Game: What game are you currently playing??

[Buffalobiian]

Got partway through Elden Ring last year then stopped to study for exams. Didn't get back into it again but I'll try to do it this year. I stopped at Melania and also haven't yet beaten the doggo with the black sword.

Bought Hogwarts but instead of starting that, I started playing Wo Long instead. I'm enjoying it more than I expected. I'm pretty much playing it like Sekiro. I've heard of some poison/lightning builds out there that work well, but I've always hated grinding for gear and building sets so I might skip all.

[Ryllharu]

It's why I have no interest in Baldur's Gate 3 right now, so much choice the game promises, but I'm sure I cannot be a transphobic, racist asshole that has 3 wives who don't know about each other (to use an extreme example of what I'd like to see in games).

So...you're wrong. Not sure what 'anti-woke' trash youtuber (they whip themselves on the same purity tests the woke crowd does, just reverse) you're watching to pick up that impression from.

BG3 lets you be racist, should you choose to be. It's Forgotten Realms after all, race is a huge deal in that D&D setting. Gith and Lolth-Sworn Drow are inherently racists and have plenty of dialogue options to enable it. Several NPCs and even certain companions start out as racists.

BG3 lets you attempt to have multiple lovers within your party...see if it works out for you because they all have their own personalities and operate like dynamic characters instead of "Press X for Romance" like many, many other RPGs do. But yes, you can romance anyone. If you can figure them out enough for them to like you back. There's plenty of NPCs in implied (not in your face) same-sex relationships. The character creation pronouns, genitals, and body type really play no part in the game except what you see and hear on screen. Nobody really cares about it. The twitter woke crowd hates it anyway because genitals have a "Default" but none of them are playing the game because otherwise, they'd be saying how good it is.

BG3 lets you be a shining superhero doing good everywhere. BG3 lets you be someone who intends to do good, but backfires and forces you to live with the consequences of your choices. BG3 lets you be a complete asshole. BG3 lets you be a tormented/willing monster with The Dark Urge and its unique dialogues and cinematics.

BG3 is easy Game of the Year in a year that is flush with some truly amazing games. Easily best cRPG of the last 10 years, and arguably the best RPG in the last 20 years. It is the purest representation of what it feels like to play D&D tabletop with a DM that is willing to let you push the boundaries of their setting.

It's a really fucking good game. You're doing yourself a disservice to dismiss it for something so stupid.

[MFauli]

So...you're wrong. Not sure what 'anti-woke' trash youtuber (they whip themselves on the same purity tests the woke crowd does, just reverse) you're watching to pick up that impression from.

BG3 lets you be racist, should you choose to be. It's Forgotten Realms after all, race is a huge deal in that D&D setting. Gith and Lolth-Sworn Drow are inherently racists and have plenty of dialogue options to enable it. Several NPCs and even certain companions start out as racists.

BG3 lets you attempt to have multiple lovers within your party...see if it works out for you because they all have their own personalities and operate like dynamic characters instead of "Press X for Romance" like many, many other RPGs do. But yes, you can romance anyone. If you can figure them out enough for them to like you back. There's plenty of NPCs in implied (not in your face) same-sex relationships. The character creation pronouns, genitals, and body type really play no part in the game except what you see and hear on screen. Nobody really cares about it. The twitter woke crowd hates it anyway because genitals have a "Default" but none of them are playing the game because otherwise, they'd be saying how good it is.

BG3 lets you be a shining superhero doing good everywhere. BG3 lets you be someone who intends to do good, but backfires and forces you to live with the consequences of your choices. BG3 lets you be a complete asshole. BG3 lets you be a tormented/willing monster with The Dark Urge and its unique dialogues and cinematics.

BG3 is easy Game of the Year in a year that is flush with some truly amazing games. Easily best cRPG of the last 10 years, and arguably the best RPG in the last 20 years. It is the purest representation of what it feels like to play D&D tabletop with a DM that is willing to let you push the boundaries of their setting.

It's a really fucking good game. You're doing yourself a disservice to dismiss it for something so stupid.

But here's the important question: Does the game punish me, if I'm being racist and/or evil. That's usually the issue with morality systems, that the developers set what is good and what is evil and usually the consequences are that being evil means getting punished in some way. See Mass Effect where being evil most of the time means a quest ends way early and you miss out on a ton story. What's it like in BG3.

Anyway, since you seem to be playing the game: Can you tell me what makes this game so special that EVERYONE is hyping it right now. I watched some review videos and yes, it looks good. like a good crpg. But nothing outstandingly new, like, if you like crpgs, this will be an awesome game, but if one doesn't like crpgs, this doesnt look like a game-changer. What makes it standout. Is the story THAT good or what.

Your posting has me on the cusp of buying it, even though I really didn't plan to. I played some crpgs in the past, I always loved the atmosphere, but the gameplay gets so frustrating at some point (healing is always cumbersome, with all my party having some sort of "wounded" status for hours, lol) that I quit. Crpgs I played: Icewind Dale, Drakensang, Pillars of Eternity (very little of it, like, beginning hours), and then, if it even counts, Dragon Age Origins.

