# Baldur's Gate 3! {finally Released August 3rd, 2023} **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [February 28, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681 "2020-02-28T23:42:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/81 "2023-07-19T21:41:26Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I won’t play games that use old school BG-style combat, unless there’s an option to switch to turn based. I find real time in these sorts of games to be borderline unplayable I never played the BG games but I did play NWN 1 and 2 which use a similar system. They have a pretty awesome queue system though, which will list your upcoming actions for your characters round by round. That worked ok but not as well as true turn based mode. ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/82 "2023-07-19T22:57:02Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > All the hype is really persuading me. The hype is really out of this world. You even have competing games developers coming out and warning players not to expect this to be the new standard because they can’t match it. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2023, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/83 "2023-07-19T23:45:44Z")
Not gonna lie, I’m also excited about the romance options. I’m trying not to spoil myself too much but it sounds like they are well done. I like the character relationship stuff in general. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/84 "2023-07-20T00:05:16Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > The hype is really out of this world. And after three years of early access. If it was overpromising we’d be hearing plenty about it. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/85 "2023-07-20T03:56:40Z")
Yeah…that it has been in the crucible for three years of early access I think the hype is probably justified. It would be shocking if they managed to screw-up the rest of the game. Never say never but I am confident in them. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/86 "2023-07-20T03:58:06Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > The hype is really out of this world. You even have competing games developers coming out and warning players not to expect this to be the new standard because they can’t match it. I’ve seen that pushback. And while they were polite about it, I whole-heartedly disagree with them. I do not expect every AAA game to have this scope but I see no reason to say the bar should not be raised. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/87 "2023-07-20T13:15:31Z")
A am very stoked. I decided I’m going to play a paladin for a change. I haven’t played one(as a maim character) since the 80’s when they were really just a cavalier, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/88 "2023-07-20T13:58:22Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I haven’t played one(as a maim character) since the 80’s when they were really just a cavalier, I think. Paladins were introduced in the Greyhawk campaign in 1975, and one of the original classes of first edition AD&D in the player’s handbook published in 1978. Cavaliers were introduced as a sub-class of Fighter in a 1983 issue of Dragon Magazine and didn’t become an official part of the product line until Unearthed Arcana in 1985. You have it the other way around, in other words. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/89 "2023-07-20T14:05:10Z")
Just curious, how friendly is this system to a complete noob? I’ve played a couple of D&D campaigns, some turn-based and action RPG video games, but I can’t say my ability to understand the technical aspects is stellar. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/90 "2023-07-20T14:12:44Z")
So far, every D&D video game I have ever played works the same way any video game RPG does. The tabletop game rules are “under the hood”, so to speak. Playing any of them doesn’t require any knowledge of the tabletop game. You just play it and figure it out the way you would a game like Diablo or Skyrim or Mass Effect. It’s more like if you’ve played the tabletop game, you can enjoy seeing those rules and the campaign worlds and characters “come to life”, so to speak. Or gripe online if something in the video game doesn’t match the pen and paper rules, Think of it like playing a game based on a novel, or comic book, or movie. You’ll get more references if you’re familiar with the original material, but it’s not necessary to understand how to play or to enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/91 "2023-07-20T15:03:41Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So far, every D&D video game I have ever played works the same way any video game RPG does. The tabletop game rules are “under the hood”, so to speak. Playing any of them doesn’t require any knowledge of the tabletop game. You just play it and figure it out the way you would a game like Diablo or Skyrim or Mass Effect. You can definitely play these D&D based games that way with no issue, especially if you aren’t on the hardcore higher difficulties. Where preexisting familiarity with the system will help is if you want to jump right into a harder difficulty, or if you want to play an oddball build like a melee wizard or something. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/92 "2023-07-20T15:32:46Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Where preexisting familiarity with the system will help is if you want to jump right into a harder difficulty, or if you want to play an oddball build like a melee wizard or something. For that, I’d just go to online strategy guides like I would any other game. Still no need to go back to the source material. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/93 "2023-07-20T15:51:21Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Still no need to go back to the source material. Sure, and if you played another 5e based game that you “got good” at you don’t need pen and paper experience either. But, here’s an example. In Pathfinder: WotR, I am building my paladin companion towards becoming an Attack of Opportunity machine. Reach weapon, feats for extra AOOs, feats for more enemy actions provoking AOO, etc. If I wasn’t familiar with 3.5/PF and how awesome stacking AOO abilities can be, I would not have known about this option unless I ran through a few playthroughs and noticed that AOOs were a badass way to break the action economy and do many times more damage per round than before. I learned that playing 3.5 but I could also have learned it playing Kingmaker. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/94 "2023-07-20T16:10:05Z")
Did you see you can be a Paladin oath-breaker? Kind of a thing unto its own (i.e evil paladin). Very cool the game can go there (if you want). ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/95 "2023-07-20T16:14:48Z")
Holy crap, that is cool and if I get this game (I probably will feel myself compelled to do so at some point) I will be very tempted to go that route. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/96 "2023-07-20T16:22:56Z")
What’s really neat is you must start as a good Paladin, break your oath-thing, then go through a process to become an evil Paladin. Role playing fun. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/97 "2023-07-20T16:23:39Z")
So that just sounds like extra content to me. 👍 Yeah, I love that. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/98 "2023-07-21T22:16:07Z")
I don’t know if anyone has already posted this, I don’t remember seeing it. But anyone who preorders the game gets the “digital deluxe” version automatically, as long as you’re buying it for PC (either Steam or GOG). If you are ordering it for PS5, you have to pay an extra $20 for that version. > **[Baldur’s Gate 3 pre-order guide](https://www.polygon.com/23799271/baldurs-gate-3-pre-order-buy-guide-pc-ps5-xbox)** > > The next-gen Dungeons & Dragons RPG is almost here So, I went ahead and bought it on Steam. I did that so that I can do remote play. I have a really nice new Samsung tablet, and it does a fantastic job of streaming games, so I can theoretically play it on my tablet as long as it’s on Steam. (That’s not the case for GOG.) Although I can play the game now, since early access is available, when the game releases on the 3rd I’d have to delete my saves and start all over again, so I’m holding off. I think. I might just install it to goof around. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/99 "2023-07-21T22:22:20Z")
I’m holding off but I’m very tempted to download it and goof around. Feels like snacking and ruining my appetite right before an awesome meal, though. ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681/100 "2023-07-21T22:34:08Z")
Don’t do it. I did that and now the wait is painful. If you have to though, there is a very clear prologue-esque section that’ll give you a taste of the combat, environment interactions, and characters. Takes maybe 30 minutes or so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/baldurs-gate-3-finally-released-august-3rd-2023/848681.md?page=6)