Baldur's Gate thread (BG3 confirmed by Larian Studios)

All right so I wrapped up Act 1 more or less, because its not quite clear when the act ends, and I just keep going back and forth between taking mountain pass or the other underdark so I explored a bit of both but I got annoyed with some enemies in mountain pass so stayed going through the underdark, but let's rewind for my experience and thoughts so far:

So one of the big issues I had progression wise is that I did not set up camp enough times to trigger certain events BEFORE the Halsin party after defeating the goblins. So I wasn't able to get enough influence on Astarion to even get him interested for a quickie. I didn't know this until later but alas, I managed to pull out all the camp scenes I was missing but after the party event. The game was not very clear about going to camp for story beats.  So I had missed out on Astarion's bite scene all together until later, which was uhhh something XD. I went along with it a bit too much and died hahaha. HE SAID TO TRUST HIM! I DID! And I mean my Tav was shirtless so it was kinda hot but anyway I reverted back and stopped him just before I died XD. That whole event though changed Astarion to actually finally talking to me and getting a bunch of scenes with him including the mirror scene where I basically tell him hes beautiful cuz he can't see himself in mirrors, I forgot that was a vampire thing. Unfortunately I don't think I can get him to sleep with me early before act 2 anymore cuz I didn't get all this before the party but alas.

Now in the case of Wyll, I got a kiss with him in the party, it was very cute. Although it did seem quite soon, I don't know how a kiss is okay but a dance is too much for him, but hey I'll take it! But as things were getting cute, Mizhora came in to ruin the fun, and then turned him into a "devil". Honestly that was quicker than I expected story wise. But the thing that bothered me about this bit is that he does not regret making a deal with her at all, which was rather odd for this heroic figure they write him as.  farferello also told me in EA he would actually regret working with her, so thats a very odd change of writing there and a shame.  It really does sound like I would have enjoyed his original take. After all that though, he hasn't really talked much tbh. He just makes sure I do the right thing, like help prisoners, slaves, etc. But apart from that not much else.

In the magic world of Gale, I also got his flirt night scene after the party, where we... uhhh feel sexy things through the air of magic? I don't know what happened but they were both into it while standing there XD. It was a cute scene. What I didn't like was that at the beginning of it, he basically tells us about banging Mystra and how he had it all banging a god and then not. And it was a bit ugh for me cuz once again, another male romance attached to some female character lol. I do like his personality though, I just don't see him as a romance for this particular Tav I made however. I will have to see if I can make another character for him in another run but I'll keep playing along with him just to see what other things I can get until the game tells me off.

In terms of the girls, the last thing I did yesterday was Lazaels quest, where shes kinda dumb in a way I feel bad for her XD. She really thought there was a cure when it was pretty obvious they just kill them on that machine. Not only that, she wants to report that to the leader as if its just a one off case. Thankfully  I had her in exceptional support so even if I can kept saying im not giving the artifact, she would stick with my decision and would see some reason. For the "kill" the guardian bit, I played along then when I meet the guardian and he's all "You are here to kill me!" I was like lol no I just wanted to see you again cutie and then he smiles lol. But yeah that was a pretty fun bit, even if Lazael still thinks this was all a test like come on girl plz

Shadowheart I have her kinda benched though, cuz I was nice with her for a moment during the party and everyone was like OH YOU AND SHADOWHEART ARE GETTING CLOSE. And I was like um no.... this is... this is not happening. Needless to say a lot of save and reloading happened during that one party XD.  Karlach is cool though I messed up and didn't visit the mechanic before the party so I didn't do his first visit and now im kinda trying to get to the next area and take her there, hoping she doesn't blow up before I get there. I also can see why people asked for more Karlach content cuz she is pretty quiet during most stuff now for me.

Halsin I keep playing around with his flirty bits in camp, though my Tav is practically begging him to sleep with him at this point but Halsin is like once you do this mission then maybe lol.

But yeah overall having a lot of fun, I just wish the game was more clear in a lot of stuff I could miss out that are important. Like telling me there's a mechanic during act 1 the specific location, telling me about camp prompts, etc. I get they want to surprise you in the experience but you also just risk missing out.  Romance wise, still with Wyll at the moment, pending how things go with Halsin. And will fool around with Astarion as well as long as the game lets me. But in any case, when the CHOICE ever comes I need to make a hard save and protect it at all costs so I can restart from that point. Also I am enjoying the combat pretty well now, which I thought was gonna be my annoying thing but no they make it accessible enough but also still retain some challenge as I keep learning more and more how to play with it in different ways.

Also will have to keep reading on more later some guides to see if I missed out any other major things, is just being hard to find an organized guide so far, I just have to google specific things for now.

