I have finished analyzing Baldur's Gate 3 as a game (spoilers, obviously!)

[Mister Magician]

I will try to separate this all into multiple posts, because this ended up being too long for steam's character limit for a single post. So bear with me here.

A few months ago (feels like years at this point) I decided to force myself to play this game start to finish all while cataloging my thoughts to see if this game was anything more than another cyberpunk / kendrick lamar / etc style fad that would be forgotten moments after it was trumpeted by the regime. This was not ideal because while I had the idea of discussing the game honestly with others to motivate me, but others did not want to discuss honestly with me; and after months of putting the game off due to how frankly bad the experience was I just gave up.

The thread is archived here https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/4141689926410173681/ if you want to see the salient points I noted linked in the OP. Ignore the 1400 post struggle session against me that occurred over a the span of 3 days, some people can't control themselves in any capacity.

My hypotheses were such:

1. the game was otherwise normal but was shoehorned into the status quo as a simple cost of doing business under a worldwide totalitarian system.
   
2. the game was otherwise pedestrian and was only championed to "own the chuds," which served larian quite well because it covered their faults.
   
3. the game was terribly unfinished and regime features were added to secure funding for 1 and secure shielding for 2.

I can tell you that after forcing myself to play through the game all the way through on honor mode without forcing myself to write down observations, that (as usual) every one of my hypotheses were exactly the case.

As I pointed out in the review, all of the regime elements of the story stick out like a sore thumb because they are totally artificial. The game has a strong moral core, nothing remarkable, but it's shocking just how different the perception of the game by the fanbase and the game as it actually is. I go into more detail in the thread linked above, and my thoughts up to halfway through act 1 when I previously stopped playing are now totally confirmed having finished the game.

I would even go so far as to point out out that not only is the game quite benign (if you can ignore or mod out the surface-level regime elements) but it's actually subversive. The entire plot with the absolute, dead three, netherbrain, etc are a very pointed critique of the real-life regime and their adherents. I suppose this would then explain the struggle session: I found something I wasn't supposed to and dared to point out what I noticed in public.

Therefore this game is not like moldbug's proverbial tale of the "german cat" where true believers march through every institution (no matter how small or ancillary to the government) and proudly subordinating even cat magazines to the empire, but this game is more like Havel's greengrocer who puts up the "workers of the world unite" poster despite not believing in it simply because he knows the true believers will burn down his business if he doesn't. Therefore the liberal lionizing of this game appears to be more containment than anything else. I sincerely don't know why the culture warriors who like this game enjoy it, and why the culture warriors who hate this game don't; in actuality it seems like the parties should be switched here. Maybe the hivemind of the regime's outer circle knows this and so stakes a claim here knowing that the other side is to repulsed to look deeper.

So what of all the vaunted issues? Yes, all of the issues with the game are present, but there is circumstances to each.

Yes, your companions are all horndogs after you complete act 1, but this is just there to cover up the unexplained "relationship" system in the game. If you refuse the advances of a character here, it permanently locks them out of a "relationship" with you for the entire game no matter how high their affinity gets for you. Therefore all of the faff surrounding this specific moment in the story is really there to cover up larian's inability to code more complex character interactions.

Yes, alin and nocturne and the like are just plain odd and unsettling. Alin was a man and Nocturne was not "trans" before path 6 of beta; all of these were changed without editing the script to compensate which caused the uncanny feeling. Patch 6 signifies the time where larian ran out of money and was bought out by wizards of the coast, tencent, and netflix to keep them afloat. If you pretend Alin is a man, the personality and dialogue make perfect sense with him as the dumb jock boyfriend. In fact, every single male-male, female-female relationship was artificially added into the game during this patch, with a number of model-swaps needing to happen to force it to work. None of the "alphabet" elements are more than a ctrl+r swap, and can be almost entirely removed from the game with a change of some text files in a mod if it really bothers you that much.

Yes, all people of moderate authority in the game are female, but each and every one is crude, brutal, utterly incompetent, and at fault for just about every problem in not only the game but the entire forgotten realms setting. The only leaders with any vulnerability, humanity, grit, determination, and willingness to solve problems are male. Just about every storyline boils down to "female in charge mucks it all up until you get daddy to come home." If this game was meant to be a celebration of feminism, they did it VERY poorly. In fact, the entire overarching storyline itself is this, with the only meaningful choice being which reliable, magnanimous male you want to replace the vicious female agents of chaos with.

