This is exactly the kind of recap i wanted - just enough context to understand broadly whats going on, kinda what you would expect the BG3 protagonist to be aware of.
Never played a lick of dnd in my life. Don't know why yt pushing bg3 content on me now but watched a few of those char create tips and tricks videos. Wondered what 1 n 2 were, this is a very good explanation. So from this story, I take it the dark urge origin IS bhaal/ last bhaalspawn.
Thank you so much for your work. My gaming activity peaked in 1993-2005, now I very rarely play games. It's thanks to your channel that I became acquainted with real gaming masterpieces. Our tastes are very similar, so I trust your reviews. Thank you for such high quality content.
Im 23, but I adore games from that era and have been playing Diablo 1 and 2 for some time now. I’m sorry that gaming now a days is as corporate as it is but projects like this game and divinity OS and stuff like wasteland 3 are great examples of passionate project that capture some of that feeling of playing games like back then. What are your favorites from back in the day?
@@CringeLord0119 Hi! I really liked the two genres of games: adventure (quests) and, as you can not hard to guess RPG. Of the first genre I liked most games by Sierra. My favorites were Quest for Glory, Police Quest, Space Quest and my absolute favorite game is Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. As for RPGs, I've played and loved a huge number of them. My favorites are: The Dungeon Master 2, Might&Magic (parts 6 and 7), Ultima 6-8, Fallout 1 and 2, both parts of IcewindDale (although they are "linear") Diablo 1, BG 1-2, Planescape: Torment. Of the new ones, I will highlight Wasteland 2 & 3, Tyranny, Divinity OS 1 & 2, Mutant Year Zero & Miasma Chronicles. Of those, the absolute favorite is Wasteland 3. It has all the best of both the old games world and the virtues of modern game dev.
@@breaddough-vk8gf Thanks for your advice!!! Yah, I hate the expression "toxic" as it has been greatly abused in recent years, but as applied to online/multiplayer games it is the best term. You're right in that there is a resurgence of the genre right now, which makes me very happy. So I'm slowly getting back to doing what I loved in the past - CRPG gaming.😉
@@Sonmz hey bro - if you missed arcanum from back in the day, it's from troika that made the amazing vampire bloodlines and temple of elemental evil (also requires amazing community mods) it might be worth playing for its' reactivity and quest design and world is interesting. Arcanum has a 500 mb unofficial patch you need. Combat is shit though unlike temple of elemental evil which is heralded by us connoisseurs as some of the best 3.5 edition combat. It's hard to recommend what would be good for you from the present since basically you can choose isometric or first person as well as more exploration, combat or story focused rpgs. There are plenty out there as I'm sure you are aware. One interesting one is called kingdom come deliverance and it's interesting since it's a historical medieval rpg from 1st person perspective like cyberpunk :). Other historical ones are the expeditions trilogy, especially conquistador for me was the best, though you may have some technical issues. Since you like story/adventure games I haven't played it yet but people that liked planescape (who doesn't) seem to like disco elysium. Mask of the betrayer is also heavy on great story. Take care! Lots of great adventure games been coming out lately as well, I mean a lot! PS - ultima 6-7 are just pure magic, played them when I was 12-14.
My coworker bought BG3 and peaked my interest as a player of BG1&2. Mortismal Gaming reminded me of my gaming past and now I must save Boo or lead the space hamster to ruin (probably both). Thank you for my bringing back my loving memories!
One thing I've been continuously impressed by the BG3 early access is how in tune they are with the often muddled recent lore of the Realms like the events of the Second Sundering and the return of various divinities. I can't wait to see what else they choose to explore.
@@TheSacredCowtipper88 That is only a very "surface reading" understanding of what they did with half-"races". Nothing was "banned", you can still play a character who has parents of two different species. You pick a parent's species to derive your stats. They aren't calling them "half-" anything any more. You are still 100% free to roleplay and let anyone who gives a shit, know that your mom was an elf and your dad was a human. Orcs are still a playable species. The biggest joke is that people are so confident that they understand what has changed, hate it, talk mad shit about it, and have 99% of their facts about it, wrong.
@@NaptownClassichonestly the change is mostly good The one thing I don’t like is that the stats only come from one of your parents, would be far more interesting if you got a bit of both
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of my most hyped games of the year. Larian are such amazing devs. The amount of work and love that's gone into BG3 is absolutely insane and it shows.
I'm so excited to play the Spore Druid. I'm also really new to D&D so this will be like diving into an uncharted ocean. Knowing Larian, the classes are going to heavily reflect their pen and paper counterparts.
I havent played BG 1 & 2 and never played D&D either, but i cant wait for the full version of BG3. I have over 60h rn in the early access. Havent been hyped for a game for a few years.
I've watched so many explanations of the previous games and it sounds like they are reading a wiki page. You present the info clear way easily understood. Thanks!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! I've seen others that are either too long or the short ones condense it too much without explaining what effect this will have on BG3. Like I saw multiple videos and none of them explained that the god of murder was resurrected 10 years prior, that seems so vitally important so I'm glad you really did give us the spark notes version of things.
Another companion from the previous Baldur's Gate games who may well be relevant is Viconia DeVir. As a Drow, she is quite capable of living through the timeskip and like Shadowheart, she is a priestess of Shar. This is unlikely to be a coincidence.
@@DermetsuNot with Lolth the Spider Queen hunting for her head. A lot of Viconia fans CONSTANTLY forget that throughout Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 she is a woman marked for death by the Spider Queen. There's no way she can possibly be in Baldur's Gate 3.
@@LightStreak567just because Lolth wants Viconia dead does not mean she will get it. Sure, Viconia does not have Drizzt levels of plot armor, but Lolth still fails to get what she wants very often. She's only the ruling power among the dark elves of the underdark. Everywhere else she's just another evil outer planes being. I doubt Viconia is in BG3, and she may well be dead by this point, but "Lolth wants her dead" is nowhere near a proof that she is actually dead.
