I never get tired of seeing interviews with Swen. He is so passionate about the games Larian is making and you can tell how much he cares about his staff.
@@bigboned_I think Jake had a few questions that were alright I normally love Lucy, but she was asking some really really generic questions to the point I felt bad for Swen and almost skipped ahead lol. She'll bounce back, but yeah questions about "the industry", rpg trends, and the Series S hardware limitations when Swen and his studio are about to release their biggest game ever felt pretty crappy to bring up to the guy over and over
worst fn questions i have ever seen every other answer was just swen telling these mentally deficient twitter brains that, yes indeed you can just make your own game and make it good AND THEN THEY ASK THE SAME FN QUESTION AGAIN JUST PHRASED DIFFERENTLY like holy sh pinnacle 3 IQ protoplasma cosplaying human beings literally they get the CEO of a gamecompany about to release a GOTY blockbuster and THIS is what they come up with??? LMAO
Swen Vincke talking about Baldur's Gate is just the best type of commercial they can do. Everything about the guy just screams that he's genuinely excited himself.
And I appreciate them making the game that they want to play first and foremost. I feel that's when something that's truly unique and great comes around.
No exaggeration, Baldur's Gate 3 is the type of game where a standard side quest can have 7 different outcomes based on the choices you made. As someone who played early access multiple times, the variety is honestly staggering.
It's hard to believe how close we are to full release. I still vividly remember my 40 hours with BG3's very first early access version almost 3 years ago, I can't wait to see how much has changed and how much more there is to do without being stopped by incomplete questlines
for real! I also played only the first EA patch, had like 70+ hours in it! I distinctly remember so many fights, dialogs, places and dungeons, way more than I remember some full-fledged games. And now I'm seeing these videos from the first act and latest EA patch, and its like a completely different game. Can't wait to see the full release
If you haven't played since 2020's first early access, you'll be floored. The difference in quality and content between then and now (even before release) is absolutely stunning.
When it comes to Swen, he just looks and sounds like a man you want to work for, I am sure that his teams will run through a wall for him, amazing interview guys.
The way Swen talked about his game made me just go and buy the game. We need more people like him making videogames. Thank you for interviewing him. You are all doing great work. I look forward to watching this podcast.
I loved that you had Swen Vincke on your show to talk about Baldurs Gate 3. I can see how much he really loves making the game and I can see that passion he and his team have for the game and love and are proud of what they have created. I have over 1000 hours in Baldurs Gate 3 early access and I am so excited to play the whole game in 3 days. In all my hours I have not even played every class in early access either, so, there is so much to discover once the game is fully released, even with the amount of hours I have played in early access. I can see myself playing BG3 for 1000s and 1000s of hours more once fully released.
People working in entertainment have a lot to learn from Mr Swen and his team. The passion they put in their work is apparent in every public appearance they have. BG3 has massive expectations but they are up to the task imo
instead of learning, they'd rather take the lazy way out and call BG3 and Larian "an anomaly" - they're not wrong. theyre the only studio making a game of this size and scale and with this much love and care... and not worrying about DLC and microtransactions and fleecing their paying customers for every cent they can.
Omg I am soooo glad you three still did this episode. Thank you so much. I got no one to talk to about gaming and this podcast is what makes me feel connected.
Honestly after that interview I'm sold on Baldur's Gate 3, I'm not a turned based guy but I'm really interested in the complexity of this game sounds like a good time.
I'm a turn based fan and even I have to admit games like Pokémon or persona give "turn based combat" a bad name. It can be SO much more interesting than mashing through menus.
@@_CrimsonBlade you’re right. the only game i want to play is starfield. starfield WILL SAVE gaming. it will be so good, todd howard will ascend to godhood upon its release. it will be, the first ever, 11 out of 10 video game.
The model train kid you referenced is a Dutch kid from ages ago, and you wouldn't believe the amount of people here that still meme on it. Laughed out loud when I realised you were talking about him
dos2 is one of my all time favourite games. Love Larian and Sven, and can't wait to play BG3, although I'll have to wait a little longer because I'm a series x player. Great show as always guys.
SWEN! DOS2 is my favourite game of all time; I put 500 hours into that game in a MONTH. I have never been as excited for a game as I am for BG3. Please let DOS3 be a thing in my lifetime 🙏🏻
I still get sad when I see this podcast cause every once in a while I think back to when I used to watch the Co-Optional podcast with Total Biscuit and that crew. I'm glad there is something else at least in that area being done cause there was a huge hole when Biscuit passed and the pod slowly died. It is kind of shocking how long it took others to do something similar cause it was a very popular show and rapidly there was a hole in that market that was screaming for someone, anyone to step in and grab some of that audience. Better late then never....RIP John
I still think about Total Biscuit and his ragtag crew of friends, too. I wouldn't call this show similar, although I get what you're saying. There are a lot of shows with multiple people. None are the same as TB's.
For sure i really really miss those days. TB was a legend. And that pod-cast was always really fun. Goofing around talking about games ect. He might be gone but in a way he will never die from our hearts.
Gods... I miss John so much. I'm glad he's no longer suffering but he was just, truly, a magnanimous man who's shoes cannot simply be filled. Jesse is still going through and a great time but, sadly, the rest just moved on.
The interview with larrion studios was really insightful. Great questions and what an passionate legend. Shill ups questions is another reason we need more austin lmao
Wow Swen Vincke seems really down to earth and as a really likeable guy, until the drama recently of other AAA devs shitting on this game I had no idea that BG3 was from the studio that made DSO2 (which I loved) This will be the first game in years that I will gladly buy on release
If you're already planning on buying at release I'd recommend buying the early access. You get an automatic upgrade to the digital deluxe edition on launch day. It includes some neat stuff and a digital artbook
I probably won't even have the energy to play it, but will buy it just cause they seem so cool in all their panels and interviews. It's really refreshing in an industry rife with Blizzards, Ubisofts and Todds.
Swen grew up with rpgs, learnt not to deal with publishers, lived in his car at one point to save larian from closing. He plays his own games, always show the actual state of production, no matter how rough it is. Dude wears a frickin armour in his presentations. If there is anything a person could want from a game company lead, Swen has it!
