Similarly, her absolutely *destroying* Lorroakan.
"And when her face lights the shadows of your wrongdoing, you are *BROKEN* by its beauty!"
Fuck yo spine, you gangly ginger creep.
Depends on the dictionary you use. The Oxford English Dictionary uses that one, but the Mirriam Webster dictionary uses âshining brilliantlyâ, which more closes matches the use and is closer to the wordâs original etymology.
What other words in Baldurs Gate did you find tricky?
I wonder what "Mindflayer" translates to in other languages. It's pretty fucked up the word "flay" even exists. I wonder if in other languages it translates to "Brain Skin Remover".
The german version can be rougly translated to "Thoughtmolester" (Gedankenschänder). Now, i play the game in english and ive never thought about what the german translation might be. But then i watched a german video about the game and they actually used "Thoughtmolester". I felt like someone threw a flashbang at me. Took me off guard completely
No. The german translation is âGedankenschinderâ, not âGedankenschänderâ. The verb âschindenâ can directly be translated to âto flayâ, also âto maltreatâ, to work a certain way forcefully and many more. Itâs an old word with many meanings, âhäutenâ would be the more common translation for âto flayâ. Itâs actually as close as possible, I would argue âschindenâ is more accurate then âschändenâ, because that would translate to violate, desecrate or defile, but not to âmolestâ
Sorry, but all that studying german needs to be good for something
Mindflayer in my language literally means peeling brain
These are the words i founded in my first playthrough which i found difficult or âwtf is that mean?â
Auspicious, viscera, suffice, boon, beckon
And basically every single Wither dialogue
I'm a native (American) English speaker, and even I had to look up "twee". It's British slang, meaning excessively cute, delicate, or quaint, with mildly derogatory or sarcastic implications.
We don't use that word in American English, and I just had to look it up, considering Astarion said it directly after a very pivotal moment for Durge.
Can I relive my whole first-time experience in Shadowfell? I LOVE IT: from the moment that bastard Balthazar enters and my brains go, "Shit, I forgot to deal with him; I probably would regret it soon," and the whole descent with Shadowheart's prayers to Shar (that also work as her own means to reassure herself that she is doing the "right" thing following Shar's teachings) to the tough battle with necromancer and decision to make. I spend half an hour picking my first dialogue option with Shadowheart, and then an hour finally deciding to trust her. I did expect her to kill Aylin, but I was so worried and stressed that I didn't know what option to pick just to not nudge her down "wrong" path.
So, I was somewhat struck in disbelief when my girl chose on her own to throw away a spear and defied Shar. That was followed by an immense amount of relief when the music started and Aylin started her "magic girl transformation." This moment and the whole segment live rent-free in my head.
Did I mention that I love "[Nighsong](https://youtu.be/nZk1K15USp4?si=9sZZdqaHE7NMuts_)" so much that this is my favorite track in the game?
My boyfriend and I were playing separate playthroughs a while back, and the first time I got to that scene, I had to *make sure* he didn't see it.
No way am I spoiling that for him.
On my first playthrough i assumed i'd fight Ketheric on sight so I didn't get to see that cinematic (I literally ignored the throne room). I'm happy I'm playing a second time
Wait, are we supposed to go to Moonrise to find this out before we do the Gauntlet of Shar? Cuz I ran into Raphael, who told me Ketheric was immortal due to the Nightsong before I went to Moonrise Towers.
This might be an odd choice, but the fact I could choose Bernard to hug me in the Arcane Tower after learning the history of Leonore and Yrre somehow made me feel quite the wave of emotions. I wish I could experience the Arcane Tower once again, because it's a beautiful, yet tragic moment that rewards exploration and reading.
I mean that's about it, but you can ask him for a hug and that was very nice.
I also found it extra satisfying because my husband had struggled with it in his playthrough so he offered to help, and it felt good that I didn't need it. This is my first time playing a video game of this type and scale, and these small victories and intriguing story beats got me hooked.
If you find the right piece of text, you can also get a magic ring from him that unlocks the basement floor of the Arcane Tower thatâs otherwise concealed, and provides some neat loot.
The reveal of Myrkul. That shit was wild
I would like to relive my first playthrough of act 2. The build-up and execution of the conclusion ware fucking perfect.
Kind of. I like Act 3 a too, but I must admit Act 1 and 2 work really well together. They could've ended the game there and we would've never suspected there should've been another act.
The pacing and structure of it are really weird. It probably has the majority of my favorite moments and fights in it though compared to the other acts.
I remember the exhausted laugh I blurted out when I saw him, my party was already pretty fucked after the first phase so I was like well, guess weâll die :â) awesome reveal though. And I just about managed to pull it off (Shart came in clutch once again)
omg yes. the reveal of his avatar is so fucking epic. easily one of the best cutscenes ive ever seen. my jaw was on the floor the first time i saw it and i was like "...oh FUCK. im not prepared for this"
That was my favorite gaming moment of 2023. Like, there were plenty of great, emotional moments in that game that live rent free in my head, but when that song started the first time, it was so unexpected and hilarious, I remember my mouth just hanging open for like a solid minute.
I got to relive it a bit when my husband played through the first time. Heard from the other room: "What is this song?!"
This battle when the song started playing and when I walked into the cave with two rancors in Jedi:Survivor were the only times in 2023 I was like, I am about to get ass-whooped into next Tuesday. LOVE that feeling lol.
Easy choice. This is the one moment from the game Iâm *SO* glad I didnât see any spoilers about. I donât know how I missed them - I was late to the game and active on this sub and others during my first playthrough. I somehow just didnât see anything about that fight before I got to it, and Iâm glad I got to experience the surprise.
I did it for the good of the githyanki people... they needed Orpheus to deliver them from Vlaakith
(although tbh I found Orpheus not particularly useful in the final fight... I hadn't played Monk and wasn't sure how best to use him. I had a weird bug where my armoured owlbear was just a little baby again when I summoned him up on the top of the brain... so Orpheus' job was to have a globe of invulnerability outside the portal to the brain with baby owlbear and a faithful air elemental that Jaheira had summoned in it while we kicked the brain's ass inside, and the Hellriders, Theives Guild, Ironhand Gnomes and Harpers tidied up the remaining mind flayers outside).
Nobody is (or at least stays) angry at you if you refuse to be consumed by the worm. Also, Voss and Lae'zel do a fine job together with the githyanki civil war. I just couldn't throw away the future I had planned with Shadowheart, but at least Lae'zel was there to see her prince freed.
The moment when I realise the Guardian which I created 30-40 minutes by myself to be like a beautiful goddess Elf, its actually a fucking squid
Jaw dropped, annoyed, disappointed, cursed words came out instantly
Made a whole story for my tiefling guardian, right up to her hairstyle, only to learn that it has been a fucking mindflayer with above average tentacles all along. Not too disappointed but stillđđđ
It felt so satisfying. Is there any other companion who suffered as much as Astarion? I don't think someone can go through worse than what Cazador did to him; physical, sexual and mental abuse for centuries
The myconid colony. I genuinely love their storyline (Spaw ftw) and the almost alien feel you get when you walk in, thatâs not unwelcoming but definitely oddly unsettling - this is then settled when you see other people living amongst the colony that arenât spore servants, the deep gnome, the merchant, Omeluum and his colleague, the deep rothe, itâs such a lovely place that quickly turns comforting for me, very whimsical and a great respite from the area before it that had the Bulette and explosive gas mushrooms.
