The BG3 Teaser Trailer
Adul
Member Posts: 2,002
Link: BG3 teaser trailer on YouTube
Just thought this could use its own topic for everyone to share their reactions and thoughts if they care to do so. Because I certainly know I've had some of those after watching that.
My first thought was "Wait, illithids don't have big Mass Effect squid spaceships! And they don't incubate people, do they?" Well it turns out I was wrong on both accounts, as both their astral cephalopod ships and their... reproduction... methods... have apparently been established lore for about as long as illithids have been a thing. So the joke's on me.
Really the trailer is pretty cool, it looks great and the subject matter is deliciously disturbing, but I'm just getting fatigued of games where it's my job to save the world again. Maybe I'm just getting old and soft (or older and softer), but every time there's a new world-threatening villain planning to overtake the known universe, I roll my eyes with such furious apathy that I risk retinal detachment.
One of the things I've always loved about Baldur's Gate (the first one) is that it has such a great lighthearted atmosphere. Yes, there are of course issues threatening the Sword Coast, lots of them, and terrible things do happen throughout the game, but when you're on the road, in the woods, or in town, it always feels like you're on a grand adventure. It juggles dangerous and oppressive moments with calm and pleasant ones, and it does this very well. It has lots of humor, but doesn't overdo it, and it never inserts jokes where they would be inappropriate. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it takes itself seriously enough not to jeopardize the stakes of the story being told. It has threats great enough to warrant urgency, but it doesn't invoke tired genre tropes by putting the fate of the entire world on your shoulders. It walks the golden road, in many ways.
On the other hand, I don't think I'd very much enjoy an adventure that revolves around a mind flayer invasion in Baldur's Gate, as the setting seems pretty damn oppressive right off the bat. But maybe I just haven't thought about it from the right angle yet.
So it's a mind flayer invasion. Yeah, okay, illithids are pretty cool, but I do have a feeling they work better as a dangerous, mysterious and unknowable background threat rather than as the main antagonist. It's the Bobba Fett effect—they're very cool as side characters, but not quite as cool when you make a whole movie (or game) about them.
And since the teaser shows the entire city of Baldur's Gate as a war zone, I'm now concerned that it's going to be a war zone for the entire duration of the game. Developers don't like to put in extra work when they don't have to, and not having to design and develop two different versions of the city would spare them probably several lifetimes' amount of work in manhours. But maybe I'm just underestimating Larian's ambition and work ethic. We'll see.
All in all, while the teaser was very cool, I was probably more excited for the game before seeing it than I am after. Still, I remain interested enough to want to see more.
Just thought this could use its own topic for everyone to share their reactions and thoughts if they care to do so. Because I certainly know I've had some of those after watching that.
My first thought was "Wait, illithids don't have big Mass Effect squid spaceships! And they don't incubate people, do they?" Well it turns out I was wrong on both accounts, as both their astral cephalopod ships and their... reproduction... methods... have apparently been established lore for about as long as illithids have been a thing. So the joke's on me.
Really the trailer is pretty cool, it looks great and the subject matter is deliciously disturbing, but I'm just getting fatigued of games where it's my job to save the world again. Maybe I'm just getting old and soft (or older and softer), but every time there's a new world-threatening villain planning to overtake the known universe, I roll my eyes with such furious apathy that I risk retinal detachment.
One of the things I've always loved about Baldur's Gate (the first one) is that it has such a great lighthearted atmosphere. Yes, there are of course issues threatening the Sword Coast, lots of them, and terrible things do happen throughout the game, but when you're on the road, in the woods, or in town, it always feels like you're on a grand adventure. It juggles dangerous and oppressive moments with calm and pleasant ones, and it does this very well. It has lots of humor, but doesn't overdo it, and it never inserts jokes where they would be inappropriate. It doesn't take itself too seriously, but it takes itself seriously enough not to jeopardize the stakes of the story being told. It has threats great enough to warrant urgency, but it doesn't invoke tired genre tropes by putting the fate of the entire world on your shoulders. It walks the golden road, in many ways.