Also sucks to hear that farferello regarding the mods stuff, does seem to be a common thing with this game, patching messing things up, I hope it doesn't break my game lo even though Im not using mods in console but you never know. But yeah I hear you on having to reinstall mods, I accidentally deleted my disk drive with all my mods for all my games and I'm like ugh having to figure out which ones worked for me and which one didn't. But I'll just wait for a new pc at this point to do that but still sucks. At least I have history on nexus mods so theres that I guess.

ANYWAY, I finished Act 2! So while in Act 1 I was bit iffy with the game at times and confused what the hell was even going on, Act 2 was a huge improvement! I definitely got into the story finally and even appreciated a lot more certain companions, got new cute romance moments, even tried my first sex scene which ended up being Gale because I had enough progress on him before locking Wyll to try it hahaha.

So quickly on that regard, the Gale scene is super elaborate romance version, transporting yourself into an entirely new location in the middle of a romance scene is insane. Larian definitely takes its time making the cutscenes special. However, there is two banging options with Gale, Astral or normal. Now the astral one is crazy, intense, elaborate and at first I thought it was hot then I was confused what was going on but uhh yeah haha. Meanwhile, the non astral version is just really... boring. I like that he still pops a bed to be comfy but other than that is very much a fade to black, no rolling around  even, no removing clothes (granted we can just toggle it ourselves but is a bit weird to be running around naked the entirety of the scene till that moment lol). So yeah I was disappointed with that version. But at the end of the day, he's not my main romance for this play through and was just a fun experiment. The friends version of that scene is still sweet as you still just chill together with the aurora in the sky he created and im glad he didn't stay upset for long for leaving him for Wyll.

So instead we are back on Wyll in act 2, where we get a really nice dance scene, it may not be as super elaborate as Gale's magical scene, but it felt an intimate moment with Wyll, he open up himself without going too far. I think is a good slow burn. Not to mention depending on your choices, you get different angles of this new kiss and is great. I am really impressed by Larian's work on kisses, maybe this was also part of the kiss patch they did, but they are very well animated, and don't have like weird angles where you can't see nothing like in some bioware games. (Like cough that first jaal kiss where I can't see nothing). After you lock Wyll's romance on that act 2 camp scene you can do repeatable kisses with him anywhere. Whether or not in camp, on top of a pile of blood, in front of a store vendor XD, anywhere which is crazy but fun. And I'm also impressed by these repeatable kisses because there's multiple versions of it! There's a little twist dance in one version before kissing, another one my Tav kisses wyll's hand, another one Tav hugs Wyll later, there's a lot of variety in them and are done pretty well! Considering the complains on Wyll's lack of content I think he still gets a pretty decent amount of cute stuff with this, at least currently now.

Surprisingly, there is a fair amount of stuff of the Guardian than I expected, in this act 2 I got a nice moment where uhh, the guardian arrived a bit sexy showing nipple and all in the new clothes XD. And we shared a hug which was pretty cute. (DON'T TELL WYLL IM FLIRTING IN MY SLEEP). Unfortunately by the end of act 2 and start act 3 is revealed he's actual look and now he's desperate for me to become one like him. And sorry but no, I ONLY just found sexy clothes by finally arriving in act 3 and you want me to change my look to generic mindflayer? hell no! I still held his hand however when we had another moment in act 3, we were having a nice moment until once again he started about me transforming, talk about killing the mood bro. I also miss his original sexy guardian voice sigh.

PS: I failed to romance Astarion in time, I tried to get him to pop on act 2 but is impossible or very impossible if you didn't prompt it in act 1. So no notes on him romance wise but ill talk about him on my plot segment now:

Regarding the plot and characters, Act 2 definitely has like actual missions, journeys, and things to do, where as act 1 it just felt like winging it. I think I did a good job covering a lot in act 2 without googling much on my own (except to see if I made a bad choice). I generally enjoyed a lot the new characters introduced here, and I actually ended up liking Shadowheart a lot more in this act. Mostly because her "final" mission on it, you can let her make a choice herself instead of you choosing for her, her destiny. I thought that was wonderful, because I really dislike in these games when sometimes we decide someone's entire fate for them, so letting her make that choice and she makes the right one just felt right. I think it also just felt earned that we have a pretty solid friendship later when she decides to share the truth of her past via the mind. I also dig her new look. Did not like her much at alll in act 1 but act 2 shes pretty cool!


Halsin is a darling, a nice gentleman, playing the hero, and also made me heavy learn the combat of the game lol. I say this because his mission to protect the portal is super intense, but it made learned a ton of strategy with the combat of the game, where as in the past I would just try to progress survive, this time it took me a few rounds but I got really invested on figuring out the best combat move, learning a ton of new AOE moves, relying so much more in magic on all my chars not just the obvious ones. Also Wyll im super thankful hes blast attack is so incredibly useful as always have a reason to keep him in my party. I still haven't slept with Halsin however or managed to trigger the option but I have done a few little flirts here and there, but I have so much going on now in act 3 it might take some time to trigger, will try tonight though. But I think I'm going to stick with Wyll after trying Halsin out a bit, it just feels so far Halsin doesn't really have much in Act 3. Where as Wyll I will attempt to rescue his father and stuff.

