One result of my latest doctor’s visit is that I was told to stay off my cursed foot, at least until Wednesday, and to avoid much physical activity until everything heals up. This is not good! I’ve been imprisoned in my home for the last two and a half weeks — and I also got some new brain-fog medication (not that it treats the fog, it causes it.) I am going to go stir-crazy.
My daughter recommended that I pick up some new game, Baldur’s Gate 3, which is getting rave reviews, but of course it’s Skatje’s opinion that matters, so I did. It’s downloading now. Is my life over?
Probably. You’ll have to do some live play or at least a review. I’ve looked on with some interest, but I’m still neck deep in Diablo 4, so I haven’t looked very hard. But, I might be more apt to buy it during the Steam black friday sale…if it goes on sale.
Ah, so you’re going to compound your brain fog with brain worms. These brain worms can be a lot of fun though!
Some non-spoilery tips that you might appreciate:
– The game auto saves frequently, but you can also quick-save/quick-load at almost any time, even when in a conversation.
– Rather than hunt down equipment, click on a character’s equipment slot to see all the times carried by your party that can go there.
– Weapon stats can vary based on who’s looking/holding it.
Have fun!
“see all the /times/ carried by your party” should have been “see all the items carried by your party”. :P
Ah, PZ is a True Soul. Submit to the the authority of the Absolute.
Prepare to be offended by the insults done to cephalopod biology.
OK, I made a drow warlock.Somehow I’m on a giant tentacled ship, and I’m supposed to get off.
I died instead.
I dread to download this game, I get nothing done as it is, if I download this, I won’t get anything done either…
I sank many hours into Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2 when they came out around 25 years ago. I played through The Witcher a few years ago and got about two hours into The Witcher 2 before stalling out, with The Witcher 3 on the shelf too.
I still like the idea of playing computer games, and would have killed to have something as good as Baldur’s Gate 3 to play when I was younger, but I don’t seem to have the inclination anymore. Time moves on, I guess.
I heartily recommend the One Deck Dungeon games as a non-electronic way to get your game on while laid up: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/179275/one-deck-dungeon.
Tacitus@8: I reached a point like that years ago, still not sure why. Got fond memories of playing a bunch of games mostly back in the 80s and 90s, but the last commercial game I played was Warcraft III I think. Just lost interest after that, only played some roguelikes and similar simple free stuff now and then, but even that is rare these days.
Good choice downloading Baldur’s Gate 3. It is an exceptional game by all accounts, made with real love by people who value gaming as more than just a way to get people’s money. I will probably play it at some point myself, when I find the time. It is telling that major studios quickly issued statements that Baldur’s Gate 3 is such an exceptional product they could never create something like it for [insert unconvincing reason here]. Because they want to keep milking that sweet “Games as a Service” cash cow.
Blizzard, formerly one of the best companies in gaming, nowadays a corporate-owned money-making machine has recently offered skins for their Diablo IV characters in the shop, going for 25$ apiece. Which is absurd. So even if you loose interest in Baldur’s Gate 3 you have sent a signal with your purchase. Quality and love trump spectacle and greed.
Tacitus@8: Same start as you all those years ago, but the inclination to game is still strong. And Baldur’s Gate 3 is delightfully scratching that itch.
I’m saving the warlock for my “evil” playthrough. For now, I am a heroic illithid-smiting half-orc barbarian. Charisma, insight, deception? Ha! Who needs those things when you can yell at your problems and make them go away! And on the rare occasions that fails, I can (and have) used a goblin as a weapon to beat another goblin to death.
I’m about 60hrs in and somewhere in the middle of Act 2. There is a lot of meat on this game. Though I will say, inventory and party management can suck sometimes.
2 votes: I’d watch a PZ live play.
@Chabneruk #11
While I agree that a lot of what Blizzard does is a cash grab, I have been enjoying D4 more any other Diablo game and haven’t had to spend one extra cent. Skins are not required nor affect the gameplay in any way. If someone has the disposable income and irrational vanity to pay for skins or even the premium battle pass, I’ll not blame Blizzard for capitalizing on that. I value my money a bit more, though, so I will absolutely point at laugh at such dumb purchases.
