Why BG3 wins the hearts of players easily (an educated opinion)

[navigator4223]

So, here's my personal take on it - I have a background in psychology (I'm not a psychologist, but part of my second education was human psychology).

Problem with many games is that they are not fun right from the first minute - even very good games suffer from this. Prime example in my opinion: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Why?

I'm a BIG fan of PF:WotR, and overall (I freely admit this) I think that PF:WotR is an even better RPG than BG3. But BG3 catches more people, for the same reason I believe Horizon Zero Dawn or The Witcher is loved by so many:

The beginning. BG3 has an amazing start of the game already. Not only the wonderful, deep character creation, but even the "tutorial zone" offers variety, some challenges and a lot of colour, a lot of emotion.

This is why this game just "clicks".

Of course the game is extremely good overall, but so many games make a mistake by losing players in the first 30-60 minutes which BG3 CLEARLY does not.

What do you all think?

[Dr.Abscondus]

This is a Steam forum. We don't need no education (or thought control come to think of it).

[Toonen1988]

You might be right or wrong, but I think that this is not the case. I've think that something else made Baldur's Gate 3 a success.

It can be the in-depth RPG mechanics or even visuals. Which does affects the game more than just the tutorial area.

But what I've think Baldur's Gate 3 made a huge success is the emotional connection that people have with the game. It's the story, atmosphere and the characters. It feels immersive and alive. There are only a few games that does the same thing, which is Mass Effect Trilogy, Life is Strange and Cyberpunk 2077. Maybe also some other games that I never played can also fit in this list.

Some games even offers méh gameplay or okay'ish gameplay and you are still very hooked up by the game, take for example Mass Effect.

I've played Mass Effect a decade ago, and I can still remember all the characters and their names. Like it's yesterday when I completely the trilogy. I keep thinking about the characters in Cyberpunk 2077 and what they have been through and how technology can do good stuff but also a lot of harm and I mean a lot of harm.

These things made a game a huge success for me. The emotional connection that you have with the game. Which is being influenced by having alive and believable characters. Rich story, character development and being immserive.

[✙205🍉🐆→]

It didn't win my heart, I'm not interested in LGBT issues, I'm not interested in dnd5 editors, I'm not interested in romance, so all I could be interested in is the story, and it's mediocre, but better than Dragon Age Origins, but worse than it could be, but that's because of the open ending and unfinished companion quests, I was really looking forward to Gale's battle with the goddess.


Most likely, the game would have been better for me if I had played as Dark Urge, but the game gave no hints that the evil custom character will be crap...

[Pirate RPP]

I think hype is a hell of a drug

I also think gamers have been so stuffed with slop for ten years straight that a average game doing everything competently and well (not great, but not bad) seems like a diamond, when its just a Cubic zirconia in a barrel of coal

[Dude]

They pandered to the exterme therefor got the all the woke media and influencers onboard which helped create a hell of a hype so everybody baught it.

It will take a few month till people realize it is a pretty mediocre game beyond the woke tapestry

[アンジェル]

Originally posted by Dr.Abscondus:

This is a Steam forum. We don't need no education (or thought control come to think of it).

You got it backwards.

Originally posted by navigator4223:

Why BG3 wins the hearts of players easily (an educated opinion)
So, here's my personal take on it - I have a background in psychology (I'm not a psychologist, but part of my second education was human psychology).

Problem with many games is that they are not fun right from the first minute - even very good games suffer from this. Prime example in my opinion: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous.

Why?

I'm a BIG fan of PF:WotR, and overall (I freely admit this) I think that PF:WotR is an even better RPG than BG3. But BG3 catches more people, for the same reason I believe Horizon Zero Dawn or The Witcher is loved by so many:

The beginning. BG3 has an amazing start of the game already. Not only the wonderful, deep character creation, but even the "tutorial zone" offers variety, some challenges and a lot of colour, a lot of emotion.

This is why this game just "clicks".

Of course the game is extremely good overall, but so many games make a mistake by losing players in the first 30-60 minutes which BG3 CLEARLY does not.

What do you all think?

You mean you are like one of those self-proclaimed coaches? They basically say the same about themselves

I have a background in psychology (I'm not a psychologist, but part of my second education was human psychology)

Anyroads ~

you should pay more attention to the group pressure caused by media which are attracted by various things which have little or nothing to do with the game

and

the human nature of self-lying to justify their decisions no matter how bad it is

I do not think at all that Baldur's Gate 3 did a good job for its tutorial. If anything it is borderline acceptable / horrible to what could have been and I question the main decision to cut the tutorial zone to begin with.

I do not know where you think people get lost, but from my personal point of view the first 30 minutes in Baldur's Gate are easily spent in the character creator. And maybe the next 30 minutes, and the 30 minutes after, and then another 30 minutes because once you celebrate you are done you are asked to make a Guardian without knowing why and what.

Baldur's Gate 3 is great in losing the player within the first 180 minutes.

I just cannot but think and compare it with Dave the Diver which is the best example for years how you actually captivate an audience, by how it introduces new content and gameplay mechanics.

Why Baldur's Gate 3 is still popular might be better explained here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IaCcTD_wKk
Nonetheless I always think it is overexaggerated. Yes, Baldur's Gate 3 is a milestone. Nonetheless it is overexaggerated because it is not the first kind of this type of game. It is just the first, in this age, even if its engine is already outdated, which got so much media attention.