@@richardkenan2891 You say that like she has a chance to live despite being marked for death. The reason why Drizzt hasn't been killed yet is because his actions create chaos, and Lolth LOVES chaos. Plus, he is surrounded by friends who will fight to the death for him. If you don't romance Viconia, she has no one like that, and that makes her vulnerable.
Actually if she is your main love interest her epilogue in tob is her getting killed and leaving you widowed with her child. Assuming you. Convinced her to stick and fully stay romanced with you.
@@hanli5416 She is optional, but I like to think of her as the male protagonist's default love interest, I had my Chaotic Good male human Fighter romance her after all.
This fantastic recap got me uber hyped for BG3! And I was hyped to begin with, both BG1 & 2 are the main reason why I went into RPGs (and never left), and I got BG3 pre-ordered the first day it became available. 😎
This is an appropriately-lengthed and useful recap vid! I played BG1 and BG2, and some expansion things for those when they came out. I recall nothing other than "Go for eyes, Boo!" which I assume was repeated endlessly. Something something lord of murder does sound vaguely familiar. I think I paid more attention to this overview than the original games stories. Maybe. Anyway, thanks!
Crazy, was watching a BG2 playthrough and thought to myself "hmm, maybe I should look up a synopsis of the events prior to BG3" and the very moment I think that - I see this video in my sidebar. Love your content mate!
I put about 30hrs into EA on BG3 before I uninstalled in and waited patiently. I know they have added so much in early access, but I really didn’t want to spoil the experience by replaying the early game until it was stale…that was 2 years ago lol. It was quite the wait, but I’d rather Larian be confident, then get an unfinished or unpolished experience:) Can’t wait to play
Same here. Got the games when they released and still have the discs. Cannot get myself to do that RTwP nonsense. I stayed away from Pillars of Eternity for the same reason.
Awesome video. I was aware of most of it, but I had no idea that the protagonist of BG 1 and 2 lived so long and ruled Baldur's Gate, nor the stuff about Ravengard.
I just bought the game and I'm really excited for release. I'm playing a bit of early access now, but I don't think I'll get TOO deep into it until 1.0. This video was GREAT information! I have never played a BG game before (even though I'm old enough that I could have played them when they first came out, but alas...) so I appreciate the back story. I'm excited to see where this story goes!
There is a fun little thing. BG3 has a pretty clear mindflayer connection but BG 1 and 2 also have a smaller (id go as far as not directly stated) connection as well. You run into mindflayers more than a few times and, almost every time, it is in a situation that is at least tangentially related to the Baahlspawn. Even so far as the lair where the cult you were rescued from as a child being under the direct control of a mindflayer from (if I remember right) a crashed mindflayer ship under the temple(so its been there a bit).
I'm not sure if you remember the mind flayer in BG 2 in Jan Jansen's personal quest line, but it's one of my favorite bits of subtle storytelling in the game. It very effectively insinuates to the player that mind flayers could be pulling the strings from the shadows in all kinds of affairs and conspiracies. It's a lot more effective as a storytelling device than having an enclave with a bunch of mind flayers you have to fight like in the Alhoon lair.
I talked about that in a video quite some time ago actually, mindflayers pop up in the periphery of the previous two games constantly even in Dragonspear when Beamdog were trying to get the BG3 license themselves. Beyond just being odd though, it's hard to give that any clear purpose or intent which is why I didn't bring it up here.
From what I gather, you should go devotion paladin as dark urge origin and give in to those urges and kill everyone to turn oathbreaker. If I had a computer that's what I'd play as.
This is perfectly timed ;). I am just coming off a replay of BG1/2 EE and a playthrough BG3 EA, asking myself exactly these questions. Not about the events of 1 and 2 obviously, but those 130 years in-between and how there can be a connection to the old events, how they are reconciling the old games' varied outcomes with the necessity of a canonical world-state, how the heck Jaheira and Minsc can be in BG3, and so on. Many thanks, now I don't need to ask those questions in the forums. I have to say it is quite surprising how the prospect of BG3 gets me excited after 25 years. BG3 EA has a few hiccups but they're all game-mechanical in my opinion and quite fixable for the full release. As much as I am capable of being hyped these days. I am.
Watching this makes me wonder if the new "dark urge" origin in Baldurs Gate 3 is actually playing as a child of Bal since you have this strong urge to murder etc.
Awesome breakdown! I can’t explain how excited I am to dive into this game and this was a really handy run through for of some main historical points before release.
I love this game. I always restart briefly after hitting lvl 5 and before I go to the Underdark simply because I think, "Hmm, I rly wanna play a different class." I love the class diversity in this game. Edit: There's so many things I wish to be in this game but a big one has to be group ability checks. Even if I fail a check, my party should all roll as well to see if one of them succeed. Seriously, how does that tiefling kid pickpocket me without being seen when I have 3 companions behind me? Lol.
That’s an interesting idea, and I see your point. But I think it would be kind of weird if it was in the game, if you can just reroof every ability check you fail 3 times you would never lose any ability checks
Thanks for doing this. I've been bothered by this question for a whole year. I played all of bg1 and halfway through bg2 to try to prepare myself for bg3. Lol.
I would like to add that even though you don't need to play them to appreciate 3, you should still play Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 anyway. They are among the best RPGs ever made.
If you read the many books lying around everywhere you can find a ton of lore about the past, the gods, all kinds of stuff that some have glimpse about previous games as well.
There's also a connection to Bhaal through Jergal in BG3. Jergal - The Scribe of the Dead - was the god that the Dead Three got their godhood from. He was essentially the god of ending and death before the Dead Three took three of that's essence for themselves. You find signs of Jergal very early on in the game, which makes me think he might play a bigger part in the story as well. "The Legend of Knuckebones, Skull Bowling and the Empty Throne" is a great short read in the Sword Coast Adventurers guide, which sheds light on this fascinating fellow.
