Obsidian Entertainment: My Thoughts on most of their games

[jeffreystocks]

So as much as I'll rag on Pillars of Eternity 2, The Outer Worlds, and New Vegas I still have to admit that Obsidian Entertainment makes some pretty great games and rpgs.

Some better then others, so I figured that I would share my thoughts of them starting with the best and going down the list.

-][-

Neverwinter Nights 2: Neverwinter Nights 2 is one of those games that feels like it will never come again. The Loud music of the Harvest Festival seared into your heads, the stupidly complexity of the DnD 3..5 system and all of the race and background and class choices, how each of your companions though simplistic at first each have something to make them stand out as well as a complex plot of gambit pile ups upon gambit pile ups as opposing factions trip the **** over eachother as their scheming brings them into eachother's crosshairs by sheer accident.

It's fantastic.

And with all Obsidian games. . .there's a lot of cut content. Qara your Sorcerer companion is mostly cut content with only the barest bit to make her functional left in the game, Neeshka (who is bae) had her romance cut.

-][-

Pillars of Eternity: Pillars of Eternity is Obsidian's first real solo adventure that they had had in decades. A brand new CRPG, in a brand new hand-crafted world, with unique peoples, cultures, languages, gods, and all of it wrapped around a world coming into it's Renesceance.

Pillars 1 has some of the best companion characters that they have ever made, with notable stand-outs being Durance the Self-aggrandizing Priest who hate/loves his own Goddess after he helped kill a god.

Or That Village woman who is super super cool in concept but sucks to actually use because the other companions never talk to her and mostly just ignore her entirely.

Or Pallegina whose arc revolves around whether it is best to follow her orders, or do her best to break those orders to better benefit her people for better or for worse.

Or Aloth your Wizard pal who has a severe case of one too many people inside his own head.

Or Hirevias the Druid trying to come to terms with his past (seriously I highly recommend picking Hiravias up as immediately as possible as he has SO MUCH dialogue in parts 2 and 3 of the game once you hit the big city)

Sagani trying to complete her quest so she could finally return home, scared that her own family has forgotten her.

And Kana Rua your giant friendly historian buddy whose sister you can date in the sequel.

Genuinely one of the best games that Obsidian has ever made, even if their Rtwp system feels odd to go back to after playing the sequel.

-][-

Pillars of Eternity 2:

Do you like Voice Acting? Ship to Ship combat? Turn-Based Combat?

No. . .Aww.

Pillars 2 takes place in the Deadfire Archipelago (Not the Dreadfire as it turns out, that was another Berenstein bears situation it seems) where you go chasing after the God who destroyed your well earned castle and home from the last game, and find yourself once more at the whims of the Gods.

While chasing after this threat you find yourself embroiled in the political machinations of the factions of the region.

The Huana: Or more specifically the Huana Tribe of the Kahanga who seeks to unify their people under their absolute monarchist banner in order to stave off the outsiders who are attempting to colonize the archipelago for themselves. Perhaps the most ethically good faction of the bunch hampered severely by their Caste system.

The Royal Deadfire Company: The Faction of Rautai. Rautai's heritage belongs to that of the Archipelago as the same people who became the Huana and the Rautai were once the same, until a cataclysmic event led Rautai to flee and conquer Rautai for themselves having lost their homes. Now they are back to share their new culture and ways with the Huana.

So think Imperialism being forced on you by your cousin, but in exchange they bring you Forts, Gunfire, and tear down the caste system entirely.

The Vailian Trading Company: think the East Empire Trading Company. Their goal is profit. They seek to harvest, exploit, sell, and steal anything and everything that they can get their hands on. Stealing land from the Huana? It's all good! Working with Slavers in Huana lands, also good! Really the only thing they have going for them is that they don't want to conquer the Archipelago as much as they wish to exploit it and it's wealth of Arda.

Amusingly they have what is either one of the most hopeful and one of the most dour endings of the game.

Principi sen Patrena: The Princes without Patrons. Pirates of the sea, refugees from Old Vailia, who seek to claim a new homeland for themselves and or as much profit as they possibly can.

