Hawke64

Well, if nothing else, it seems to cover the violence (melee/magic)/stealth/persuasion approaches. So, technically fine. Curious if Banu Haqim can utilise the social and stealth aspects at the same time (will there be enough skill points?).

I agree with most of the points mentioned except these two. Ironically, the Evil, murderhobo-style, path is less developed than the heroic one, ranging from the fewer quests (the dead NPCs don't have replacements) to the increased difficulty. The only genuinely Good-aligned (CG) and sympathetic companion is Karlach, the tiefling barbarian. Also, Wyll, the human warlock, but the "I am the Blade of Frontiers and definitely not a warlock" thing might get on one's nerves. --- https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/skyrims-latest-update-brings-back-paid-mods-with-an-easier-way-for-creators-to-sell-their-work There is a suspicion that Bethesda broke the older mods on purpose, as only the newly-developed independent mods are eligible for the programme, but I would bet on negligence rather than malice. Also, the GOG version should not be affected by the developers' poor decisions post-release.

Wyll's companion quest. End-game. Epilogue.

Finished the playthrough and updated the game. While I like the low-poly style in general, I would prefer it to be consistent. Other than that, the epilogue party is present. The new difficulties seem to be selectable for the new runs only. Spoilers for Wyll's quest.

I acknowledge that I was not asked but I would like to reply. My main issue at the moment is how poorly Larian handles the setting and the storytelling. (Also, the UI, system requirements, RNG, and the inconsistency of the character controls[*] but those I can get used to). The combat encounters can be minimised and the animations, while lacking, can be skipped. Though, at the max settings and 60FPS, the effects blur away the limitations of the mo-cap, so it at least looks technically well and some scenes (e.g. Dame Aylin's armour summoning or Astarion's companion quest ending) are over-the-top enough to be good. On a positive note, I adore the immersive sim elements (would prefer if they were consistent, like in Dishonored), the number of diverse LGBTQ characters (especially that paladin), and the absence of DRM, MTX, and DLC. [*] The turn-based combat, the real-time without pause exploration, the time-freeze dialogues where, as a bonus, the characters do not move for the onlookers. Looking forward to it. Though, I am worried about the DRM - it effectively kills the preservation (as my recent experience with DA:I has reminded me). The game is also likely to be released half-complete with the patches and paid DLC coming for a year or two.

I generally prefer to have one powerful boss rather than a crowd-vs-crowd encounter, especially with turn-based combat systems. It makes them more unique and memorable.

Somehow disappointing: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dungeons-dragons-co-op-multiplayer-game-on-the-way-from-payday-devs

If the official modding tools are released, there could be something interesting - there were some good modules for NWN.

Act 3. Spoilers for Orin's quest. I approve the reasonable NPC naming - a Flaming Fist called Fist who clearly does not have quests or information. The great battle of the fireworks store. No laws of space can stop the officers of the law. Act 3. Companion quests.

Act 3. Used a summon to kill the rock-wielding boss, then proceeded to investigate a fireworks shop. The only door I noticed initially was firstly, invincible (literally - no health bar, no option to attack), secondly, in a clear view of the guards. So, I entered through the roof and the store owners confirmed that they were indeed up to no good. Since only the MC could use that route and there were 10+ foes, I reloaded and got the party on the roof of the building next to the store. The party had alchemist's fire and opened the assault with it. The foes were shooting back through the windows and balconies (it was a 3-story building), as the Door proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for them as well and they certainly did not have the key. Several minutes later, the party was victorious and the evil-doers dead. But when I tried to loot my hard-earned corpses, a Flaming Fist very unwisely interrupted it. So, another battle, more corpses, more loot. At that point, I discovered an unlocked door to the fireworks building and entered. Another Flaming Fist spawned underground and threatened the party. He was defeated, but a squad of them appeared, so after battle that I fast-travelled away - the quest was completed, the loot probably was not that important, and it likely could go forever. I suppose, it was the same in BG1/2, but with the turn-based combat, the infinite guards seem less appealing. Then the party ventured forth to the House of Grief, carried Mother Superior out of the hall, and shot her down while she was trying to talk to the MC. Got a very nice +3 shield and a very pretty robe, which, unfortunately, was combat gear, instead of camp attire. Thus, it was given to the only wizard in the party. I somehow hoped that I would be able to access Cazador's palace from the sewers entrance, but it was not interactive, so the party went in through the guard tower as expected. The cleric was able to defeat the vampire lord and his party single-handedly (everything was dying either to Daylight or Spirit Guardians), though on the lowest difficulty. I guess, ~10-15 hours left - only the quests depending on Gortash, Raphael, and the end-game. I remember the bosses in Solasta having Legendary actions on normal difficulty. Curious why it was limited only to the Ironman one in Larian's game.