Regarding Astarion, I think is pretty nice how he does slowly but surely evolve in time, he opens himself more to you, he realizes he's state of being now is not so bad, that working with Tav he's free, not obligated to anything, and maybe initially he felt he was serving me by nature and only just realized now, that's not what's happening here. He's still edgy of course, and still wants power but I think slowly as I keep letting him know the cost he's not so mad about me questioning him so is something he does consider hopefully. He definitely has a lot of content triggers in all acts though I will say, it hasn't felt to me he has the most moment. Instead the character that feels that has too much is Lazael. I walk 5 steps and theres some gianki stuff going on so I have to bring lazael otherwise it feels im missing out her reaction, and then go to bed and welp more gianki content, and it keeps going and going. And the thing that bothers me is that is not really new, these scenes tend to discuss the same things over and over again. I'm like so over those people XD. I like Lazael's arc development though but it does feel that her character is the most absolute plot relevant of them all.

My new favorite outfit

Stay tuned for act 3 thoughts, didn't want to make this longer and I have so much to do still on it. But im so over the doppleganger wannabe xmen  Mystique chick ill say that much.

Now for starters, I don't get why people talk bad about act 3, while yes its a bit buggy in some areas mostly on performance, I think is my favorite of the acts. I feel more used to the kind of rpg it turns into in act 3, it felt like I was playing a bioware game again. Like I'm doing a bunch of stuff in the citadel, etc. I enjoyed a lot of the quests as a lot of them were "loyalty" companion type of quests and learning a lot of the world of baldur's gate since I know 0 of it haha. I feel I needed this chapter sooner to properly get invensted into the world.

Now let's get down to business, I stuck with Wyll's romance to the end. So now my personal analysis on the Wyll content reaction now that I fully played it, I think in terms of plot Wyll is not too bad in content in that sense. He's very plot relevant on act 3, however, it comes at the cost of romance content, where it feels like a side piece rather than being together with the main plot points Wyll is going through. But another issue is that once dad enters the picture in act 3, a lot of Wyll's dialogue centers around him. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Wyll should hate his dad and stuff, but he kinda goes a bit over to the point hes quoting him every time we have some time together where I just want to talk about us. That complain aside, I did like his main plot stuff, I loved that saving his dad on that hard mission paid off well and dad and son managed to rekindle their relationship.  What I didn't like however is that there's no romance moment about that relationship.  Wyll could have introduced you as the boyfriend, get the father's blessing to wed, etc, since Wyll is so traditional but there was nothing of that.  But yeah at the very least I did understand more all that happened there and why no regrets about Mizhora and such haha.

Now in terms of the act 3 romance scene itself, I'm mixed on it. On the one hand the proposal is very cute, the build up scene to it all is nice. On the other hand, when you finally get that moment of "sex scene" you get a super old school style rolling over fade out. The problem with this style is that is vastly inferior to all other companions and their content they get. After waiting longer to "bang" Wyll, the pay off is simply not there. Another thing is the epilogue, I ended up going to avernus with wyll to help karlach as he offered and well I felt bad for her too. I have no problem with this choice in my playthrough, but if someone loves wyll but doesn't like karlach, the game doesn't give you much nice room to avoid it. But the main issue I have with this is that during the epilogue, when you talk to your companions about your adventures, most of the dialogue choices are you and karlach and skip wyll being mentioned, when is all 3 of us doing stuff. So yeah overall, I still enjoyed my Wyll run and I still argue he has the best kissing animation camera angles I seen thus far, but there is definitely room for improvement when next to other comps, when next to other bioware bi romances is still fine I suppose lol.

Halsin

Anyway speaking of other sexy stuff, I did manage to get Halsin's banging scene and oh boyyyyy. And I'm not even talking about the bear scene, that one is tame and is exactly what you see online, nothing else to it. However if you choose the human form version, you are treated with an actual hot scene. They had to do some smart camera angles to get away with it rating wise. So 10/10. Now in terms of romance however, Halsin just doesn't really have much to do on act 3, is weird hes added as comp then because his only dialogues here is mostly like how out of place he feels in the city haha. But in terms of epilogue he has a lot of great dialogue even as just a friend, and you can hug it out. And he admits settling down and moving on from the poly relationship ideas just like farferello mentioned. So I still think halsin's worth it in the sense that hes a pretty direct happy romance, there isn't any obstacles, demons, contracts, goddesses, on the way, just one man that has fallen for you as you have for him.

The Guardian