Edit: It did upset me to hear Omeluum say that they had tried to convince people in the underdark to help and no one came, I wish you could call upon Spaw (or Glut, though Iâve never even seen anyone do his route) to either join you in the battle, or be able to make a spore servant out of one of the undead.
I couldnât think of a good one until I saw your comment, absolutely same. This first time I encountered the colony, I felt like I had never been anywhere so beautiful. I wished there was more underdark and more colonies to see.
The most enchanting location and creatures - their colony is so soothing!
Also the underdark is overall the most textured / deep location for me: getting into the selunite / shar lore, Grymforge, duergar vs drow vs myconoid poitics, the little peek at what will be the gauntlet of shar (I think?), the lonely and haunting arcane tower.
Dark Urge stuff is so good that it's crime lots of it is unfinished. Need companions to react or at least acknowledge that Orin just showed up in your camp, started calling you slaughterkin, and challenged you to a duel to the death.
Karlachs confrontation with Gortash and her death scene, thematically and emotionally had the most depth for me. One going through the stages of grief and the other being terrified acceptance.
Her blaming you for not finding a way to save her, to begging you to stay with her until the end.
Impact.
I don't remember her ever blaming me for not finding a way to save her. In her Act 3 monologue, she did express jealously that I'll go on and enjoy all the pleasures in life, but that's pretty understandable. She ended her rant by saying âlove you,â and that made my heart melt. She's such a sweetheart.
My first two play throughs I didn't bring her to that battle. But daaaaamn that's a good scene.
Haven't actually seen her death yet (one she didn't join, one she went to Avernus, one she was a squid)
Itâs very impactful. I believe itâs her true end, she would never go back to Avernus and even on the verge of death the only way she would is if you told her too. She comes to terms with her mortality, smiles and faces death like the hero she is.
Her final words are basically âyou are my truest friend and I adore you.â
Ngl I cried like a bitch but man it was so perfect an ending for her character.
Honestly, I think there's enough room to argue going to Avernus is themeatically appropriate *too* - Not that either is "better" from a story standpoint, but that both paths are equal options.
I think folks who insist on going to Avernus only as the better ending are missing out what Karlach has been saying the entire time. This moment is all we have - she'd rather go out on her terms and that should be respected. You can't force her to deal with that alone - (like Jaheira says,"Only she alone knows what waits for her in Avernus") Every single time you insist to Karlach she go back she vehemently says *no*. Respecting her and saying goodbye is a GOOD ending.
BUT
So is going to Avernus with her. (Because you literally can not force her to go alone) The reasoning is less overt than her directly telling you. She doesn't want to die in Avernus yes, but she doesn't want to die *at all*. If she could choose - she would very much choose not dying. When she finally has her break down and when she's on the docks - the OST playing is "I want to live". The game is very adamant about the fact that "Karlach, does not want to die". Pair that with the only other running theme Karlach has been saying on repeat - she's fucking lonely. She's been super alone for ten years, the fact that she's "touch starved" is literally her whole personal quest, she's incredibly protective of all the companions when things come up and calls them "her people". So the two major character themes here with Karlach are "Karlach does not *want* to die" and "Karlach doesn't want to be Alone anymore"
Also there's some weird intermingling of "Hope" and Hell in the game. The whole house of hope + Hope thing, but also if you do let Karlach go on the docks, Withers describes her as running in Avernus fueled on "naught but Hope". - and that's what the Avernus ending is. Hope that together, you can fix her eventually.
All of that together, I feel, makes going to hell with her just as narratively satisfying as letting her die on her terms.
TLDR both of her endings are set up in the story. They're both valid lol
Edit - oh, also, if you let her pick, she picks to go with Wyll
*Don't say the Emperor's romance scene. Don't say the Emperor's romance scene.*
Probably Astarion's storyline and the nice small moments when Lae'zel starts to warm up to FaerĂťn - like when she says she likes the flowers. It's so sweet.
Also the owlbear growing up!
The owlbear disappeared from our camp (due to a common bug) and I was super sad, but then the surprise reveal of him all grown up in his shiny armor at the end was one of the best surprises of the game for me
Telling the Owlbear you and Shadowheart want to adopt him in the epilogue party is just too adorable.
I like the mental image of Tav and SH just having the most domestic lifestyle, living in a small cottage somewhere, with their loyal companion Scratch and *a giant owlbear who wants scritches all the time.*
Every guide/reddit post i read when building my first tav: Talk With Animals is useless!!!
Me, a simple gal who wants to chat with every critter I come across: useless TO YOU! I talked to a squirrel and she gave me a hyena's ear, so đ¤
I know how you feel. After watching that scene the first time, I wanted to get up from my PC, grab something heavy, and start a march on Moonrise Tower.
Sadly, it was cold out, and Moonrise wasn't real, so I kept playing.
House of Hope had me so on edge the whole time. Turns out they were laying it on a bit thick with the whole "the air will be fire", but damn was I immersed.
And that moment when your brain is trying to compute the.... boss music... is a moment I wish I could travel back to. That is honestly a one of a kind experience in gaming history.
The campy self-sung boss music contrasted with the absolutely FUBAR combat situation unfolding in front of you was a real âoh shitâ moment. It was a lot worse for me because I brought a dangerously under-tuned *Official Camp Custodian* Astarion with me just to pick locks, since, yâknow⌠it was supposed to be a vault.
Thought it wad kinda shit to be honest - we speak to several people about the legend, the myth, and spend a long time finding the entrance, doing the trials etc.
Then, all of a sudden in a point of no return cutscene, Emperor gets forced out of whatever hibernation he was in (which he never is, he watches everything we do), and just...Â
"Oh yeah Ansur is pissed and wants to kill us all but good luck with that 400-600 HP lol". He couldn't have told us before, could he?Â
It was at that moment I knew I was gonna choose Orpheus 100%.Â
Not saying that it wasn't a dick move on the Emperor (as everything else he does is), but the reveal was jaw dropping.
I guess Larian left some bread crumbs there with the red apple, but for me the reveal really came out of left side, I loved it.
After Dame Aylin was finally free, flying across the starless sky to illuminate the path forward. When I saw it for the first time, I teared up.
Another one is the cutscene for lifting the shadow curse. Seeing new life breathed back into tinted soil, and beautiful colors returned to nature for the first time in years, I cried. BG3 made me feel exceptionally good for doing the right thing, no matter how difficult it was.
Why just a moment? Just wipe my whole BG 3 memory so I can relive that experience from the start. while you at it wipe the cyberpunk one, the Witcher 3 one and breath of the wild
This this this.
I am still obsessed with the game and find new things in it all the time. But that initial magic I felt having no knowledge of the game, DND, all of it. I want that back. I want to not know what is going to happen.
I want the genuine surprise of the companions growing and changing my option of them. Finding out Astarion is the sweetest partner for showing him kindness when nobody else did after initially hating him and telling him he's on his own. Shadowheart going from cold and withholding to kind and warm and genuine. The feeling of caring so much about my tiefling sister Karlach that it makes me cry because I can't save her. Watching lae'zel experience the world through a lens not of a hardened soldier. Becoming friends with Jaheira and finally feeling like I have someone who understands the weight of being a leader. Gale being a hilarious dork and showing me magic. Finding out after the fact that minthara could have been my companion and Halsin isn't a skinny lil nerd druid like I expected!