I lost a great deal of last week, which I had off work, to it. So yes, doomed
Baldur’s Gate is too nice. You need the eldritch horrors of Scorn to be prepared for the return to work.
Make sure to save your game OFTEN.
You will make mistakes and/or die, and it’s rough to have to replay many hours of content if you forgot to save.
The game has occasional auto-saves, but they aren’t nearly as frequent as other types of games.
Having said that, the game is amazing. Stellar voice acting and writing. Excellent interpretation of 5e mechanics.
@drksky #11
True, there are worse offenders and from what I gather, D4 is rather good (the MMO aspects prevented me from buying it, though). It just hurts that Blizzard now belongs to the bad ones, after Blizzchung and the Cosby suite and that may be why they did come to mind first.
Though you would probably get hundreds of hours in excellent gameplay in every Steam sale for 25$.
Have you investigated getting a rolling aid? I don’t know how to name it, but there are rolling scooters you can get that you kneel on the leg above the cursed foot, and walk on your other foot. it has a handle bar to keep your balance. It’s a no-contact way to move about.
I don’t think I’m describing it well. According to the search engines, it’s a ‘broken foot scooter’
I shredded my ankle some years ago, before they invented these things, and every time I see someone using one, I get annoyed at my 3 months in a wheelchair back at the time…
My beloved and I played Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 together (and Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights 1 and 2…), and we’re very much looking forward to Baldur’s Gate 3. The challenge is finding uninterrupted play time when we can both be present in the context of very busy and differently-scheduled lives. I suspect neither the brain-fog nor the pain will be helpful to your playing, but it can be a very immersive world that might help to take your mind off both. And you’ll definitely never exhaust its possibilities!
It’s a bit difficult to find a balanced review of games like this. What I want to know if it is close to the quality of Planescape: Torment (the original), in terms of story and shit. IMO, most RPG games are basically a waste of time, and this is coming from someone who played many RPGs in the past. So far, Planescape, then probably Deus Ex and then maybe something like Bioshock have left a memorable impact in terms of story although I remember BG2 was fun in terms of game mechanics and combat. Maybe I got too old when it came to Dragon age series or Mass Effect or what not, but I found them kinda meh.
So the thought of sinking 100+ hours into this for another meh experience just makes me not want to play it.
You have entered a maze of twisty little passages.
Preordered BG3 – looks amazing. But the Mac version has been delayed :( Hopefully next month! I’m sure you’ll love it PZ.
I’ve got to admit that I’m with Tacitus here, but then I watched the trailer and saw Boo!
Damn, damn, damn… Could my misbehaving laptop handle this?
I’m running it on a Mac M1 through Steam, and it works fine. It’s not fully updated for the MI yet, but yeah, they say it will be out in September.
Wait, playing together? How do you do that? Is this multiplayer?
So far I’m at little risk of having it suck my life away. It’s so complex that it’s mildly frustrating — I play for an hour or so, and then set it aside in frustration because I have so little idea of what I’m doing.
I’m not a gamer, never played Baldur’s Gate, but I’ve seen it on shared screens, and the landscapes look awesome at least. I’m guessing that tentacled ship looked pretty awesome at least.
bravus @#19: Jealous! I would love to get my beloved into this game! But her gaming taste starts and ends with Civilization 6 and Stardew Valley. Which isn’t bad considering she had never played PC games before meeting me. Her daughter is big into D&D tho, so I’m hopeful I can talk her into a family BG3 game.
PZ @24: Yup, it is definitely multiplayer, 2 players local or 4 players online, but I haven’t had a chance to test it. The multiplayer seems to be pretty seamless drop in and out, Doesn’t look like it supports console/PC cross-play, but PC/Mac should work. I have heard that once a friend’s custom character joins your party, you can’t remove them later. So having a separate dedicated friends save is probably better than having folks drop in on your main playthrough.
The game expected 100,000 people playing at the same time; instead over 900,000 people were playing at the same time within a day or two of launch.
I am very amused at the reaction of the TRUE GAMERS TM who have already modified the game so that there is no nonwhite people and no possible gay s e x.