As I alluded to earlier this game really expends every effort to stab the regime in the heart, with no punches pulled. Sure there is a milimeter thin veneer of adherence throughout the whole thing, but the rest is just plain brutal. At no point did I look at the game's story and disapprove or be appalled, I was mostly smiling the whole way through. Originally I came in expecting the gameplay to save the experience and just grin and bear it through the sotry, but the exact opposite was true. I relished every chance the story came up and dreaded combat.

Which brings me to the review of the game as a game itself, which I will try to keep short because there isn't much to say.

Story:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/4413047708763407031/#c4413047708763408198

Gameplay:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/4413047708763407031/#c4413047708763408765

Verdict:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/4413047708763407031/#c4413047708763409285

A bonus character study on Gale that explains a lot of my thoughts about the plot in general:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1086940/discussions/0/4413047708763407031/?ctp=2#c4413047708763877407

[hermit0wl]

İlk olarak Mister Magician tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak hermit0wl tarafından gönderildi:

To be fair, can you really consider being delusional as lying?

Is there a reason every single person who comes here to wish death or evil on me has either a satanic name or picture or both?

I wish you happiness and good health.

İlk olarak Mister Magician tarafından gönderildi:

Once more, what does this game have that even appeals to you outside of your attempt to scare specific groups of people off.

Well, it's based on D&D 5e and has a hot snarky vampire. That was enough for me to buy the game in early access and absolutely love it, but there's lots more. I like the characters, the sense of adventure, the choices and reactivity, turn-based combat... Act 2 in particular is my favorite with lots of atmosphere, a cool villain, wonderfully messed-up mini-bosses, and some of the most emotional character moments with companions: specifically Astarion's confession (romance), Gale's stargazing scene (platonic) and Shadowheart choosing to spare the Nightsong.
Also, I'm glad you too found things to enjoy about the game. I just wish you'd focus on that instead of questioning what other people enjoy.
Does that answer your question?

[Dork_Stalker_310]

İlk olarak Mister Magician tarafından gönderildi:

what the absolute infernal nonsense is the rest of your post?

It's called letters and words. Because you are too much of a brainlet to comprehend something, that goes against your imaginary world, they don't register in your peanut brain.
Here I'll spell it out for you again.
Sarevok and Viconia weren't made "one-dimentional evil" by Larian. Larian was following the canon made by WotC - the same company they were supposedly trying to subvert, according to you.

İlk olarak Mister Magician tarafından gönderildi:

I couldn't imagine you in any social situation though.

Projection is hell of a drug.

İlk olarak Dork_Stalker_310 tarafından gönderildi:

I haven't replied to you in a bit. you made a number of posts to me that I ignored and you got REALLY violent and hateful to me right after.

Hateful? Eeeh, not really. Insulting, mocking - yes. Violent? No. But again, you are constantly saying things that are verifyably not true, so this isn't surprising.
Anything else?

[Marmottty]

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Marmottty tarafından gönderildi:

Are you avoiding the question again?
So, where are the comments that include death threats?

He's a Sedevacantist. He thinks that Socialists use "get help" as a code-word for their Secret Police to come take you away to get executed in some soviet blacksite. He also thinks anyone who isn't his specific flavor of Catholic worships Satan (who according to his beliefs, is dead), and believe that they'll achieve godhood themselves.

It doesn't really mater what he thinks. So far i believe that i haven't seen anyone cared about it.
I just am curious if he will dodge endlessly or not?
So far evidence is: he is lying, until he can provides sources and quote the comments of the people that have made "death-wish" towards him.

[Яeplicant]

I see we've once again reached the natural lifecycle of threads around here.

If this were GDQ, I'd be shouting "Time!".

[Moonlight Knight]

İlk olarak Marmottty tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He's a Sedevacantist. He thinks that Socialists use "get help" as a code-word for their Secret Police to come take you away to get executed in some soviet blacksite. He also thinks anyone who isn't his specific flavor of Catholic worships Satan (who according to his beliefs, is dead), and believe that they'll achieve godhood themselves.

It doesn't really mater what he thinks. So far i believe that i haven't seen anyone cared about it.
I just am curious if he will dodge endlessly or not?
So far evidence is: he is lying, until he can provides sources and quote the comments of the people that have made "death-wish" towards him.

Yeah, I'm just explaining my previous experience so you don't waste anymore time than necessary engaging with him. In my experience most Sedevacantists behave really irrationally unless you share their beliefs.

[Marmottty]

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Marmottty tarafından gönderildi:

It doesn't really mater what he thinks. So far i believe that i haven't seen anyone cared about it.
I just am curious if he will dodge endlessly or not?
So far evidence is: he is lying, until he can provides sources and quote the comments of the people that have made "death-wish" towards him.