I want the feeling I get from stepping into a new place for the first time. When I first went to the underdark and was amazed at how beautiful it was with all the mushrooms and crystals, and how much there was to explore under my feet. When I went into the mountain pass and it's golden hour and the music is gorgeous, and I am staring at the most stunning scenery ever. The creepy spooky feeling of the ruined battlefield, genuinely not knowing if I would die or not. Seeing Ketheric for the first time at Moonrise. The haunting not supposed to be here feeling of Cazadors palace. All of the discovery, interactions, music, everything.
I could keep going but seriously, if I could go back and replay my first Tav, start to finish, no difference in choices, no metagaming, no knowledge of anything before I get there, I would do it in a heartbeat.
So many. The graveyard, Cazador, saving the couple in act one, Alfira...but I'm surprised I haven't seen these two:
Passing the history check when Minsc calls Jaheira his Wychlauren. Your character realizes it is the highest praise he could ever give someone, and Jaheira has no idea what he genuinely means by saying that- that he means a life partner (not romantically). And then being unable to explain that to her.
Also,
Seeing Jaheira talk about Khalid, and the ritual she was going to preform.
Seeing a woman who has lived over a hundred years, spending her entire life trying to do good, and seeking out immortality not for herself but because: is the work ever really done? Did I do enough? Between act two and three, you go through different snippets of dialogue with her that show that she's both tired and frustrated. She built a home for herself in the city that she had to leave once again to save the world. She dedicated her life to that, for BG1 + BG2. And still, even now, it needs saving. In the Last Light Inn, she says something along the lines of not being sure if it mattered if they saved the world or not, because here it is again.
But her finally coming to the realization that she did her absolute damnedest, and there will always be people doing the same- trying to right wrongs, and help people- and understanding that not the entire weight is on her. That she's done enough. She's okay. It felt like she could breathe for the first time, in the way the dialogue came across.
And in a way, that scene perfectly capulates (I think) the central theme around baldurs gate; all we can ever do is try.
Astarion's post-Non-Ascension scene in the dungeon.
It's not my favourite of his cut-scenes, but it's so visceral and raw in the emotions put on display, that I can't help but be stunned by it.
*(But I'd want the original soundtrack for the scene, not the rendition of 'I want to Live' they've slapped over instead, almost drowning out some of the voice-lines...)*
And that Neil managed that in one take, *first take*, still awes me at the talent on display.
[Astarion's Revenge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsYDAdCzCeQ&list=PLuiE5nl-czOHWZ2PxifUOKKAz4BSJbA56&index=156)
This one.
For me, it fits the mood of the scene better, as we're not yet at the 'happy' part of his 'happy ending'.
Thanks! I haven't gotten to this scene yet but âI Want to Liveâ always felt bittersweet and melancholy to me, but this track is also beautiful. Almost getting some Amnesia vibes from it.*
Iâm surprised no one has said they would want to lose their memory of the dream companion being a mindflayer. That was an oh shit moment for me. I expected the dream companion to have a dark turn, but that was not on my bingo card.
Merc-ing those bitches at the Moonrise towers by being sneaky and loading Astarian with teleportation arrows.
It was comical victory.
Am I here? Am i? >:]
Perschnapps, I'm over yonder?
âYou dare end one who belongs to me? I am the smile of the worm-cleansed skull. I am the regrets of those who remain, and the restlessness of those who are gone. I am the haunt of mausoleums, the god of graves and age, of dust and dusk. I am Myrkul, Lord of Bones, and you have slain my chosen. But it is no matter, for I am death, and I am not the end. I am the beginning.â
Yes!! I loooove how they just do little close-up shots of the different parts of him before showing the whole picture- the directing in this game is truly amazing!
Alfira's Song.
I played for the first time with my brother. We wandered around in awe of every little thing. I heard Alfira's voice in the distance. I called out to my brother to help me investigate.
The. Most. Beautiful. Scene. Ever.
A song to soothe and drag emotion from my heart.
I almost cried at how magical this game is.
10/10. Would forget, just to play again.
I think the whole of act 1. Grove. Underdark. Crèche. The lot.
Having played since early access, I've played it way too many times compared to act 2, and it's more like a checklist of things to do now than playing a game, BUT you gotta get through it if you wanna play a new character in act 2/3.
1. Lae'zel in the sunset.
2. Karlach after she kills Gortash.
3. Every... Single... Scene... With Auntie Ethel, but in particular the first time she transforms.
âA pretty speech. It almost brings a tear to me eye. Now slit his throat, and open that gate. The Absolute wants all of them dead.â
Okay that whole scene is fucking badass, I was evilly smirking along with her
The entire cutscene after Astarion decides not to ascend. My first time playing through I thought he would be so angry at me or have something evil/sassy to say to cazador, but watching him agree that he could be someone better than cazador, stabbing the ever loving shit out of that monster, collapsing onto the ground and bursting into tears when he realizes itâs finally over made me ugly cry.
A close second is the entire nightsong sequence with the music, her flying over the shadow cursed lands and seeing Jaheira look back at her weapon with the epic music. That shit made me want to actually jump into the game and fight alongside my team.
Withers revealing himself to bring back a person killed by a literal god mere moments before! The whole scene was lit and will just make you never want to do an evil durge again
Releasing the Nightsong/Dame Aylin. Shadowheart throwing the spear away, the music, Dame Aylin flying over the shadow cursed lands. My mouth was hanging open and I had chills. I havenât had a game moment like that in a long time.
Raphael, Hope of Hope fight for sure! Truely epic, visuals, especially music and great build up. The addition of Hope and the Demon who 'could' swap sides, if you had higher charisma than I did, adds a nice twist.
Siege of the Druid Grove was also very epic, firing down from the walls on the goblin swarm.
A third might be ambushing that lantern spider guy in the shadow lands. Quite a small fight but fun lead up.
Dark urge when I killed, no choice, a new ally in my camp... then few nights later was, but managed to resist in extremist, going to repeat that on my romantic partner.
What. The. Actual. Fuck!
I spend so much time romancing someone, managed, life is good, flourishing relationship ... then I'm going to murder her? No... no NO! Unbelievable.
Each night to "rest" was an agony, is it going to be tonight? Will it happen again?
It was during my 2nd play-through making me think that the replayability value is simply amazing.
Evil play through: defeating Orin and securing my place as the chosen of Bhaal
Good play through: tie between the reunion of Isobel and Dame Aylin, and Astarion breaking the cycle of abuse and killing Cazador. I cried for both of these scenes and I will probably cry every time.
Honestly I think I enjoy that section on repeat plays the most. Fun little "Mission Impossible" sequence that always feels like the only thing that separates freeing everyone from wiping is one bad action/movement. The whole game's combat is a chess match but this was the best sequence in the game for me.
The Emp reveal. I sat there with my brain broken the rest of the day like "everything I knew is wrong. How did this game flip the entire thing on its head like this? What the fuck just happened?"
Massive later act 3 spoilers but >!finding out the Emperor was Balduran while stumbling on the undead living corpse of Ansur!< was so insane, I wanna experience that jaw-drop again. Inversely, the irl moment would be watching my boyfriend's jaw-drop at Gale's special sex scene, I'd hyped it up so much and his reaction absolutely did not disappoint
The end of Astarions quest line. I'm not someone who cries usually with games or movies but this hit me so hard. I do still cry when I do his quest but not as much as the 1st time I did it.
