I'm out of the habit and a bit rusty. Theres roughly 10 seconds of missing footage in the video. Apologies.

Keep in mind larian is not done with BG3 yet, from the leaked honour mode to the abundant patches and definitive edition on the horizon. And that is after larian went out there way to accomodate even the 1% outcomes with exquisite narration, full motioncap on the most random irrelevant NPC or quest object, truly an masterpiece made by people with an genuine love for the game.

For every silly scene like the bear scene, there is at least half a dozen scenes that provide massive emotional gut punches that leave you thinking about stuff like our mortality, the inherent unreliability of memory, the frequent contradictions between duty and honour, cycles of abuse & how to break them....to name a few.

400 hours in this game so far with the amount of freedom and player choice within the game is nothing I've ever seen before. It really feels like 5e DND. I'm not even remotely bored of the game and I'm still finding new things and I truly feel like no matter how many hours I play it I'll never see all of it. I love it.

I really hope that BG3 makes triple A companies realize that giving us crumbs and leftovers isn't acceptable. Perhaps the success that BG3 has become, due to it's attention to detail and storytelling, will make them see the benefits in creating a game that people ACTUALLY love.

Just remember that Baldur's Gate 3 was sitting in the top 10 highest rated games of all time on metacritic and the number 1 highest rated PC game of all time for days until a handful of various critics decided that it was completely appropriate to deduct points from their publication's scores of baldur's gate for the crime of being a video game instead of real life. Yes, multiple reviewers started coming out and actually subtracting points from the score because it wasn't equal to a real life D&D session with human beings sitting around a table. It got knocked out of the top 10 and is now sitting somewhere in the mid 30s of the "Best Video Games of All Time" because it's a video game, meanwhile NFL 2k1 - a game absolutely nothing like playing a real life football game in a field with a group of friends, a game that time has largely forgotten, is sitting at number 10. Now, it's exact positioning is also altered by user reviews, and 9% of the user reviews are negative, meaning 0-4. Let's look at some of the hot takes here: "It's an MMO style game and the open world is too difficult to navigate" "All fluff, no substance" "it's trying to brainwash you into the woke agenda" "most overhyped game in years. i was tricked by social media into buying it and it's a terrible game. screw those liberals who circle jerked this game into the status it has now. It's a false idol! it's maybe a 6/10"

I was keeping up with it since early access, i loved Divinity and was expecting BG3 would either break the gaming industry or go unheard of. Im very glad it was the former.

7:37 I really dilike the way developers painted the picture that "indie devs can't hope to match the quality bg3 delivers"... we know; we're not stupid, but we CAN expect the same quality from huge triple a devs that have way more monetary backing than larian ever had. conversely, we can also expect indie devs to at least deliver a feature complete product even if it doesn't have all the bells and whistles bg3 has; hell bg3 isn't without it's flaws (looking at you act 3) but just immediately going "well you can't expect us to do our job as well as Larian does" was really infuriating for me to read 8:34 lol I see you articulated the same point :P

I bought the game back in like September and it was my first introduction to a lot of things: D&D, CRPG, as well as Larian themselves. This game has been a nonstop fun fest

gosh I wish Baldur's gate 3 would have an expansion. like more races, subclasses, and more content. it's such a masterpiece ❤

Playing this game gives me the same wonderful vibes as playing The Witcher 3 back in 2015. I've replayed that game numerous times since its release. I'm planning to replay BG 3 multiple times as well. It's a game that feels like it's made with love, which is very rare these days.

Larian and Remedy are studios where I don't feel like I'm being taken for granted. These guys worked hard to earn my purchase and it shows in the quality of their games. The Bungies of the world are trying to figure out how to nickle & dime me while providing the bare minimum of quality.

Larian Studios had a reputation for loving their games and making them into rpgs THEY would play - it just happened that that development pattern fit well with the D&D IP. What was a narrow fan base came to love now could be experienced by mainstream audiences....

Now we need to see if BG3 can top it off with a GOTY acheivement!