When they were making DOS1 they ran out of money for the last month or two before release. Instead of being an evil CEO hoarding money from himself, he was also without a salary for those last week's. Food and gas was hard to pay. DOS1 was a massive success and since then they've never been in financial troubles ever again
Other devs absolutely did not "shit" on BGS 3, everybody seems to misunderstand what the trend was meant to say. It says that people should not expect or demand this level from other team who do not have the same experience, ressources or early acess period, because clearly some higher ups who are going to see the sucess of this game could asks their dev team to make a game like this, and considering the scope of it, it would probably means horrible crunch and working conditions, and obviously we don't want that to happen.
Swen is A real class act making a masterpiece of a game.. I played a little Divinity 2 and cannot wait for BG3 I'm not as familiar with him and the team but he really reminds me of a Western Yoshi-P .
Jake with the Serial Killer update. Although can we call it an update when it’s the first we’ve heard about it. I’m really looking forward to Baldurs Gate 3 so the Swen interview was a treat. Love that Ralph was there in spirit with his questions. As always a great episode & you didn’t burn down the channel in Ralph’s absence which is definitely a plus. 😆
Get Jakey on the podcast, please! I love him so much and would love to hear you guys talk about video games with him. Him and Suzi would be the best quests!
You guys should have had ralph as a cardboard cutout in the bottom right hand corner of the video. Thanks for another video guys keep up the good work 👍
99% of the other big devs/publishers should take note. "content is king" u dont get more true and based than this. when u release good, fun games the loyal fans and financial support come naturally, especially when u also really take feedback into account.
But when a AAA game can cost upwards to $200 million, stakeholders need something more than idealism to hand over their money. Before you champion Larian too hard, remember the large graveyard of other such dev heroes that were also guiding lights, which have now all fallen.
@@simpson6700 You're right, but I don't agree with the 2nd part of your statement. A loyal fanbase is, in most cases, never enough to make a project financially viable. Cause those groups are very small compared to the majority of the playerbase of a game. It's great and important to have these highly engaged players, but without the rest no studio would survive.
My issue with the twitter discourse around Larian and BG3 is how disingenuous it was. No one is going to hold smaller teams to that standard, assuming they don't try to charge $60/$70 for their game. Other AAA dev teams have more money behind their games and just as much industry experience. It completely ignores the real issue that it's about the difference between a public and private company. Studios that are publicly owned squander their budget and time dealing with unnecessary BS and unrealistic profit expectations in order to appease stakeholders. It's the same reason why you don't see other teams do what Hello Games did with No Man's Sky. Everyone brings up the fact that it's possible to turn a game around like they did, but you don't see it because those games are made by publicly owned companies and HG is private. HG don't have to chase quarterly and yearly earnings to appease stakeholders. They can make decisions that are in their best interest in the long run. The same is true for Larian.
Will be good but since it didn’t use a Bethesda / cdprojeckt battle system is will be a niche game to a niche community while starfield gets 99% of the love
I've no real interest in BG3, but it was a pleasure listening to Swen. Very levelheaded and insightful with great attitude. All the best to him and the team behind the game.
Solid interview with Swen. As we now look at Larian as AAA, how many owners of AAA games will ever speak to the media deeply like this about their game? Very few, if any. Is there anyone else? Sometimes we get lead designer or developer, but the actual owner talking to us about their game at details like this. Refuckingfreshing. Bobby K ain't talkin to us lowlifes like this. 57:20 is what other developers are talking about "we can't compete".
Are they AAA though? BG3 is looking like a AAA quality game but even with ~500 employees they've got nowhere near the manpower or financial power of the typical AAA players and afaik aren't backed by a big publisher who could bail them out if they had somehow fucked it up.
id say BG3 could be the game that launches them into triple A but they def aren’t there yet. This is a Triple A level game but it’s had a successful EA. They still have no publisher behind them and no public investors. They’ll need to push out a couple more games before we will know if they broke through into Triple A status but as of now they are definitely AA and not very close to the scale of the main AAA studios.
Finally, when Ralph isn't around we get some Baldur's Gate appreciation! I've been so bummed out he's barely acknowledged its presence, sure it aint his main genre as more of a scifi person, but I've been really hoping to see more of it!
Lucy taste is something to be trusted, 100%. Her opinion on Dave The Diver and Castlevania serie is spot on, again, 100%. I share the same feelings. haha
I played dos2 early access for 200 hours... every time a patched dripped id sink 20 hours pr more. While it was fun it did tire out my taste for the full release. Sure i helped analitics for larian to make a better game, but personally i decided to not do it again for bg3. Im so stoked to finally get the thing i been waiting for 20 years it seems (since bg2)
i still decided to do it even after DoS2 EA. They def learned from that one. Act 1 had constant new content and it’s been great best part is they are changing it up for release so there’s more act 1 to explore and there’ll be new content throughout what was already in EA. Pretty sure I hit 300 hours now on EA.
Swen Vincke's response to the discourse is underrated af in the comments. "Larian is just focused on making BG3" is such a baller answer. It's the "haters gonna hate" mentality without any childishness behind it. Just literally "We don't care about someone being offended by the high quality of our game, we're just gonna do our thing." It's legendary.
That is not what he said at all. What? Sven said that people shouldn't expect BG3 because not everyone wants to make BG3. There are different standards for different games. When he said that people were saying Assassin's Creed was gonna change the industry and every game was gonna be like that and then that didn't become true. He said that to illustrated that not every game did that because not every game wanted to be that. I would like more games like BG3 but that doesn't mean I want all games to be like BG3. Sven was rejecting the idea you were stating. Not accepting.
To me the whole thing seems to blown out of proportions by "game journalists" anyway. They're just raking in clicks by pitting game developers against one another. All some game devs said was that while they deeply respect Larian and expect BG3 to be a very good game, they are fearful of being held to unrealistic standards that they can't fulfill with smaller budgets and smaller teams. "Game journalists" are then making this out to be as if there's an angry mob of jealous game developers out to trip up Larian.
@@JadedPrimate exactly. People, for some reason, are treating this like a sports team. There isn't actually a reason anyone should be angry except that they want their side to win.