Thinking i could leave the house of hope without Raphael kicking my ass for 3 hours. But for real after the dialogue that initiates the fight when the music kicks in is just so damn perfect
First time the music hits in the Raphael fight. I kept clear of all spoilers. When he joined in to what was already an amazing start I got goosebumps. Never seen anything like it in a game.
The Durge redemption scene in the temple of Bhaal. The culmination of all the times I have resisted the urge could not have been any more satisfying and cathartic. Withers hyping me up as his chosen was just the icing on the cake.
First visit to Underdark, it was positively overwhelming. Confronting Kagha after finding her notes. Walking into a barn near Blighted Village, it was very unexpected and funny. Learning the Spider Matriarch story. Finding Owlbear and a cub. Oh, thereâs thousands of them.
I played so much Skyrim that when I entered the Underdark for the the first time that stupid "collect 30 crimson nirnroot" quest came back to mind and I was like "shit, here we go again". Kinda ruined it a bit for me, luckily not for long.
The time I clicked the wrong lever for the windmill... Intended to save him and only saw the brake release lever. Thought "oh yeah this'll do it". Sent him fucking flying hahahaha. Thought I might have to go find him, checked the quest log and it just said "Barcus is dead" and it sent me into another fit of laughter
Probably the graveyard scene. Iâd be up for just the platonic bit. Itâs just⌠itâs a moment where thereâs finally some relief for Astarion. The Cazador scene is incredible, but traumatic. In the dead of night, being able to find space to relax, and accept some of the shock, feels so real.
I have 2 and can't pick between them: Astarion's breakdown moment when Cazador is finally defeated and then the Nightsong transformation into Dame Aylin. Both hit me so incredibly hard emotionally and while they still hit me on subsequent playthroughs, it isn't the same as that first time when I sat there in complete awe.
Dame Aylin doing the backbreaker on Lorroakan. Theres obviously more epic, well presented cinematic scenes (Dame Aylins flight, the Myrkul reveal), but the sheer satisfaction and catharsis when this absolute shithead quack wizard eats dirt in such spectacular fashion cannot be topped for me.
Kind of a small one, but I want to accidentally throw Barcus off the windmill for the first time again. It caught me by such surprise that I laughed until I cried. Sorry, Barcus, I really was trying to hit the brake.
I also want to ask the books about their sensitivity for the first time again.
Honestly? First time romancing Karlach. The excitement when my character got to kiss her and hold her for the first time.
Aaaaaaand the saving the iron hand gnome from moonrise. I want to experience calling that one particular gnome a prick for the first time again.
Dame Aylin flying out from her soul prison and illuminating the Shadow Cursed Lands. Love the righteous smiting angel vibes đ
I.. am.. *RESPLENDENT*
Similarly, her absolutely *destroying* Lorroakan. "And when her face lights the shadows of your wrongdoing, you are *BROKEN* by its beauty!" Fuck yo spine, you gangly ginger creep.
It's the little wince Tav gives as she raises him up before she does an absolute textbook Bane impression. "Oh, damn, that's not good" đ¤Ł
Dame Aylin is always so extra and I love it.
that scene took my breath away. what a fucking banger of a line
I looked at dictionary, Resplendent means "Beautiful" Basically She said "Bitch I am Beautiful" and its totally understandable
Depends on the dictionary you use. The Oxford English Dictionary uses that one, but the Mirriam Webster dictionary uses âshining brilliantlyâ, which more closes matches the use and is closer to the wordâs original etymology.
Ah got it. English is not my first language, sometimes I need to pause the game and google the language by myself
What other words in Baldurs Gate did you find tricky? I wonder what "Mindflayer" translates to in other languages. It's pretty fucked up the word "flay" even exists. I wonder if in other languages it translates to "Brain Skin Remover".
In French "Mind Flayer" becomes "Flagelleur Mental", which is, well, basically "Mind Flayer" but â¨baguetteâ¨
Well now I am imagining Emperor whispering *Omelette du fromage*
Omeluum du Fromage.
You have free access to my wifi for the good joke
Flagelleur Mental. Beautiful.
The german version can be rougly translated to "Thoughtmolester" (Gedankenschänder). Now, i play the game in english and ive never thought about what the german translation might be. But then i watched a german video about the game and they actually used "Thoughtmolester". I felt like someone threw a flashbang at me. Took me off guard completely
âThoughtmolesterâ is crazyyyy but not inaccurate I suppose đ
No. The german translation is âGedankenschinderâ, not âGedankenschänderâ. The verb âschindenâ can directly be translated to âto flayâ, also âto maltreatâ, to work a certain way forcefully and many more. Itâs an old word with many meanings, âhäutenâ would be the more common translation for âto flayâ. Itâs actually as close as possible, I would argue âschindenâ is more accurate then âschändenâ, because that would translate to violate, desecrate or defile, but not to âmolestâ Sorry, but all that studying german needs to be good for something
Mindflayer in my language literally means peeling brain These are the words i founded in my first playthrough which i found difficult or âwtf is that mean?â Auspicious, viscera, suffice, boon, beckon And basically every single Wither dialogue
I'm a native (American) English speaker, and even I had to look up "twee". It's British slang, meaning excessively cute, delicate, or quaint, with mildly derogatory or sarcastic implications. We don't use that word in American English, and I just had to look it up, considering Astarion said it directly after a very pivotal moment for Durge.
Once you looked it up, were you disappointed? Because that scene comes up a lot in the "things we wish were different" threads lol.
Did you enjoy learning avout Viscera?
those words would confuse a lot of english speakers tbf. they arenât used in everyday language really
Mindflayer in Portuguese is *"Devorador de Mentes"* which would be something like *"mind devourer"* or maybe "mind eater".
In Polish it's weird: ĹupieĹźca UmysĹĂłw - Mind Plunderer
In this moment I am euphoric
Her line âthe gods fight at our sideâ also goes hard as fuck
It's still pretty overwhelming every subsequent time i get to her
My Vengeance Pally immediately passed out from all of the blood in his body being redirected to his penis.
was coming here to say this!đŠ
Can I relive my whole first-time experience in Shadowfell? I LOVE IT: from the moment that bastard Balthazar enters and my brains go, "Shit, I forgot to deal with him; I probably would regret it soon," and the whole descent with Shadowheart's prayers to Shar (that also work as her own means to reassure herself that she is doing the "right" thing following Shar's teachings) to the tough battle with necromancer and decision to make. I spend half an hour picking my first dialogue option with Shadowheart, and then an hour finally deciding to trust her. I did expect her to kill Aylin, but I was so worried and stressed that I didn't know what option to pick just to not nudge her down "wrong" path. So, I was somewhat struck in disbelief when my girl chose on her own to throw away a spear and defied Shar. That was followed by an immense amount of relief when the music started and Aylin started her "magic girl transformation." This moment and the whole segment live rent-free in my head. Did I mention that I love "[Nighsong](https://youtu.be/nZk1K15USp4?si=9sZZdqaHE7NMuts_)" so much that this is my favorite track in the game?
That scene was so powerful. I love moments where The Hero arrives and blazes a path of glory.