Thanks for your input.

[DarthEnderX]

But here's the important question: Does the game punish me, if I'm being racist and/or evil. That's usually the issue with morality systems, that the developers set what is good and what is evil and usually the consequences are that being evil means getting punished in some way.

You mean like...the logical consequences your character WOULD face if you acted that way?

Would be a pretty piss-poor game if it didn't.

[Ryllharu]

But here's the important question: Does the game punish me, if I'm being racist and/or evil. That's usually the issue with morality systems, that the developers set what is good and what is evil and usually the consequences are that being evil means getting punished in some way. See Mass Effect where being evil most of the time means a quest ends way early and you miss out on a ton story. What's it like in BG3.

The super evil path (indulging The Dark Urge)? I think it does, because killing certain NPCs may be out of your control, but also gives you unique questlines as well. That's kind of the whole point of that Origin storyline, and not really recommended for first playthrough.

Normal evil with a custom character or the other Origin ones? No. You get different rewards. Easier fights, different fights, more difficult fights, different loot you wouldn't get otherwise, etc. D&D doesn't do morality scales the way other games do, and BG3 especially doesn't. From the start of Early Access, being evil was very much a viable path. They still know that most people won't play evil (it's about 34% of players), but Larian fully kitted-out experiences for those who do or will on a replay.

Anyway, since you seem to be playing the game: Can you tell me what makes this game so special that EVERYONE is hyping it right now. I watched some review videos and yes, it looks good. like a good crpg. But nothing outstandingly new, like, if you like crpgs, this will be an awesome game, but if one doesn't like crpgs, this doesnt look like a game-changer. What makes it standout. Is the story THAT good or what.

Everyone is hyping it because it really is that good. It is a complete experience. "A single player game that doesn't have microtransactions, DLC, or Season Passes," you might hear people gleefully state. I'm at 63 hours, and I'm maybe halfway through the game, doing absolutely everything I can. And it is a lot. There's quite a few different ways to resolve any questline: Search for ways to 'break' the encounter, sneak around, do research (talk to people, find evidence elsewhere), snoop, steal items, assassinate people first, etc. There's puzzle bosses, there's many ways to completely avoid combat (and you still get EXP for it), there's entire environments that are hostile to you. It's consistently a challenge that will require you to think.
Companions feel like actual people. They'll disagree with you. You have to earn their trust, which you can also lose again. They have goals that don't automatically align with your own. They can leave. You can kill them (not recommended). They can be respec'd if you don't like their class or build. The story, the lore, they adventure, they're not just good, they're great.

Failing rolls and checks? Actually worth it. They'll give you something interesting behind that fail, rather than blocking you out of content most of the time. Failing certain combat situations will change the game on you.

Your posting has me on the cusp of buying it, even though I really didn't plan to. I played some crpgs in the past, I always loved the atmosphere, but the gameplay gets so frustrating at some point (healing is always cumbersome, with all my party having some sort of "wounded" status for hours, lol) that I quit. Crpgs I played: Icewind Dale, Drakensang, Pillars of Eternity (very little of it, like, beginning hours), and then, if it even counts, Dragon Age Origins.

Running around wounded is D&D to me though. I play it pushing the boundaries of how far I can go between Long Rests (full heals and restored spell slots). But you don't have to. You can long-rest after every other encounter if you want, the game is balanced toward it. There's a handful of quests that are time-sensitive, though, so keep that in mind, but they're not main quest ones. If you know D&D 5E as a system well, the balance on normal difficulty is perfect. You can play non-optimized characters extremely well. There's an easier mode if you just want to experience the story and find it too challenging. There's plenty of beginner guides on youtube to get you over the skill/system hurdles if you need them (fextralife/wolfheartfps both good choices for those).

You can quick save anywhere. In the middle of dialogue if you want.

And Pillars of Eternity was overhyped garbage. It got ruined by min-maxer players in Early Access that Obsidian listened to too closely. Their system that's not D&D expects you to play a very particular way. I regret backing its kickstarter given the way it turned out.

[MFauli]

The super evil path (indulging The Dark Urge)? I think it does, because killing certain NPCs may be out of your control, but also gives you unique questlines as well. That's kind of the whole point of that Origin storyline, and not really recommended for first playthrough.

Normal evil with a custom character or the other Origin ones? No. You get different rewards. Easier fights, different fights, more difficult fights, different loot you wouldn't get otherwise, etc. D&D doesn't do morality scales the way other games do, and BG3 especially doesn't. From the start of Early Access, being evil was very much a viable path. They still know that most people won't play evil (it's about 34% of players), but Larian fully kitted-out experiences for those who do or will on a replay.

So, could I play as a "hero" who's generally up to fighting the big bad guy (whoever that is), but be evil or "mean" in individual situations. Basically, let's the main quest says "go defeat that ogre that keeps eating people". So I kill the ogre because I'm the hero. BUT there's this one npc that's been getting on my nerves, so I send him into the woods where he gets eaten by wolves. Am I branded as evil now, despite doing good overall.