On the other hand, I don't think I'd very much enjoy an adventure that revolves around a mind flayer invasion in Baldur's Gate, as the setting seems pretty damn oppressive right off the bat. But maybe I just haven't thought about it from the right angle yet.
So it's a mind flayer invasion. Yeah, okay, illithids are pretty cool, but I do have a feeling they work better as a dangerous, mysterious and unknowable background threat rather than as the main antagonist. It's the Bobba Fett effect—they're very cool as side characters, but not quite as cool when you make a whole movie (or game) about them.
And since the teaser shows the entire city of Baldur's Gate as a war zone, I'm now concerned that it's going to be a war zone for the entire duration of the game. Developers don't like to put in extra work when they don't have to, and not having to design and develop two different versions of the city would spare them probably several lifetimes' amount of work in manhours. But maybe I'm just underestimating Larian's ambition and work ethic. We'll see.
All in all, while the teaser was very cool, I was probably more excited for the game before seeing it than I am after. Still, I remain interested enough to want to see more.
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Comments
Like, regular humans don’t stand a chance against this big bad, but if we sacrifice part of our population and turn them into mindflayers then maybe we can win with their help.
What I want to know is what is that hand symbol on the wall at the beginning of the video before it pans to the flaming fist.
The gritty and gory style of the teaser trailer is fine with me. I actually liked all of the dark and nasty undertones in Baldur's Gate 2. Most of which centered around thieves, murderer's, slavers, torture,Vampires, death and destruction. I don't like gore for the sake of shock value though and find it tasteless in many modern games. In my opinion the trailer handled it well. It's gruesome but it could have been far worse. It's nice to see that this game is at least not shying away from adult content.
As someone who makes animated 3D CG scenes I was satisfied. I usually use HDRI environmental backdrops with scene lighting instead of just dome lighting. I then use separate god rays when needed to give that extra bit of realism every now and then. The light in the alleyway as the soldier looks down the street is very realistic and I can tell someone spent a lot of time on it. The cloth has some sort of real time physics simulation added to it and moves very realistic. I like the way the cloth reacts to the lighting as well. The quality of the character model is cutting edge in the game industry. I noticed a comment in another thread about the animations being poor and have no idea what they are talking about. The difficulty of making someone walk and heft themselves down with actual weight is not easy to do. The animations of his hand going to his mouth is very smooth and natural. The fine hairs on his face and the highlights on them from the light is perfect. Getting that shiny look on all of the gory elements while that wicked transformation is animated out nice and smooth is awesome. Not to mention the number of custom morphs that must have went into that transformation!
It probably took a bunch of time to render each frame as well, even if they are using Nvidia's IRAY tech. I have a machine with 3 graphic cards and it takes them over an hour to render a single frame (of which their are usually 24 to 60 per a second) at that quality level. Very impressed and that is one benefit of having an AAA budget that is undeniable. It's a real treat to see Baldur's Gate get the CG treatment and I am excited by the prospect of a Baldur's Gate title that can push my computers hardware a little further than an indie game like POE.
Which is all the more reason I would find it so lame if their goal was now to take over Faerun. Way to give an overly simplistic motivation to such a cool and mysterious entity/group of entities.
Especially since one of the interviews implied that the only reason they haven't tried to take over earlier was because they lost the ability to create their astral ships. Which would make them not only simplistic in motivation, but also kind of incompetent.
This is all assuming that their motivation really is to take over Faerun, which I suppose might not be the full picture here.
According to Comment on youtube, it's the symbol of Myrkul.
Bhaal and Cyric has skulls, Bane has a hand. Combination of those?
Original Bhaalspawn cult?
I'm pretty sure I read about it somewhere but now I can't find it anymore. I think they're a faction in the upcoming Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus adventure.
The tabletop module also has an alternate cover art with a big Bhaal logo on it. And they said it's a prequel to Baldur's Gate 3.
Something's up with Bhaal and the Dead Three. And this will tie the story to the first two games.
Could there be a "dark alliance" with the Mind Flayers too?
Maybe, those three were often conspiring together. Though we can hardly call them the Dead Three anymore, given that they are all back and kicking (I think since D&D 4th edition FR is going overboard with dead gods returning and other sweeping setting changes).