I own 100 games but none of them were purchased on launch/preordered. This is going to be my first off-sale Steam purchase. I am really excited about BG3. I want to hop into the game blindly, but it sure would be great to know a bit about the past events. I was looking forward to a video like this before I played BG3. Thanks.
My former DnD group have a whole followup lore to the ressurgence of Bhaal, involving a spell jammer being the catalyst of a ritual that made the three most powerfull metal dragons into dracoliches and mounts to the three most powerfull players at the time that became NPCs and chosen of Bhaal. A;; that in a massive war involving the rashemi and the "bone horde" summoned by the red mages of thay. I miss playing DnD so much.
Viekang, the other surviving Bhaalspawn, was in Baldur's Gate 2. He had the ability to teleport whenever he panicked. He's in Trademeet and Saradush. I really wish they hadn't followed the novelizations for the BG games. They were pretty poorly written because the author was only given a buggy alpha of BG1 and didn't have access to a lot of the scripts. It's also a shame that Wizards hasn't used more ideas from the games. Bringing Bhaal and Myrkul back like they did was pretty poorly done. The BG games and NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer did such a great job expanding on the lore of Bhaal and Myrkul.
honestly, best info video out of all the bg3 content, even bg3 only UA-camrs,you're not just reading a Wikipedia paragraph and calling it a day you're actually explaining stuff, would love more vids like this
This is exactly what I was hoping to find on UA-cam before BG3. I don't like reading, but I love CRPGs. I know quite an oxy-moron. But I never completed even Baldur's Gate 1, so I appreciate this short summary.
In the second D&D movie Wrath of the Dragon God they make reference to Descent into Avernus.... it a small mention in passing.... but still got a kick out of it. ;)
@@beardedchampion4321 probably better off playing Divinity Original Sin 2 in preparation though as BG3 bears virtually zero resemblance to the old games in terms of gameplay mechanics
@@antonego9581 Respectfully, I don't agree, D:OS2 isn't D&D and has its own rules. BG 1, 2, and 3 are based on the same ruleset.....give or take the different editions. It is a great game though, I agree, and well worth playing, but I think mostly the only thing it has in common is the engine and the verticality mechanics. I personally think you would get more out of playing BG 1 and 2........if only to get to know Minsc and Boo 😊
Ok after that summary of Baals freed soul and the arc of the 1st and 2nd game, my money is on that the "Dark Urge" origin character they revealed in the last stream might be related to that, either directly or indirectly.
At least now the teaser for Minsc in the Game Awards Trailer makes sense to me, i noticed how his teaser was some kind of hint to someone known, but i thought that might be something you can get from playing the early access version and not a hint to the previous games xD but that is much more cooler that way, not that it makes any difference for me now really, but still i can value this more than before that knowledge
Up to speed: - Valygar and Xan both work for Candlekeep. Valygar has taken potions of longevity to continue his hunt for evil wizards. Xan, who is a "Blessed of Corellon," meaning his gender changes sometimes throughout his life, hopes to find a worthy heir for his moonblade before journeying to Evermeet. - Kivan and Faldorn are both members of the Emerald Enclave. Kivan is now married to Cernd and is attempting to expose Faldorn as an evil Shadow Druid. - Jaheira continues to serve the Harpers. - Minsc and Boo were petrified and spent nearly a century as a statue in Waterdeep before being freed. They are now members of an order known as the Knights of Bahamut. - Irenicus and Bodhi were placed in the Domains of Dread by the Dark Powers of Ravenloft. They now exist in a dark mirror of Suldanessellar. Irenicus is now a lich. - Montaran and Xzar have also returned from death and are members of the Shadow Thieves. Xzar has become a demilich which Montaran keeps in a bag of holding. There's also an insane simulacrum of Xzar running around. - Imoen also is a member of the Shadow Thieves. She was transformed into a vampire by Bodhi but has retained her good alignment. - Edwin now has the longevity of an elf, thanks to the Nether Scrolls. He is once more in good relationship with Thay and has taken over Razamith's Tower in Baldur's Gate. - Kagain is now a worshiper of Bhaal and leads an unscrupulous band of mercenaries in Baldur's Gate. - Saemon Havarion sold his soul to Baalzebul in exchange for long-life and fortune and is now desperately looking for a way out of the deal. - Sarevok became a homeless drug addict in Baldur's Gate until Bhaal, reborn, found him and made him a high priest of his clergy. - Viconia has started working with the cults of Elemental Evil to further the will of Shar. - Aribeth de Tylmarande is now a herald of Mephistopheles.
@@XYZ-em5vu Vic died in both Baldurs gate 2 good and bad ending. But Minsc also never got petrified there, so she could really be alive, and wold be a joy to find her in BG3, she's one of my favored characters.
@@rafaelgoncalvesdias7459 Idk, had an ending where she died only ones - the other one saying she "vanished" after a period of activity. Maybe you never finished her quests? To be precise even the wiki says the folowing: "Viconia has two official epilogues if you complete the final quest of Throne of Bhaal with her present in your party. In her default Epilogue, Viconia moves on with her own adventures after parting ways with Gorion's Ward. She founds a short-lived Sharite cult under her command in Waterdeep, only to slaughter them all when they betray her, shrugging off the chastisement of her goddess. She stops an attempt by the Knights of the Shield to take over Calimport, and then assists Drizzt Do'Urden in saving the elven city of Suldanessalar from a Zhentarim plot, for which she receives the highest honor of the Seldarine from Queen Ellesime. She reportedly takes this unprecedented honor stoically, and then leaves; her movements thereafter are lost to history. If Gorion's Ward completed Viconia's Romance and chooses not to embrace godhood, the two lovers continue adventuring together until they decide to settle down, with Gorion's Ward becoming an important political figure. They marry and have a half-drow son together, but after several years, Viconia is assassinated by an agent of Lolth - the Ascension mod contains an expanded version of this epilogue stating that this was achieved through the use of venom taken from Lolth's own fangs. Unable to resurrect his wife, Gorion's Ward sadly raises their son on his own, disappearing into the pages of myth - some say they go on to crusade against the drow, but none know the truth."
