What are you Playing Now: Living the Game Life

[Wormerine]

7 hours ago, rjshae said:

They did include interactions and cut scenes with an NPC from BG2 pretty early on, so that is obviously an attempt to tie the two together.

We can talk about it more once you beat it. Yes there are “foreshadowings” and “setups” but majority of SoD has nothing to do with either BG1&BG2. It’s not a story that leads into BG2, and there is especially clumsy bit at the end when the game has to transition from its story arc, into you being caught by Irenicus. If there were issues to be solved with how BG1 transitions into 2 I don’t think they succeeded. 

[213374U]

20 hours ago, Wormerine said:

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/diablo-2-resurrected-beta-is-free-to-play-for-all-this-weekend

Nice, I missed that. But I don't see the game on GOG. Did they announce it will be on there?

 

16 hours ago, rjshae said:

They did include interactions and cut scenes with an NPC from BG2 pretty early on, so that is obviously an attempt to tie the two together.

The expansion does take place between the first and second games, but it was just another act tacked on to the story. The transition between the two games was still abrupt. Given how the plot develops and the setup in BG2, that's to be expected to an extent, but there was a feeling of strong railroading from start to finish. Again, nothing new for that saga, if we're being honest, especially considering that the story before and after was set in stone for them. Hence the complaint from some that the whole expansion was... pointless.

The interactions with the NPC you are referencing felt a bit too frequent and on the nose for me, though. It didn't help that the voice actor in question sounded fairly different from what he used to due to aging.

I remember enjoying SoD more mechanically than narratively, which is the opposite of BG2 for me. BG1 is... something you do to set up your character and background for 2, heh.

But yeah, as Wormerine said, we can discuss it more once you've completed it.

Edited August 28, 2021 by 213374U

[Wormerine]

22 minutes ago, 213374U said:

Nice, I missed that. But I don't see the game on GOG. Did they announce it will be on there?

Unlike Diablo re-release, Diablo2 Re-something is a Blizzard sanctioned pricey remake akin to Starcraft Remastered, Warcraft3 Reforged - I cought the beta completely by accident when I had an urge to play a bit of Starcraft2 out of nowhere. I am pretty sure Diablo2 will be available through battlenet only, just like the other remakes. The asking price is..... £35 . Released planned for September. I mean it's a lovely restoration, but hardly the first one, and I would expect the price to be closer to £15 mark. I also don't trust Blizz to not try something fishy with it.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Wormerine

[Mamoulian War]

After a long break, I have booted up Fairy Fencer F again for that silly 100 million gald achievement I ended up at 60 million, and will probably take another break

[ComradeYellow]

It's pretty good.  I enjoy survival horror games usually and this one has the credentials.  It's more Silent Hill than Resident Evil.  Got genuinely stumped on a couple of puzzles so far and eventually I had to cheat and look it up which I hate doing :(.  Atmosphere is dark and spooky, monsters are creepy and give you aa run for your money but but are nothing out of the ordinary and the combat is kinda dull, but I guess people don't play these types of games primarily for combat.  All-in-all worth a playthrough.

[kanisatha]

20 hours ago, 213374U said:

The expansion does take place between the first and second games, but it was just another act tacked on to the story. The transition between the two games was still abrupt. Given how the plot develops and the setup in BG2, that's to be expected to an extent, but there was a feeling of strong railroading from start to finish. Again, nothing new for that saga, if we're being honest, especially considering that the story before and after was set in stone for them. Hence the complaint from some that the whole expansion was... pointless.

This is kind of how I view SoD as well, as an additional chapter to BG1 more so than a true linking up of BG1 and BG2. And of course, in that case, it is subjective whether that extra chapter to BG1 is necessary/useful or not. For me it was, mainly because I love BG1 way more than BG2, and so having an extra chapter to play in BG1 is nice since I replay BG1 sometimes, but hardly ever BG2. And in a perfect parallel, this debate mirrors the debate we've had for twenty years about whether ToB was necessary/useful as an extra chapter to BG2.

