'R' in RPGs (to someone who has played many CRPGs). I think I judged you too quickly, and I'm sorry about that. You are just sharing your experience. You are welcome to delete the comment if you wish. :)
Don't delete his comment. Make an example out of him 😈
@@davidjacobsen308 No worries at all man, simple misunderstanding. Have a good rest of your night!
Act I is a highly engaging master piece, but the game goes down hill from this point on. When I reached Rivington on Act III, I stopped playing for two months or so, then came back to finish it later.
Act III has so many cut content it hurts.
I also agree about the lack of character customization, it sucks. I'd expect at least CP2077 levels of customization for this game.
I'm a completionist, so the level 20 mod is great. No single class on your characters can be more than 12, but you can multiclass as needed. You can get to 14th level pretty easily with normal play.
You mentioned the reunion update, did you like it? Do you think it helped in some aspects? What are your thoughts if you've gone through one?
I will say that whoever you romance, you are going to end up liking a lot more no matter what because romancing them ends up giving you a lot more character development overall. Also, if you do a dark urge run, the supposed best romance is Astarion for durge. It's worth it
Amazing video and specially impressive given that it was your first video. Much love and wish you all the best on your youtube journey brother.
I appreciate the encouragement my man, it means a lot! Cyberpunk is up next so hopefully you enjoy that as well!
Great Video, try some of the classic isometrics like BG1, BG2 and planescape torment, as well as some of the renaissance era games like Disco Elysium and Tyanny
The older games have weird rules but you can get your head around it and they are absolutely fantastic
I could see myself trying some of those in the future for sure!