Very informative post.. thanks... even if i dont remember all the names on the list... its good to get the whereabouts of all these Characters from the past:)
Man this brings back so much nostalgy. I am so ready to get lost in this game after playing the early access back in 2020 and after observing for almost 3 years how the game evolved. Awesome video aswell !
"The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos will be sewn from their passage. So sayeth the wise Alaundo." - Candlekeep chanters
Interesting! Having only ever played the games, I had no idea there was a canonical ending, and all this stuff from the other adventures. One thing I didn't quick catch though: So, in the canonical ending, Abdel Adrian neither surrenders his Bhaal essence to the solar, nor does he absorb enough of the Bhaal essence to become a god. None of that happens, he fucks off back to Baldur's Gate, and everyone just forgets about the Bhaalspawn and the prophecy of Bhaal's resurrection? Somehow that seems... not very in keeping with how the games ended.
Abdel gave up his shot at godhood yes, he picked the living as a mortal option. The resurrection was thought to have been rendered impossible which was obviously proven false when Abdel died.
@@MortismalGaming Interesting. You've got me looking up all the source material for Murder in Baldur's Gate and Descent into Avernus now. Haha I wonder if I know anyone who would want to run a quick campaign for one of these while we're waiting for BG3. 😆
Thanks for the video! I pulled the trigger and bought BG3 the other day and was super excited that the story centers around the Mind Flyers my second race! And imagine my surprise when my favorite race is playable: Drow
This is the first game for years that I'll happily recommend literally ANYONE regardless of their preference to buy just to financially support Larian to keep making these well-done types of non-linear RPG games. Such an under-represented genre. I love FPS and all and been playing it all my life but this right here is the shit. With the ability to mod the game + AI voice generation, the possibility is literally endless...
There are ofc copious amounts of Forgotten Realms lore/info, including BG games but also better explaining overall multiverse lore from other canon sources, at the fan supported wikis. FR has something like 45 years or more of real world development so that rabbit hole goes pretty deep.
Thank you so much for all your fantastic content, I've been playing games since we first got a Sinclair ZX81 and my all time favourite games are Laser Squad, Dungeon Master and Speedball 2.Ive been stuck in a TES/Fallout loop for so long however due to your reviews and recommendations im back into playing the games i really love. Unfortunately it has to be Starfield before BG3,a tough call but i dont have the hardware for BG3 right now😢 anyway thank you again so much because of you i really do Wander In Wisdom.
Damn lol end of BG2 I usually ascended haha. I think I only gave up the essence once. Imagine you could import save data of the stuff you did in 1 and 2 and it had some effect on the game. That would be amazing.
This is exactly the kind of recap i wanted - just enough context to understand broadly whats going on, kinda what you would expect the BG3 protagonist to be aware of.
Never played a lick of dnd in my life. Don't know why yt pushing bg3 content on me now but watched a few of those char create tips and tricks videos.
Wondered what 1 n 2 were, this is a very good explanation.
So from this story, I take it the dark urge origin IS bhaal/ last bhaalspawn.
Thank you so much for your work. My gaming activity peaked in 1993-2005, now I very rarely play games. It's thanks to your channel that I became acquainted with real gaming masterpieces. Our tastes are very similar, so I trust your reviews. Thank you for such high quality content.
Im 23, but I adore games from that era and have been playing Diablo 1 and 2 for some time now. I’m sorry that gaming now a days is as corporate as it is but projects like this game and divinity OS and stuff like wasteland 3 are great examples of passionate project that capture some of that feeling of playing games like back then. What are your favorites from back in the day?
@@CringeLord0119 Hi! I really liked the two genres of games: adventure (quests) and, as you can not hard to guess RPG. Of the first genre I liked most games by Sierra. My favorites were Quest for Glory, Police Quest, Space Quest and my absolute favorite game is Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. As for RPGs, I've played and loved a huge number of them. My favorites are: The Dungeon Master 2, Might&Magic (parts 6 and 7), Ultima 6-8, Fallout 1 and 2, both parts of IcewindDale (although they are "linear") Diablo 1, BG 1-2, Planescape: Torment.
Of the new ones, I will highlight Wasteland 2 & 3, Tyranny, Divinity OS 1 & 2, Mutant Year Zero & Miasma Chronicles. Of those, the absolute favorite is Wasteland 3. It has all the best of both the old games world and the virtues of modern game dev.
@@breaddough-vk8gf Thanks for your advice!!! Yah, I hate the expression "toxic" as it has been greatly abused in recent years, but as applied to online/multiplayer games it is the best term. You're right in that there is a resurgence of the genre right now, which makes me very happy. So I'm slowly getting back to doing what I loved in the past - CRPG gaming.😉
Divinity os 2, wasteland 3, and pathfinder wotr. Play them, you won't regret. Of course the king of these games will drop soon 😂 (baldurs gate 3)
@@Sonmz hey bro - if you missed arcanum from back in the day, it's from troika that made the amazing vampire bloodlines and temple of elemental evil (also requires amazing community mods) it might be worth playing for its' reactivity and quest design and world is interesting. Arcanum has a 500 mb unofficial patch you need. Combat is shit though unlike temple of elemental evil which is heralded by us connoisseurs as some of the best 3.5 edition combat.
It's hard to recommend what would be good for you from the present since basically you can choose isometric or first person as well as more exploration, combat or story focused rpgs. There are plenty out there as I'm sure you are aware. One interesting one is called kingdom come deliverance and it's interesting since it's a historical medieval rpg from 1st person perspective like cyberpunk :). Other historical ones are the expeditions trilogy, especially conquistador for me was the best, though you may have some technical issues. Since you like story/adventure games I haven't played it yet but people that liked planescape (who doesn't) seem to like disco elysium. Mask of the betrayer is also heavy on great story.