Great analysis. The stars aligned for this game, but for the most part, Larian actively made them align. I also loved the part where you suddenly had a cat on your shoulder!

I’m an older, casual gamer, having returned to regular gaming during the Covid lockdown. And I’m a recently new subscriber of Legendary Drops with the launching of BG3 on steam. Your intelligent, seriously earnest presentations are the best I’ve seen basically ever. Your style is engaging, and your well-expressed opinions are informative, thought-provoking and entertaining. For me, you are the compelling presence among the crowd. And, as busy as your daily life keeps you, I encourage you to keep it coming as much as you are able; especially because I am one of your newest supporters. 😊Thank you very much for great content! Christopher

Never played a cRPG, or even any RPG games, never played DnD, my most played games before this were survival/puzzle/cosy games but BG3 is now my most played game of all time with 400 hours, and I'm running it on a crappy laptop. I absolutely love this game, the writing, the interesting mechanics and I especially love that the combat is turn-based, I typically don't play combat based games because playing with a touchpad makes them honestly kind of impossible, but turn-based combat takes what normally is a reaction/mechanical skill based thing and makes it more like a really cool game of chess, keeping track of all the pieces and their abilities and having time to think about each move ahead of time and plan out a strategy, it gives me the same satisfaction as solving an interesting puzzle , honestly a lot of my hours have just been going back and reloading combat encounters just to test out new ideas or mess around with builds! And after all those hours I’m still yet to actually finish any of my saves 😂😂 And I can say I didn’t discover it from the bear scene 🤣 I actually found it by watching someone stream it while I waited for starfield to release (I had thought starfield would be something I’d enjoy watching people play as I love space …. Oh how wrong I was!) A single stream was all it took to hook me and the minute I got paid I grabbed the game myself, haven’t looked back since! (Also I totally didn’t spend half the video trying to catch a glimpse of the furball behind you only to finally see them getting cuddles at the end xD)

Larian seems like one of us because they are one of us. A group of great people that loves games that were able to make a game they wanted to play. Since it happened to be a game that millions also wanted to play, I’d say that firmly places Larian in the camp of one of us… suddenly I feel like watching Toy Story. One of us!

hell yeah brother! Great vid EDIT ADD ON: Thanks so much for the shout-out. Bg3 has been great for so many. Happy for your channel's success.

It's a phenomenon. Worldwide players keep on playing this game (incl myself) Larian Studios from Belgium, HAIL to you.

Baldur's Gate 3 brought me back to enjoying RPGs, and well, you reading this don't know me, but it was like someone casting a resurrection spell on my inner child

All my friends were talking about this game but what really got me to give this game i never heard of before in a genre i never played a shot was that clip of matthew mercer, who i did not know was matthew mercer at the time, stacking barrels and using an arrow of transposition to get into a fort. It blew me away so much with the idea of a game that gives you such freedom that I got it the next day

1. Luck 2.) Bear scene 3. ) Marketing by KZfaq influencers 4. ) Full engagement with gaming community 5. DnD board campaign with all original voice actors 6.) Animated shorts These are many things other conpanies fail to do, if not from lack of trying.... except for #1. If they could just stop acting like it's purely business and stocks, they would be more successful.

Before BG3, I had already sworn off EA, Bungie, and Blizzard for their micro-transaction hellscapes that are internet only. Playing BG3, I remembered what it was like gaming as a kid. Larian captured that magic of playing a game that just wanted to be an awesome game; nothing more, nothing less. Larian's BG3 is the new Halo 2 in my opinion. After BG3, my convictions of what should be acceptable and expected in a game has been reinforced.

*slow clap* well said! 400+ hours since release and only made it to the end one time. Never played tabletop D & D so I do not as yet fully understand all the race/sub-race/class synergies. Even having numerous party/player character wipes so many start overs I STILL love playing; always discovering new stuff.

The whole developer talk thing is so funny to me! Like is BG3 a bit on the niche side? yes. Is there a luck involved in this success story? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, BG3 is a prime example of a project made with lots of love and care, and wasn’t trying to nickel and dime their players. The big developers aren’t afraid of BG3 because of how ambitious it is, they are afraid players will wake up and demand enough is enough. Most of these companies cannot meet their bottom line with honest business practices, not anymore.

