Baldur's Gate 3 announced

[Zoupa]

https://www.nexusmods.com/baldursgate3/mods/603

Bigger fonts mod. Just tested it now, works fine I suggest you create your character first, head into the game, save then exit the game. Install the mod in:

\AppData\Local\Larian Studios\Baldur's Gate 3\Mods

then relaunch.

[Tamas]

I did not expect myself getting so hooked on this. Played over 20 hours during the weekend. 

After a very early restart, I am just now entering the Underdark. I think this is the last of the "Act I" territory.

[Solmyr]

I learned from playing Act I that there's always more territory than you think in Act I.

[Josquius]

I did not expect myself getting so hooked on this. Played over 20 hours during the weekend. 

After a very early restart, I am just now entering the Underdark. I think this is the last of the "Act I" territory.

What level is this game?
Sounds like you're starting pretty high.

[Tamas]

I did not expect myself getting so hooked on this. Played over 20 hours during the weekend. 

After a very early restart, I am just now entering the Underdark. I think this is the last of the "Act I" territory.

What level is this game?
Sounds like you're starting pretty high.

No. You start level 1. I am now at level 5.

[crazy canuck]

Suggestions for a starting character.  You guys made me buy it 

[Zanza]

I went with the custom character and picked a human Paladin, hardly the most creative choice. Played like one and half hours so far. Not yet a fan of the UX, but the game itself seems solid enough. All the cutscenes interrupt the flow a lot though.

[The Minsky Moment]

I went with Wyll on the theory of having a high CHA principal with good communication skills.  And warlocks can do range, some melee, some spell stuff without being bogged down with huge spell lists.  So can try out various aspects of the game without having to stress over whether I learned the right spells. And went with a premade because the whole idea of the warlock is a pact with a dangerous being and only the origin character will have that interaction scripted out.

[Solmyr]

Suggestions for a starting character.  You guys made me buy it 

Fairly soon into the game you get the ability to completely respec into a different class (and the same for any companions you get), so you can experiment later if you want to try something different without a full restart.

[Solmyr]

I like how that advice assumes multiple playthroughs as a given 

The game definitely seems made for replaying with a different character build (and even moreso roleplaying a different personality). At the very least you'll want to play the Dark Urge at some point, because it apparently makes the game very different.

[Sophie Scholl]

I was playing a paladin and decided to give bard a shot. Bard, so far, is absolutely amazing. They have everything you need as a primary character, plus they fill the role of Astarion if you're not keen on him being in the party. I plan on having Shadowheart for heals, Karlach for melee fighting, and.... Wyll or Gale for spells maybe?

[Solmyr]

I just went with a mod that let you have 16 companions in your party. I hate missing content because you didn't bring a specific character.

[Zanza]

I restarted with a sorcerer to play with Lae'zal, Shadowheart and Astarion. That should be a reasonably balanced party. Let's see. But the game looks interesting enough to replay.

[Valmy]

This game is fucking amazing. I have only had time to play a few hours but it definitely has my attention. I love the shit out of it.

Though I was kind of amused that you start the game on a wrecked Mind Flayer Ship in freaking Avernus yet somehow it is easier than just walking around Candlekeep in BG1 since you aren't potentially being ambushed by level 1 thief assassins when you don't have any gear. But it was certainly very cool.

I think the feature that most intrigues me is how you can play as one of the Companions. That is really cool and creative and really separates this game from the Bioware titles. I didn't realize that was what was going on at first and created a character and was like "hey wait these companions I keep finding are the premades I could play at the beginning..." that blew me away. I couldn't wait to restart and play as one of them and have a whole personal story (presumably anyway...) to play out in the game. It is kind of like BG and Planescape Torment combined.

Also since my character was a Paladin and the the first three companions I was meeting were obviously evil I needed another way to go. I do kind of wish alignments were a thing in this game because it would give me some guidance on how to play the mage guy Gale, since all it gives you is the roughest of outlines of his backstory. If I am going to play a character somebody else made I need as much information as possible, unless I am an amnesiac like in PS:T of course.

Anyway I enjoyed the combat system (I prefer RT with pause but this is fun) though holy shit PCs are much more powerful in 5th edition than they were in 2nd. Everybody has a basket of powers even at level 1. I enjoy the writing and the exploration. I never felt like Divinity Orignal Sin took itself very seriously (even compared to Bioware) and I am glad to see that isn't a problem so far. My main whine is that you only get four characters in your party at once. Like holy shit, that's only enough to cover the four basic archetypes. I wish it was six like in the original BG.

If I wasn't super busy and had a full life full of purpose I would be playing the shit out of this thing. 18 years ago I would be doing nothing but. Ah well, thus is the price of getting what you wanted in your life.

I look forward to getting to know all the companions and playing them in future run throughs. But it will be very slow going as I only get a few hours to play if I am lucky.

[Solmyr]

I think if you play as one of the premade companions, you are free to take them into whatever direction you want, alignment-wise. Don't think there's anything set in stone regarding that. My personal speculation of their alignments based on their personalities would be as follows:

Lae'zel - Lawful Evil like all githyanki, she's very much into authority and doesn't tolerate weakness
Shadowheart - True Neutral; she worships Shar (a NE goddess), but actually appreciates not being a dick to people, so she's not evil
Karlach - obviously Chaotic Good
Astarion - probably Neutral Evil, he's pretty selfish and vain and doesn't like heroics
Wyll - some variety of Good, probably Lawful Good based on his pact with a devil
Gale - also some variety of Good since he generally likes being nice to people; probably Neutral Good
Halsin - a druid of Silvanus so most likely True Neutral