They are perhaps the most colorful faction in the game. . .and also the most inconsequential in regards to the actual main plot of the game. Without a doubt the faction with the most potential for change with the most colorful characters and system of government. . . but again inconsequential. Don't do them for your first choice.

Cool companions, each of which I tend to play in two teams.

A Team: The Factions Gang

B Team: Main Plot Gang.

The Turn Based mode is odd but works oddly well after a while.

-][-

Alpha Protocol is a broken broken ass Spy game that is easy to break over your knee and is shockingly reactive to your choices and method of play. I highly recommend it.

-][-

Fallout New Vegas: Great Game, overhyped by everyone over the years, still pretty great even if only two game paths are actually viable and thus a player wanting to make their golden endings tend to make the exact same choices every single time.

The Legion Sucks narratively because they could have been so so so much more interesting, and it feels like they were placed in the game first and written backwards.

-][-

running out of time before having to leave for work

Uh The Outer Worlds decent, but it only has a single joke and message that ultimately does nothing with it.

Best planet for writing and choices is Monarch, Best companions are Parvarti, Maxwell, and Fenix in that order, again a game where the choices are far far too easy.

-][-

And those are my rushed thoughts on Obsidian Entertainment games.

What about the rest of y'all? What are your thoughts on their catalog?

[Gorth]

Moved to games, as it looks like a discussion of games, not the company itself...

[HoonDing]

Could be worse, mmkay

[jeffreystocks]

uno online

On 3/15/2024 at 11:27 AM, Gorth said:

Moved to games, as it looks like a discussion of games, not the company itself...

Yes, it's a game discussion. Did I post in the wrong section?

[Gorth]

1 hour ago, jeffreystocks said:

uno online

Yes, it's a game discussion. Did I post in the wrong section?

Not "wrong" per se, just not the optimal for the purpose. The general section is mostly discussing gaming companies and the gaming industry. This part is a general gaming forum for discussing specific games or genres... also, this forum usually gets frequented by other gamers unlike the general section. I.e. more likely other people see your post.

[BruceVC]

On 3/15/2024 at 5:45 AM, jeffreystocks said:

So as much as I'll rag on Pillars of Eternity 2, The Outer Worlds, and New Vegas I still have to admit that Obsidian Entertainment makes some pretty great games and rpgs.

Some better then others, so I figured that I would share my thoughts of them starting with the best and going down the list.

-][-

Neverwinter Nights 2: Neverwinter Nights 2 is one of those games that feels like it will never come again. The Loud music of the Harvest Festival seared into your heads, the stupidly complexity of the DnD 3..5 system and all of the race and background and class choices, how each of your companions though simplistic at first each have something to make them stand out as well as a complex plot of gambit pile ups upon gambit pile ups as opposing factions trip the **** over eachother as their scheming brings them into eachother's crosshairs by sheer accident.

It's fantastic.

And with all Obsidian games. . .there's a lot of cut content. Qara your Sorcerer companion is mostly cut content with only the barest bit to make her functional left in the game, Neeshka (who is bae) had her romance cut.

-][-

Pillars of Eternity: Pillars of Eternity is Obsidian's first real solo adventure that they had had in decades. A brand new CRPG, in a brand new hand-crafted world, with unique peoples, cultures, languages, gods, and all of it wrapped around a world coming into it's Renesceance.

Pillars 1 has some of the best companion characters that they have ever made, with notable stand-outs being Durance the Self-aggrandizing Priest who hate/loves his own Goddess after he helped kill a god.

Or That Village woman who is super super cool in concept but sucks to actually use because the other companions never talk to her and mostly just ignore her entirely.

Or Pallegina whose arc revolves around whether it is best to follow her orders, or do her best to break those orders to better benefit her people for better or for worse.

Or Aloth your Wizard pal who has a severe case of one too many people inside his own head.

Or Hirevias the Druid trying to come to terms with his past (seriously I highly recommend picking Hiravias up as immediately as possible as he has SO MUCH dialogue in parts 2 and 3 of the game once you hit the big city)

Sagani trying to complete her quest so she could finally return home, scared that her own family has forgotten her.