@@Knight1029 Except between 33:40 and 34:25 he literally answers "Larian is just focused on making it's game." That's what he said, verbatim. I never said that he was purposely saying "haters gonna hate", what I said was that it's the "haters gonna hate" *mentality* without childishness behind it. What I mean is that whatever connotation you have associated with the phrase "haters gonna hate" throw it right in the garbage. If you strip away all of the stupid shit that is associated with the phrase, what are you left with? It's the idea that people are going to hate you for what you do no matter what you do. Because "people" as a whole are jealous, resentful, and generally shitty to each other if there is any degree of separation between actual physical eye contact. (Looking someone in the eye and being an asshole to them is very difficult for most people) The sentence after I talked about "haters gonna hate" sums up what I just described. They don't care about what other people think. They could have hundreds of other devs telling Larian "Hey, you're going too far and making your game too good. We're all going to look bad by comparison" and the point of my statement is that they'd respond by saying "We just wanna make the game we wanna make."
@@Tawleyn my guy Sven didn't even had that mentality at all. He never implied or suggested that the people saying Larian is setting a new standard are wrong or jealous. He refuted the people antagonising developers for saying they should be expected to do what Larian is trying to do. Sven literally said if people want to make a game like BG3 then that would be different. The implication there is that if developers are making a game like BG3. Not all RPG developers are trying to make BG3. They are trying to make a different kind of RPG. And that is fine. Sven also said that there are different standards to different games. Literally implying that you can't hold other games to BG3s standard because they aren't trying to do that.
With the user question, I immediately thought about toxicity towards devs and I'm glad Lucy brought it up. While the public is still toxic towards any other forms of media, dev hate is often times much harsher and visceral and what better way to brace the wave of hate than as a team. Modern games update, listen to feedback, respond to feedback, all whether positive or negative. Games won't sell or make splashes without interactivity (usually), but movies, the people who made them don't have to interact at all with their audience.
They don't have to but most smaller productions that going round on festivals do. Just the big Hollywood productions don't need to. My explanation is that gaming did not fully mature yet. Game devs need to become more professional instead of trying to stay "one of us", we (the gamers) need to give credit to the people that actualy creativly make the games instead of the publishers or studio's.
Considering that the Castlevania games that are being adapted all have titles based on musical forms like Rondo and Symphony, a title like Nocturne makes sense to me. Fits the theme perfectly.
1:18:06 It isn't really about those projects being far away. They're shifting cyberpunk to the US which means that in Poland they're only working on one witcher game and a new ip that is really early in development. That's why they're overstaffed, they have too many people for only one project in the driver's seat
Swen, much respect to you. Let me explain something gamers These AAA devs have PLENTY of resources and make the WORST decisions. Larian: has been working on their game for over 20 fucking years Other Devs: push out a game every year or two Larian: puts game in early access for OVER 2 FUCKING YEARS Other Devs: barely give a 2 hour demo, most games NEVER have a fucking demo It's not about resources at all. It's about caring about your game, your fans, and making smart decisions.
I agree with Swen, it is an odd statement from these large billion and trillion dollar companies trying to push back on being held to standards like BG3. Although we should probably keep in mind that BG3 and Redfall probably have similar budgets, so I guess we need to lower our standards for certain billion and trillion dollar companies.
The worst thing about Redfall is that Arkane was hoping Xbox would stop the Redfall project after aquisiton as they were forced by Zenimax into making it but Xbox knowingly ignored it.
@@yomamasohot6411 "xbox knowingly ignored it" is definitely a take for expecting a platform holder who just bought a publisher and started cancelling projects, nothing less than a complete PR disaster after trying to rebuild an image for several years.
When did any of those CEOs made post or tweet saying they didn't want to do that? The people who have been saying that are developers not CEOs. What are you talking about?
Gotta be one of the best game directors/Ceo in the industry' He and the team always look like they love and have a lot of fun' must be a great place to work...
One of my favorite IGN quotes "There's a tendency among the press to attribute the creation of a game to a single person," says Warren Spector, creator of Thief and Deus Ex.
Disney’s illusion island is really ‘baby’s first metroidvania’ and it’s a blast to play! My 5 yo is having a ball as we play through it. Disney even put in individual player difficulties so he can be basically invincible, which is awesome because some of the puzzles are almost The Lion King level of difficulty.
In response to the user question discussion, it was mentioned by both Lucy and Jirard that so many people are involved in making one game. One thought I have (that may be one of many contributions) is that perhaps it is because of the interactivity of video games. There are so many hands in the pot because there are more elements to a video game than just the cinematic stuff--not just about how it looks, but how does it feel? how does it play? So the credit goes to the studio more in video games than in film.
I'm kind of confused how less they know about movies and how much they are actualy the same. A movie director is important but he's also depending on the team: Camera, lightning, decor, scriptwriters, editors, montage, FX and CGI. But still prodcers and studio's can have a final say. "Directors cut" and alternative are ways of a director to make a statement when he thinks the official version is not good enough. Also in movies, marketing is (ab)using the phrase "from the creators of..." I just wonder when the gaming industrie matures, if the focus will shift more to the directors as well. Hideo might be a first signal it will go that way.
@@hotdognl70 I agree about the film and gaming industries being very similar. One thing I learned about Pixar (speaking of credit going to movie studios) recently, is how they mimic the use of physical cameras in their movies so they may seem more real. I haven't looked into it, but I would not be surprised if this is a common philosophy in games--especially in more cinematic ones (ie Uncharted, RDR2, TLOU). And you make a very good point about the gaming industry still being very young. It's only recently (the last decade or two) where video games are becoming more recognized as an art medium and not just something stereotyped as a hobby for nerds and teens. I'd be curious to see how both the film and gaming industries change in 10 or more years, in that sense.
It’s funny, I finished the story of Odyssey because Kassandra was such an entertaining protagonist. I got about 10 hours in and tapped out of both Valhalla and Origins because there was just nothing there to hold my interest. You need to have characters I care about to keep me going personally.
I'm terrified, because I've never had higher expectations from a game and I'm someone who strives to not have expectations or to keep them low. Send help!
On the user question about individuals vs studios and publishers: I also think there are a lot of trends and aspects of games that come about as part of a publisher or the executives business model rather than a creative vision, ie the "ubisoft open-world formula" or EA and loot boxes, these are often more corporate level decisions rather than a creative vision from an individual. Often the types of people responsible for those sorts of decisions are the largely anonymous money-men in suits who generally stay out of the limelight. For example Redfall and Arkane, I don't think the individuals on that project should be blamed for how that game turned out when so much of the poor decision making was done at a publisher/executive level
The industrie as wel as we (the gamers) needs to mature to the level that we vallue the creative input and control from directors as much as is done in movies. Still both are a product of team work and often a victem of investors/producers.