Take care!
Lots of great adventure games been coming out lately as well, I mean a lot!
PS - ultima 6-7 are just pure magic, played them when I was 12-14.
My coworker bought BG3 and peaked my interest as a player of BG1&2. Mortismal Gaming reminded me of my gaming past and now I must save Boo or lead the space hamster to ruin (probably both). Thank you for my bringing back my loving memories!
One thing I've been continuously impressed by the BG3 early access is how in tune they are with the often muddled recent lore of the Realms like the events of the Second Sundering and the return of various divinities. I can't wait to see what else they choose to explore.
Didn't they ban half races and orcs recently in the lore? Wotc is a bit of joke lol
@@TheSacredCowtipper88 That is only a very "surface reading" understanding of what they did with half-"races". Nothing was "banned", you can still play a character who has parents of two different species. You pick a parent's species to derive your stats. They aren't calling them "half-" anything any more. You are still 100% free to roleplay and let anyone who gives a shit, know that your mom was an elf and your dad was a human.
Orcs are still a playable species.
The biggest joke is that people are so confident that they understand what has changed, hate it, talk mad shit about it, and have 99% of their facts about it, wrong.
@@NaptownClassichonestly the change is mostly good
The one thing I don’t like is that the stats only come from one of your parents, would be far more interesting if you got a bit of both
Things to know about baldurs gate 1/2: Saemon Havarion WILL betray you. EVERY time.
Even when he says he won’t! Remember that.
Só LL Safana. Gladly you kill her.
What? But he is such a trustworthy fellow!
He can’t betray you if he’s dead. Well… actually dead.
Is one of the OG Patches
Baldur's Gate 3 is one of my most hyped games of the year. Larian are such amazing devs. The amount of work and love that's gone into BG3 is absolutely insane and it shows.
I'm so excited to play the Spore Druid. I'm also really new to D&D so this will be like diving into an uncharted ocean. Knowing Larian, the classes are going to heavily reflect their pen and paper counterparts.
I find it interesting that it comes to PS5 on the same day as Starfield comes to Xbox. Almost like they want to see how it competes.
@@SCDJMU I mean, it's not real time with pause. What else would it need?
@@SCDJMU in your opinion
I havent played BG 1 & 2 and never played D&D either, but i cant wait for the full version of BG3. I have over 60h rn in the early access.
Havent been hyped for a game for a few years.
I've watched so many explanations of the previous games and it sounds like they are reading a wiki page. You present the info clear way easily understood. Thanks!
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! I've seen others that are either too long or the short ones condense it too much without explaining what effect this will have on BG3. Like I saw multiple videos and none of them explained that the god of murder was resurrected 10 years prior, that seems so vitally important so I'm glad you really did give us the spark notes version of things.
Another companion from the previous Baldur's Gate games who may well be relevant is Viconia DeVir. As a Drow, she is quite capable of living through the timeskip and like Shadowheart, she is a priestess of Shar. This is unlikely to be a coincidence.
@@DermetsuNot with Lolth the Spider Queen hunting for her head. A lot of Viconia fans CONSTANTLY forget that throughout Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 she is a woman marked for death by the Spider Queen. There's no way she can possibly be in Baldur's Gate 3.
@@LightStreak567just because Lolth wants Viconia dead does not mean she will get it. Sure, Viconia does not have Drizzt levels of plot armor, but Lolth still fails to get what she wants very often. She's only the ruling power among the dark elves of the underdark. Everywhere else she's just another evil outer planes being.
I doubt Viconia is in BG3, and she may well be dead by this point, but "Lolth wants her dead" is nowhere near a proof that she is actually dead.
@@richardkenan2891 You say that like she has a chance to live despite being marked for death. The reason why Drizzt hasn't been killed yet is because his actions create chaos, and Lolth LOVES chaos. Plus, he is surrounded by friends who will fight to the death for him. If you don't romance Viconia, she has no one like that, and that makes her vulnerable.
Actually if she is your main love interest her epilogue in tob is her getting killed and leaving you widowed with her child. Assuming you. Convinced her to stick and fully stay romanced with you.
@@hanli5416 She is optional, but I like to think of her as the male protagonist's default love interest, I had my Chaotic Good male human Fighter romance her after all.
This fantastic recap got me uber hyped for BG3! And I was hyped to begin with, both BG1 & 2 are the main reason why I went into RPGs (and never left), and I got BG3 pre-ordered the first day it became available. 😎
Appreciate the recap Mort, its been well over a decade since i played BG2 so i barely remember what the heck happened. Thanks for the fun vid 👍
This is an appropriately-lengthed and useful recap vid!
I played BG1 and BG2, and some expansion things for those when they came out.
I recall nothing other than "Go for eyes, Boo!" which I assume was repeated endlessly. Something something lord of murder does sound vaguely familiar.
I think I paid more attention to this overview than the original games stories. Maybe.
Anyway, thanks!
Thank you for this. I never knew but i will be playing 3
Crazy, was watching a BG2 playthrough and thought to myself "hmm, maybe I should look up a synopsis of the events prior to BG3" and the very moment I think that - I see this video in my sidebar. Love your content mate!
as someone who has played all the bg games at least once every year since their release, this exites me to no end.
I put about 30hrs into EA on BG3 before I uninstalled in and waited patiently. I know they have added so much in early access, but I really didn’t want to spoil the experience by replaying the early game until it was stale…that was 2 years ago lol. It was quite the wait, but I’d rather Larian be confident, then get an unfinished or unpolished experience:) Can’t wait to play
Thanks for the history lesson, which is very much appreciated as I never played BG1 and 2. But I am looking forward to playing BG3
Appreciate the recap. 😊
I DMed Descent into Avernus almost two years ago. Really looking forward to seeing the connections to that adventure in the game.
Never played Baldurs Gate so thanks for this video. Very useful
Thanks for this! I honestly didn't enjoy the RTWP in BG1 or 2, so I never finished them.