And Kana Rua your giant friendly historian buddy whose sister you can date in the sequel.

Genuinely one of the best games that Obsidian has ever made, even if their Rtwp system feels odd to go back to after playing the sequel.

-][-

Pillars of Eternity 2:

Do you like Voice Acting? Ship to Ship combat? Turn-Based Combat?

No. . .Aww.

Pillars 2 takes place in the Deadfire Archipelago (Not the Dreadfire as it turns out, that was another Berenstein bears situation it seems) where you go chasing after the God who destroyed your well earned castle and home from the last game, and find yourself once more at the whims of the Gods.

While chasing after this threat you find yourself embroiled in the political machinations of the factions of the region.

The Huana: Or more specifically the Huana Tribe of the Kahanga who seeks to unify their people under their absolute monarchist banner in order to stave off the outsiders who are attempting to colonize the archipelago for themselves. Perhaps the most ethically good faction of the bunch hampered severely by their Caste system.

The Royal Deadfire Company: The Faction of Rautai. Rautai's heritage belongs to that of the Archipelago as the same people who became the Huana and the Rautai were once the same, until a cataclysmic event led Rautai to flee and conquer Rautai for themselves having lost their homes. Now they are back to share their new culture and ways with the Huana.

So think Imperialism being forced on you by your cousin, but in exchange they bring you Forts, Gunfire, and tear down the caste system entirely.

The Vailian Trading Company: think the East Empire Trading Company. Their goal is profit. They seek to harvest, exploit, sell, and steal anything and everything that they can get their hands on. Stealing land from the Huana? It's all good! Working with Slavers in Huana lands, also good! Really the only thing they have going for them is that they don't want to conquer the Archipelago as much as they wish to exploit it and it's wealth of Arda.

Amusingly they have what is either one of the most hopeful and one of the most dour endings of the game.

Principi sen Patrena: The Princes without Patrons. Pirates of the sea, refugees from Old Vailia, who seek to claim a new homeland for themselves and or as much profit as they possibly can.

They are perhaps the most colorful faction in the game. . .and also the most inconsequential in regards to the actual main plot of the game. Without a doubt the faction with the most potential for change with the most colorful characters and system of government. . . but again inconsequential. Don't do them for your first choice.

Cool companions, each of which I tend to play in two teams.

A Team: The Factions Gang

B Team: Main Plot Gang.

The Turn Based mode is odd but works oddly well after a while.

-][-

Alpha Protocol is a broken broken ass Spy game that is easy to break over your knee and is shockingly reactive to your choices and method of play. I highly recommend it.

-][-

Fallout New Vegas: Great Game, overhyped by everyone over the years, still pretty great even if only two game paths are actually viable and thus a player wanting to make their golden endings tend to make the exact same choices every single time.

The Legion Sucks narratively because they could have been so so so much more interesting, and it feels like they were placed in the game first and written backwards.

-][-

running out of time before having to leave for work

Uh The Outer Worlds decent, but it only has a single joke and message that ultimately does nothing with it.

Best planet for writing and choices is Monarch, Best companions are Parvarti, Maxwell, and Fenix in that order, again a game where the choices are far far too easy.

-][-

And those are my rushed thoughts on Obsidian Entertainment games.

What about the rest of y'all? What are your thoughts on their catalog?

I have played every Obsidian game you mentioned except for Outer Worlds and I loved them all for different reasons 

My favourite games being PoE2 and NWN2 

But they all very entertaining. Obsidian is definitely one of my favourite current gaming studios alongside Bethesda, Larian and CDPR 

But its generally more accurate for me to list my top 10 favourite games because of the  high number of excellent studios out there 

 

[melkathi]

I did not know people were actually posting in Obsidian General...

[LadyCrimson]

1 hour ago, melkathi said:

I did not know people were actually posting in Obsidian General...

For a while now it's mostly been about whether the forum software is functioning properly. 
==========

In terms of the thread topic.  Let's see, I've played fully:

KOTOR2, FO:NV,  Dungeon Siege 3, Pillars of Eternity 1.  The first two were and still are the favorites.
Ones that I have purchased but never went  much past a couple play sessions: NWN2, South Park, Outer Worlds. 