I only found your channel because of your reactions to BG3. Glad I did. Solid, level headed content. Keep it up Holmes.

Its very much like witcher 3 in that it has everything, a good story, details, voice acting, exploration and on a whole a complete rpg.. That is all.

I knew it was going to be amazing before they even started it. BG1 & BG2 we’re that good. I prayed for BG3 to land in the hands of someone that loves games. DND done right can even be better.

As someone who has loved Larian since Divine Divinity in the nineties, I could not be happier for their long overdue final breakthrough! When I played Divine Divinity I back then I already liked it so much better than Diablo. This world was much more alive even then. You could have found yourself in ambushes or get robbed. The story was simply better. Of course if you played Diablo only for the hack and slay, you would not have been has happy in Divine Divinity. Enemies once killed would not respawn. I knew from this moment that they have it in them and I loved EGO DRACONIS even more but unfortunately, they never managed to get the attention of many until now. So I am really, really glad for them.

8:40 I fully agree. It was the AAA developers that p*ssed me off in this discussion. BG3 IS the standard for shops like Moneyvision-Blizztard, etc... Of course we will always love our indie developers and the amazing things they achieve with their more limited funds and resources.

Im on act 3 of my fourth playthrough, and act 2 on my 2nd multiplayer playthrough absolutely loving bg3. and it keeps getting better. Larian did an amazing job on this game and the effort they're putting into improving it post launch is incredible.

This game is soo much fun. Of course there is room for improvement left, but it's really a gem.

I mean... I'm not sure the success was *wholly* unexpected. Larian is good at making games, but also good at their business and marketing decisions. Yes, I think they were surprised by the massive extent of that success. But even the early access period had pretty good sales.

I loved Ginny Di's sponsored cover of the Weeping Dawn and the High Rollers one shot. Neil made me want to add Astarion to my party roster more often. Also Bing Bong

I’ve been feeling like the video game industry has been in decline for a while now. A lot of games that have been released the past few years seem to favor money rather than passion for creating something that’s new and memorable. I think it’s can be easy for companies to be caught up in the numbers of sales and how much they can make from a game when they have a lot of investors and deadlines to meet but I think a lesson they can learn from Larian Studios is that if you hire great writers and staff that are passionate about the game, success will come. Games are a form of media that portray a story or an experience, So in a way games are art. I’m glad to see that there are still development studios out there who care about creating something unique.

This game made me feel things had the heart and soul of a dnd table game it brought me laughs smiles anger and even shed tears for lost friends who would've loved it this is the best game I've ever played and I can't wait to share more playthroughs with more friends

Unexpected? I don't think anyone ever doubt that it was gonna be a hit, given the company's record of awesome releases. Divinity original sin 2 anyone?

something I find interesting is that the marketing campaign of BG3 looks like most of the budget went into the game instead of the marketing campaign. It looks like a game made by the creators (artists, developers, etc.) rather than by a marketing team.

Masterclass video. Agreed with every point. One point I would add though... remember when the game was releasing? Everyone thought this year's big hit would be Starfield - including Larian. They moved up the PC release of BG3 one month in response to Starfield's release date and inadvertently had an entire summer month to themselves to blow the public away. The perfect storm of a game. I hope it wins all the awards. This game will influence both RPGs and many games to come for decades. And that's a good thing.

A bunch of us starving Dragon Age fans have fallen in love with BG3.

First off: immaculate taste in shirts Second: I do think that Larian played out the EA period MASTERFULLY. They released to early access with a solid game, and then created a bit of hype for every major patch, keeping the flame burning for years. Every patch made me more and more hyped for the next and when #9 dropped with a promise of the full release next summer, I was ecstatic. What helps IMO is the multiplayer. People like the game, and in pitching it to friends they say "we could play it together", which already makes it more appealing.

