this post was submitted on 29 Oct 2024
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The funny thing for me with CRPGs: DOS2 was the first one I played and I really liked it. Followed up again with BG 3 when that came out. Since then I’ve tried a bunch of other CRPGs and… I don’t think I actually like CRPGs. I just like Larian. The one exception is Disco Elysium, but that’s so far removed from most others of the genre because it has no combat.
(breaking character for a moment) calling baldurs gate 3 a crpg doesnt exactly make sense personally to me. At least for now. Considering its fhe only triple a crpg in existence. Its effectively a different genre. Disco elysium is similar in this way. Most crpgs do not have that amount of voice acting or motion capture in the case of bg3. If there were other crpgs like these (planescape torment and tides of numenera maybe????) I could see a case for triple a crpgs being considered their own genre. Because most crpgs are either indie or double a or just a. They have a very different feel. And one thing i notice is very common with people who play baldurs gate 3 is they almost all have this same issue of not being able to enjoy any other crpg. The fact people are having in depth discussions about crpgs is a lot closer to what i hoped for, which was discussion about the content of crpgs on larger scales
The way you describe it it might be unique in a different way, being the only good triple A game in recent years.
Yeah I think you're right to some extent. It's definitely harder to get invested in the ones with no or less VA. However, I think there's also something to be said for the tutorials/starts of these games. The Larian games I've played had relatively punchy tutorials that lead into a nice amount of structured freedom very early into the experience. Disco Elsyium also gets you into the the thick of things without much explicit tutorializing because it's so mechanic light your "tutorial" ends up just being gradual introduction to your main characters, the setting, and the case, which is what you're here for anyway.
The other CRPGs have hit me with the double whammy of tutorials that lead me by the nose for way too long while also just dumping paragraphs of exposition on me that have almost nothing to do with the immediate characters or plot.
EDIT: Thinking about it a bit more: While you don't need all the voice acting and cinematic to make good, dramatic, character focused story bits, I think the converse is true: It would have been a waste to get all these great VAs only to have them stand around and dryly deliver exposition. So it kind of had to be very character focused if it was going to work and be worth the effort.
Imagine how much worse the start of BG3 would be if you run into Laezel and you just stop for like 5 minutes while you exhaust all her dialgogue options so she can explain the entire history of the Gith and the Ilithid. Even fully voice acted that would have killed the pacing.
(again breaking character from my experimental persona thing on most posts) Voice acting and no voice acting are good for different things. Planescape torment is far deeper than bg3. But i think its just a practicality thing for the most part. Writing is just easier to churn out i think compared to voice acting. And voice acted games require writing and voice acting. If you dont have much or any voice acting there is more time to dedicate to the aspects of the game that arent making a cinematic experience. Also i think some people just require a cinematic experience for some reason. I wonder if its because of a lack of creativity for lack of a better less rude sounding term that comes to mind. But i can mentally project myself into the first person on top down crpgs. I dont have trouble being immersed that way. Although i used to and had to only play games with cinematics or first person views
Same haha. I played a ton of DOS and DOS2, then I tried Pillars of Eternity because pirates and couldn't get into it. Larian is really in tune with their audience.
PoE one was better IMO.
It was the lack of voice acting for me.
For me the lack of voice acting isn't a detriment. Far from it. I much prefer the walls of text to cinematic stuffs.
I can feel that. I just like being able to sit back and watch events happen.