Same here. Got the games when they released and still have the discs. Cannot get myself to do that RTwP nonsense. I stayed away from Pillars of Eternity for the same reason.
I am unbelievably pumped for this game
Awesome video. I was aware of most of it, but I had no idea that the protagonist of BG 1 and 2 lived so long and ruled Baldur's Gate, nor the stuff about Ravengard.
Within a few months this channel has become my favorite games review site. Thanks for this summary - it is just what I wanted!
Launching BG3 now. thanks for the video.
Perfect video as I was worried about not knowing anything but did not want to open that can of worms. Thanks!
I just bought the game and I'm really excited for release. I'm playing a bit of early access now, but I don't think I'll get TOO deep into it until 1.0. This video was GREAT information! I have never played a BG game before (even though I'm old enough that I could have played them when they first came out, but alas...) so I appreciate the back story. I'm excited to see where this story goes!
Say hi to Minsc and boo for me. Fav character. Perhaps in any game.
And TBH...I've Never _finished a Baldurs gate game_ but i loved 2.
good content, keep it up! subscribed!
There is a fun little thing. BG3 has a pretty clear mindflayer connection but BG 1 and 2 also have a smaller (id go as far as not directly stated) connection as well. You run into mindflayers more than a few times and, almost every time, it is in a situation that is at least tangentially related to the Baahlspawn. Even so far as the lair where the cult you were rescued from as a child being under the direct control of a mindflayer from (if I remember right) a crashed mindflayer ship under the temple(so its been there a bit).
I'm not sure if you remember the mind flayer in BG 2 in Jan Jansen's personal quest line, but it's one of my favorite bits of subtle storytelling in the game. It very effectively insinuates to the player that mind flayers could be pulling the strings from the shadows in all kinds of affairs and conspiracies. It's a lot more effective as a storytelling device than having an enclave with a bunch of mind flayers you have to fight like in the Alhoon lair.
I talked about that in a video quite some time ago actually, mindflayers pop up in the periphery of the previous two games constantly even in Dragonspear when Beamdog were trying to get the BG3 license themselves. Beyond just being odd though, it's hard to give that any clear purpose or intent which is why I didn't bring it up here.
Clear and concise, as usual. As someone who has played BG1 and 2, this was a nice refresher. Thanks!
So hyped for BG3. Still cannot decide between Paladin of some kind, or Tempest Cleric.
From what I gather, you should go devotion paladin as dark urge origin and give in to those urges and kill everyone to turn oathbreaker.
If I had a computer that's what I'd play as.
so excited for BG3, a game I've been waiting 20 years for.
This is perfectly timed ;). I am just coming off a replay of BG1/2 EE and a playthrough BG3 EA, asking myself exactly these questions. Not about the events of 1 and 2 obviously, but those 130 years in-between and how there can be a connection to the old events, how they are reconciling the old games' varied outcomes with the necessity of a canonical world-state, how the heck Jaheira and Minsc can be in BG3, and so on. Many thanks, now I don't need to ask those questions in the forums. I have to say it is quite surprising how the prospect of BG3 gets me excited after 25 years. BG3 EA has a few hiccups but they're all game-mechanical in my opinion and quite fixable for the full release. As much as I am capable of being hyped these days. I am.
This was needed. Will definitely enjoy BG3 more fully.
Thank you, I needed this!
Poor Ulder, dude got dragged to hell in Elturel and then as he’s heading back to Baldur’s Gate, he’s immediately captured by Drow and the Absolute.
Watching this makes me wonder if the new "dark urge" origin in Baldurs Gate 3 is actually playing as a child of Bal since you have this strong urge to murder etc.
Awesome breakdown! I can’t explain how excited I am to dive into this game and this was a really handy run through for of some main historical points before release.
Very useful Mortis. Thank you sir!
I love this game. I always restart briefly after hitting lvl 5 and before I go to the Underdark simply because I think, "Hmm, I rly wanna play a different class." I love the class diversity in this game.
Edit: There's so many things I wish to be in this game but a big one has to be group ability checks. Even if I fail a check, my party should all roll as well to see if one of them succeed. Seriously, how does that tiefling kid pickpocket me without being seen when I have 3 companions behind me? Lol.
That’s an interesting idea, and I see your point. But I think it would be kind of weird if it was in the game, if you can just reroof every ability check you fail 3 times you would never lose any ability checks
I just rewatched supercut 1 yesterday and am going to watch supercut 2 today. You read my mind
Suddenly, the dark urge seems way more interesting.
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for doing this. I've been bothered by this question for a whole year. I played all of bg1 and halfway through bg2 to try to prepare myself for bg3. Lol.
Thank you for the catch up!
Ooooh. My bet is that the "Dark Urge" origin character is actually a mortal version of Bhaal
Love your channel......i feel sufficiently caught up for bg3 haha
Thank you for the round up.
ive played baldurs 1,2 neverwinter 1,2 icewind 1,2 read about 70 forgotten realms books, but all that probably 9 and more years ago, so lets watch
I would like to add that even though you don't need to play them to appreciate 3, you should still play Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 anyway.
They are among the best RPGs ever made.
If you read the many books lying around everywhere you can find a ton of lore about the past, the gods, all kinds of stuff that some have glimpse about previous games as well.
There's also a connection to Bhaal through Jergal in BG3. Jergal - The Scribe of the Dead - was the god that the Dead Three got their godhood from. He was essentially the god of ending and death before the Dead Three took three of that's essence for themselves.
You find signs of Jergal very early on in the game, which makes me think he might play a bigger part in the story as well.
"The Legend of Knuckebones, Skull Bowling and the Empty Throne" is a great short read in the Sword Coast Adventurers guide, which sheds light on this fascinating fellow.
I own 100 games but none of them were purchased on launch/preordered. This is going to be my first off-sale Steam purchase. I am really excited about BG3. I want to hop into the game blindly, but it sure would be great to know a bit about the past events. I was looking forward to a video like this before I played BG3. Thanks.