I have to say I truly enjoy listening to your essays. Very insightful.

we luv ya man, always good to hear you spill it out from the heart. BG3 Best game of all time!

To anyone who is a huge fan of Larian Studios like myself this was no surprise. I played over 1000 hours of dos2, and was so happy that they took their time even if it meant waiting years for the final product because the game felt finished on release unlike other rpg studios that I no longer support *cough* Bethesda *cough* and not only that they're still working on the game and listening to their audience. Ultimately Bg3 was exactly what I wanted from Larian and expected. Larian finally having a huge success like this really puts shit in the britches of all game developers because Larian has given people exactly what they wanted, leaving out all the bullshit. I would gladly take a longer wait time for a polished unique story experience, rather than buying skyrim for the nth time or getting something I've played a million times and get bored of quickly, which is exactly what I experienced with both dos2 and bg3. I would be utterly shocked if Larian in the future after such a big success fell off and never made a big title like this again which after the long wait from dos2 did scare me a little that it would happen not a lot of people were talking about larian before the full release of bg3 and now that they are a household name there is no doubt in my mind that Larian will be known as one of the best developers from our time.

A full campaign co-op AAA experience without battle passes, lootboxes or other cancerous monetization also didn't hurt the game's rep.

I so hope that more games can start doing what BG3 does.

The fact there’s so many different outcomes to situations, makes this so replayable and immersive. I absolutely love this one. 💞✌😊👍

BG3 has been that rare game that while I was working my way through my 300+ hours completionist run, I was already planning my next build, the one after that, and the one after that, ad infinitum. It's not a perfect game by any means, but it is close, more importantly, as a studio, Larian actually seems to cares about their community and will listen to what they say. Try that with Bethesda or any of the other big studios. I played Skyrim for years but even though I loved that experience, it is nothing compared to BG3 on release - Skyrim is only still fun and fresh with mods, but each time I play, it's like putting on a comfortable old pair of shoes and for nostalgia, not because I can have a different experience. Larian has truly spoilt me, now that I know studios CAN release games that are complete, runs fairly smoothly without many obvious bugs, doesn't expect you to shell out for DLC after DLC for the next 5 years that will add actual content that was missing from the base game, and have an actual engaging storyline and good writing( like, ya know, it's an RPG? )

DESPERATE for bg3 to bust out DLC just so I can give them more money

I've been playing almost 300 hours of this game across line 8 campaigns. Been having a blast. Currently in act 3 of my solo playthrough and have loved every minute of it. Can't wait to finally finish a playthrough. 😂

The High Rollers one-shot game was fantastic.....the whole Bing Bong thing was hilarious 😆

Was looking forward to this thanks for sharing!

lol love your cat. Thanks so much for your insight. I'm new to your channel, found it through my search for all things BG3. I started playing back in September and avoided all social media at the time so i didnt have spoilers. Now that ive completed it twice, im ok with looking at spoilers and BG3 info. I;m on my 5th playthrough and trying out the dark urge first time. wow so many options and I'm still finding new cutscenes i haven't seen before. I love the BG3 community and the voice actors. BG3 is an amazing and unbelievable game. I can't wait to see future DLCs.

Love your content dude. Thanks for taking the time to make this. I agree completely... The music does slap

All good man, good to see you upload another video. I'm glad Baldur's Gate 3 had such an impression on you and I'm glad Larian is still refining their masterpiece. I'm sure more than one other studio will look at BG3 and say "Hey, we can do that too!" Time will tell, I think the games industry is still reeling from its meteoric effect.

Love the pacing of your videos. I can tell you put a lot of thought into what you're saying. If there's one studio that I wish would follow in Larian's footsteps is Bioware.

One thing to note from my personnel experience. When it went into early access I felt it was just marketed for Stadia and PC. So, I felt like I would be able to play it so I ignored it. When it was announced that it was going to be released this year and on PS5 I was looking at it like a brand new game. Additionally, there have been a lot of things that have brought DnD into the spotlight recently that has never happened before. Stranger things references DnD, COVID(people finding things to do that they normally wouldn't have, DnD), and the new DnD movie. I am commenting very early in the video, so maybe you have went over these things. But, this is what I have been thinking about....Very good point about the marketing. The carbot animations are the best.