I liked PoE1 a fair bit for most of the run but I haven't had a desire to play the sequel at all. I think what I want from, and the reasons I play, any games, have changed a lot, or perhaps it's more that they've reverted (away from RPG's).  Although I'm expecting that the odds will be high that I'll purchase Avowed soon after release, more likely because I'm curious vs. a huge desire to play it.  Maybe it'll surprise me.

[melkathi]

I played Kotor 2 completely once, but unlike many I did not enjoy it as much as the original. I felt it was trying too hard to be edgy and moral grey.

I finished FO:NV once. I played quite a lot, but again, Obsidian's way of writing "moral dilemmas" I find meh.

Obviously, humanity has proven time and time again, that Obsidian has a better understanding of humans than I have. People really do believe that between state funded healthcare and Caesar's Legion, the raping mass murderers are the lesser evil.

PoE1 I played. I enjoyed the beginning. It got so tedious, I could not see myself to complete it, and it killed my interest in the story.

NVN2 I enjoyed and found one of the better written RPGs. I also think that it fell into the post- Planescape Torment trap of every NPC having to be this unique out of the ordinary, breaking conventions of NPCs attempt, which made me long for plain boring party members.

Which Outer World had and which made the game so refreshing.

I think I finished Dungeon Siege 3 twice...

[sorophx]

I want to say KOTOR II is the best game by Obsidian, but the state of that game makes that assumption very dubious. KOTOR II is the one I've enjoyed the most (so much so I finished it twice, which never happened with any other Obsidian game). would love to play a remaster with all the cut content properly restored. 

but yeah, objectively, I think, the label of "THE BEST" should be reserved for New Vegas. would love to play a remaster using the latest Bethesda tech.

would love to play some D&D on the Pillars of Eternity engine (yeah, I know it's Unity, I mean the isometric backgrounds, optional TB combat etc.), maybe NWN3 could happen? a man can dream.

as an aside, I don't know what it is about PoE II, but I tried going through it twice and dropped it in the middle both times. that game is too big for its own good.

Tyranny is pretty cool, but I can't beat it, too hard in the later stages, I just don't get the progression system.

honestly, I crossed out Obsidian after learning that they were developing Outer Worlds, Grounded, and Avowed, with no hint at isometric games in between.

expected a lot more from Pentiment. that game just makes it too easy to miss stuff and accidentally finish the game early. I just didn't understand why stuff happened to my character, what actions led to it, so I was frustrated all the way through. but maybe that's because I played it shortly after getting into Persona 5.

anyway, in my ideal world Obsidian would be hard at work making Dungeon Siege 4 with full-party combat (mules included!), isometric NWN 3, and KOTOR 3. 

[LadyCrimson]

I've looked at Grounded many times, because that is closer to my current gamestyle zone, but something about it doesn't appeal. It could be as simple/shallow as not liking the artstyle, but also maybe the child/teen focus. Not sure. I haven't bought/tried it yet, is all I know.

9 hours ago, sorophx said:

full-party combat (mules included!)

I remember at some point deciding I wanted four or five mules vs. more npc's. I probably tried at least once to do the game with six mules and 1 npc but I can't recall if I succeeded/failed. I do remember at certain points getting them across bridges or other obstacles was a major chore. But they were fun/cute/silly awesome. 

[Blodhemn]

New Vegas is Obsidian's best and it's not really close. Compare that game with the Outer Worlds and see how far the company has fallen. Same goes for the rest of the industry outside of a few indies. I have nothing in common with 99% of the people making games these days so naturally it's almost all cringe. 

KOTOR 2, Alpha Protocol and Stick of Truth are all a good time. I could never get into any of the other, Kickstarter/Patreon/OnlyFans type offerings.

[xzar_monty]

19 hours ago, sorophx said:

as an aside, I don't know what it is about PoE II, but I tried going through it twice and dropped it in the middle both times. that game is too big for its own good.

I always find this argument slightly peculiar, if indeed the only complaint is size.

