How good is the story?

[Kain]

Although I liked the previous game the story wasn't all that great, it was very well written in terms of the jokes and characters but the main plot itself wasn't all that great.

Does it improve upon it?

[Dr.Corpse]

not far in to the story but the game is very insular and unless you are willing to dive in all you encounter are these smug "i-know-more-than-you-and-am-mysterious-power -archetype characters. its like playing DnD with a bad DM that has absolutely no interest on explaining the plot but rather expects everyone to read 500 pages of background material.

[Yojo0o]

There's a recent thread on the subject just a few slots down from this one on the front page, plenty of people have contributed their opinion there.

[Kain]

"Hows it compare to DOS:1? I found that one awkward to play, and really difficult"

This? That one is focused on the gameplay which I had no problem with, my question is regarding the story.

[Yojo0o]

Couple clicks below that one.

[Kain]

Originally posted by Yojo0o:

Couple clicks below that one.

Thank you.

[sick duck]

It is very good. One of the more underrated things about this story is the characters have an unusually high degree of agency for a player driven story. Some major characters can end up dead because one NPC a group member needs is hated by the other and is wanted dead, and there is no way of knowing this until far later in the game. It sucks, but that is realistic for life to take you by surprise.

[Crip rep @ Aalto Universitetet]

Well it's a Larian game, tonal whiplash all the way down and a very strong suspicion that some of the writers may have been very drunk.

But it's still probably the best in the series (especially compared to Divinity 2 or Divine Divinity etc. old Larian stuff). Your enjoyment will largely depend on your expectations. If you're looking for something tightly written like classic Fallout´s or Planescape this isn't it but if you're looking for a fun romp then this is good.

[Dr.Corpse]

Originally posted by Tammilisäke:

Well it's a Larian game, tonal whiplash all the way down and a very strong suspicion that some of the writers may have been very drunk.

But it's still probably the best in the series (especially compared to Divinity 2 or Divine Divinity etc. old Larian stuff). Your enjoyment will largely depend on your expectations. If you're looking for something tightly written like classic Fallout´s or Planescape this isn't it but if you're looking for a fun romp then this is good.

"some writers may have been drunk" is a very good note. the writing varies a LOT.
I have *enjoyed* the story so far and there is a lot of the story. its just that the quality veries a lot and high points are isolated peaks.

[The.Spaz.]

The story, this time around, is a lot better actually. Don't expect ME or TW3 level of writing but it does well enough to keep me engaged in the overall mystery so far. I think the writing is a step up from the previous game which was largely chicken scratch and forgettable. Larian did admit it was thought up in ten mins after the game was completed. There has been a lot of subtle changes mostly for the better I think.

[LukanGamer]

Don't expect really high end story, side characters, companion interactions, and humor.

Do expect some decent with purpose story, companions main stuff, and a lot of side humor (especially if you talk to animals).

Would say it certainty above average, but not great.

[sick duck]

Well DOS2 really has quite a lot of stories because it has many protagonists and therein lays the difficulty comparing it to other story classics because traditionally a story isn't supposed to have multiple protagonists. Some of the story is quite poor, and others are quite good and on balance I would put it at 7/10 for story with similar games like fallout 1, 2, baldurs gate 1, 2, new vegas at 10/10. 6/10 might be enough for to think it is enjoyable. Loshe, Fane and the red prince character arcs are pretty close to 10/10 I think. Add the chaos of gameplay into the mix and it is possible that you will miss all the good parts or all of the bad parts, and you can often fail a storyline depending on your actions which leads to an aborted story-line. I can understand people witnessing a wholly different type of story than I have and it's just bad luck that they experienced a 4/10 story.

The main plot was quite confusing to me, and I don't think the game did enough to prepare for the final act. It needed more foreshadowing and I didn't feel prepared for where it went to and I'm not evven sure I remember what it even was because I didn't care.

[Janthis]

Well it's a Larian game, tonal whiplash all the way down and a very strong suspicion that some of the writers may have been very drunk.

They even had two types of drunk writers, the goofy and the depressed. Or maybe the same ones in different stages of drunkenness. :)

[Dr.Corpse]

Originally posted by Johnny_B_80:

Well it's a Larian game, tonal whiplash all the way down and a very strong suspicion that some of the writers may have been very drunk.

They even had two types of drunk writers, the goofy and the depressed. Or maybe the same ones in different stages of drunkenness. :)

three. the goofy, the depressed and the horny.

[Janthis]

Originally posted by Dr.Corpse:

Originally posted by Johnny_B_80:

They even had two types of drunk writers, the goofy and the depressed. Or maybe the same ones in different stages of drunkenness. :)

three. the goofy, the depressed and the horny.

Oh yeah, can't believe I forgot about them. Right before Arx I got the option to take Lohse below decks for some, ahem... private time, and I figured it'd just be a romance scene like in other RPG games, possibly with a fade to black. I was somewhat surprised to find out I get to roleplay an entire sex scene.

I heard they're also focusing on romance and sex in BG3. They claim the audience is horny and wants this, but I think it's projection. :P

[Mr.Weegeeman]

Story is meh, gameplay and exploration is top tier