BG3 BG3 General Talk

[Redglyph]

For me a play duration is just too long, I don't have the exact time because I certainly let the game open without playing many time. But it's very long. Let be clear each time I find my courage to play it again I end enjoy and play for too long time for the session, but still it's too long.

You can either explore everything in the first playthrough, and maybe do a shorter 2nd one, or do several shorter playthroughs to discover what you missed before. From what you wrote, you're closer to the 1st type.

I've done the same and I agree that it can be very long. I've played about 300 hours without counting the EA, but the saved file shows 194 hour, so there were a few reloads to explore other options and so on. I bet @Pladio will have less than half this duration. I was surprised at the difference between several players, but that means this game can potentially keep you busy for a very long time if you don't go forward with the story.

 

[Couchpotato]

75 hrs and completed almost every quest in my first playthrough. The second and third playthroughs were almost as long, but as usual I finish games faster then most.

Anyway you need to replay the game with every class and race to see all the content, and no being evil does not have more content. You lose almost every companion.

The Dark Urge storyline feels like the proper game as it's tied to the first two games.

 

[Vaelith]

Uf... I spent about 400 hours in 2 playthroughs, though the first one was full completionist, and second one was with a solo character, so I had to take everything slowly and reload a lot of fights (I'm talking Steam logged ingame time, not actual savefile playtime).

I often get bored of story-driven games in the 60-100 hour band, as the gameplay becomes repetitive and you're just given more power to beat more powerful enenies, which feels pointless - but in rare cases with really good RPGs, like BG3, I can never have enough, and I was sad when it was actually finished. Now I only hope they will make a good DLC so that I can come back to it for a new full playthrough sometime within a year.

 

[Sanglon]

75 hrs and completed almost every quest in my first playthrough. The second and third playthroughs were almost as long, but as usual I finish games faster then most.

Anyway you need to replay the game with every class and race to see all the content, and no being evil does not have more content. You lose almost every companion.

The Dark Urge storyline feels like the proper game as it's tied to the first two games.

75H? That looks ultra fast. I don't remind who was playing all RPG and was finishing them all before everybody, and not rushing them. But he teach you his tricks or what?

On how long to beat main+extra it's 100H and their time are rarely high.

For Dark Urge, I didn't knew that, good tips for me, thanks. But no thanks because now you make me even more angry that my first play is still not finished, you could have wait I have finished it. I read that you could play overall good anyway even if the base is evil, so it should be suitable for me.

For Evil path, ok for companions (I guess you are cornered to Minthara, Astarion, and Shadowheart) and ok for amount of contents, but I feel have noticed much more evil choices, except I cannot put it in relief in an evil path probably meaning for you picking Minthara.

Spoiler: Evil choices without clear good alternative

Druids/Goblins: Two major evil choices, Side with Goblins or Side with Evil druid leader (or both perhaps). For good pendant I only see Save Halsin and many choices just being good or evil, not much else.

Underdark mushrooms: You can pick the good path and reap all benefit and then finish with the evil path.

Underdark forge and areas around: For evil you can side with the drow or just kill everybody. For good you can only save the gnomes.

Final parts:
- Evil you can side with Raphael, you can side with Gorlash, I suppose you can side with Githyanki queen, you can side with Gale and pick the crown (Evil path isn't forced side with Goblins in Act 1), you can become full Mind Flayer, you can become member of Bhaal cult or not still can side with Bhall, you can pick the crown for yourself, more I don't remind right now or don't know yet.
- Good you are cornered into beating Raphael, Gorlash, Bhall cult and avatar, not become full Mind Flayer, give up on the crown with Gale or not, and possibly more I forgot or down't know yet. And your choices are very limited around the Prince, and the Emperor.

But for sure I don't have the full persective only quoted so many special choices along a good play but mainly for evil. And ok for the companions aspect which is an important aspect, and agree too for the amount of content aspect that I can imagine.

 

[Sanglon]

You can either explore everything in the first playthrough, and maybe do a shorter 2nd one, or do several shorter playthroughs to discover what you missed before. From what you wrote, you're closer to the 1st type.

My problem is to have been pushed to play a lot of optional content, and I had make en effort to ignore some contents the game already put under my path.

I don't see much content to ignore or it's quests jumping in your log that you on purpose decide not do. And the weird messages quoting some quests will be closed if you go past some key point doesn't help ignore quests.

All in all the dev tried be sure you are warned of most of the content and decided not hide much.

 

[Pladio]

You can either explore everything in the first playthrough, and maybe do a shorter 2nd one, or do several shorter playthroughs to discover what you missed before. From what you wrote, you're closer to the 1st type.

I've done the same and I agree that it can be very long. I've played about 300 hours without counting the EA, but the saved file shows 194 hour, so there were a few reloads to explore other options and so on. I bet @Pladio will have less than half this duration. I was surprised at the difference between several players, but that means this game can potentially keep you busy for a very long time if you don't go forward with the story.

I have not had the time to pursue my playthrough, but I am at Act 3 with about 90 hours played.
I completed skipped several questlines (including the entirety of the Mountain Pass).

I plan to start playing a bit more this week and likely finish early November.

 

[Redglyph]

I have not had the time to pursue my playthrough, but I am at Act 3 with about 90 hours played.
I completed skipped several questlines (including the entirety of the Mountain Pass).

I plan to start playing a bit more this week and likely finish early November.

Maybe the longer autumn nights will give you a little more time.

 

[Morrandir]

Ha! Contrary to my fear that I have to do the final fight alone I can proudly announce that Drow Tav was able to persuade Viconia to support him. That also means I miss out the Mirror of Loss and the +2 attribute boost, but I'll get over it. (Btw. she was quite pissed that I couldn't hand her Shadowheart.)