Damn, I really wanted Ralph and Jirard get into FF16 and how they feel about it. I know Ralph did not vibe with it, and I 100% agree with his take. I wanted a damn debate! Will it be old news by the time the next podcast is on? 😢
Yeah I wanted them to talk more about it too but with spoilers. They kind of discussed a little bit a few episodes ago, but naturally couldn’t get into the nitty gritty
Very interesting interview and great to hear more about the Series S stuff directly from the team making the game rather than pure speculation from outsiders. When I hear about the complexity/freedom of multi-player, especially in terms of split screen I can certainly see how fitting that into the memory constraints of Series S would be a real challenge, but it's also a core part of the gameplay loop so it's not as if they would drop this feature, even if Microsoft didn't require it.
"everybody said everything's going to be like Assassins Creed." Ironically, not only has the RPG genre continued to evolve, but Assassins Creed doesn't even do Assassins Creed anymore.
Great podcast. Liked it so much I started listening to the old ones. Guess what I was playing to kill time until bg3 full release.... Vampire survivor 😂
Movie directors are online Guilermo del toro Fincher has a youtube channel David sandberg has a youtube channel I believe it's just how it's being delivered and marketed I don't see a trailer stating coming from visionary director I always see from the studio that brought you this hit game
Didn't he say at the start he just moved into a new house and they're still settling in? He's been doing pretty well-lit content for years on Gameranx, I think he knows what he's doin lol
I don't know the situation but if he asked Activision for payment but didn't hit them with any legal action, then they could be naming themselves in the lawsuit to get it over with and not incur ongoing legal fees. It would also be good financially since if found guilty then any additional money profited would just add to the issue. They probably aren't suing him but are naming themselves as the defendant in order to get the legal question answered quickly. It's a niche and complex part of the law but it's basically just to prevent individuals/companies from holding huge liability until someone does sue them by letting them start the lawsuit as soon as they catch wind that it might be a thing.
Lucy remembers "Martial Law"! That was such a fun show. Sammo Hung (major Hong Kong actor/director/stunt guy, contemporary of Jackie Chan, for those who don't know the name) as the main star, Arsenio Hall was great and funny in it, and Kelly Hu was awesome and kicked butt as always. I watched a bit of it not to many months ago and it's a bit dated now, but still really fun. I'd still recommend it for martial arts fans, especially if you like the 80s/90s HKAT stuff.
I never get tired of seeing interviews with Swen. He is so passionate about the games Larian is making and you can tell how much he cares about his staff.
I would've been better if the hosts had anything interesting to ask, instead of questions that seem to be product of 15 minute googling.
@@bigboned_I think Jake had a few questions that were alright
I normally love Lucy, but she was asking some really really generic questions to the point I felt bad for Swen and almost skipped ahead lol. She'll bounce back, but yeah questions about "the industry", rpg trends, and the Series S hardware limitations when Swen and his studio are about to release their biggest game ever felt pretty crappy to bring up to the guy over and over
worst fn questions i have ever seen
every other answer was just swen telling these mentally deficient twitter brains that, yes indeed you can just make your own game and make it good
AND THEN THEY ASK THE SAME FN QUESTION AGAIN JUST PHRASED DIFFERENTLY
like holy sh pinnacle 3 IQ protoplasma cosplaying human beings
literally they get the CEO of a gamecompany about to release a GOTY blockbuster and THIS is what they come up with??? LMAO
He's the loser who backed frosk on her rant right?
@@crazyguywatchnuhuh?
Swen Vincke talking about Baldur's Gate is just the best type of commercial they can do. Everything about the guy just screams that he's genuinely excited himself.
And I appreciate them making the game that they want to play first and foremost. I feel that's when something that's truly unique and great comes around.
Swen’s passion for his games is certainly infectious
He was excited about frosk
I bought the game because of this interview (and some follow-up reading). So, yup!
shouldve put austin in there be the token australian
They probably wanted to but Ralph was vehemently against it. 😂
What if Austin was in this podcast but Ralph cut him out because once we get the face reveal Austin will fully take over the channel
Or have Austin wear a Ralph mask
Austin would’ve just hyped Guild Wars 2 for 2 hours.
@@wookie5959 making Austin look like the villain from guardians of the galaxy 3
Swen is such a genuine dude. I started following him since DOS2, and he's such delight.
No exaggeration, Baldur's Gate 3 is the type of game where a standard side quest can have 7 different outcomes based on the choices you made. As someone who played early access multiple times, the variety is honestly staggering.
Imagine the worst piece of criticism about your new game is that its too good
It was funny how even Swen was like "Dude it's not even out yet."
@@Turnoutburndown”Larian is just trying to make its game” 😂
What is too good?
It wasn't even criticism..
@@theobell2002oh it is. Some devs came out on Twitter saying BG3 was setting “too high” of a bar and that it will ruin RPGs as a genre going forward.
It's hard to believe how close we are to full release. I still vividly remember my 40 hours with BG3's very first early access version almost 3 years ago, I can't wait to see how much has changed and how much more there is to do without being stopped by incomplete questlines
for real! I also played only the first EA patch, had like 70+ hours in it! I distinctly remember so many fights, dialogs, places and dungeons, way more than I remember some full-fledged games. And now I'm seeing these videos from the first act and latest EA patch, and its like a completely different game. Can't wait to see the full release
@@KingslayerSrb watching clips of this game looks like a completely different game every time for me. I’ve hardly seen anything apparently
If you haven't played since 2020's first early access, you'll be floored. The difference in quality and content between then and now (even before release) is absolutely stunning.
Maybe I am slow, my first EA playthrough was about 80 hours 😆
Game looks like an absolute snoozefest 😂
When it comes to Swen, he just looks and sounds like a man you want to work for, I am sure that his teams will run through a wall for him, amazing interview guys.
What a nice surprise! I honestly thought there would not an episode this week.
The way Swen talked about his game made me just go and buy the game. We need more people like him making videogames. Thank you for interviewing him. You are all doing great work. I look forward to watching this podcast.
Check out his GDC talk
Gotta say, I didn't agree with everything Static-chan said, but at least they remained the most consistent
I love that when Sven talks about games he simultaneously looks about my age but also a big kid 😁Clearly a bloke who loves his work.