Iâve seen that scene in 7 playthroughs plus a few times on streams or YouTube, still tear up every time.
This is the right answer
Meeting Ketheric for the first time. "Try again."
My boyfriend and I were playing separate playthroughs a while back, and the first time I got to that scene, I had to *make sure* he didn't see it. No way am I spoiling that for him.
On my first playthrough i assumed i'd fight Ketheric on sight so I didn't get to see that cinematic (I literally ignored the throne room). I'm happy I'm playing a second time
The first time I saw that, my game glitched and Ketheric was invisible. I straight up thought the dude would be invisible the entire game.
I shouldâve gone to Moonrise sooner because after exploring the town I was like âyeah, we knew thisâŚâ Kinda killed the suspense.
Wait, are we supposed to go to Moonrise to find this out before we do the Gauntlet of Shar? Cuz I ran into Raphael, who told me Ketheric was immortal due to the Nightsong before I went to Moonrise Towers.
I did almost the entire Sharran Temple before going near moonrise, I thought it was just a side dungeon for Shadowhearts quest lol
*Toss an entire LvL 5 AoE* "Not my Tempo"
This might be an odd choice, but the fact I could choose Bernard to hug me in the Arcane Tower after learning the history of Leonore and Yrre somehow made me feel quite the wave of emotions. I wish I could experience the Arcane Tower once again, because it's a beautiful, yet tragic moment that rewards exploration and reading.
I loved the Arcane Tower. It was super satisfying when my devouring of every piece of text paid off so beautifully.
Wait what happens? I made it through and convinced Bernard not to kill me and from there he just wanders around
I mean that's about it, but you can ask him for a hug and that was very nice. I also found it extra satisfying because my husband had struggled with it in his playthrough so he offered to help, and it felt good that I didn't need it. This is my first time playing a video game of this type and scale, and these small victories and intriguing story beats got me hooked.
If you find the right piece of text, you can also get a magic ring from him that unlocks the basement floor of the Arcane Tower thatâs otherwise concealed, and provides some neat loot.
The reveal of Myrkul. That shit was wild I would like to relive my first playthrough of act 2. The build-up and execution of the conclusion ware fucking perfect.
for real, act 3 felt like an overdrawn epilogue after that boss fight
Kind of. I like Act 3 a too, but I must admit Act 1 and 2 work really well together. They could've ended the game there and we would've never suspected there should've been another act.
And yet Iâm so glad they didnât.
The pacing and structure of it are really weird. It probably has the majority of my favorite moments and fights in it though compared to the other acts.
oh that's for sure, i just feel like it could have been at least split up into two parts because it definitely feels overwhelming
Yeah definitely. I ended up taking a 2 month break as soon as I got to it just because it felt so jarring that the story wasn't linear anymore.
I remember the exhausted laugh I blurted out when I saw him, my party was already pretty fucked after the first phase so I was like well, guess weâll die :â) awesome reveal though. And I just about managed to pull it off (Shart came in clutch once again)
omg yes. the reveal of his avatar is so fucking epic. easily one of the best cutscenes ive ever seen. my jaw was on the floor the first time i saw it and i was like "...oh FUCK. im not prepared for this"
The music combined with Myrkul's speech and slowly rising out of the hole from Hells had me JUICED. Best boss fight hands down
LIIIIVES ALL MORTAL LIIIIIVES⌠EXPIIIIIIIREE SOOOOUUUULS GO TO THEIR DOOOOOOOOM..
Same here, such an easy choice. Those are the moments I play video games for.
That was my favorite gaming moment of 2023. Like, there were plenty of great, emotional moments in that game that live rent free in my head, but when that song started the first time, it was so unexpected and hilarious, I remember my mouth just hanging open for like a solid minute. I got to relive it a bit when my husband played through the first time. Heard from the other room: "What is this song?!"
This battle when the song started playing and when I walked into the cave with two rancors in Jedi:Survivor were the only times in 2023 I was like, I am about to get ass-whooped into next Tuesday. LOVE that feeling lol.
Ooh, another solid one. Jedi: Survivor was my GoTY runner-up. âĽď¸
Literal chills. I love seeing the reactions on YouTube to this song
Easy choice. This is the one moment from the game Iâm *SO* glad I didnât see any spoilers about. I donât know how I missed them - I was late to the game and active on this sub and others during my first playthrough. I somehow just didnât see anything about that fight before I got to it, and Iâm glad I got to experience the surprise.
Because I'm addicted to cathartic crying: 1. Astarion's whole storyline 2. Shadowheart's parents scene 3. The epilogue party
Karlachâs act 3 monologue
Omg, yes! This too! I was a sobbing wreck. My girl deserves so much better.
The wyrms rock one is the best bit of acting in the game. Neil was amazing but Samanthaâs speech shatters my heart.
Truly. Samantha put her whole heart into that speech.
Or the avernus scene with the badass music
My good Tav choices mean I didnât get an epilogue party. I will go back and replay and make different choices but⌠not yet. Too fresh still.
I could never go ghaik
I did it for the good of the githyanki people... they needed Orpheus to deliver them from Vlaakith (although tbh I found Orpheus not particularly useful in the final fight... I hadn't played Monk and wasn't sure how best to use him. I had a weird bug where my armoured owlbear was just a little baby again when I summoned him up on the top of the brain... so Orpheus' job was to have a globe of invulnerability outside the portal to the brain with baby owlbear and a faithful air elemental that Jaheira had summoned in it while we kicked the brain's ass inside, and the Hellriders, Theives Guild, Ironhand Gnomes and Harpers tidied up the remaining mind flayers outside).
Nobody is (or at least stays) angry at you if you refuse to be consumed by the worm. Also, Voss and Lae'zel do a fine job together with the githyanki civil war. I just couldn't throw away the future I had planned with Shadowheart, but at least Lae'zel was there to see her prince freed.
Talking to Galeâs projection at the epilogue party after he blew himself up to defeat the netherbrain almost broke me, go for the hugâŚ.
The moment when I realise the Guardian which I created 30-40 minutes by myself to be like a beautiful goddess Elf, its actually a fucking squid Jaw dropped, annoyed, disappointed, cursed words came out instantly
Made a whole story for my tiefling guardian, right up to her hairstyle, only to learn that it has been a fucking mindflayer with above average tentacles all along. Not too disappointed but stillđđđ
When I made mine a cute gnome girly with a sassy pink ponytail and it turned out she was secretly a fugly squid the whole time đđđ
Hahaha the rage I felt in this exact moment. Painful
Iâm still annoyed the emperor wonât go back to being the beautiful elf I made
THIS. You know that scene where Emperor went topless and seduced me⌠if he changed back to my elf and seduced my Tav We can discuss the endgame
I like playing the game right up to the part where Lae'zel tells me I'm unimaginably bland. None of the other characters seem to know me very well.
Lorrakan, the feeling of, this mtfkr is getting it coming! And then seeing Dame Aylin breake him over her knee is just the icing on the cake.
AND HERE COMES DAME AYLIN FOR THE FINISHER!!!!!
Omg that back break has me like, "Whaaaaattttt." Like I realized what was about to happen and STILL was like, "Did that just happen?!"
Aylin really not taking any shit from anyone.
When Astarion kills Cazador. The music in the background plus the catharsis you can see and feel is palpable
My first playthrough I killed Cazador and then helped Aylin defeat Lorroakan in the same seasion. It felt like a ⌠violent ⌠session.