Act 3 (some spoilers)

Nioh had a rather straightforward story - an Irish pirate has his spirit BFF kidnapped by a Japanese wizard and goes to save her, while participating in the most well-known historical battles in the region. Can't say that it was horrible (though, any "great unifier" is a genocidal maniac; then again, the concept of the human rights was different even 70 years ago), but the story was not particularly deep or compelling. The boss and spirit guardian design was probably the best aspect of the game if one is anyhow interested in folklore. In DS, on the other hand, there was the lore and the context of the PC's actions - basically, the Chosen Undead prophecy was sending the newly-arisen zombies to become firewood and to prolong the Age of Fire. I will probably get Lies of P when I am more confident that I can run it - the reimagining of the classic story seems like an interesting concept and I am fond of Souls-likes in general (though, not so much of the Sekiro combat style). Haven't played the newer ones, but Uncharted 1-3* were ridiculously dumb actions with a lot of explosions and cut-scenes. Might be fun, if the expectations are very low. *the first one was structured as "3 waves of enemies => cut-scene => running => repeat", so haven't finished. Uncharted 3 had some puzzles and more climbing at the beginning.

Larian's D&D Game Act 2 (ending sequence)

(Haven't updated, so the no personal experience) There is a rather interesting memory leak where the game keeps track of the party's unlawful actions, thus leading to slower performance. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/next-baldurs-gate-3-update-fixes-performance-bug-caused-by-the-rpgs-inability-to-forget-your-terrible-crimes From my current playthrough, Edit. There is a bug with the turn-based mode not working on the foes in combat - when a group of NPC fights another group of NPC without PC, they exist in their own timeline and ignore the turns (i.e. the "Environment" turn). Regarding the ownership/stealing thing, it can get ridiculous when the player is committing a crime against a faction, then their rivals try to arrest the PC for it. Same for the random 1XP civilians trying to stop the PC from looting bodies - it is just weird. That is to say, the issue is how the systems are designed and implemented. How hard was it to add a normal regular full pause/consistent clock and faction-based reputation (when there is the reputation system for each individual trader)? Also, purchased Weird West. Will play some time later, though.

Will share if discover how. Jogging helps, though. Sounds good. Thank you for the information. The last I played, in the Siptah DLC, it was possible to rescue the NPCs for them to become followers.

Close to the ending of Act 2. It is much shorter with meta-knowledge and high-strength Enhanced Leap (at 18 hours, not counting reloads). The party is somehow stronger than in my previous (critical-path-mostly) runs, so we might be able to actually fight and not die at the same time. Getting good equipment and respec'ing companions improves their survivability significantly. Tried to save a certain companion by turning them into a sheep and carrying to the recruitment point. Unfortunately, Polymorph worn off before that and in their un-Polymorphed state the potential companion encountered hostility from the NPCs, while entering the turn-based mode did not anyhow affect the battle - it still continued in the NPCs' own timeline. So, no paladins for us. There are some unique (though, not marked as [Wyll]) lines, but not many nor they have been affecting the story much. Curious how the personal quest will go. The continuity of the side quests continues to be slightly off, mostly with NPCs repeating the same information for different triggers (e.g. Dammon being able to use Infernal Iron). On a funny note (Act 2 end spoilers):

The armour was supposed to be light blue with some gold. It is a bug (the textures hadn't loaded) but still funny. A nicer armour (clothing) set. My attempt to save a certain optional companion went poorly. The character is undressed, so I slightly edited the images in case anything is visible (though, shouldn't be with this camera distance).

There was a quest to fail to get the horns, but they are present on both screenshots. The hat makes them less noticeable.

Just noticed that the priestess had a humanoid skull (instead of a metal amulet) on her head. Everyone likes this mace, I suppose. The only somehow strong companion at that point. Well, the gremlin was successfully released to their colony. For some reason, the box kept breaking in Wyll's inventory (didn't in the gith playthough).

@kanisatha@HoonDing Thank you. To stay on the topic of gaming, installed The Outer Worlds. The DLC files seem to be included in the base download on GOG (14 pieces of 4GB and the DLCs are 6MB each; I would say that the storage space required is high, but it is 2 times lower than Larian's D&D game). The EGS saves seem compatible, so I probably will continue to the DLC from them. The game conveniently created a hard point of no-return save file.

@Mamoulian War@Wormerine Thank you.

Started another playthrough as Wyll. His default facial expression of sheer horror is superior to the custom PC's smile. So far there have been quite a few continuity bugs - Zelvor expressing shock at the devil transformation of his good friend Wyll, then asking for introductions, Wyll remarking that slaying Karlach will save the locals with Karlach already in the party, etc. Otherwise, it is as expected - leaping forward to adventure with as little combat as possible. Considering purchasing Weird West, though. While I am not exactly fond of the setting or the lack of character customisation, it had better stealth, RT combat, and I don't remember any continuity issues in the demo.

Larian's D&D Game Wyll's facial expressions are somehow better than the custom PC's. For some reason, everyone was looking at the bard's tail during the scene, while the bard was looking mostly at the squirrels during the dialogue. This animation seems to be off, regardless of the face. And one thing that I was actually happy with - looting a quest item (which I wouldn't have found without the marker) without combat: