Baldurs Gate 3

[Anna Raven]

Anyone else playing the early access? It might be fun to discuss the first two Baldurs Gate games in here too.

[EphemeristX]

It looks good. Though I know the franchise is much, much older, it looks like 3 might scratch my Dragon Age itch. If only I had a PC that could run it.

[Anna Raven]

I've been playing it for a week now. It's definitely more akin to Dragon Age or D:OS II than the original Baldurs Gate games. I recommend for sure, but you can probably wait until they officially release it, it's pretty rough in sports/buggy right now.

[EphemeristX]

Damn. I saw a bit about the character creator. It looks so robust. And from what I hear, it's only going to get better. I kinda want to get it just for that.

[Anna Raven]

I made about 6 characters before I really settled into playing the game. Also you get to make your own love interest lol.

I wouldn't say the character creator is robust, as it lacks the traditional slider system, you just get to pick heads. But it's certainly beautiful and sleek.

[XtremeOne1]

So is it worth Early Access or should I wait?

[Anna Raven]

I think it depends on how thirsty you are for a good RPG. It's solid, there's a pretty big sandbox with lots of sidequests if you don't want to just rush through the main story as fast as possible, so I'd argue there is plenty of content. If you can stomach unsightly stub animations, graphical glitches and such I say go for it.

There's also a game that came out yesterday called Solasta on Steam, also early access, also a D&D 5e based RPG. I almost like it better so far, but it's very much based on pen and paper D&D. My recommendation would be if you aren't just a huge D&D nerd, get BG3 first, learn from it, and if you really want more after that, get Solasta which costs half the price of BG3. If on the other hand, you already know how to play tabletop D&D, I'd almost argue you should just jump right into Solasta first. It's much more true to the game.

[Anna Raven]

Anybody else pick up the game since it officially released?

[EphemeristX]

Yes! I'm still gathering party members, but I've gotten my cleric, rogue, fighter, wizard, and warlock. I'm so in love with the game, but it's very daunting just by the sheer size of it.

[tokenBG1009]

I had no real intention of playing it as I was always REALLY bad at the old Baldur's Gate games. Then I looked at the combat system and really liked what I saw. Picked it up on Sunday and the day flew by. I haven't really had a chance to play it since then though.

[EphemeristX]

So how far is everyone? I'm still in Act 1 but I've recruited all the main companions and three (or four) of the NPCs to my camp as well as rescued the final one from the dungeon.

Spoiler: show

Shadowheart, Astarion, Gale, Lae'zell, Wyll, Karlach, and rescued Halsin. I decided to leave him behind so as to not arouse suspicion, since I'm definitely not strong enough to take on the whole Shattered Sanctum. I also found Withers, Scratch the dog, Volo (still deciding on the eye thing), and I saved the Owlbear cub from the goblins but it's yet to show up at my camp. Nobody's come onto me yet except maybe Astarion, but my Wisdom sense pinged a lie and I told him to back off.

[tokenBG1009]

I started over as a Warlock because the Paladin I was playing is going to be a character I'm playing in an actual campaign so playing the same character twice seemed silly.

I've got Lae'zel, Shadowheart, Astarion, Wyll, and Gale with Withers at camp. I'm on the way to rescue Halsin.

[EphemeristX]

I'm playing a Tiefling Vengeance Paladin. I wanted a character that would fit well with the most party compositions, and I thought a beefy healer who could smite sounded like the best fit. Plus, having your main character have high charisma makes navigating the game so much easier. Although now I found a crown of intellect, so he's got a 17 Int as well, lol. Considering Int was his dump stat (8), I was so glad to find it.

[Anna Raven]

My main is a half-elf bard. I've got several playthroughs going, a single-plater and a couple of multiplayer games with various friends. So I'm not as far along as I'd like to be. I picked up Karlach, and we freed her from her pursuers.

Spoiler: show

.I recommend having Wyll in your party when you add Karlach, and then going to camp right after you find her or defeat the paladins. The ensuing cut scene is very cool.

I played through all of Act 1 already in early access, so this is all repeat material for me, eager to get to Act 2.