I loved that you had Swen Vincke on your show to talk about Baldurs Gate 3. I can see how much he really loves making the game and I can see that passion he and his team have for the game and love and are proud of what they have created. I have over 1000 hours in Baldurs Gate 3 early access and I am so excited to play the whole game in 3 days. In all my hours I have not even played every class in early access either, so, there is so much to discover once the game is fully released, even with the amount of hours I have played in early access. I can see myself playing BG3 for 1000s and 1000s of hours more once fully released.
Miss Ralph, hope he's enjoying his vacation. Love how excited Jirard is in this episode really participating a lot, it's nice. :)
I could listen to Swen Vincke talk about bg3 all day.
People working in entertainment have a lot to learn from Mr Swen and his team. The passion they put in their work is apparent in every public appearance they have. BG3 has massive expectations but they are up to the task imo
A lot to learn my ass all their games are good for is putting people to sleep lol
instead of learning, they'd rather take the lazy way out and call BG3 and Larian "an anomaly" - they're not wrong. theyre the only studio making a game of this size and scale and with this much love and care... and not worrying about DLC and microtransactions and fleecing their paying customers for every cent they can.
Swen is a true hero and an honest voice in an era where that's become a rarity.
Omg I am soooo glad you three still did this episode. Thank you so much. I got no one to talk to about gaming and this podcast is what makes me feel connected.
Swen talking about keeping players on the golden path really reminded me of Dming in dnd. On that level i feel the struggle.
Every DM in existance knows that's a futile effort, players will always go unexpected directions^^
Swen strikes me as a strong leader, he has vision, approachability and an understanding of scope.
The interview with Swen was fantastic! Really happy you managed to get him on!
Honestly after that interview I'm sold on Baldur's Gate 3, I'm not a turned based guy but I'm really interested in the complexity of this game sounds like a good time.
Turn based combat is only shit in jrpgs dont worry
@@agav2345based hell yeah
@@agav2345 How dare you!! Some of the best games are turn based combat in JRPGs!! Good day, sir or ma'am!!!
I'm a turn based fan and even I have to admit games like Pokémon or persona give "turn based combat" a bad name. It can be SO much more interesting than mashing through menus.
I didnt like turn based games until Divinity Original Sin 2, and now thats one of my favorite games of all time.
God bless you guys for putting in the chapters in the video.
baldurs gate 3 is rapidly becoming my most anticipated game of this half of the year
Fucking what? 😂
@@_CrimsonBlade i can see you’re a bit biased
@@dingus2k you are out of your mind ,nobody cares about this game you think zoomers are gonna play this? Hell no 😂
@@_CrimsonBlade you’re right. the only game i want to play is starfield. starfield WILL SAVE gaming. it will be so good, todd howard will ascend to godhood upon its release. it will be, the first ever, 11 out of 10 video game.
*decade
The model train kid you referenced is a Dutch kid from ages ago, and you wouldn't believe the amount of people here that still meme on it. Laughed out loud when I realised you were talking about him
dos2 is one of my all time favourite games. Love Larian and Sven, and can't wait to play BG3, although I'll have to wait a little longer because I'm a series x player.
Great show as always guys.
I know right!! However Starfield and Sea of Stars should help occupy the time until the Xbox version shows up.
@@BoonefaceI expect Sea of Stars to be pretty amazing! Here’s hoping!
SWEN!
DOS2 is my favourite game of all time; I put 500 hours into that game in a MONTH. I have never been as excited for a game as I am for BG3.
Please let DOS3 be a thing in my lifetime 🙏🏻
DOS3 is on its way already. They just called it Baldur's Gate III ha ha ha
Swen told IGN that it's "definitely coming back at some point" :)
@therotten6152 they probably left the game running/idling while sleeping/eating/working a lot of the time
I always love watching these interviews as a journalist. Seeing how y'all carry the convo (and the funny accidental faces) always make my day.
I still get sad when I see this podcast cause every once in a while I think back to when I used to watch the Co-Optional podcast with Total Biscuit and that crew.
I'm glad there is something else at least in that area being done cause there was a huge hole when Biscuit passed and the pod slowly died.
It is kind of shocking how long it took others to do something similar cause it was a very popular show and rapidly there was a hole in that market that was screaming for someone, anyone to step in and grab some of that audience.
Better late then never....RIP John
I still think about Total Biscuit and his ragtag crew of friends, too. I wouldn't call this show similar, although I get what you're saying. There are a lot of shows with multiple people. None are the same as TB's.
I was just thinking about him the other day - it would have been nice for him to see BG3
For sure i really really miss those days. TB was a legend. And that pod-cast was always really fun. Goofing around talking about games ect. He might be gone but in a way he will never die from our hearts.
Gods... I miss John so much. I'm glad he's no longer suffering but he was just, truly, a magnanimous man who's shoes cannot simply be filled. Jesse is still going through and a great time but, sadly, the rest just moved on.
@@dredgenrin2907l
The interview with larrion studios was really insightful. Great questions and what an passionate legend. Shill ups questions is another reason we need more austin lmao
i am SO pumped for BG3... even more than Starfield
Gotta say I enjoy the more intimate format vs guest spot to fill an absence! Don’t be afraid to do this more in the future.
Yeah I feel like we got to hear a lot more from Jirard than we usually do, which is nice
Wow Swen Vincke seems really down to earth and as a really likeable guy, until the drama recently of other AAA devs shitting on this game I had no idea that BG3 was from the studio that made DSO2 (which I loved)
This will be the first game in years that I will gladly buy on release
If you're already planning on buying at release I'd recommend buying the early access. You get an automatic upgrade to the digital deluxe edition on launch day. It includes some neat stuff and a digital artbook
I probably won't even have the energy to play it, but will buy it just cause they seem so cool in all their panels and interviews. It's really refreshing in an industry rife with Blizzards, Ubisofts and Todds.
Swen grew up with rpgs, learnt not to deal with publishers, lived in his car at one point to save larian from closing. He plays his own games, always show the actual state of production, no matter how rough it is. Dude wears a frickin armour in his presentations. If there is anything a person could want from a game company lead, Swen has it!