And then specifically on the topic of sexual stuff, because that's always lotta fun in games: You said you can romance anyone, but I've read there's only a handful of romances, for straight male players there's only 2 female options in the game. So what did you mean. And generally speaking, how sexually mischievous can I be in this game. Can I hit on two women at the same time and talk my way into a threesome. Stuff lik that.

If you can kill off party members, can you recruit new ones. Or is that basically turning the game into ultra hard-mode, lol.

Thanks for your answers. I'm about 10 hours from finishing AC Valhalla, then I'll probably get this game.

nderX;577985]You mean like...the logical consequences your character WOULD face if you acted that way?

Would be a pretty piss-poor game if it didn't.

Besides the general idiocy of your postng:

1.) It's a fantasy-video game. Not the real world. A medieval fantasy-world that punishes me for being transphobic would be utterly ridiculous, lol.[/B]

2.) What I meant was whether or not the game would be punishing for me beng evil OR whether it'd be punishment by individual npcs. Basically: If I'm being racist to one npc or kill one npc, will THE WHOlE WORlD now treat me as "evil" or can I be evil to one npc, but stll be perceived as good to other npcs. That's an important difference.

[Ryllharu]

So, could I play as a "hero" who's generally up to fighting the big bad guy (whoever that is), but be evil or "mean" in individual situations. Basically, let's the main quest says "go defeat that ogre that keeps eating people". So I kill the ogre because I'm the hero. BUT there's this one npc that's been getting on my nerves, so I send him into the woods where he gets eaten by wolves. Am I branded as evil now, despite doing good overall.

And then specifically on the topic of sexual stuff, because that's always lotta fun in games: You said you can romance anyone, but I've read there's only a handful of romances, for straight male players there's only 2 female options in the game. So what did you mean. And generally speaking, how sexually mischievous can I be in this game. Can I hit on two women at the same time and talk my way into a threesome. Stuff lik that.

If you can kill off party members, can you recruit new ones. Or is that basically turning the game into ultra hard-mode, lol.

Thanks for your answers. I'm about 10 hours from finishing AC Valhalla, then I'll probably get this game.

There's no morality scale. None. This is D&D 5E, alignments are gone. If you do one quest "good" and the next quest "evil," the whole world does not know. Someone might remember what you've done though, but that's because they were affected by it. The main plotlines, kinda, but it'll be pretty obvious why, what you did, and who you sided with; they are big main quests for a reason, but even then you are not locked in.

That said, if you play paladin, follow your oath. The oath doesn't care if you're evil or good. The companion who is a paladin by default is evil.

Everyone is available for romancing. There's three women and three men. There is an additional man and additional woman, but they cannot both join your party. Again, you'll figure out why. If you pick one of the Origin characters to play as, you obviously cannot romance yourself. One person is into polyamory, ain't gonna tell you who, spoil it for yourself if you want, but that's your loss. Otherwise, try it and find out.
Two additional companions on top of all those are not romanceable, and acquired much later.

There are customizable hirelings in case you need to replace party members. If you play The Dark Urge, you will likely need to use them.

[MFauli]

Are customizable hirelings temporary/die permanently or can they fully replace bonafide party members.

Regarding romancing, I see. It sounded like you could romance any random npc in the world if you chose to. So romancing is limited to party members.

[Ryllharu]

Yeah, not quite Fable.

But the ones you do have are very well-written, dynamic, and require figuring out how to get them to trust you...except best girl Bae'zel. She just wants to fuck you for the novelty. Lae'zel has the best line when you turn her down though.

It has also come to my attention that there is indeed a foursome possible with some NPCs and one of the companions. There's a ton of variations to a lot of the available romance scenes as the game progresses.

[Buffalobiian]

I've been playing Lies of P for the past week or two. It's a blast. Souls-like that feels like a modern DS done with Sekiro-levels of storytelling (so slightly cryptic, but the NPCs tell you what's happening eventually).

I've been playing with the Azure Dragon Glaive that pretty lets me play this like Sekiro. The parry windows are certainly more generous than DS.

[Buffalobiian]

Black Myth Wukong was pretty fun. I have to make it look like ass in order to run on my 8 year old graphics card, but the core gameplay remains unchanged. The Spellbinder ability you get midway through the game is really strong.

[MFauli]

Replaying "Mini Ninjas". Not as good as I remembered, but I have nothing that I really want to play currently and it's a nice little distraction.

[Buffalobiian]

Khazan the First Berserker is turning out to be pretty fun.

[shinta|hikari]

Been avoiding soulslike games recently because they are stressful. Have enough of that IRL.

My wife and I are playing Squirreled Away, a sandbox game where you are squirrels. Cozy fun.

[Buffalobiian]

Been avoiding soulslike games recently because they are stressful. Have enough of that IRL.

It's definitely stressful. And addictive. And very bad for study right now.

I'm playing a little bit of Split Fiction with my family members on the side. It's relaxing and also overall enjoyable. It doesn't create the same adrenaline surge though.