If someone is a reader of books or a player of games, it doesn't seem relevant to me to worry about length / size, if you're going to spend that time reading / playing anyway. If the books or the games are bad then by all means toss them aside, that's what I also do, but if not, where's the problem?

Btw, I'm not sure about this but isn't BG2, for instance, bigger than Deadfire? I bring it up because you mention DD, so you're likely to have played that.

[BruceVC]

21 hours ago, melkathi said:

I played Kotor 2 completely once, but unlike many I did not enjoy it as much as the original. I felt it was trying too hard to be edgy and moral grey.

I finished FO:NV once. I played quite a lot, but again, Obsidian's way of writing "moral dilemmas" I find meh.

Obviously, humanity has proven time and time again, that Obsidian has a better understanding of humans than I have. People really do believe that between state funded healthcare and Caesar's Legion, the raping mass murderers are the lesser evil.

PoE1 I played. I enjoyed the beginning. It got so tedious, I could not see myself to complete it, and it killed my interest in the story.

NVN2 I enjoyed and found one of the better written RPGs. I also think that it fell into the post- Planescape Torment trap of every NPC having to be this unique out of the ordinary, breaking conventions of NPCs attempt, which made me long for plain boring party members.

Which Outer World had and which made the game so refreshing.

I think I finished Dungeon Siege 3 twice...

Why you leaving out Alpha Protocol? You love that game, do you remember that was one of the first discussion we ever had way back in 2010-2012 when I first played AP and you gave me advice 

[melkathi]

I also left out Tyranny.

I think the phone rang

 

edit:

mind you, I played through tyranny once and have nothing to say about it

Edited March 19 by melkathi

[bugarup]

So what didn't I play? Grounded (not on gog + ewwww multiplayer), Pentiment (not on gog), Dungeon Siege 3 (started it, but dropped and all I remember was a long linear corridor of bashing dudes. The older I get the more necessary the story is for me to not get bored with a game) and South Park (I have it on EA storefront and one day I'll muster courage to deal with EA storefront, real soon now ).

 

KOTOR 2. First game of Obs I played. Also first game I went to whine about on social network because I was so angry about the ending, it was my etalon for horrible, terrible, no good disappointing endings until along came "Lost" and dropped the bar into deep deep abyss. It really stood out because everything up to it was so, so good. Helped me to figure out my own love/hate relationship with Star Wars. 

 

Neverwinter Nights 2. An example of how people who know how to write can elevate even the most derivative cookie-cutter setting. This is also the game that taught me RPG systems are fun. Before it, I countered all my problems by dropping difficulty. Didn't work on that red dragon. Had to read about how to beat her and -- "Oh hey, there's the whole system in it?! " I think I played every class there except fighters and barbarians because those are boring. And then there's Mask of the Betrayer which is 

 

Alpha Protocol. I don't know how many playthroughs of it I did. Something between 10 and 20, and that's only because I really sucked at it, if I were any good I prolly wouldn't have stopped playing it. Anyway, none of those playthroughs were like the other. I remember how I tried to goad Konrad into fighting me, but because I was on "Biiiitch. As$hole!" relationship with Madison he deduced Mikey wasn't genuine and bolted. And how it took like hours to down Brayko on a SMG run. SIE best girl. 

 

Fallout New Vegas. That's my videogame home, the place where I feel well, at home. I got the "I'm home..." feeling instantly as I left Doc's house. Then the game promptly crashed.  Anyway, my PC was too weak for it and I haven't tried to play it for quite some time. Which was for the best given it's buggy launch infamy. Still haven't done a Legion run, there's something too realistically reprehensible about their brand of evil. 

 

Tyranny. All I knew was "You play a bad guy" so it was extremely pleasant surprise to find so detailed, rich world and lore. Also the art, the music, the magic system, the almost Alpha-Protocol levels of variables, it's all so  I don't much care the ending was kinda eh. I don't have a clear favorite Obsidian game, rather a crowded little plateau on a peak where games constantly fight for a title. Tyranny is the most frequent winner there. 

