Considering buying . . . what is this game like

[vollmerkirk]

Trying to wrap my head around the game play mechanics.

I played Icewind Dale back in the day. Never played any of the Baldur's gate games however. I think they might have been by the same company??

However some of it looks kind of like Final Fantasy.

[Oonayah]

Did you ever read a choose-your-own-adventure book as a kid? The ones where each page would end with things like:
If you want to speak to the magical talking cat, go to page 42.
If you would like to investigate the strange glowing inside the barn, go to page 25.
If you want to keep walking down the road towards the enchanted forest, go to page 38.

This is that, only in a video game, with voice acting and motion capture and grown up themes, so the options look more like:
1. [Persuasion] Don't worry, the goblin chief and I go way back, he'll be thrilled to see me.
2. [Intimidation] My boot is very excited at the prospect of meeting your face... move!
3. Sounds like a great party in there, how can I score an invite?
5. Offer the bouncer a bribe. (200g)
4. Immediately introduce a face to your boot.

If going on an adventure like this for 100ish hours sounds like a fantastic escape, welcome aboard!

Combat is turn-based but it isn't Pokemon. You don't line up team vs. team and exchange turns, you have to make strategic use of the environment and your team members might be first, third, seventh, and tenth on the list. As it is a D&D game, the combat isn't meant to be punishingly hard (unless you ask my table's DM) if you read what your spells and abilities do. There are multiple avenues through most encounters, including talking your way out of having to do combat in the first place.

As for nudity, it can be disabled in cinematics with a checkbox in the options. Honestly, I can't think of an instance where sex/nudity happened in a cinematic without understanding ahead of time that, yes, I'm about to see something spicy. That's when it might be a good time to hit "Save" and make sure kids are well-distracted for 5 minutes.

[Pan Darius Cassandra]

You can take off all your clothes and run around naked.

[vollmerkirk]

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

Originally posted by jonnin:

Its not a game I would turn over to an 8 year old and let them play unsupervised.

It's violent AF, so if the sex scenes are your concern about letting kids play it, I think there's a bigger issue than the game itself.

The nudity can be turned off. The violence can't be.

That's also a concern, I figured it would just sort of be like a final fantasy you hit the enemy and they disappear. But if there is blood and gore that's something also I didn't figure on.

I'm comfortable with my kids seeing about Star Wars movies level of violence. (Roughly PG-13) If this is way beyond that, that would certainly mean I have to lock down the room.

Like I play Last of Us Parts 1 and 2 on play station and when I do I lock down the room due to the violence.

Disappointing in a way, game sounds pretty fun but it would be frustrating as I would maybe be able to lock down the room for a few hours on the weekends. I could do it but it would mean I'd have to play something else on the weekdays after I get home from work.

For the record I had no thoughts of my kids actually playing the game the concern was more of what they see while in the same room.

[alanc9]

Yeah, the violence and body-horror bits will be more of a problem for you than the sexuality. They can't be toggled since they are often key plot points, and the player doesn't have much control over when they pop up.

[Chaosolous]

Originally posted by vollmerkirk:

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

It's violent AF, so if the sex scenes are your concern about letting kids play it, I think there's a bigger issue than the game itself.

The nudity can be turned off. The violence can't be.

That's also a concern, I figured it would just sort of be like a final fantasy you hit the enemy and they disappear. But if there is blood and gore that's something also I didn't figure on.

I'm comfortable with my kids seeing about Star Wars movies level of violence. (Roughly PG-13) If this is way beyond that, that would certainly mean I have to lock down the room.

Like I play Last of Us Parts 1 and 2 on play station and when I do I lock down the room due to the violence.

Disappointing in a way, game sounds pretty fun but it would be frustrating as I would maybe be able to lock down the room for a few hours on the weekends. I could do it but it would mean I'd have to play something else on the weekdays after I get home from work.

For the record I had no thoughts of my kids actually playing the game the concern was more of what they see while in the same room.

It can be extremely violent. Not something I'd want kids under 16 exposed to, personally.

The way it sounds from your description, you wouldn't want the kids to see this kind of violence.

The first five minutes of the game there's a man in chair with the top of his skull removed and you can literally pull his brain out in a custscene.

[alanc9]

Pulling his brain out is actually a sensible thing to do in context, FWIW.