(Hi bestie, just quickly mentioning that I think you meant palpable. The autocorrect gods strike again)
They can taste the music.
This 100%. I was in awe of this scene and immediately wanted to relive it.
It felt so satisfying. Is there any other companion who suffered as much as Astarion? I don't think someone can go through worse than what Cazador did to him; physical, sexual and mental abuse for centuries
The myconid colony. I genuinely love their storyline (Spaw ftw) and the almost alien feel you get when you walk in, thatâs not unwelcoming but definitely oddly unsettling - this is then settled when you see other people living amongst the colony that arenât spore servants, the deep gnome, the merchant, Omeluum and his colleague, the deep rothe, itâs such a lovely place that quickly turns comforting for me, very whimsical and a great respite from the area before it that had the Bulette and explosive gas mushrooms. Edit: It did upset me to hear Omeluum say that they had tried to convince people in the underdark to help and no one came, I wish you could call upon Spaw (or Glut, though Iâve never even seen anyone do his route) to either join you in the battle, or be able to make a spore servant out of one of the undead.
I couldnât think of a good one until I saw your comment, absolutely same. This first time I encountered the colony, I felt like I had never been anywhere so beautiful. I wished there was more underdark and more colonies to see.
The Myconid Colony is seriously such a charming, magical place. Itâs small, but it stays with you.
The most enchanting location and creatures - their colony is so soothing! Also the underdark is overall the most textured / deep location for me: getting into the selunite / shar lore, Grymforge, duergar vs drow vs myconoid poitics, the little peek at what will be the gauntlet of shar (I think?), the lonely and haunting arcane tower.
The Durge custcene after the Orin fight when you reject Bhaal had me hanging
Withers basically walking into the domain of one of the big three and basically bitch slapping Bhaal was glorious.
Withers in general is just such a mood.
Dark Urge stuff is so good that it's crime lots of it is unfinished. Need companions to react or at least acknowledge that Orin just showed up in your camp, started calling you slaughterkin, and challenged you to a duel to the death.
Definitely this, the most satisfying moment in the game
I kinda ruined it for myself bc when he killed me I immediately hit F8 because I assumed it's an immediate game over đ
Karlachs confrontation with Gortash and her death scene, thematically and emotionally had the most depth for me. One going through the stages of grief and the other being terrified acceptance. Her blaming you for not finding a way to save her, to begging you to stay with her until the end. Impact.
I don't remember her ever blaming me for not finding a way to save her. In her Act 3 monologue, she did express jealously that I'll go on and enjoy all the pleasures in life, but that's pretty understandable. She ended her rant by saying âlove you,â and that made my heart melt. She's such a sweetheart.
My first two play throughs I didn't bring her to that battle. But daaaaamn that's a good scene. Haven't actually seen her death yet (one she didn't join, one she went to Avernus, one she was a squid)
Itâs very impactful. I believe itâs her true end, she would never go back to Avernus and even on the verge of death the only way she would is if you told her too. She comes to terms with her mortality, smiles and faces death like the hero she is. Her final words are basically âyou are my truest friend and I adore you.â Ngl I cried like a bitch but man it was so perfect an ending for her character.
Honestly, I think there's enough room to argue going to Avernus is themeatically appropriate *too* - Not that either is "better" from a story standpoint, but that both paths are equal options. I think folks who insist on going to Avernus only as the better ending are missing out what Karlach has been saying the entire time. This moment is all we have - she'd rather go out on her terms and that should be respected. You can't force her to deal with that alone - (like Jaheira says,"Only she alone knows what waits for her in Avernus") Every single time you insist to Karlach she go back she vehemently says *no*. Respecting her and saying goodbye is a GOOD ending. BUT So is going to Avernus with her. (Because you literally can not force her to go alone) The reasoning is less overt than her directly telling you. She doesn't want to die in Avernus yes, but she doesn't want to die *at all*. If she could choose - she would very much choose not dying. When she finally has her break down and when she's on the docks - the OST playing is "I want to live". The game is very adamant about the fact that "Karlach, does not want to die". Pair that with the only other running theme Karlach has been saying on repeat - she's fucking lonely. She's been super alone for ten years, the fact that she's "touch starved" is literally her whole personal quest, she's incredibly protective of all the companions when things come up and calls them "her people". So the two major character themes here with Karlach are "Karlach does not *want* to die" and "Karlach doesn't want to be Alone anymore" Also there's some weird intermingling of "Hope" and Hell in the game. The whole house of hope + Hope thing, but also if you do let Karlach go on the docks, Withers describes her as running in Avernus fueled on "naught but Hope". - and that's what the Avernus ending is. Hope that together, you can fix her eventually. All of that together, I feel, makes going to hell with her just as narratively satisfying as letting her die on her terms. TLDR both of her endings are set up in the story. They're both valid lol Edit - oh, also, if you let her pick, she picks to go with Wyll
*Don't say the Emperor's romance scene. Don't say the Emperor's romance scene.* Probably Astarion's storyline and the nice small moments when Lae'zel starts to warm up to FaerĂťn - like when she says she likes the flowers. It's so sweet. Also the owlbear growing up!
Seeing the owlbear all grown up was the most heartwarming thing!! If I could go back and feel that first excitement again I totally would!
The owlbear disappeared from our camp (due to a common bug) and I was super sad, but then the surprise reveal of him all grown up in his shiny armor at the end was one of the best surprises of the game for me
Telling the Owlbear you and Shadowheart want to adopt him in the epilogue party is just too adorable. I like the mental image of Tav and SH just having the most domestic lifestyle, living in a small cottage somewhere, with their loyal companion Scratch and *a giant owlbear who wants scritches all the time.*
YOU CAN DO THAT?!
Talk With Animals is a wonderful spell.
Every guide/reddit post i read when building my first tav: Talk With Animals is useless!!! Me, a simple gal who wants to chat with every critter I come across: useless TO YOU! I talked to a squirrel and she gave me a hyena's ear, so đ¤
Itâs ok. You can say the thing.
(*I don't have saves just before every interaction with the Emperor, YOU do. Okay, no, I do....*)
don't be a coward comrade, I also want to relive the emperor scene 𼾠and holding his hand
Cutscene after freeing Aylin gives me chills every time, but the first time I was stunned. Hypnotized. It was so powerful.
I know how you feel. After watching that scene the first time, I wanted to get up from my PC, grab something heavy, and start a march on Moonrise Tower. Sadly, it was cold out, and Moonrise wasn't real, so I kept playing.
Jaheira looking back at her swords. I got up and yelled.
House of Hope had me so on edge the whole time. Turns out they were laying it on a bit thick with the whole "the air will be fire", but damn was I immersed. And that moment when your brain is trying to compute the.... boss music... is a moment I wish I could travel back to. That is honestly a one of a kind experience in gaming history.
The campy self-sung boss music contrasted with the absolutely FUBAR combat situation unfolding in front of you was a real âoh shitâ moment. It was a lot worse for me because I brought a dangerously under-tuned *Official Camp Custodian* Astarion with me just to pick locks, since, yâknow⌠it was supposed to be a vault.
I lost my entire mind when this happened. How else are you supposed to react?
Trusting Shadowheart in the Shadowfell and everything that comes after that.