Love those lore videos. Keep it coming please!
Basic knowledge of the pantheon will also help. Especially Shar.
Love your channel, Mort. That companion spoiler was brutal, however.
Thanks, I wouldn't really consider official marketing spoilers though.
@@MortismalGamingOh! I had no idea. Sorry... I've been so spoiler shy I hadn't even seen the official marketing.
Thanks for this! I’m a newbie to this series, so this was very helpful!
Ty for the refresher Mort! It's been 25 years since I played BG1 and forgot a lot of the story.
Good to know, great video!
This is the kind of spicy content I am looking for.
My former DnD group have a whole followup lore to the ressurgence of Bhaal, involving a spell jammer being the catalyst of a ritual that made the three most powerfull metal dragons into dracoliches and mounts to the three most powerfull players at the time that became NPCs and chosen of Bhaal. A;; that in a massive war involving the rashemi and the "bone horde" summoned by the red mages of thay. I miss playing DnD so much.
Viekang, the other surviving Bhaalspawn, was in Baldur's Gate 2. He had the ability to teleport whenever he panicked. He's in Trademeet and Saradush.
I really wish they hadn't followed the novelizations for the BG games. They were pretty poorly written because the author was only given a buggy alpha of BG1 and didn't have access to a lot of the scripts.
It's also a shame that Wizards hasn't used more ideas from the games. Bringing Bhaal and Myrkul back like they did was pretty poorly done. The BG games and NWN2: Mask of the Betrayer did such a great job expanding on the lore of Bhaal and Myrkul.
honestly, best info video out of all the bg3 content, even bg3 only UA-camrs,you're not just reading a Wikipedia paragraph and calling it a day you're actually explaining stuff, would love more vids like this
Daddy Wolfheartfps?
No joke, I am about 1 hour into your super cut story of BG1. And now this gem of a video drops. You sir are a mind reader! Love your content friend 😊
Haha I know what you mean! I just finished that BG1 video this last weekened!
This is exactly what I was hoping to find on UA-cam before BG3. I don't like reading, but I love CRPGs. I know quite an oxy-moron. But I never completed even Baldur's Gate 1, so I appreciate this short summary.
Oh God. You saying the word "spark notes " caused me intense flashbacks to late elementary school/early highschool.
Showed my own age a bit with that one
In the second D&D movie Wrath of the Dragon God they make reference to Descent into Avernus.... it a small mention in passing.... but still got a kick out of it. ;)
Thank you for this guide!
Everything I needed to know - in 12 minutes.
I never played the first 2 games, but I am very much looking forward to playing BG3 before I get into Starfield.
You've got 1 month to play them then! Currently £5 on steam and you won't regret it, I promise! Fucking amazing games!
@@beardedchampion4321 probably better off playing Divinity Original Sin 2 in preparation though as BG3 bears virtually zero resemblance to the old games in terms of gameplay mechanics
@@antonego9581 Respectfully, I don't agree, D:OS2 isn't D&D and has its own rules. BG 1, 2, and 3 are based on the same ruleset.....give or take the different editions. It is a great game though, I agree, and well worth playing, but I think mostly the only thing it has in common is the engine and the verticality mechanics. I personally think you would get more out of playing BG 1 and 2........if only to get to know Minsc and Boo 😊
bg3 is tsundere heaven. shadowheart, the gith chick. now Jaheira. cant wait
In reference to vague protag - they could always ref it the way dragon age does - ambiguous but the keep kinda tell ya details more so.
Ok after that summary of Baals freed soul and the arc of the 1st and 2nd game, my money is on that the "Dark Urge" origin character they revealed in the last stream might be related to that, either directly or indirectly.
At least now the teaser for Minsc in the Game Awards Trailer makes sense to me, i noticed how his teaser was some kind of hint to someone known, but i thought that might be something you can get from playing the early access version and not a hint to the previous games xD but that is much more cooler that way, not that it makes any difference for me now really, but still i can value this more than before that knowledge
Up to speed:
- Valygar and Xan both work for Candlekeep. Valygar has taken potions of longevity to continue his hunt for evil wizards. Xan, who is a "Blessed of Corellon," meaning his gender changes sometimes throughout his life, hopes to find a worthy heir for his moonblade before journeying to Evermeet.
- Kivan and Faldorn are both members of the Emerald Enclave. Kivan is now married to Cernd and is attempting to expose Faldorn as an evil Shadow Druid.
- Jaheira continues to serve the Harpers.
- Minsc and Boo were petrified and spent nearly a century as a statue in Waterdeep before being freed. They are now members of an order known as the Knights of Bahamut.
- Irenicus and Bodhi were placed in the Domains of Dread by the Dark Powers of Ravenloft. They now exist in a dark mirror of Suldanessellar. Irenicus is now a lich.
- Montaran and Xzar have also returned from death and are members of the Shadow Thieves. Xzar has become a demilich which Montaran keeps in a bag of holding. There's also an insane simulacrum of Xzar running around.
- Imoen also is a member of the Shadow Thieves. She was transformed into a vampire by Bodhi but has retained her good alignment.
- Edwin now has the longevity of an elf, thanks to the Nether Scrolls. He is once more in good relationship with Thay and has taken over Razamith's Tower in Baldur's Gate.
- Kagain is now a worshiper of Bhaal and leads an unscrupulous band of mercenaries in Baldur's Gate.
- Saemon Havarion sold his soul to Baalzebul in exchange for long-life and fortune and is now desperately looking for a way out of the deal.
- Sarevok became a homeless drug addict in Baldur's Gate until Bhaal, reborn, found him and made him a high priest of his clergy.
- Viconia has started working with the cults of Elemental Evil to further the will of Shar.
- Aribeth de Tylmarande is now a herald of Mephistopheles.
Really? From what I remember Vic died.