 

[ChaosTheory]

BG3 is not too long, but it is long. If it's done well, it can be a million hours.

I'm at 200 hrs with probably 5-10 left. About 25 of those hours were leaving it on pause while I walked the dog, got groceries, etc. But it's still the longest RPG I've ever played.

I only started to feel a slight hint of frustration/boredom after I hit level 12, when you stop leveling. This surprised me. It's tough watching thousands and thousands of XP get flushed down the toilet. I'd easily be level 14 by now. I'll never say "it's just about the story" again, because clearly progression matters to some extent. At least for me.

 

[Marandon]

I only started to feel a slight hint of frustration/boredom after I hit level 12, when you stop leveling. This surprised me.

Right the level 12 is a bit bizarre, but myself I failed notice, I had still party changes, companions not yet level up to level up, and common D&D level up is everything but impressive. Level up is hardly a strong point of the game even before level 12.

Moreover in many RPG you finally achieve your build, and few combats after the game ends, the result is you didn't had the time to enjoy your final builds.

I'll never say "it's just about the story" again, because clearly progression matters to some extent. At least for me.

Probably just a quick posting, not a deep thought, but "it's just about the story" is a bit bizarre.

 

[Pladio]

I'm torn. Some other article talked about wartales and then I saw the announcement of the new game by the devs of Battle Brothers and started a game.
I have been playing that for the past week.

I need to get back into BG3 but I'm going to see family on Friday anyway for 5 days.

So do I just play BB for the rest of the week and pick BG3 back up when I'm back or play some this evening?

I am just about able to beat barbarian kings now in BB so it's fun. Although I decided to not play Iron-man this time so I feel like I'm cheating.

:O

 

[SveNitoR]

I'm torn. Some other article talked about wartales and then I saw the announcement of the new game by the devs of Battle Brothers and started a game.
I have been playing that for the past week.

I need to get back into BG3 but I'm going to see family on Friday anyway for 5 days.

So do I just play BB for the rest of the week and pick BG3 back up when I'm back or play some this evening?

I am just about able to beat barbarian kings now in BB so it's fun. Although I decided to not play Iron-man this time so I feel like I'm cheating.

:O

I'm pretty much in the same boat. Started BG3 a while ago, but have had little time to game the last month or so. Haven't even come much further than solving the druid grove and exploring the Underdark for a while. When I get back to gaming I don't even know if I should continue with BG3 straight away or do something less time consuming first.

 

[Morrandir]

I only started to feel a slight hint of frustration/boredom after I hit level 12, when you stop leveling. This surprised me. It's tough watching thousands and thousands of XP get flushed down the toilet. I'd easily be level 14 by now. I'll never say "it's just about the story" again, because clearly progression matters to some extent. At least for me.

Yes, I also feel that you hit max level a little too early in BG3. On the other hand it gives you the opportunity to play with your final build for a really significant time (and not only for 1-2 fights in the end).
I'm torn on this because of course I also see the "wasted" XP after each combat or quest. They should just stop showing these.

 

[Redglyph]

I'm torn on this because of course I also see the "wasted" XP after each combat or quest. They should just stop showing these.

Yes, it's frustrating. If we could at least convert that to gold or something (HP?). Though at this stage, I had more gold than I could ever spend.

 

[Morrandir]

Yep, gold isn't really needed. I don't think there's a good solution for that, at least I don't have one.

 

[Hastar]

I'm torn. Some other article talked about wartales and then I saw the announcement of the new game by the devs of Battle Brothers and started a game.
I have been playing that for the past week.

I need to get back into BG3 but I'm going to see family on Friday anyway for 5 days.

So do I just play BB for the rest of the week and pick BG3 back up when I'm back or play some this evening?

I am just about able to beat barbarian kings now in BB so it's fun. Although I decided to not play Iron-man this time so I feel like I'm cheating.

:O

After you kill the barbarian king go for the kraken. The Forsaken Library is also an end battle that's a long one.

I'm getting toward the end of BG3 and now that I can't level up anymore, I will try and finish the game even though I have other quests.

 

[Pladio]

Yep, gold isn't really needed. I don't think there's a good solution for that, at least I don't have one.

Reducing xp gain is my view.

It's nice to have max level for a bit but not that long.

 

[Pladio]

After you kill the barbarian king go for the kraken. The Forsaken Library is also an end battle that's a long one.

I'm getting toward the end of BG3 and now that I can't level up anymore, I will try and finish the game even though I have other quests.

I've never been able to fight the big boss fights in BB, I tend to get pulverised.

 

[Hastar]

I've never been able to fight the big boss fights in BB, I tend to get pulverised.

Yeah, you have to have a specialized party. Bowmen are useless against the Kraken. The Library fight isn't too bad but it's long. I completed that one on my second try. I'm thinking of doing a new campaign in BB with the Fantasy Brothers mod on Nexus and maybe the Legends mod.

 

[ChaosTheory]

Yes, I also feel that you hit max level a little too early in BG3. On the other hand it gives you the opportunity to play with your final build for a really significant time (and not only for 1-2 fights in the end).

So this is a good point ...with one exception. I noticed most of the enemies in Act 3 are level 8-10, even though I've been level 12. Despite having a +2 to +4 level advantage on them, these level 8-10 enemies have resistances and abilities far surpassing their level and class (for no apparent reason), which makes them much tougher than they should be.

It's level scaling that makes my near-Godlike character feel rather ordinary. When a clerk in some random building in the city of Baldur's gate can basically solo the first 2 acts of the game, the illusion of power becomes apparent and leveling, pointless.