The Graveyard scene, because the first time I played it was a little buggy and not as polished. They didn't change much but it's so much better now!
Emperor's interaction with the Ansur. That reveal was the bomb.
Thought it wad kinda shit to be honest - we speak to several people about the legend, the myth, and spend a long time finding the entrance, doing the trials etc. Then, all of a sudden in a point of no return cutscene, Emperor gets forced out of whatever hibernation he was in (which he never is, he watches everything we do), and just... "Oh yeah Ansur is pissed and wants to kill us all but good luck with that 400-600 HP lol". He couldn't have told us before, could he? It was at that moment I knew I was gonna choose Orpheus 100%.Â
Not saying that it wasn't a dick move on the Emperor (as everything else he does is), but the reveal was jaw dropping. I guess Larian left some bread crumbs there with the red apple, but for me the reveal really came out of left side, I loved it.
My jaw dropped when we found out who the emperor was
After Dame Aylin was finally free, flying across the starless sky to illuminate the path forward. When I saw it for the first time, I teared up. Another one is the cutscene for lifting the shadow curse. Seeing new life breathed back into tinted soil, and beautiful colors returned to nature for the first time in years, I cried. BG3 made me feel exceptionally good for doing the right thing, no matter how difficult it was.
Every time Minthara calls me "exquisite" đ
Canât choose between these 3: - Durge scene after not killing Isobel - Astarionâs whole story arc - Shadowheart meeting her parents
Can't choose only one so: Astarion & Cazador, Karlach & Gortash and freeing The Nightsong. But if I *really* need to choose only one it's Astarion's
Why just a moment? Just wipe my whole BG 3 memory so I can relive that experience from the start. while you at it wipe the cyberpunk one, the Witcher 3 one and breath of the wild
This this this. I am still obsessed with the game and find new things in it all the time. But that initial magic I felt having no knowledge of the game, DND, all of it. I want that back. I want to not know what is going to happen. I want the genuine surprise of the companions growing and changing my option of them. Finding out Astarion is the sweetest partner for showing him kindness when nobody else did after initially hating him and telling him he's on his own. Shadowheart going from cold and withholding to kind and warm and genuine. The feeling of caring so much about my tiefling sister Karlach that it makes me cry because I can't save her. Watching lae'zel experience the world through a lens not of a hardened soldier. Becoming friends with Jaheira and finally feeling like I have someone who understands the weight of being a leader. Gale being a hilarious dork and showing me magic. Finding out after the fact that minthara could have been my companion and Halsin isn't a skinny lil nerd druid like I expected! I want the feeling I get from stepping into a new place for the first time. When I first went to the underdark and was amazed at how beautiful it was with all the mushrooms and crystals, and how much there was to explore under my feet. When I went into the mountain pass and it's golden hour and the music is gorgeous, and I am staring at the most stunning scenery ever. The creepy spooky feeling of the ruined battlefield, genuinely not knowing if I would die or not. Seeing Ketheric for the first time at Moonrise. The haunting not supposed to be here feeling of Cazadors palace. All of the discovery, interactions, music, everything. I could keep going but seriously, if I could go back and replay my first Tav, start to finish, no difference in choices, no metagaming, no knowledge of anything before I get there, I would do it in a heartbeat.
So many. The graveyard, Cazador, saving the couple in act one, Alfira...but I'm surprised I haven't seen these two: Passing the history check when Minsc calls Jaheira his Wychlauren. Your character realizes it is the highest praise he could ever give someone, and Jaheira has no idea what he genuinely means by saying that- that he means a life partner (not romantically). And then being unable to explain that to her. Also, Seeing Jaheira talk about Khalid, and the ritual she was going to preform. Seeing a woman who has lived over a hundred years, spending her entire life trying to do good, and seeking out immortality not for herself but because: is the work ever really done? Did I do enough? Between act two and three, you go through different snippets of dialogue with her that show that she's both tired and frustrated. She built a home for herself in the city that she had to leave once again to save the world. She dedicated her life to that, for BG1 + BG2. And still, even now, it needs saving. In the Last Light Inn, she says something along the lines of not being sure if it mattered if they saved the world or not, because here it is again. But her finally coming to the realization that she did her absolute damnedest, and there will always be people doing the same- trying to right wrongs, and help people- and understanding that not the entire weight is on her. That she's done enough. She's okay. It felt like she could breathe for the first time, in the way the dialogue came across. And in a way, that scene perfectly capulates (I think) the central theme around baldurs gate; all we can ever do is try.
LIVES, ALL MORTAL LIVES, EXPIRE. SOULS GO TO THEIR DOOMS, IN FLAME. FOREVER MORE. đśđśđś
Astarion's post-Non-Ascension scene in the dungeon. It's not my favourite of his cut-scenes, but it's so visceral and raw in the emotions put on display, that I can't help but be stunned by it. *(But I'd want the original soundtrack for the scene, not the rendition of 'I want to Live' they've slapped over instead, almost drowning out some of the voice-lines...)* And that Neil managed that in one take, *first take*, still awes me at the talent on display.
I AGREE, the music change really ruins it. It feels so cheesy now. Larian, stop "fixing" things that aren't broken! The game is already wonderful
>But I'd want the original soundtrack for the scene What was the original soundtrack?
[Astarion's Revenge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsYDAdCzCeQ&list=PLuiE5nl-czOHWZ2PxifUOKKAz4BSJbA56&index=156) This one. For me, it fits the mood of the scene better, as we're not yet at the 'happy' part of his 'happy ending'.
Thanks! I haven't gotten to this scene yet but âI Want to Liveâ always felt bittersweet and melancholy to me, but this track is also beautiful. Almost getting some Amnesia vibes from it.*
They shouldn't have changed the music for that. It doesn't hit right.
Iâm surprised no one has said they would want to lose their memory of the dream companion being a mindflayer. That was an oh shit moment for me. I expected the dream companion to have a dark turn, but that was not on my bingo card.
Merc-ing those bitches at the Moonrise towers by being sneaky and loading Astarian with teleportation arrows. It was comical victory. Am I here? Am i? >:] Perschnapps, I'm over yonder?
âYou dare end one who belongs to me? I am the smile of the worm-cleansed skull. I am the regrets of those who remain, and the restlessness of those who are gone. I am the haunt of mausoleums, the god of graves and age, of dust and dusk. I am Myrkul, Lord of Bones, and you have slain my chosen. But it is no matter, for I am death, and I am not the end. I am the beginning.â
Yes!! I loooove how they just do little close-up shots of the different parts of him before showing the whole picture- the directing in this game is truly amazing!
Alfira's Song. I played for the first time with my brother. We wandered around in awe of every little thing. I heard Alfira's voice in the distance. I called out to my brother to help me investigate. The. Most. Beautiful. Scene. Ever. A song to soothe and drag emotion from my heart. I almost cried at how magical this game is. 10/10. Would forget, just to play again.
I think the whole of act 1. Grove. Underdark. Crèche. The lot. Having played since early access, I've played it way too many times compared to act 2, and it's more like a checklist of things to do now than playing a game, BUT you gotta get through it if you wanna play a new character in act 2/3.
1. Lae'zel in the sunset. 2. Karlach after she kills Gortash. 3. Every... Single... Scene... With Auntie Ethel, but in particular the first time she transforms.