You'd probably have to ask them not to kill her first. Killing Mystra seems to be some kind of divine hobby.
Right, how often has she died by now?
3 times I think. I may have lost some during 4th edition...
Best quote: "Look at those corbels!!" (while totally missing the ship in the sky)
Also, the lore on the illithari says it wasn't just that their empire collapsed but also that they were very badly decimated in numbers. So their 'comeback' is not just geographical but also a rebuilding of their population.
I'm thrilled because illithids have always been one of my favourite quintessential D&D monsters. They have an extremely fascinating backstory: for those who don't know, the illithids have a very Lovecraftian origin. They actually come from the very end of time, at a time so distant in the future that the stars have all burnt out and the only life that still survives are those that dwell underground, clinging to the insides of dying worlds. The illithids are the last surviving empire in this universe, but then they, too, come under assault by some powerful force that even they are unable to defend against. The illithids concoct a desperate plan; as their last enclaves are assaulted and their defenses breached, the illithids sacrifice thousands of Elder Brains to generate a psionic maelstrom of unimaginable proportions. This maelstrom tears apart the very fabric of time and hurls all that remains of the illithid's decadent civilization back into the past.
Upon arrival in the past, the illithids set about reconquering and building their empire anew. It is at this time that they enslave the forerunners of what would become the Githyanki and Githzerai races. As you probably know, the Gith eventually revolt and overthrow the illithid empire, and the illithids have yet to regain their former glory. However, the illithids are nothing but patient; they know that their eventual victory IS assured, which is why so many of the illithids are content to watch and manipulate from the shadows. No great effort or conquest is needed on their part; the stars will one day dim and die on their own, and humanoid life will wither and devolve, to become cattle that will feed the illithids. All that is needed on their part is patience.
And this brings me to my disappointment, because in my opinion, the illithids do not make for a good "face villain" for a D&D game. They are the plotters in the dark, the puppetmasters three or four times removed from the dangers that menace the surface world. For the illithids to move so openly and brazenly against a city like Baldur's Gate is HIGHLY irregular. Sure, maybe there's a good reason for it; the presence of the Nautiloid suggests that the illithids in BG3 have rediscovered something of their ancient empire's magic/technology (and I have a feeling that BG3 may explore the "Thoon" illithid plot in greater detail), but it just feels... so very different from what I've come to expect from illithids over decades of playing D&D. It's a bit like playing in a world where orcs are the dominant humanoid race, are masters of magic and culture, and all the usual humans/demi-humans are instead uneducated savages. XD
My reaction is kind of the opposite. We've seen a lot of fantasy setting RPG's that revolve around gods and their inner disputes. But something like the illithids could liberate the plot from having to end up in some kind of Mount Olympus endpoint. Of course I expect gods will have some role in a FR (much less BG) game. But with illithids they don't have to have a major hand in the main plot at all.
Note that when I said "face villain", I meant "the antagonist that the player is set up to believe is the ultimate enemy of the game". For many D&D adventures and campaigns, the "face villain" is usually revealed fairly early on. (Examples include Tiamat during the Dragonspawn Wars, the Spawn of Kyuss during the Age of Worms campaign etc.) BG1 was unusual in that it didn't really have one; we get to see Sarevok fairly early on, of course, but he's a "mysterious enemy" that the player spends the game trying to figure out who he is and what's his agenda.
BG2 has a mixture of both personalized and face villains; it has Irenicus as your main foe, but the bigger overarching conflict is the battle between the Elves and the Drow, a conflict that has a lot of history and has been going on for quite some time.
So far, BG3 has not given us any hints about whether there will be a personalized villain or not. (For another example, NWN1 OC did not, but Hordes of the Underdark did.) All we really know so far is that illithids are involved and they will be attacking Baldur's Gate openly at some point, which I still think goes against a lot of pre-existing lore about the illithids and their usual modus operandi. Of course, it may be that this unusualness IS a big part of the plot and these particular illithids are an anomaly even among their own kind (as I mentioned above, I have a feeling that the "Thoon" plot may play a central role in BG3.)