The actual city of Baldur's Gate and game design choice mistakes.

[AtLastBossCarryMe]

Not yet finished with the game (in Act 3 in the city of Baldur's Gate).

This post isn't about liking or disliking the game mechanics or issues - its about the largest game design choice I can think of - and the odd choice that became reality.

What I'm stunned about is that in a game titled "Baldur's Gate" - in which the nostalgia and excitement about the actual city proper for which the game is named - is such a poorly implemented and way, WAY too late of a spectacle in the game.

I cannot for the gamer life of me understand why Larian decided to extend how long it takes to reach the epic city itself until going through so much just to get there.

I was convinced upon getting the game that the city itself would be a focal point. Shops and vendors and quests would be abound. Fun quests inside, NPCs, nooks to explore and all sorts of great time spent in it and coming back to it. Even in Act 1 very early you get MULTIPLE quests mentioning the follow up being in "Baldur's Gate".

It would be made available to me (or so I thought) , at the end of Act 1 AT LATEST if not earlier as I didn't play more than 10 mins in EA and kept myself spoiler free.. Surely it would be just to the left/west of the map of Act 1 - and the city would serve as a hub for questing, resting, vendoring, etc and you'd adventure in it, around it and to and from it. I excitedly awaited the answers and conclusions to those Act 1 quests....but nope.

None of that happened though. I enjoyed Act 1 and Act 2 , but it really feels like those Acts took away from the grandeur and expectations I had for the city. I'm almost lvl 11 and have a ton of clustered quests to do in and around the city and just feels like the quests I got in Act 1 referring to Baldur's Gate were just a herring to keep leading me on to there. Now that I'm here , I'm almost done leveling and just have a dump of quests and it all feels cramped and rushed.

I've enjoyed the game in other ways as I like tactical D&D RPGs , but I can't help but feel Larian completely and utterly missed the boat in it's design choice to make Baldur's Gate basically the end destination (gimped out no less) that drags on horribly to get to , instead of the early focal point as the actual title of the game itself.

I am enjoying the game a lot, more than I'm not - however, bugs , balance issues and other issues aside , which also contribute to some disappointment - the failure to maximize on the city itself rears itself to me as a huge design failure that bears a lot of the burden.

[AtLastBossCarryMe]

bump

[talemore]

dos3

dos1 walk to the city

dos2 ditto

[talemore]

all 3 start on a ship

[Warmonger]

I am suprised as well that we only reach the city in third act - which I did today. No idea how are they going to fit all the boss fights and world-altering encounters in otherwise calm city. But so far the narrative is OK, and doesn't feel forced or out of place.

[Elendir Blue]

I wouldn't want to go through the whole city with how detailed they have worked out every street. It would be grind or just empty location just for "having whole city".

You can go play Dragon Age 2 if you think it is good idea.

[AtLastBossCarryMe]

Elendir - or you could play BG 1 or 2 in which exploring the city was great, no need to play DA. I suspect you didn't play BG 1 or 2.

[CadaveR]

Same in Baldur's Gate 1. The city is the last (big) chapter.

Your gamer life isn't very gamey.

[venn]

Originally posted by LastBossCarryMe:

Elendir - or you could play BG 1 or 2 in which exploring the city was great, no need to play DA. I suspect you didn't play BG 1 or 2.

Dude, there was zero exploring Baldur's Gate in BG2, what are you on about?

[CadaveR]

lol

Originally posted by Warmonger:

I am suprised as well that we only reach the city in third act - which I did today. No idea how are they going to fit all the boss fights and world-altering encounters in otherwise calm city. But so far the narrative is OK, and doesn't feel forced or out of place.

In the first baldur's gate the city its the end game as well.

[Skyz]

I have no problem with the city being act 3, i just don't think act 3 is particularly good in comparison to Act 1 and 2. Also most people you meet in act 1 and 2 who mention Baldurs gate you do find in the city, or you find mention of them. It's just there's so many nooks and crannies in the city it's easy to miss them.

[Behemmoth]

The funny thing is that when i say that, despite BG3 being a good game, it's Divinity 3 and not a Baldur's Gate game, people complain.

BG3 is great, but it doesn't do justice to BG1 and BG2. There are many things that Larian completely ignore by simply "porting" their DoS engine to BG3.

BG3 doesn't even feel like an adventure. Your main character is secondary to everything that happens. No day/light cycles or overworld map to travel and bring a deeper sense of immersion.

Instead what we got are big acts with many boxes to loot and the acts are so empty once you're done. Each act is also so close to one another that it reminds me of MMOs when you are in a desert map and all of the sudden you cross the border and there will be snow.

Larian did some things great, but it can't help myself thinking they wanted to make Divinity 3 instead, cause really, I was expecting to play something similar to the originals, and not something similar to their own IP.

[Menthur]

no baldurs gate at all in baldurs gate 2 .. it was all about Atkathla, Amn etc

[EESER]

Originally posted by Behemmoth:

The funny thing is that when i say that, despite BG3 being a good game, it's Divinity 3 and not a Baldur's Gate game, people complain.

BG3 is great, but it doesn't do justice to BG1 and BG2. There are many things that Larian completely ignore by simply "porting" their DoS engine to BG3.

BG3 doesn't even feel like an adventure. Your main character is secondary to everything that happens. No day/light cycles or overworld map to travel and bring a deeper sense of immersion.

Instead what we got are big acts with many boxes to loot and the acts are so empty once you're done. Each act is also so close to one another that it reminds me of MMOs when you are in a desert map and all of the sudden you cross the border and there will be snow.

Larian did some things great, but it can't help myself thinking they wanted to make Divinity 3 instead, cause really, I was expecting to play something similar to the originals, and not something similar to their own IP.

Nicely put. I feel the same.

[Guzan]

People like to find some problem to get stuck into when a game is successful.

In all baldurs gate you don't start in the city, act 3 is the biggest in the game and takes place in the city of baldurs gate.

The fact that act 3 needs more refinement makes some people focus on it for complaint, it is clearly the most technically challenging act.

The only thing I would like is for the upper part of the city to be exploreable, but the act itself is already full of content.

BG 3 brings significant improvements over BG 2, the game was made 20 years after BG 2 by another company, there is no point in being the same as BG 2. Divinity is very different from baldurs gate in almost every way.

[Ranpo]

CRPGs-start on ship
JRPGs-start on small island

Tried and true, if ain't broken,don't fix it.