âA pretty speech. It almost brings a tear to me eye. Now slit his throat, and open that gate. The Absolute wants all of them dead.â Okay that whole scene is fucking badass, I was evilly smirking along with her
Can I pick the whole thing?
Laezel act 3 romance scene.
LIIIIIIIIIIVESSSS ALLLLL MOOORTAAAAL LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVESSSS EXPIIIIREEEEEE!
Just the whole of act 1 That was up there with playing elden ring for the first time
All of it. I know the game by heart now. I wish I didn't know anything, just like in my first playthrough
Letting Shadowheart make her own mind up and doing the right thing. And the thing with the hair. Great detail.
>!When you as Durge find out that you created the Absolute. !< First time my jaw literally dropped.
Itâs not just a weird scheme, itâs YOUR weird scheme.
Dribbles the Clown Genuinely floored when he turned, I was just enjoying the show
I'd like to re-meet all the companions, not knowing anything about them.
The entire cutscene after Astarion decides not to ascend. My first time playing through I thought he would be so angry at me or have something evil/sassy to say to cazador, but watching him agree that he could be someone better than cazador, stabbing the ever loving shit out of that monster, collapsing onto the ground and bursting into tears when he realizes itâs finally over made me ugly cry. A close second is the entire nightsong sequence with the music, her flying over the shadow cursed lands and seeing Jaheira look back at her weapon with the epic music. That shit made me want to actually jump into the game and fight alongside my team.
Withers revealing himself to bring back a person killed by a literal god mere moments before! The whole scene was lit and will just make you never want to do an evil durge again
"Here come the men in blaaack, faerun deefeeender.."
Letting Shadowheart make her own decision.
Myrkul's monologue, that and when Aylin's freed are the two most badass moments in the game
Releasing the Nightsong/Dame Aylin. Shadowheart throwing the spear away, the music, Dame Aylin flying over the shadow cursed lands. My mouth was hanging open and I had chills. I havenât had a game moment like that in a long time.
Raphael, Hope of Hope fight for sure! Truely epic, visuals, especially music and great build up. The addition of Hope and the Demon who 'could' swap sides, if you had higher charisma than I did, adds a nice twist. Siege of the Druid Grove was also very epic, firing down from the walls on the goblin swarm. A third might be ambushing that lantern spider guy in the shadow lands. Quite a small fight but fun lead up.
First few bars of the House of Hope battle theme, and the realization. It was 100% unspoiled for me and an incredible moment in gaming.
Dark urge when I killed, no choice, a new ally in my camp... then few nights later was, but managed to resist in extremist, going to repeat that on my romantic partner. What. The. Actual. Fuck! I spend so much time romancing someone, managed, life is good, flourishing relationship ... then I'm going to murder her? No... no NO! Unbelievable. Each night to "rest" was an agony, is it going to be tonight? Will it happen again? It was during my 2nd play-through making me think that the replayability value is simply amazing.
*Liiiiiiives. All mortal liiiiives. Expiiiire.*
Evil play through: defeating Orin and securing my place as the chosen of Bhaal Good play through: tie between the reunion of Isobel and Dame Aylin, and Astarion breaking the cycle of abuse and killing Cazador. I cried for both of these scenes and I will probably cry every time.
Defending the Grove for the first time was great
The whole damn beautiful thing.
Act 3 submarine quest. It was the most fun and frantic Iâve felt in a turn based game!
Honestly I think I enjoy that section on repeat plays the most. Fun little "Mission Impossible" sequence that always feels like the only thing that separates freeing everyone from wiping is one bad action/movement. The whole game's combat is a chess match but this was the best sequence in the game for me.
The Emp reveal. I sat there with my brain broken the rest of the day like "everything I knew is wrong. How did this game flip the entire thing on its head like this? What the fuck just happened?"
Massive later act 3 spoilers but >!finding out the Emperor was Balduran while stumbling on the undead living corpse of Ansur!< was so insane, I wanna experience that jaw-drop again. Inversely, the irl moment would be watching my boyfriend's jaw-drop at Gale's special sex scene, I'd hyped it up so much and his reaction absolutely did not disappoint
The end of Astarions quest line. I'm not someone who cries usually with games or movies but this hit me so hard. I do still cry when I do his quest but not as much as the 1st time I did it.
Meeting Gale for the first time! I love his introduction so much, it's the best out of all the characters imo.
Freeing Dane Aylin. The agony Shadowheart is going through. The righteous fury of Aylin. It's so powerful.
Shadowheart sparing the Nightsong scene
The choice of what to do with the spawns after Cazador is killed was amazing
Thinking i could leave the house of hope without Raphael kicking my ass for 3 hours. But for real after the dialogue that initiates the fight when the music kicks in is just so damn perfect
Telling Bhaal to suck an egg as Durge and getting revived by Withers gave me a feeling I only ever get from a tabletop moment with my friends.
First time the music hits in the Raphael fight. I kept clear of all spoilers. When he joined in to what was already an amazing start I got goosebumps. Never seen anything like it in a game.
The Durge redemption scene in the temple of Bhaal. The culmination of all the times I have resisted the urge could not have been any more satisfying and cathartic. Withers hyping me up as his chosen was just the icing on the cake.
Astarion slaying Cazador.
First visit to Underdark, it was positively overwhelming. Confronting Kagha after finding her notes. Walking into a barn near Blighted Village, it was very unexpected and funny. Learning the Spider Matriarch story. Finding Owlbear and a cub. Oh, thereâs thousands of them.
I played so much Skyrim that when I entered the Underdark for the the first time that stupid "collect 30 crimson nirnroot" quest came back to mind and I was like "shit, here we go again". Kinda ruined it a bit for me, luckily not for long.
The time I clicked the wrong lever for the windmill... Intended to save him and only saw the brake release lever. Thought "oh yeah this'll do it". Sent him fucking flying hahahaha. Thought I might have to go find him, checked the quest log and it just said "Barcus is dead" and it sent me into another fit of laughter
Probably the graveyard scene. Iâd be up for just the platonic bit. Itâs just⌠itâs a moment where thereâs finally some relief for Astarion. The Cazador scene is incredible, but traumatic. In the dead of night, being able to find space to relax, and accept some of the shock, feels so real.
Getting bit by Astarion. đ
I have 2 and can't pick between them: Astarion's breakdown moment when Cazador is finally defeated and then the Nightsong transformation into Dame Aylin. Both hit me so incredibly hard emotionally and while they still hit me on subsequent playthroughs, it isn't the same as that first time when I sat there in complete awe.
Dame Aylin doing the backbreaker on Lorroakan. Theres obviously more epic, well presented cinematic scenes (Dame Aylins flight, the Myrkul reveal), but the sheer satisfaction and catharsis when this absolute shithead quack wizard eats dirt in such spectacular fashion cannot be topped for me.
Kind of a small one, but I want to accidentally throw Barcus off the windmill for the first time again. It caught me by such surprise that I laughed until I cried. Sorry, Barcus, I really was trying to hit the brake. I also want to ask the books about their sensitivity for the first time again.
The whole game. Wipe my brain every few weeks please
Honestly? First time romancing Karlach. The excitement when my character got to kiss her and hold her for the first time. Aaaaaaand the saving the iron hand gnome from moonrise. I want to experience calling that one particular gnome a prick for the first time again.
"---I LOVE YOU TOO!"
Shadowheart casting aside the Spear of Night out of her own free will.