 

Pillars of Eternity. Kickstarted it as by then I knew chances were high I'll love it. Then it sat in my game reserve of "If all games from now on gonna be rubbish I'll still have this". Didn't get into it from the start because it looked like yet another bog-standard vaguely medievalish fantasy with dorfs and elfs, yawnorama, but in the second attempt I reached the hanging tree and got hooked. Somewhen mid-game I found out there's a sequel and that was the first time I've heard of it. Insta-bought.

 

Deadfire. It could be my second home because it's so pretty and music is great, and characters are alive, and I want to make separate build for every interesting weapon, and the amount of hours I sunk into it is in quadruple digits, if not for the fact it fried my video card once, keeps attempting to do so again and I remember these things.    Still, another frequent champion of the plateau. Like, everything in it just clicks with me.

 

The Outer Worlds. ... ... I don't know what happened. Like, I liked all the separate parts. Art. Music. Setting. Environment. "Corporations are the devil" schtick. First two companions are really good. Dialogs are witty. Weapons are nice. But the sum of all parts somehow turns into perfect representation of "Meh". 

 

 

Edited March 19 by bugarup
Why do we even have profanity filters here? We are all old people!

[melkathi]

Without profanity filters, discussions about ancient Egypt would be boring. With filters, the story of queen Neferbreasti has completely new dimensions.

[kanisatha]

As much as I'm a fan of Obsidian, I've only ever played three of their games: NwN2, PoE, and PoE2. This is mainly because I have not been willing, in the past, to go outside of fantasy setting based RPGs for my games. And for me, all three of these games were fantastic!

[Wormerine]

Alright, here we go:

KOTOR2 - Overall, I think it is a bit overrated - partially, because it is a sequel to an overrated game - system-wise KOTOR is just so very dull. It's a dumb down D&D, and unfortunately by doing it it stipped any remotely interesting things about D&D. Still, I like it a lot. I am not a fan of KOTOR1 vs. KOTOR2 conversation, as I think they complement each other rather well. Pacing of KOTOR2 is rather off, and its critique of established SW mythology is pulled of rather well for the most part. The whole of it could use more time and a hell lot of polish. Even with restored content KOTOR2 is more of a story of "what could have been", rather than what it actually is... but capturing imagination is sometimes all the game needs to do, and Obsidian is pretty good at that.

 

Neverwinder Nights2 - I don't like it nearly as much as other folks. I like it much more than NWN1, but as NWN1 was less of a game, and more of a toolbox it's also unfair comparison. I find base campaign charming, but when I played it back in a day I found rather trite. Coming from BG2, I found it disappointing to see so many recurring elements - as far as I knew, unfamiliar with D&D lore and all, they took a sidequest from BG2 and tried to make a whole game out of it. Playing NWN2 I always wish I was just playing BG1&2 instead... or BG3.

I really didn't enjoy my time with D&D 3rd edition. Personally, I find the system a bit too detailed to work well for a party RPG, but UI doesn't help. Whenever it is leveling up, exploring or combat NWN2 UI is clunky, uninformative and just unpleasant to use. I also didn't like 4 character party limit - I just find it to not be enough in a D&D game.

That said, I do like both DLCs to NWN2 a lot.

 

Alpha Protocol - Real, hate-love relationship with it. I was constantly frustrated while playing it, loved it when credits rolled, and am very reluctant to give it a 2nd playthrough. Another Obsidian game that really captures imagination, with some compelling ideas, and great reactivity. A lot of good, a lot of bad, and a lot of potential.

 

Fallout: New Vegas - easily, the best and most complete game Obsidian has made. It made me do 360 and turned me into Obsidian fan, and made me angry at Bethesda that after playing Fallout3 it took me years before I decided to give NV a go. Great world, great reactivity to the character, and the best implementation of Obsidian style faction system. It's a game where you can create a character and there will probably be an interesting path for your character to take.

Probably, the only downside for me, is Ceasar's Legion being a bit too evil. I think they are a great faction, but it's tricky for me to create a character who would see them as a valid option. Still, even so, three other endings one can pursue, allowing for variety of smaller decisions. While later games (like PoE2) did factions better, NV manages to offer both pretty free-style open world, while still managing to offer a coherent and compelling story. A brilliant balance of narratively dense game, and player agency.

