Boulder's Gate 3 (there maybe Droobs ahead)

Unless there's something seriously wrong with Starfield it should do fine. Bethesda gets (often well deserved) flak from RPG enthusiasts, but their audience is gigantic.

I doubt BG3 will have any significant impact on the AAA industry at all. With the possible exception of Obsidian under Microsoft (still more in the AA space) there aren't any studios tied to big publishers that make games even remotely like this. I can't think of any large company I'd even want to see try, unless Bioware miraculously resurrects itself with Deadwolf.

If it's successful enough to help keep these kinds of RPGs relevant and makes enough money to let Larian keep doing their thing that's a good outcome.

I'm guessing Wizard of the Coast are currently trying to work out how much money to throw at Larian to do a BG4 (or something else D&D related).

nwn3 seems like a great candidate.

They've fallen for sure but carcass maybe a bit harsh. It's not unthinkable that the next Mass Effect or Dragon Age will be good, though I grant you it's hard to feel optimistic. Obviously if you want 90s Bioware back it ain't happening.

I've started a dark urge solo run for when I'm not playing co-op now this is a very different experience. The first time it triggered it made me laugh out loud

I feel like you haven’t seen a console in action in around 20 years.

I've always had Nintendo ones (or before that Sega). But I did get a 360 and a PS3 during that generation but gave them both away when the PS4 came out, nothing struck me as particularly vital. Plus I was pissy I didn't get a free PS4 unlike the cunts in marketing. 

What are the accessibility/font size settings on this like?

It's the only thing holding me back pre-ordering on ps5.

I'm worried about Obsidian now that MS own them, also Arkane. I don't really give a fuck about the AA/AAA etc. distinctions but they were big developers of the kind of game I enjoy and I'm worried they're going to go all homogenised and boring.

Thanks for that info skalpadda.

I'll have to have a think about it, and see if it's mentioned in any reviews

But their games are really popular, they don't need to learn anything. People like what they make

It means they made money. That's it

Yaay, bank holiday in Belgium. I clocked up 7 hours today.

I laughed out loud when, shortly after reaching level 5, I tried Gale's new level 3 spell 'lightning bolt'.
Unfortunately, I was stood on a wooden bridge at the time and the lighting bolt took out the bridge as well as 2 enemies and my entire party fell in a chasm and died.

Then I had yet another attempt at defeating .
.

So, for me, when I'm thinking about those big studios, it's not budgets I'm thinking about - it's the fact that the studios in those environments are at the mercy of a corporate bloat and risk-adverse decision making. In my opinion those things don't marry particularly well with creative enterprise. I also think this stuff is kind of cyclical, anyway - companies that start off focused on the artistry of their product make it big, then grow, then over-grow and typically their metrics of success become different and they either perpetually cater to the mass or die. I'm not blaming them, or trying to stick it to the corpos, it's just how things tend to go pretty much everywhere. So while I hope whatever Bioware & Besthesda put out works out, I don't go there expecting to love their games, or expecting them to veer much from whatever the established template of right now is. It can still happen though; Obsidian released Pentiment not that long ago, and that was awesome (though I appreciate it wasn't of this genre).

Gaming has such a wide sphere that we never seem more than a few years out from another exciting new concept or resurgence of a previously mined-out one, so while it can be a bit depressing that certain genres fall out of favour, I still am hopeful that we'll see some new (good) things yet in CRPGs before I'm too old to move my mouse in a straight line.