When they were making DOS1 they ran out of money for the last month or two before release. Instead of being an evil CEO hoarding money from himself, he was also without a salary for those last week's. Food and gas was hard to pay. DOS1 was a massive success and since then they've never been in financial troubles ever again
Other devs absolutely did not "shit" on BGS 3, everybody seems to misunderstand what the trend was meant to say.
It says that people should not expect or demand this level from other team who do not have the same experience, ressources or early acess period, because clearly some higher ups who are going to see the sucess of this game could asks their dev team to make a game like this, and considering the scope of it, it would probably means horrible crunch and working conditions, and obviously we don't want that to happen.
Swen sold me the game. Never played baldur's gate before but it sounds and look very good.
Swen is A real class act making a masterpiece of a game.. I played a little Divinity 2 and cannot wait for BG3 I'm not as familiar with him and the team but he really reminds me of a Western Yoshi-P .
I cannot wait for BG3. I'm counting down the days.
Jake with the Serial Killer update. Although can we call it an update when it’s the first we’ve heard about it.
I’m really looking forward to Baldurs Gate 3 so the Swen interview was a treat.
Love that Ralph was there in spirit with his questions.
As always a great episode & you didn’t burn down the channel in Ralph’s absence which is definitely a plus. 😆
Get Jakey on the podcast, please! I love him so much and would love to hear you guys talk about video games with him. Him and Suzi would be the best quests!
You guys should have had ralph as a cardboard cutout in the bottom right hand corner of the video. Thanks for another video guys keep up the good work 👍
Swen Vincke is legit my role model, he's awesome
99% of the other big devs/publishers should take note. "content is king" u dont get more true and based than this. when u release good, fun games the loyal fans and financial support come naturally, especially when u also really take feedback into account.
But when a AAA game can cost upwards to $200 million, stakeholders need something more than idealism to hand over their money. Before you champion Larian too hard, remember the large graveyard of other such dev heroes that were also guiding lights, which have now all fallen.
unfortunately a loyal fanbase is a drop in a bucket compared to a handful of whales dumping money for cosmetics or gacha characters.
@@simpson6700 You're right, but I don't agree with the 2nd part of your statement. A loyal fanbase is, in most cases, never enough to make a project financially viable. Cause those groups are very small compared to the majority of the playerbase of a game. It's great and important to have these highly engaged players, but without the rest no studio would survive.
Swen Vincke is an infinite W, Love Larian and all their work/dedication
Swen is such a cool guy
Yet another great episode the team holding it down cant wait to see you back Ralph hope you have a great vacation
My issue with the twitter discourse around Larian and BG3 is how disingenuous it was. No one is going to hold smaller teams to that standard, assuming they don't try to charge $60/$70 for their game. Other AAA dev teams have more money behind their games and just as much industry experience. It completely ignores the real issue that it's about the difference between a public and private company. Studios that are publicly owned squander their budget and time dealing with unnecessary BS and unrealistic profit expectations in order to appease stakeholders.
It's the same reason why you don't see other teams do what Hello Games did with No Man's Sky. Everyone brings up the fact that it's possible to turn a game around like they did, but you don't see it because those games are made by publicly owned companies and HG is private. HG don't have to chase quarterly and yearly earnings to appease stakeholders. They can make decisions that are in their best interest in the long run. The same is true for Larian.
BG3, definitely on the list.
This year has been a timesink man. I’m still finally fantasizing over here..
I believe Baldurs Gate is gonna be the best RPG this generation
Will be good but since it didn’t use a Bethesda / cdprojeckt battle system is will be a niche game to a niche community while starfield gets 99% of the love
Calm down lol.
@@p-y8210 Bro have you played it its a 10/10
@@EpicConspiracy LMAO 814k people playing concurrent on steam, and Larian was expecting only around 100k
People are sleeping on Baldurs Gate 3, it will be a contender for GOTY by the end of the year.
I've no real interest in BG3, but it was a pleasure listening to Swen. Very levelheaded and insightful with great attitude. All the best to him and the team behind the game.
as a gamer, I sincerely hope every game company finds their Swen
Solid interview with Swen. As we now look at Larian as AAA, how many owners of AAA games will ever speak to the media deeply like this about their game? Very few, if any. Is there anyone else? Sometimes we get lead designer or developer, but the actual owner talking to us about their game at details like this. Refuckingfreshing. Bobby K ain't talkin to us lowlifes like this.
57:20 is what other developers are talking about "we can't compete".
Are they AAA though? BG3 is looking like a AAA quality game but even with ~500 employees they've got nowhere near the manpower or financial power of the typical AAA players and afaik aren't backed by a big publisher who could bail them out if they had somehow fucked it up.
id say BG3 could be the game that launches them into triple A but they def aren’t there yet. This is a Triple A level game but it’s had a successful EA. They still have no publisher behind them and no public investors. They’ll need to push out a couple more games before we will know if they broke through into Triple A status but as of now they are definitely AA and not very close to the scale of the main AAA studios.
I didn’t think I would miss Ralph as much as I do
I have wanted Ralph's opinion/review on DOS2 for years now... This would have been the closest thing yet to that :(
Don't you mean Austin?
I thought I'd miss him more tbh
Finally, when Ralph isn't around we get some Baldur's Gate appreciation! I've been so bummed out he's barely acknowledged its presence, sure it aint his main genre as more of a scifi person, but I've been really hoping to see more of it!
I have a feeling Ralph will change his tune around mid August, and become obsessed with BG3.
Lucy taste is something to be trusted, 100%.
Her opinion on Dave The Diver and Castlevania serie is spot on, again, 100%. I share the same feelings. haha
Haven't been this excited for a game since Elden Ring. Baldur's Gate is gonna be the game.
Baldurs gate 3 is about to make waves in the industry
I played dos2 early access for 200 hours... every time a patched dripped id sink 20 hours pr more. While it was fun it did tire out my taste for the full release. Sure i helped analitics for larian to make a better game, but personally i decided to not do it again for bg3. Im so stoked to finally get the thing i been waiting for 20 years it seems (since bg2)
i still decided to do it even after DoS2 EA. They def learned from that one. Act 1 had constant new content and it’s been great best part is they are changing it up for release so there’s more act 1 to explore and there’ll be new content throughout what was already in EA. Pretty sure I hit 300 hours now on EA.
Swens description of bracing failure interests me the most
Him saying in the kindest way possible Series S was a mistake lol
He is a developer and there is no point in offending one of the only two platform holder backed by MS.
