What are you playing at the moment?

[Vyn]

Going to fire BG3 up in a few, see you all next year.

[Zzzptm]

My wife got into it as well. It is fun times!

I'm doing a run as a druid, my wife is going in as a ranger, and I just started a separate bard run.

I'm barely into the bard run and already enjoying the differences in that character class, given the way I like to play a conversational/negotiating kind of character.

[Zzzptm]

Also, I found out the hard way that there are some doors you DO NOT want the element of surprise from opening suddenly... not all surprises are good ones in BG3! They are all fun ones from a game perspective, though.

[Charger]

Legendary military shooter DELTA FORCE is coming back!

Even in it's pre-alpha stage it looks fuckin' pretty!

[Vyn]

Just a short bit into BG3 at this point - interesting to see the small changes they made from the pre-release. Now, if I could just pop a long-lasting flying potion, I'd leave the losers to their collective fate and fly to Baldur's Gate for some proper R&R.

[Zzzptm]

Just a short bit into BG3 at this point - interesting to see the small changes they made from the pre-release. Now, if I could just pop a long-lasting flying potion, I'd leave the losers to their collective fate and fly to Baldur's Gate for some proper R&R.

Read that a speedrunner found a way to "win" the game in about 10 mins. It's very cheesy and something of a Samson act in how The Big Bad is dispatched, but it's a legit ending.

Myself, I'm starting over with an eye to maximizing my party's ranged damage per turn. I'll still want a tank in there, I imagine, but the Rogue, Ranger, and Sorcerer seem to be massive units for long-distance mayhem. I just got the Withers guy to my camp so I'm gonna do a bit of re-speccing for my companions...

[Zzzptm]

Still working through BG3. I'm in Act 2 and It's. Just. Incredible.

Got some buddies that I watch do a multiplayer run and there are issues with that, how the cameras swing around kinda crazy and it seems like actions get dropped. It may be due to them using controllers instead of keyboard + mouse, but since I can get some camera wonkiness in solo play, I'm thinking the game requires we take time to sort things - it's not a real-time shooter, so at least we do have a luxury of time.

But the camera issues were ones I dealt with in DOS2DE, so I can dance around those.

[Vyn]

I'll just throw this out there since it doesn't seem anyone here is playing BG3 except you and I. I'm still slightly less than half-way through Act 1, and this has to do with the Blighted Village.

: show

I like to kill the ogres rather than saving them for help fighting later on.

In the early-access version, the headgear the ogres dropped raised INT to 18, now it raises INT to 17. My character has an INT of 8, so he's gone from playing with his own drool to discussing the finer points of The Weave with Gale.

But if he'd had that one extra point...man...could have removed the parasite all by himself LOL

[Zzzptm]

^ That's why it don't go to 18.

: show

I also whack the ogres. I need XP and INT. Soon as I get the Headband of Brains, I re-spec my character to INT 8 on his own and boost up the other skills. Does this mean I pass on other cool hats? Yes. Do I regret that choice? Not at all.

I'm almost done with Act 2 in my run and I'm already thinking about my next run-through where I use a mod to increase experience-gathering speed and to allow up to level 20. It will require that I go with the mid-level of difficulty or tactical mode because the explorer mode won't allow for multiclassing. BUT... if I have a Rogue/Ranger build getting all kinds of ranged bonuses from subclasses... OH MYYYY!

PROTIP: Ranged combat is awesome in this game. Getting the whole crew to hide and park outside the enemy's range of visibility and enter combat one at a time is priceless. There are a few enemies where there's still a struggle after the second round, but by keeping things fast and deadly with other encounters, I've got plenty of dry HP to deal with those bosses and their bossery.

ANOTHER PROTIP: Keep those unique items handy. If not on your person, then with a party member or in the big trunk back at camp. Beats having to go back to all the traders to figure out which one you pawned the McGuffin to... only to discover it was the one that's not there anymore! AGGGGHHH!

[Zzzptm]

Not a spoiler, so no spoiler tags... the boss fight cutscenes are way cool, but the plot points that come out of them are the literary side of the thing that make it such a wonderful part of BG3. The dungeonmastering makes this the best choose-your-own-adventure I've ever done. Larian's telling a fantastic story.

In the playthrough I'm doing with my wife, I'm relishing the amazing views I saw before in my personal playthrough. And the story unfolds just as pleasingly on a re-read. How many longswords up do I give this game? 10 out of 10.


***

Now, for the tough love side... I like to do all the side quests. ALL of them. I'm a completist. I can never do a speed run, I still gotta open them chests and boxes and stuff. That being said, when I saw that I was leaving levels on the table after maxing out at 12 at what has turned out to be very early in Act 3, I couldn't handle that. I am now using a mod that allows up to level 20 and have left storytelling mode in my rear-view mirror and am on explorer so I can multiclass. Just be sure to have the 12th level in any one class be the last level you take, and the game doesn't break down and wonder what the blazes is going on. I have my justifications, but the biggest one is if I can qualify for level 13, I want level 13 please and thank you.

[Thelemech]

Fooling around with Starfield on Xbox
and so far I am going through the motions but things are improving as I go along.

[Vyn]

How do you like Starfield? I heard it was basically Skyrim in space, and I don't think that was a compliment.

[Zzzptm]

There be some buggy quests in Act 3 of BG3, so I will skip them and pretend all went well as I walk whistling past the graveyard, so to speak...

EDIT: To be honest, I checked out forums and reddits to see if they were bugged or not and even though some of them had workarounds, the bonuses at the end showed that the juice wasn't worth the squeeze in terms of payout. They're not for any main characters, so that's fine with me.

[Zzzptm]

Finished BG3, game of the year. There will be patches for the buggy bits and none of them were on main character story lines. I did all the side quests bar one that was an Act 3 bug and enjoyed some cracking storytelling. The final boss fight delivers a most fitting climax. So much so that the wrap-up seems hurried by comparison. But I let my imagination work with that and come up with the final word on the matter.

Great combat, great characters, great loot. Everything needed for it to be game of the year and an instant legend.

[Thelemech]

How do you like Starfield? I heard it was basically Skyrim in space, and I don't think that was a compliment.

I have been waiting for Starfield since it was announced back in 2018.
I must say that I am very underwhelmed and find the game somewhat boring in parts
I am very glad that I did not drop 90 dollars for it and I am playing on Gamepass.

I think that the game has tremendous potential and hopefully over time it will be improved

I am  really looking forward to the new Forza Motorsport and I pre-ordered the premium edition  damn thing cost me 150 dollars
I am so looking forward to playing it though