Great to see you back. Clear insight and interesting content as always 😊

I've only completed the game once. I don't like to end so I keep restarting with newer mods that come out.

Actually I agree here, all the stars aligned for Larian and BG3)) And I'm very happy for them ❤

You are right. The bear scene got my attention for the game. But ultimately, it was people saying it was good that reassured me to buy it. No regrets.

"BG 3 is just an anomaly !" I'm pretty DAMN sure this Quote was impacting the success of BG3 massively - unintentionally.

I love how I feel like it’s a woman-gamer friendly game. Idk how to explain it but I don’t feel like I’m an outsider in the community when I play it

Really interesting to hear about this from your perspective! Glad this showed up in my recommended

100 hours in ea and 350 in full release. I have to say this game is hands down the best RPG Ive ever played. Ive never laughed, cheered, smiled and even cried for a game like i did in that finale of my first playthru. Truly magical game and game studio. GOTY OR RIOT. also glad to see you posting again. love the content!

welcome back, LD. another great discussion, ty.

Legendary Drops is back for my morning commute. Nature is healing🙏🏻

Glad to see you back! Also glad to come back to a great video!

My day 1 experience with Early Access was actually pretty damned good. I've played full access games, day 1, which were less polished than BG3 was in EA....it only got better with the addition of each new class & race.

BG2 was, and still is, my favorite game ever made. So the Diablo4 argument falls flat in my case. I literally bought this game just because it was "the next one" in the Baldur's Gate franchise. I would have bought it even if it was Icewind Dale or Planescape Torment as well.

Parian also collabbed with creators not known for gaming content, some who do more bits on experiences and immersive art and that was so god damn smart

I've played dos 2 before so when i first saw bg3 earley access i got into it after checking their first showcase of it. Pretty soon seeing their dedications, panels and progress of devolopment as they added new classes, races other little stuff to ea as years passed i was sure of it winning goty and becoming a new standart for rpg genre. It is simply unique and a rare experience, im really glad this game exist and i had a change to play it.

BG3 didn't raise the bar, it put it back to where it originally was.

Forget the bear! The game is dope

Cat!! And yes, BG3 is incredible. I'm 240+ hours into it, still in 1st playthrough, totally skipped Underdark by accident. I played BG2 and used its AI to control companion combat because I found it difficult to manage many classes in a fight. Was worried I wouldn't be able to deal with the full party combat by myself in BG3. But now, I just really enjoy testing what can be done because Larian somehow made it easier to try, and rewards curiosity. I still don't really know what to do with Druids, though - beyond wildshape. 😂Sorry Halsin & Jaheira.

Good to have ya back man!

Legit, the first time I've paid full price for a game because I wanted to support the studio, and show that AAA studios that you don't have to force micro transactions on people to make money. The market will reward you for doing the right thing. They don't HAVE to be scum bags. When you mentioned marketing... imagine my surprise when I saw BG3 pop up on my ps5 feed of games you would like to purchase in June. I had no idea it was even being made. Of course then I started following the news, but that's just a testament to the game. It didn't need to be marketed because it's good. Word of mouth is still king when you make a good product. D4 is crap so they had to sell it hard.

Larian Studios came onto my radar with the Divinity Original Sin kickstarter. Are there things I can nitpick of the 3 titles I've played from them to this point, yes. But they're just that: nitpicks. I'm enjoying myself with BG03, it has a LOT of replay value. It deserves a GoTY 2023 recommendation at a bare minimum.

Great video! And what saddens me about the salty devs commenting on the “new standard controversy” is that some of those statements could stem from the specific devs wishing they could work on something like BG3, but can’t because of where they work which is sad. Larian deserves all the support they’ve gotten, it was well earned. BG3 is a game made with love the old fashioned way by developers who are passionate about their work. The way I see it, this was a big W for us the consumers and a step in the right direction for the gaming industry.