 

Pillars of Eternity 1&2 - In my opinion, a brilliant throwback to Infinity Games, keeping stuff I liked about those and changing things I didn't care that much for. Still my favourite modern cRPG system. PoE1 has a stronger narrative direction, and more consistant tone, but it feels like it is stretched thin, with too little content spread accross too much game. While story is great, too much of it is delivered through walls of text, rather than interactive quests.

PoE2 addresses every single criticism for PoE1 I had, but tone feels more inconsistant, and narrative isn't as tight. Still, probably my 2nd favourite Obsidian game after Fallout: New Vegas.

DLCs for both games are brilliant, with While March still being my favourite PoE pieces of content.

 

Tyranny - 4 party limit, cooldown based combat, focusing on spamming same abilities over and over, rather than decisionmaking. And a lot of combat, with little enemy variation. Major reactivity favouring fewer more impactful decisions, over regular decisionmaking. All that I don't like.

Still, pulpy, more approachable world than PoEs, but with some cool, edgy ideas. I wish we would get more of it, and in true Obsidian fasion, some really imagination capturing concepts - initial prologue setting the world state, custom spell creator. Fun game, worth a playthrough, even if not subsequent playthroughs. Unlike other titles, I found DLC for this one rather underbaked and forgettable. I struggle to recall what was it about.

 

Outer Worlds - similar to Tyranny, I think it is a fun game to playthrough once, even if it lacks depth to warrant subsequent playthroughs. Not much roleplaying to do in this one, but it's a fairly tight, lighthearted adventure, with enough choice to keep me engaged. Combat got a bit old by the time the credits rolled, and it strongly overstayed it's welcome after DLCs were added.

 

Grounded - played a bit of it. Installed on my PC for a while now. Survival games aren't my thing.

 

Pentiment - great artstyle, unusual story for a game. It is a narrative adventure so it is, what it is, but I did find gameplay loop of running around the city and talking to everyone before progressing time to be tedious. Some activities pass time, so I felt pressured to find all there is to find before progressing time, and it just wasn't very fun to do.

 

Edit. Hmm, there is a narrative going, that Obsidian isn't what it used to be, and while it is somewhat true, I am not sure if it's a bad thing. Overall, I think their output starting with New Vegas and going forward consists of the stronger output, with earlier games being interesting, but not well executed. I think biggest criticism for post New Vegas Obisidan, is that they started to be a bit more formulaic. They found a way to do factions, open world and companions into which they lean into, while it's been a bit more dynamic in the past. For that reason, I am somewhat excited to see Obsidian trying different types of games. Hopefully, they will find the spark of creativity that fueled their earlier, more one of a kind titles.

Still, while one can draw pretty clear parallels between New Vegas and Deadfire, it's not like Deadfire didn't try new things as well. Unfortuantely, those new things (like companion reputation system) didn't work too well.

Edited March 19 by Wormerine

[Hurlshort]

The main thing I like about Obsidian is the writing quality. Gameplay can be hit or miss with me, but I know when I buy an Obsidian title, it will be well written. I'm pretty sure I've played them all, except that Pathfinder card game and the tank game they helped with. 

There are a lot of other developers that can't pull off the writing Obsidian does. Bethesda. Owlcat. Larian. The list goes on. Obsidian can write circles around them.  

[Humanoid]

I've never really considered their total body of work too closely, so just my snap opinions on each listed:

KoTOR2 - My video card (a 7900GT? Something like that) died before I finished the tutorial. Never went back to it, bearing in mind this was a few years after the original release as is, probably circa 2007? So I was already sort of forcing myself to play it in the first place, never really had a strong incentive to because I don't like Star Wars. (I don't hate it, I just tolerate it in a gaming context if it's a good game regardless of IP)

NWN2 - I have no memories whether positive or negative about the original campaign. I assume my save just petered out somewhere around mid-game but who knows. I couldn't get through the MoTB tutorial because of D&D sneak attack rules meant my rogue was not viable. I did play SoZ up until the final dungeon and liked it well enough.