Respect to Jake. He will stay silent for a while ,but when he talks it draws me attention and he always says something interesting. 🤙👍
Swen Vincke's response to the discourse is underrated af in the comments. "Larian is just focused on making BG3" is such a baller answer. It's the "haters gonna hate" mentality without any childishness behind it. Just literally "We don't care about someone being offended by the high quality of our game, we're just gonna do our thing." It's legendary.
That is not what he said at all. What? Sven said that people shouldn't expect BG3 because not everyone wants to make BG3. There are different standards for different games. When he said that people were saying Assassin's Creed was gonna change the industry and every game was gonna be like that and then that didn't become true. He said that to illustrated that not every game did that because not every game wanted to be that.
I would like more games like BG3 but that doesn't mean I want all games to be like BG3. Sven was rejecting the idea you were stating. Not accepting.
To me the whole thing seems to blown out of proportions by "game journalists" anyway. They're just raking in clicks by pitting game developers against one another. All some game devs said was that while they deeply respect Larian and expect BG3 to be a very good game, they are fearful of being held to unrealistic standards that they can't fulfill with smaller budgets and smaller teams. "Game journalists" are then making this out to be as if there's an angry mob of jealous game developers out to trip up Larian.
@@JadedPrimate exactly. People, for some reason, are treating this like a sports team. There isn't actually a reason anyone should be angry except that they want their side to win.
@@Knight1029 Except between 33:40 and 34:25 he literally answers "Larian is just focused on making it's game." That's what he said, verbatim. I never said that he was purposely saying "haters gonna hate", what I said was that it's the "haters gonna hate" *mentality* without childishness behind it. What I mean is that whatever connotation you have associated with the phrase "haters gonna hate" throw it right in the garbage. If you strip away all of the stupid shit that is associated with the phrase, what are you left with? It's the idea that people are going to hate you for what you do no matter what you do. Because "people" as a whole are jealous, resentful, and generally shitty to each other if there is any degree of separation between actual physical eye contact. (Looking someone in the eye and being an asshole to them is very difficult for most people)
The sentence after I talked about "haters gonna hate" sums up what I just described. They don't care about what other people think. They could have hundreds of other devs telling Larian "Hey, you're going too far and making your game too good. We're all going to look bad by comparison" and the point of my statement is that they'd respond by saying "We just wanna make the game we wanna make."
@@Tawleyn my guy Sven didn't even had that mentality at all. He never implied or suggested that the people saying Larian is setting a new standard are wrong or jealous.
He refuted the people antagonising developers for saying they should be expected to do what Larian is trying to do. Sven literally said if people want to make a game like BG3 then that would be different. The implication there is that if developers are making a game like BG3. Not all RPG developers are trying to make BG3. They are trying to make a different kind of RPG. And that is fine. Sven also said that there are different standards to different games. Literally implying that you can't hold other games to BG3s standard because they aren't trying to do that.
With the user question, I immediately thought about toxicity towards devs and I'm glad Lucy brought it up. While the public is still toxic towards any other forms of media, dev hate is often times much harsher and visceral and what better way to brace the wave of hate than as a team. Modern games update, listen to feedback, respond to feedback, all whether positive or negative. Games won't sell or make splashes without interactivity (usually), but movies, the people who made them don't have to interact at all with their audience.
They don't have to but most smaller productions that going round on festivals do. Just the big Hollywood productions don't need to.
My explanation is that gaming did not fully mature yet. Game devs need to become more professional instead of trying to stay "one of us", we (the gamers) need to give credit to the people that actualy creativly make the games instead of the publishers or studio's.
From watching Jirards scott pilgrim video to hearing how hes now friends with Brian lee oMalley. Epic character progression
I prefer his stint as Frosk's Simp.
This interview was incredible. Please advertise this everywhere.
Can't wait to BG3! Hype
Where is that epilogue? :( it does not seem to exist.
Great episode. Im enjoying Remnant II atm and in thinking seriously in buying Baldur's gate 3 if the steam reviews are good.
Bg3 I'm hyped out of my mind!
Considering that the Castlevania games that are being adapted all have titles based on musical forms like Rondo and Symphony, a title like Nocturne makes sense to me. Fits the theme perfectly.
1:25:58 you're so pure Girard.
Down with Shill Up!
The Eternal Empire of Austin begins here!
1:06:41 its because its tied to progression now with levels and loot. before it felt completely optional and mostly for convenience purposes
1:18:06 It isn't really about those projects being far away. They're shifting cyberpunk to the US which means that in Poland they're only working on one witcher game and a new ip that is really early in development. That's why they're overstaffed, they have too many people for only one project in the driver's seat
Swen, much respect to you. Let me explain something gamers
These AAA devs have PLENTY of resources and make the WORST decisions.
Larian: has been working on their game for over 20 fucking years
Other Devs: push out a game every year or two
Larian: puts game in early access for OVER 2 FUCKING YEARS
Other Devs: barely give a 2 hour demo, most games NEVER have a fucking demo
It's not about resources at all. It's about caring about your game, your fans, and making smart decisions.
I agree with Swen, it is an odd statement from these large billion and trillion dollar companies trying to push back on being held to standards like BG3.
Although we should probably keep in mind that BG3 and Redfall probably have similar budgets, so I guess we need to lower our standards for certain billion and trillion dollar companies.
Rasing the bar is good. Players should expect a certain standard.
The worst thing about Redfall is that Arkane was hoping Xbox would stop the Redfall project after aquisiton as they were forced by Zenimax into making it but Xbox knowingly ignored it.
@@yomamasohot6411 "xbox knowingly ignored it" is definitely a take for expecting a platform holder who just bought a publisher and started cancelling projects, nothing less than a complete PR disaster after trying to rebuild an image for several years.
@@RuthwikRao Go tell that to the Arkane developers and see what they say.
When did any of those CEOs made post or tweet saying they didn't want to do that? The people who have been saying that are developers not CEOs. What are you talking about?
Gotta be one of the best game directors/Ceo in the industry' He and the team always look like they love and have a lot of fun' must be a great place to work...
One of my favorite IGN quotes
"There's a tendency among the press to attribute the creation of a game to a single person," says Warren Spector, creator of Thief and Deus Ex.
The “ok let’s go” guy is Dutch and they are announcing a fair ground ride called the “turbo polyp”. His name is ‘Jouri’.