Even though the information you're discussing and the opinions that you've developed from that information are almost universally run parallel with my own and very little tends to be something unknown to me I still get a lot of satisfaction with the way you communicate it as well as the shared outlook on nearly all of the expressed opinions helping me see that with enough investment by customers and fans like ourselves towards a company that can really make a form of entertainment where we can get enjoyment that we want or sometimes truly need may just lay the roadwork to seeing a chance for future anticipation or genuine excitement towards something fun or enjoyable that I had not had for a game or hobby in well over a decade to be honest. I appreciate your time and effort all while juggling an occasionally immense real world work schedule and life beyond the screens. Because of that I actually try to make a point to click a "like" for your videos as I watch them as it's not something I've purposefully made a habit of doing otherwise. Take Care, brotha.

No one saw it coming? The game is the third in a series that has sold over four million copies and BG3 itself sold 2.5 million copies in early access. If you didn’t see this coming, you need sunglasses and a white cane.

Algo loved this video. Good content. Never get recommended small channels. Recommend doing GOTY reflection series, leading up to the decision. Every game listed you could do another "updated" reflection video on and the algo will love it. Subbed, and hope you can slingshot with this wave of clicks. -random dude on internet

It amazes me that we live in a time where you can pay $70 up front and thousands in microtransactions for a 3 hour-long generic and shitty game, or $60 up front for a game with over 150 hours of unique and high quality content. What amazes me mord is that sheep will opt to get the short, generic and shitty game over the massive, unique and epic game.

You do know the Bears sing was not planned did you even watch the live stream in which the Bears scene happened? The audience was voting for every choice they did during that live stream, so had they not voted because they told him do you want to see what a romance scene is like and the audience voted yes and then proceeded to tell them they might be minor spoilers, so are you sure you want to see a Romance scene

It reminded me so much of the original magic I felt playing the first dragon age and it was so much more I became so hooked

First time watching. Very much enjoyed this video. Love the general tone and presentation.

You are exactly the kind of people that I like to watch. You know how to talk, which shows proper education and the will to give positivity to the day of others. AAA Person

I have no idea what you said after 20:25, I was giggling and squeee-ing about the beautiful floof tuxie! 😻

Always nice videos, good job.

I’m still not convinced BG3 success was blind luck, I feel there was a lot of gambles and a lot of risks taken with out of the box thinking. This was a passion project more than anything. The biggest standard set is for Larian themselves they may and try to replicate the success of BG3 on another title and that will answer if this was blind luck or just gambling with out of the box thinking.

People have pretty much said everything I would have said in the comments. I'd just like to add that I love that the game has permeated culture so much that it's in the latest South Park mini-movie and its clear the writers are fans.

MVP of your video was the cat. :) So adorable!

The good thing about making a game of the size based on dungeons and dragons is that DND already has an incredibly rich history. Already filled with insane Contant in every city hovel and town. There is so much lore already in place that is now being brought to the public. It’s so awesome! Thank you for making this video.

Gotta say yoitubes algorithm did some magic during baldurs gate release with how many new channels were shown to me

first game where i see the actual devs and even the voice actors actually play the game and stream their playthrough whilst also playing the tabletop, it was amazing to see.

Stack that paper and stay righteous my man! Love your content and wait patiently for more!

the reason why i played the game is accredited to all of the triple a studios saying that we cannot compare other projects to bg3 as the new standard. if it was so good i had to know why. and damn were they right its so good.

Went for Game Design and switched to Business and Marketing... the story of AAA gaming right there....

I have liked your discussions. Well thought out & expressed. Makes me want to ask if you have posted any actual gameplay for gb3? I've just ordered mine at the end of last month & have no timeline as to when it will be ready & sent, so am watching various streamers' play-throughs etc for the learning of how the game works & how choices influence things in the story - & just plain getting a bit addicted with how enjoyable & fun & challenging it is. - lol. I wish Larian Studios would send me an answer to my delivery timeline queries (& I hope I'm not one of thousands currently asking - sigh.)