Yeah, I'm just explaining my previous experience so you don't waste anymore time than necessary engaging with him. In my experience most Sedevacantists behave really irrationally unless you share their beliefs.

Still i thank you for your warning.

[Fluffykeith]

Is Vicona actually irredeemably evil though? Or is it simply the case that her ambitions are in conflict with yours and the game doesn’t include an option to align with hers?

[Dork_Stalker_310]

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He's a Sedevacantist.

I've never heard of them before. After reading about them a bit, I wonder why aren't they considered to be heretical. But that explains a lot about him, honestly.

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He thinks that Socialists use "get help" as a code-word for their Secret Police to come take you away to get executed in some soviet blacksite.

There is no way you are serious.

[Mister Magician]

İlk olarak Яeplicant tarafından gönderildi:

I see we've once again reached the natural lifecycle of threads around here.

If this were GDQ, I'd be shouting "Time!".

Like I pointed out, they not only do not want Fruitful discussion, they are deathly afraid at even the possibility. I conclusively gave the reason why in the OP, which is why they are FURIOUS.

Has nothing to do with a throwaway line about financials, it has to do with the reality of the game and how they need containment to stop any ground from being ceded.

I really need to stop clicking on posts of people on my ignore list though. Mea Culpa.

[Moonlight Knight]

İlk olarak Dork_Stalker_310 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He's a Sedevacantist.

I've never heard of them before. After reading about them a bit, I wonder why aren't they considered to be heretical. But that explains a lot about him, honestly.

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He thinks that Socialists use "get help" as a code-word for their Secret Police to come take you away to get executed in some soviet blacksite.

There is no way you are serious.

Well, he spared me the effort of attempting to convince you of my past experience. Take a look at the post he made just before yours.

[Tresh]

İlk olarak Mister Magician tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Яeplicant tarafından gönderildi:

I see we've once again reached the natural lifecycle of threads around here.

If this were GDQ, I'd be shouting "Time!".

Like I pointed out, they not only do not want Fruitful discussion, they are deathly afraid at even the possibility. I conclusively gave the reason why in the OP, which is why they are FURIOUS.

Has nothing to do with a throwaway line about financials, it has to do with the reality of the game and how they need containment to stop any ground from being ceded.

I really need to stop clicking on posts of people on my ignore list though. Mea Culpa.

Nobody is furious. I think people are more various states between confused and amused.

[Mister Magician]

İlk olarak Dork_Stalker_310 tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He's a Sedevacantist.

I've never heard of them before. After reading about them a bit, I wonder why aren't they considered to be heretical. But that explains a lot about him, honestly.

İlk olarak Moonlight Knight tarafından gönderildi:

He thinks that Socialists use "get help" as a code-word for their Secret Police to come take you away to get executed in some soviet blacksite.

There is no way you are serious.

I am not a sedevacantist.

you know what you're doing though, or else you wouldn't be trying to repeatedly try to stab with that knife from your own chest in some belief it will hurt me.

[Marmottty]

İlk olarak Mister Magician tarafından gönderildi:

İlk olarak Яeplicant tarafından gönderildi:

I see we've once again reached the natural lifecycle of threads around here.

If this were GDQ, I'd be shouting "Time!".

Like I pointed out, they not only do not want Fruitful discussion, they are deathly afraid at even the possibility. I conclusively gave the reason why in the OP, which is why they are FURIOUS.

Has nothing to do with a throwaway line about financials, it has to do with the reality of the game and how they need containment to stop any ground from being ceded.

I really need to stop clicking on posts of people on my ignore list though. Mea Culpa.

Not at all.
We just genuinely asked you to provide sources showing that Larian is owned by WotC and Netflix, which you avoided by responding with insults. You were the first one to use insults in this thread.
Then we asked you to quote the message where we supposedly wished you to die.
That's all. So, where is that? Why can't you just quote those messages?

[Moonlight Knight]

İlk olarak Damedius tarafından gönderildi:

I'm not sure you know what you are talking about.

Maybe not, but I've only run into three people so far that talk like OP does (OP included in that count, to be clear), and I swear a lot of the stuff they go on about (especially when they think you've cursed them) sounds like it's off a script.

[Draknalor]

I just don't get it..

Why do you feel the need to write SO MUCH just to say you dislike something?

Ok, so you dislike it? so what? A lot of people enjoy it, You don't have to try and "Prove" them wrong.

What kind of mental delusion drives you to even do these kinds of things?