[Mamoulian War]

I had little bit more time today, so I have started Druidstone again after two month break, and finished three more missions on Hard for three new achievements. It is still very enjoyable game for me, and you need to solve some levels and achievements like puzzles. If you have not played it, I still can only recommend it. The developers are still releasing patches, if they get some bug reports, even if minor or rare one...

Also I have played this evening little bit of Rebel Galaxy again, and tired to jump into more difficult sectors. Unfortunately, this cost me my hired mercenary, which was shot down so I had to hire a new one. for 120K Credits, ouch. I really hope, he will be good enough support for this kind of money. But still compared to my new mining laser, which cost me 1.2M Credits, it is just spare changes

[Wormerine]

6 hours ago, kanisatha said:

And in a perfect parallel, this debate mirrors the debate we've had for twenty years about whether ToB was necessary/useful as an extra chapter to BG2.

It did finish the overarching story of Bhaalspawn so yes. 

[Keyrock]

Now that I'm done with The Forgotten City, it's back to Chernobylite for me. In terms of creating an atmosphere of unease and apprehension The Farm 51 did a very good job. Oddly enough, the fact that combat is somewhat limited works in the game's favor in terms of tense, spooky atmosphere. It's got a really interesting story with brain-twisting mind-****ery, not dissimilar to what they tried to do, and somewhat succeeded, with Get Even. It's not S.T.A.L.K.E.R., though. I've encountered very few things I could say were anomalies, and I suspect they were scripted, rather than dynamic. I guess I'll have to wait for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to see if anyone can recreate that magic again. Still, Chernobylite has been an enjoyable and engaging experience so far, just don't expect it to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[ComradeYellow]

I absolutely suck at the puzzles in Tormented Souls and now and playing the game just for the story with a walkthrough at hand.  I simply lack the extreme levels of intuition required to figure out all the puzzles and where to go next in this dark convoluted complex world.

Oh well, at least the plot is decent and the main character is a cool gal.

Edited August 30, 2021 by ComradeYellow

[melkathi]

I think Facebook is monitoring this discussion and specifically the way I play Skyrim.

The targeted ad I got today:

If you want to STOP the teenage attitude and START raising a responsible & respectful young adult… this is for you!

I’m offering a 97-page book that outlines how to be the parent you’ve always wanted to be and grow closer to your teen - even if they tell you they hate you and you’re the “worst” and “meanest” mother out there!

[Mamoulian War]

45 minutes ago, melkathi said:

... you’re the “worst” and “meanest” mother out there!

Have we all missed something?

[melkathi]

Yeah, my girls never said anything like that. I'm an awesome mum.

Facebook is having some issues tying Skyrim play experience into their ad targeting.

Edited August 30, 2021 by melkathi

[kanisatha]

19 hours ago, Wormerine said:

It did finish the overarching story of Bhaalspawn so yes. 

Sure. I agree, and if I ever play BG2 I always play through ToB as well. But quite a number of other people seem to not care for playing ToB.

[xzar_monty]

18 hours ago, kanisatha said:

But quite a number of other people seem to not care for playing ToB.

There's too much railroading in it for my liking, and the "epic" levels aren't nearly as interesting as the lower ones. I mean, in DD, for me, the most interesting and rewarding levels are somewhere between 4 and 13ish. Before that, you're likely to be killed by a frail kobold accidentally dropping a feather somewhere near you, and after that you're essentially unkillable if you have a proper group and you know what you're doing.

BG2 is my all-time favorite, but I hardly ever touch ToB anymore. Interestingly, I very much enjoyed SoD the first time, but I subsequently tried playing it again and just couldn't do it.

[Malcador]

Plodding along with understanding AoW, for more simpler joys have been playing Michael Bay in the Arma 2 editor.  Sort of funny to watch the AI fail to manage to drive on roads, well and also the fact an M113 can be destroyed by a DshkM.  The AI is still savage as I recall, watched a US soldier take out his Carl Gustav and use it on one Takistani militant.