There were so many people claiming "we have not gotten such a great game for years", but none can be taken seriously because they clearly ignored many games which are considered either "hidden gems" or "part of the console for children".

Baldur's Gate's winning streak for the hearts of people is simply it got the attention it deserved and that everything around Baldur's Gate 3 - aka other games - did a great job over so many years to look bad, worse, and worse. I mean the Ubisoft formula is like: make a beloved IP, make a bad sequel, make a worse sequel and then make a reboot/another sequel which is as good as the first bad sequel just to say it is great again.

It is easy for Baldur's Gate 3 to shine like it does with the right spotshine surrounded by a mudpit. Does it deserve it? Absolutely. But nonetheless, it is overexaggerated and we have had plenty of great games in the years which would have deserved the same spotlight, for different reasons.

And yeah, that would be an interesting topic for a psychologist.
Provided you ask the right questions.

Hell, look at caps collections. From nowadays viewpoint it looks weird. But it was hella of a fun back then...

[Butcher]

Apparently I'm not a player because BG3 didn't win my heart. Like, at all.

In WotR first few hours you save city from full scale demon invasion and literally become demigod. And it's just chapter 1! It goes big, what not to like?

WotR has memorable characters, like edgy sigma chad gnome, reformed succubus, schizo elf and murderhobo half-elf. Meanwhile, nearly every BG3 companion is emo with "dark secrets" thrown in your face.

[Maraxus]

I think Wotr is an amazing traditional crpg, but bg3 achieved the popularity it has because it's much more than a traditional crpg, it's a romantic sim, has the tactical combat of xcom, the cinematic feel and production values of Mass Effect, the stealth elements of metal gear or hitman, the reactivity of an immersive sim, the emergent gameplay of minecraft,the richness of choice of dnd, and more, in different measures of course. I think its still too early to yet understand the impact it will have on gaming as a whole.

Ima leave this video here because I think it's spot on. xD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rffA0piTe8Y

[✙205🍉🐆→]

Originally posted by Butcher:

Apparently I'm not a player because BG3 didn't win my heart. Like, at all.

In WotR first few hours you save city from full scale demon invasion and literally become demigod. And it's just chapter 1! It goes big, what not to like?

WotR has memorable characters, like edgy sigma chad gnome, reformed succubus, schizo elf and murderhobo half-elf. Meanwhile, nearly every BG3 companion is emo with "dark secrets" thrown in your face.

The fight with the final boss is even more trashy than the final fight in bg3, as well as the city in act 4, for the one who created it there should be a separate place in designers' hell/
Everything else is done flawlessly, especially for Mythic Paths.

[Occasum_Solis]

Originally posted by ✙205🍉🐆→:

Originally posted by Butcher:

Apparently I'm not a player because BG3 didn't win my heart. Like, at all.

In WotR first few hours you save city from full scale demon invasion and literally become demigod. And it's just chapter 1! It goes big, what not to like?

WotR has memorable characters, like edgy sigma chad gnome, reformed succubus, schizo elf and murderhobo half-elf. Meanwhile, nearly every BG3 companion is emo with "dark secrets" thrown in your face.

The fight with the final boss is even more trashy than the final fight in bg3, as well as the city in act 4, for the one who created it there should be a separate place in designers' hell/
Everything else is done flawlessly, especially for Mythic Paths.

Whoever designed the whole "end fight" of BG3 was HEAVILY inspired by Dragon Age: Origins, if you know you know.

[Butcher]

Originally posted by The_Guy:

Originally posted by ✙205🍉🐆→:

The fight with the final boss is even more trashy than the final fight in bg3, as well as the city in act 4, for the one who created it there should be a separate place in designers' hell/
Everything else is done flawlessly, especially for Mythic Paths.

Whoever designed the whole "end fight" of BG3 was HEAVILY inspired by Dragon Age: Origins, if you know you know.

Not really. In Dragon Age you got entire armies. What you thinking of is Witcher 3, where based on the choices you could get different supporting dudes.

[Certified Lawyer Boy]

Why BG3 wins the hearts of the players so easily:

- Great visuals
- Amazing voice acting
- Sex
- Roleplay
- Act 1

There you go.

[Boss]

Well you'd probably spend your 30-60 minutes in the character creator and the tutorial unless you're rushing it, and the tutorial area is pretty lame. It actually had more in EA, but they scrapped the entire middle part of it to shorten it, so people have less to go through on new playthroughs. It's only the final fight that's any interesting if you try to kill the cambion/steal his sword, but I'd wager almost nobody who's new would think to do that. Most of the color here is red too.
The variety comes when you get to the first dungeon

Character creator at the start isn't that deep either, because your abilities on level 1 are very limited, and aside from hair color options, nothing other games don't have. Your character build will only start to shine when you get some levels.

Not a very well educated opinion, all I'm saying.

[heime2003]

Originally posted by USER#76561198098529945:

Why BG3 wins the hearts of the players so easily:

- Great visuals
- Amazing voice acting
- Sex
- Roleplay
- Act 1

There you go.

and one more thing : attention to details

[KingOfFriedChicken]

They didn't so much win is as Balthazar stole my heart, but that's okay!