Alpha Protocol - Never finished it but admired the structure and ambition. The mechanical jankiness wasn't actually that big of a deal for me because I don't generally play this type of game for the challenge. I didn't particularly liked the timed dialogue and the lack of customisation.

New Vegas - One of the best games of all time.

Dungeon Siege - Dunno, I don't play ARPGs.

South Park - Very good until the zombie apocalypse ruined everything that came after, which felt like filler. Damn shame.

Tyranny, Pillars of Eternity series - I'd outgrown RTwP by this point and couldn't get into any of them. Yes I know Deadfire got a turn-based mode later, but a bit too late and without the game being designed whole-cloth with it in mind, the patch could not address the issue of far too much combat.

The Outer Worlds - I abandoned it early due to the poor handling of stealth, turning it into far too much of a shooter for my tastes. The only reason I tolerate games like Deus Ex, Dishonored and Cyberpunk is because I can bypass their clunky combat mechanics, which is not possible in TOW.

Grounded - Dunno, don't play survival games. Maybe if I had a regular group to play co-op with, but no chance solo.

Pentiment - Should be up my alley, just need to overcome inertia to get around to it. It's only been out for ...wait it's been more than a year??? Where did the time go? (To be honest, I spent less time on video games in 2023 since, oh, probably since the late 80s)

[sorophx]

8 hours ago, xzar_monty said:

I always find this argument slightly peculiar, if indeed the only complaint is size.

If someone is a reader of books or a player of games, it doesn't seem relevant to me to worry about length / size, if you're going to spend that time reading / playing anyway. If the books or the games are bad then by all means toss them aside, that's what I also do, but if not, where's the problem?

Btw, I'm not sure about this but isn't BG2, for instance, bigger than Deadfire? I bring it up because you mention DD, so you're likely to have played that.

I think it has more to do with "density. an example: I was trying to read a book that's 380 pages. I had about 50 pages left when some stuff came up, and I had to put the book down for a month. 1 month later I come back to it, open the book at the page I left off and realize I don't remember who all the characters are except for the main character. so I just put the book back on the shelf. maybe I'll come back to it in a couple of years and start over.

this is exactly what happened when I tried beating PoE, and PoE II for the first time. I would make a pause, not play them for a month or so, try to come back and realize I couldn't remember any of my builds, spells, what quests I still had to finish, couldn't recognize any of the NPCs etc. there's just too much stuff to memorize.

and yeah, if I were to try and continue my latest playthrough of BG2, I'd have to start over because I don't remember what I was doing in the game. BG2 is huge, very hard to get through in one big session, if you want to 100% it. I restarted my BG2 playthrough at least 4 times back when it first came out, but then I had more patience, more free time and more focus. nowadays I wouldn't even bother and just watch a YouTube playthrough.

[BruceVC]

5 hours ago, kanisatha said:

As much as I'm a fan of Obsidian, I've only ever played three of their games: NwN2, PoE, and PoE2. This is mainly because I have not been willing, in the past, to go outside of fantasy setting based RPGs for my games. And for me, all three of these games were fantastic!

Have   you   never played any post-apocalyptic games  like Fallout,  Metro  or  STALKER

Yes they not fantasy but they are  an excellent genre   and  they have  some similar components  like monsters  become  mutants or mutated  creatures  

 

Edited March 19 by BruceVC

[melkathi]

3 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

The main thing I like about Obsidian is the writing quality. Gameplay can be hit or miss with me, but I know when I buy an Obsidian title, it will be well written. I'm pretty sure I've played them all, except that Pathfinder card game and the tank game they helped with. 

There are a lot of other developers that can't pull off the writing Obsidian does. Bethesda. Owlcat. Larian. The list goes on. Obsidian can write circles around them.  

Owlcat's writing improved a LOT in Rogue Trader. Goes to show what a comprehensive setting with a detailed lore bible can do. Owlcat is doing a better job at it than a lot of Games Workshop's own Black Library authors. Which is not much praise, come to think of it, taking into account my opinion of those authors.

Edited March 19 by melkathi

[HoonDing]

I'd replay NWN2 if I could still patch it

I'm allergic to all other RTWP crap in my dotage so never bothered with POE