[kanisatha]

2 hours ago, xzar_monty said:

There's too much railroading in it for my liking, and the "epic" levels aren't nearly as interesting as the lower ones. I mean, in DD, for me, the most interesting and rewarding levels are somewhere between 4 and 13ish. Before that, you're likely to be killed by a frail kobold accidentally dropping a feather somewhere near you, and after that you're essentially unkillable if you have a proper group and you know what you're doing.

BG2 is my all-time favorite, but I hardly ever touch ToB anymore. Interestingly, I very much enjoyed SoD the first time, but I subsequently tried playing it again and just couldn't do it.

Pretty much the same with me. Really hate high-level gaming for exactly your reason: been there, killed that, what's the point of continuing to play this game anymore? A great example of this is that I absolutely LOVE the Witcher 3 base game but hate the DLCs. The one little difference for me is that for some reason I also like the really low levels. I completely agree that's when someone sneezing on you could be fatal. But something about that fragile mortality is thrilling for me. Maybe it's just that sense of wonder and awe as you start out in the world as a know-nothing, not-accomplished-anything nobody.

[xzar_monty]

Yes, the first level do have that sense of wonder, I agree. And they are definitely more interesting than the really high levels. But because your options are so very limited at those levels, for me they aren't nearly as interesting as levels, say, 4 and above.

[Chilloutman]

I tend to agree, I think thats why rouge likes are to my liking. I like grounded low level fantasy. When there is dragon after each corner it kinda feels pointless, it loose all the mystery and feel of danger

[melkathi]

Like the dragon random encounter every time you fast travel in Skyrim.

[213374U]

6 hours ago, xzar_monty said:

There's too much railroading in it for my liking, and the "epic" levels aren't nearly as interesting as the lower ones. I mean, in DD, for me, the most interesting and rewarding levels are somewhere between 4 and 13ish. Before that, you're likely to be killed by a frail kobold accidentally dropping a feather somewhere near you, and after that you're essentially unkillable if you have a proper group and you know what you're doing.

BG2 is my all-time favorite, but I hardly ever touch ToB anymore. Interestingly, I very much enjoyed SoD the first time, but I subsequently tried playing it again and just couldn't do it.

The BG2 ruleset really started to come apart at the seams starting at level 18 or so, and gameplay devolved into spamming Greater Whirlwind Attack and Dragon's Breath to end combat in 2-3 rounds.

The railroading was very bad, indeed. The whole thing with Melissan pulling the wool over everyone's -except a certain insane half-orc warlord's- eyes and Balthazar being an idiot whose resistance to reason is only matched by his resistance to magic were especially infuriating. A consequence of ToB being an expansion rather than a full-fledged game.

That being said, there were a few really cool moments in ToB, like fighting an army all by yourself and the multi-dragon brawl, and the conclusion to the Bhaalspawn saga was well executed, I think.

[Wormerine]

 

7 hours ago, xzar_monty said:

There's too much railroading in it for my liking, (...)

Agree with everything. I would still play ToB for story completion sake, if I do full BG1&2 playthrough with one character, but I would feel no need to include SoD, as IMO it adds nothing of importance to the substance. 

On the other hand, I wish I could play White March 1&2 without playing Pillars of Eternity1 

[BruceVC]

@Wormerine and @Mamoulian War

I have to tell you guys something, I havent started playing DS1 yet. I went away last weekend and  the previous week I got spooked and for reason I didnt start playing DS1. But it is installed and configured with Mods

I am going to be playing Assassins Creed Odyssey now but I will start on DS1 in the future  but I felt I should mention this because I dont want to think I was wasting your time with questions earlier .....your advice was important 

[ShadySands]

GOG what is your ideal RPG class quiz

You are a DRUID!
The wilderness holds no secrets before you. While others talk - you listen carefully to the surrounding world, gaining tremendous power from your unique bond with nature.

Ready for an adventure? Check out the RPG Month now on GOG.COM!

[Gfted1]

You are a WIZARD!
The art of arcane spells holds no secrets from you. Devoted to an astute study of the ancient books, you bend the forces of magic to your will and conjure powerful spells that aid your party in a fight.