Disney’s illusion island is really ‘baby’s first metroidvania’ and it’s a blast to play!
My 5 yo is having a ball as we play through it. Disney even put in individual player difficulties so he can be basically invincible, which is awesome because some of the puzzles are almost The Lion King level of difficulty.
In response to the user question discussion, it was mentioned by both Lucy and Jirard that so many people are involved in making one game. One thought I have (that may be one of many contributions) is that perhaps it is because of the interactivity of video games. There are so many hands in the pot because there are more elements to a video game than just the cinematic stuff--not just about how it looks, but how does it feel? how does it play? So the credit goes to the studio more in video games than in film.
I'm kind of confused how less they know about movies and how much they are actualy the same.
A movie director is important but he's also depending on the team: Camera, lightning, decor, scriptwriters, editors, montage, FX and CGI. But still prodcers and studio's can have a final say. "Directors cut" and alternative are ways of a director to make a statement when he thinks the official version is not good enough. Also in movies, marketing is (ab)using the phrase "from the creators of..."
I just wonder when the gaming industrie matures, if the focus will shift more to the directors as well. Hideo might be a first signal it will go that way.
@@hotdognl70 I agree about the film and gaming industries being very similar. One thing I learned about Pixar (speaking of credit going to movie studios) recently, is how they mimic the use of physical cameras in their movies so they may seem more real. I haven't looked into it, but I would not be surprised if this is a common philosophy in games--especially in more cinematic ones (ie Uncharted, RDR2, TLOU).
And you make a very good point about the gaming industry still being very young. It's only recently (the last decade or two) where video games are becoming more recognized as an art medium and not just something stereotyped as a hobby for nerds and teens. I'd be curious to see how both the film and gaming industries change in 10 or more years, in that sense.
Did NOT think I was gonna get a Dog Sees God mention in this podcast but I am so here for it.
You guys are great. My favorite podcast rn tbh
It’s funny, I finished the story of Odyssey because Kassandra was such an entertaining protagonist. I got about 10 hours in and tapped out of both Valhalla and Origins because there was just nothing there to hold my interest.
You need to have characters I care about to keep me going personally.
I'm terrified, because I've never had higher expectations from a game and I'm someone who strives to not have expectations or to keep them low. Send help!
Tears of the Kingdom and Starfield are right there with you.
On the user question about individuals vs studios and publishers: I also think there are a lot of trends and aspects of games that come about as part of a publisher or the executives business model rather than a creative vision, ie the "ubisoft open-world formula" or EA and loot boxes, these are often more corporate level decisions rather than a creative vision from an individual. Often the types of people responsible for those sorts of decisions are the largely anonymous money-men in suits who generally stay out of the limelight. For example Redfall and Arkane, I don't think the individuals on that project should be blamed for how that game turned out when so much of the poor decision making was done at a publisher/executive level
The industrie as wel as we (the gamers) needs to mature to the level that we vallue the creative input and control from directors as much as is done in movies. Still both are a product of team work and often a victem of investors/producers.
@@hotdognl70 Absolutely, it's easy to forget that video games as an art form haven't been around for even 50 years yet.
My fave developer on my fave podcast! My Sunday just got infinitely better
Damn, I really wanted Ralph and Jirard get into FF16 and how they feel about it. I know Ralph did not vibe with it, and I 100% agree with his take. I wanted a damn debate! Will it be old news by the time the next podcast is on? 😢
Yeah I wanted them to talk more about it too but with spoilers. They kind of discussed a little bit a few episodes ago, but naturally couldn’t get into the nitty gritty
Exoprimal def the surprise multiplayer hit of the summer, did not think dino hunting was gonna be as fun as it is!
Lucy’s face from 23:07 til the end of that Charlie Brown discussion is like 😮
😂😂 I might actually look it up
Very interesting interview and great to hear more about the Series S stuff directly from the team making the game rather than pure speculation from outsiders. When I hear about the complexity/freedom of multi-player, especially in terms of split screen I can certainly see how fitting that into the memory constraints of Series S would be a real challenge, but it's also a core part of the gameplay loop so it's not as if they would drop this feature, even if Microsoft didn't require it.
1:29:02
DEAR LORD THANK YOU LUCY!!!!
Please let this be a thing.
"everybody said everything's going to be like Assassins Creed." Ironically, not only has the RPG genre continued to evolve, but Assassins Creed doesn't even do Assassins Creed anymore.
Great podcast. Liked it so much I started listening to the old ones. Guess what I was playing to kill time until bg3 full release.... Vampire survivor 😂
Movie directors are online
Guilermo del toro
Fincher has a youtube channel
David sandberg has a youtube channel
I believe it's just how it's being delivered and marketed
I don't see a trailer stating coming from visionary director
I always see from the studio that brought you this hit game
Good to see Jim from Neighbours landed on his feet
shadowhearts hair is going to change depending on choices sounds awsome
What a banger episode. Jake needs better lighting but it's always a joy to listen to you fine folks. That Sven interview
Totally agree, he needs to block out his windows
Didn't he say at the start he just moved into a new house and they're still settling in? He's been doing pretty well-lit content for years on Gameranx, I think he knows what he's doin lol
I was hoping to see Blessing or Tam, but the Fuzz filled in for Ralph pretty good. 😅😅😅
I don't know the situation but if he asked Activision for payment but didn't hit them with any legal action, then they could be naming themselves in the lawsuit to get it over with and not incur ongoing legal fees. It would also be good financially since if found guilty then any additional money profited would just add to the issue. They probably aren't suing him but are naming themselves as the defendant in order to get the legal question answered quickly. It's a niche and complex part of the law but it's basically just to prevent individuals/companies from holding huge liability until someone does sue them by letting them start the lawsuit as soon as they catch wind that it might be a thing.
wheres SkillUp guy? he was interesting because of his New Zealand accent.
Lucy remembers "Martial Law"! That was such a fun show. Sammo Hung (major Hong Kong actor/director/stunt guy, contemporary of Jackie Chan, for those who don't know the name) as the main star, Arsenio Hall was great and funny in it, and Kelly Hu was awesome and kicked butt as always. I watched a bit of it not to many months ago and it's a bit dated now, but still really fun. I'd still recommend it for martial arts fans, especially if you like the 80s/90s HKAT stuff.