Was BG ever dark fantasy?

[Mr_hanky]

I see this brought up a lot, that bg3 is way to upbeat and nothing like the dark fantasy that was Baldurs gate 1+2. Looking aside from the fact that the intro shows mindflayers abducting people and killing them by inserting parasites into the brain, how excactly was bg dark fantasy in a way that you expect bg3 not to be?
I mean the most beloved character was a guy who dragged around a talking hamster that apparently came from outer space!? Another character had a unhealthy obsession with turnips, and one of the best armors in the game was some golden underwear...

[Wraith]

I would say it was yes but it wasn't dark all the time.
There was alot of bright and normal places to be where things were pretty normal.
however when you get to those dungeons and end game location things went down

[salad fork]

I would say so. In the areas where it wasn't dark and gloomy it was usually a deception where you would find dangerous ambushes, raided caravans etc. The world always felt dangerous and unpredictable.

[Itsapaul]

*miniature giant space hamster, thank you very much

[Warmonger]

It wasn't that dark after all.

When you're visiting UnderDARK and the Hell itself, things can get dark after all. But not depressing or gruesome or anything like that.

[Dung Defender]

The only thing dark was the colour scheme.

[Selfish Lee Everett]

You'd think it was like Diablo the way these bg fans go on and on about the art style

[Adaon]

Originally posted by Mr_hanky:

I see this brought up a lot, that bg3 is way to upbeat and nothing like the dark fantasy that was Baldurs gate 1+2. Looking aside from the fact that the intro shows mindflayers abducting people and killing them by inserting parasites into the brain, how excactly was bg dark fantasy in a way that you expect bg3 not to be?
I mean the most beloved character was a guy who dragged around a talking hamster that apparently came from outer space!? Another character had a unhealthy obsession with turnips, and one of the best armors in the game was some golden underwear...

The main villain had sex slaves in his dungeon, all your party in cages to experiment on, he basically took your soul so the void gets filled by some evil deity over the course of the game, there's a twisted circus where an elf got her wings chopped off and she's psychologically damaged and carries that baggage through your entire playthrough. He keeps some worm like creature that used to be a person alive in a glass jar and the thing begs you to essentially pull the plug on it. But hey there's a guy who talks to a hamster, so clearly it's a super upbeat rainbow sunshine game, just like the green mile.

You can fellate Larian all you want, this will not be a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, just like Dragon Age Origins wasn't ;) The mistake, is in advertising the games that way.

[Schizm]

No it was not.... Dark Fantasy is a specific sub genre of fantasy.

Dark Souls

Planescape

Berserk (Manga)

Diablo

BG 1&2 are a part of the high fantasy sub genre.

[The Infinity Sock]

I would say it was dark but it was not super dark like Dark Souls or Dragon Age Origins

[Schizm]

Originally posted by The Infinity Sock:

I would say it was dark but it was not super dark like Dark Souls or Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age Origins is also not dark fantasy. Dark Souls perfectly encapsulates what dark fantasy is about.

[The Infinity Sock]

Originally posted by Schizm:

Originally posted by The Infinity Sock:

I would say it was dark but it was not super dark like Dark Souls or Dragon Age Origins

Dragon Age Origins is also not dark fantasy.

Try tell that to the Brood Mother
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9rdf0MNr2k

[Schizm]

Originally posted by The Infinity Sock:

Originally posted by Schizm:

Dragon Age Origins is also not dark fantasy.

Try tell that to the Brood Mother
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9rdf0MNr2k

That does not make an entire game dark fantasy. Its not dark fantasy DA:O is a high fantasy check book.

[DynamiteBonaparte]

from what i played of the old dnd classics they were all really campy. not quite so down to earth and realistic/grounded in tone and style as all of you seem to believe. BG, NWN, planescape were all full of cheese.

what i have seen of BG3 didnt seem silly to me. not like OS 1 and quite a bit less humorous than OS2
its only an alpha.. give feedback. there will be an early access period. if enough players want a pseudo real time but really turn based system then they will get it. if enough people want a darker tone they will get it.
but then you have to say goodbye to characters such as minsc and boo and most of the humour that was present in the old black isle / bioware / obsidian titles.

[TrueWarlord真の武]

Originally posted by Mr_hanky:

I see this brought up a lot, that bg3 is way to upbeat and nothing like the dark fantasy that was Baldurs gate 1+2. Looking aside from the fact that the intro shows mindflayers abducting people and killing them by inserting parasites into the brain, how excactly was bg dark fantasy in a way that you expect bg3 not to be?
I mean the most beloved character was a guy who dragged around a talking hamster that apparently came from outer space!? Another character had a unhealthy obsession with turnips, and one of the best armors in the game was some golden underwear...

It was not that much "dark and mature" as some people are pretending it was. Yes there are the moments in the game, and if you played you know what I'm talking about, but nothing like the self pretending "Hardcore BG fans" with YuGiOh avatars are saying...

[Selfish Lee Everett]

Originally posted by Adaon:

You can fellate Larian all you want, this will not be a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, just like Dragon Age Origins wasn't ;) The mistake, is in advertising the games that way.

Except it was....