Would it be good to maybe split out the last few posts starting with my first post where I asked about BG3, and make it its own thread in the BG3 sub-forum? Maybe call it "Help me want to play BG3", or something like that.
It's ok for the discussion to stay here, don't worry.
I am going to play BG3, sooner or later, but I will be honest with you guys. Ever since the early access, from what I heard about companions and romances, let's say I am more or less convinced these are people I wouldn't like hanging around IRL. Most likely, not even one of them. The fact all of them are potentially romantically interested with anything remotely resembling humanoid, without hints of individual preferences makes me think of them as less of a fully realized characters than they should be.
I am hoping to be wrong, but time will tell.
I have to agree with
@Cahir here. Almost all BG3 companions could be my best friends in RL, they're well-written and feel real. Probably still not on the level of Cyberpunk 2077 characters such as Judy or Panam, but very close.
We probably need to create "Let's debunk BG3 myths" or "BG3 Mythbusters" threads though.
Too much info, too much buzz around this game led to all sorts of opinions circulating everywhere. And NO single YT video, no single review, no single post can actually explain the game to you as if you were really playing the game yourself. It is fair for my and Cahir's posts as well, I realize that. Lots of media outlets had thousands of clicks for BG3 bear sex scene posts and whatnot, about companions being horny, about sex being everywhere etc etc.
It's not like that, like, totally, though, in the game. There was a bug with the relationship progressing to sex too quickly in the release version (as you can probably tell at this point, the game had many bugs, but the issue is that the game is so vast and complex that even these bugs, sometimes major ones, didn't hamper the overall impression of the game). Now this bug is fixed.
It's true you can see your genitals if you undress your character doll. You can do that for all party members. But the sad (for me personally) truth is that there is not enough sex in the game. A bit like in CP2077, it's sometimes all just smoke and mirrors. I wouldn't have minded more adult stuff because the game already has murders, blood, and everything. I too was romancing Shadowheart, and the first sex scene (and the only! and yes, not hardcore at all) happened after I spent 250 hours in the game (yes, I play slowly and try to see everything, that's why it took so long)... There are a lot of dialogues though, you get to know your companions. Shadowheart is also one of those people who don't rush this part, and need to get to know you really close. It felt very genuine and appropriate for her personality. Some others get it quicker, but it is always explained by their personality.
It's impossible to express what you as the player should be supposed to understand from 50, 100, 150 hours of playing the game, watching the companions, talking to them, and hearing them banter with other party members, in any stream or review. Game designers and writers created these stories, and worked on them for the player to gradually experience them, they didn't create them to be fully understandable in just 2 hours.
In the original BG2 game, dwarves as MC couldn't get any romance. If you created an elf, you couldn't romance Viconia. This always felt very restricting to me, very limiting, and very discriminating. In Skyrim, you couldn't romance some races depending on your race, sometimes it led to literally 1 option or no options at all. This felt bad, especially when I thought that these games were supposed to immerse me into their fantasy worlds.
That's why I will always appreciate game designers not walling the romance behind a certain race.
So I definitely hope as well that this initial impression you had,
@O_Bruce, won't turn into reality.