@@rafaelgoncalvesdias7459 In wasn't mentioned anywhere. All I give are excerpts for the new sourcebook.
@@XYZ-em5vu Vic died in both Baldurs gate 2 good and bad ending. But Minsc also never got petrified there, so she could really be alive, and wold be a joy to find her in BG3, she's one of my favored characters.
@@rafaelgoncalvesdias7459 Idk, had an ending where she died only ones - the other one saying she "vanished" after a period of activity. Maybe you never finished her quests? To be precise even the wiki says the folowing:
"Viconia has two official epilogues if you complete the final quest of Throne of Bhaal with her present in your party.
In her default Epilogue, Viconia moves on with her own adventures after parting ways with Gorion's Ward. She founds a short-lived Sharite cult under her command in Waterdeep, only to slaughter them all when they betray her, shrugging off the chastisement of her goddess. She stops an attempt by the Knights of the Shield to take over Calimport, and then assists Drizzt Do'Urden in saving the elven city of Suldanessalar from a Zhentarim plot, for which she receives the highest honor of the Seldarine from Queen Ellesime. She reportedly takes this unprecedented honor stoically, and then leaves; her movements thereafter are lost to history.
If Gorion's Ward completed Viconia's Romance and chooses not to embrace godhood, the two lovers continue adventuring together until they decide to settle down, with Gorion's Ward becoming an important political figure. They marry and have a half-drow son together, but after several years, Viconia is assassinated by an agent of Lolth - the Ascension mod contains an expanded version of this epilogue stating that this was achieved through the use of venom taken from Lolth's own fangs. Unable to resurrect his wife, Gorion's Ward sadly raises their son on his own, disappearing into the pages of myth - some say they go on to crusade against the drow, but none know the truth."
Very informative post.. thanks... even if i dont remember all the names on the list... its good to get the whereabouts of all these Characters from the past:)
The context of this video with the panel from hell about the last orgin character...
*interesting whom* this origin character could be...
Man this brings back so much nostalgy. I am so ready to get lost in this game after playing the early access back in 2020 and after observing for almost 3 years how the game evolved. Awesome video aswell !
"The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny. Chaos will be sewn from their passage. So sayeth the wise Alaundo." - Candlekeep chanters
Interesting! Having only ever played the games, I had no idea there was a canonical ending, and all this stuff from the other adventures.
One thing I didn't quick catch though: So, in the canonical ending, Abdel Adrian neither surrenders his Bhaal essence to the solar, nor does he absorb enough of the Bhaal essence to become a god. None of that happens, he fucks off back to Baldur's Gate, and everyone just forgets about the Bhaalspawn and the prophecy of Bhaal's resurrection? Somehow that seems... not very in keeping with how the games ended.
Abdel gave up his shot at godhood yes, he picked the living as a mortal option. The resurrection was thought to have been rendered impossible which was obviously proven false when Abdel died.
@@MortismalGaming Interesting. You've got me looking up all the source material for Murder in Baldur's Gate and Descent into Avernus now. Haha
I wonder if I know anyone who would want to run a quick campaign for one of these while we're waiting for BG3. 😆
Nice breakdown man, as I haven't played BG1/2, i was curious as to how they could tie in to BG3.
I’m getting ready to buy it next week hopefully lol
Thanks for the video! I pulled the trigger and bought BG3 the other day and was super excited that the story centers around the Mind Flyers my second race! And imagine my surprise when my favorite race is playable: Drow
This is the first game for years that I'll happily recommend literally ANYONE regardless of their preference to buy just to financially support Larian to keep making these well-done types of non-linear RPG games. Such an under-represented genre. I love FPS and all and been playing it all my life but this right here is the shit.
With the ability to mod the game + AI voice generation, the possibility is literally endless...
There are ofc copious amounts of Forgotten Realms lore/info, including BG games but also better explaining overall multiverse lore from other canon sources, at the fan supported wikis. FR has something like 45 years or more of real world development so that rabbit hole goes pretty deep.
As someone who can't stand Real Time With Pause I appreciate this and your other videos on the story of BG1 and 2
I am so ready to play this game. I might die of anticipation.... the irony.
Thank you so much for all your fantastic content, I've been playing games since we first got a Sinclair ZX81 and my all time favourite games are Laser Squad, Dungeon Master and Speedball 2.Ive been stuck in a TES/Fallout loop for so long however due to your reviews and recommendations im back into playing the games i really love. Unfortunately it has to be Starfield before BG3,a tough call but i dont have the hardware for BG3 right now😢 anyway thank you again so much because of you i really do Wander In Wisdom.
Speedball 2 Brutal Deluxe. Loved that game!
Decent was the first module I got to play all the way trough. Guess my character return to action.
Awesome video thank you
I played through both bg 1 and 2 more than once and somehow 85% of the information from the video is new to me lol
Fun fact Minsc originally was a Mul not a human, he was half dwarf from darksun
Totally forgot Minsc became a statue and that he didn't just get there from some weird ass time/space stuff with Boo being a space hamster... 😔
Damn lol end of BG2 I usually ascended haha. I think I only gave up the essence once. Imagine you could import save data of the stuff you did in 1 and 2 and it had some effect on the game. That would be amazing.
"Adrian" must be a popular name in the 80-90s, cuz the "cannonical" main character of Diablo1 is also an Adrian
could the dark urge be a bhaal spawn?
I serve the flaming fist!
The dark origin we can pick will be somehow connected to Bhaal, I am certain of it. Maybe another, true last Bhaalspawn.
the only reason i can think about someone giving this video dislikes, is because they are true neutral, and want the balance of all things
Eh I just assume people hate the sound of my voice, but it's still sitting at like 99% likes
Played quite a bit of both DOS 1 and 2. BG3 looks a lot like those games. I know Larian made them all. Does it look too much like DS1 and 2 ?
Kinda seems like Bhall is the dark urge or at least related given the latter has a dark urge to ... Murder everything.