[pworlin]

I hate how people say this is just like D&D. It's nothing like D&D except for some character names and some spells. The very essence of D&D is coming up with obscure solutions to solve problems which you cannot do in this game. You can't create a massive army of undead to mow over your enemies. You can't use dispel magic to kill. You also can't use alter self to withdraw money from someone else's bank account. You can do all that in D&D but not in this game. The game is limited by the game's code and you can't think outside the box. Therefore this is not D&D.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by alanc9:

Originally posted by vollmerkirk:

How much nudity/sexuality is in it? Reason I ask is I have kids. They don't necessarily watch me play but they are usually walking around in the background. Don't want them to walk by and see two characters having sex (gay or straight)

I can only think of one instance of such content in the entire game which isn't deliberately triggered by the player. And in the exception the whole party is telling you that maybe you shouldn't open that door.

If you mean the barn outside of Moonhaven, there is at least one of your party members who wants you to open that door. Astarion.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by vollmerkirk:

Originally posted by Mike Garrison:

It's violent AF, so if the sex scenes are your concern about letting kids play it, I think there's a bigger issue than the game itself.

The nudity can be turned off. The violence can't be.

That's also a concern, I figured it would just sort of be like a final fantasy you hit the enemy and they disappear. But if there is blood and gore that's something also I didn't figure on.

Well, you don't get Skyrim-style decapitation kill cam shots or Dishonored-style limbs being sliced off, but yes there is blood. And dead bodies. And people being burned alive by your fire spells. And a couple of times quest-givers ask you to bring them back a head. Etc.

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by vollmerkirk:

Considering buying . . . what is this game like
Trying to wrap my head around the game play mechanics.

I played Icewind Dale back in the day. Never played any of the Baldur's gate games however. I think they might have been by the same company??

However some of it looks kind of like Final Fantasy.

Like Knights of the Old Republic with all voiced dialogues.

[Chex]

its ass dont buy it

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by jonnin:

the bulk of the nudity you see in the art/screenshots etc is people who actively took all the clothes off their characters.
The sex scenes are ... not as bad as daytime tv even. It kind of fades to black after a kiss. I don't recall any of these being terribly graphic, but I don't care for this content and haven't seen ALL of it so not 100% sure. I am also a bit jaded so you need to ask someone with kids who is worried about it more than I am.

Its not a game I would turn over to an 8 year old and let them play unsupervised.
But if they are in the room while you play... they won't see anything if you behave yourself.
The romantic scenes are optional and taking off all your clothing to run around is also optional :)

There is a scene with any companion when playing as the Dark Urge, with their legs spread apart, lying down and "all" is revealed. Full, complete nudity is shown in the game on occasion. And not just for a second or two.

[Eminem]

Originally posted by vollmerkirk:

Trying to wrap my head around the game play mechanics.

I played Icewind Dale back in the day. Never played any of the Baldur's gate games however. I think they might have been by the same company??

However some of it looks kind of like Final Fantasy.

Think of your party as chess pieces in combat bruh.

There is a chance you may be a checkers player and won't like it tho

[Matunus]

While it has modern graphics, at it's heart it's very similar to the old Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale games. It's set in the Forgotten Realms and presents the world in a very accurate way. Combat is turn-based (no realtime option) and it uses 5th ediition rules with some minor tweaks that over all improve balancing (monks and thief rogues are better than in the tabletop game). It has all the Player's Handbook classes and subclasses, but little more. So it's not like Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, where you have access to everything published for that game. The story takes you to the city of Baldur's Gate and once again involves Baal, but also Bane and Myrkul this time. You see some characters from the old games, but these are more like easter eggs. Knowledge of the old games is certainly not required to understand BG3. If you like the Forgotten Realms and the current version of D&D, I'd certainly recommend it. It has no similarities to Final Fantasy games though.

As far as hardware requirements go, you should have a fast SSD.

[Treehugger]

A strongpoint of the game is that it gives you more options for gameplay. Like throwing items on an ai npc, or killing off monsters with some explosive barrel, or making use of whatever powers your character has. And lots of other stuff you can do.

Imo a weak point is also the options the game offers. Imo, a populist take, like throwing healing bottles at a downed team member will heal them. Quite silly imo.

There is a lot of very nice story content though, so no complaints there.

Not sure how I feel about the imo massive amounts of magical loot around.