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Post by richyroo on Dec 18, 2023 9:51:14 GMT
When it comes to the quests, this game doesn't hold your hand. Most of the quests you will miss if you don't explore or read notes left behind.
I like how it works, it feels more organic that you have to find them and thus makes exploration far more rewarding
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Post by muddyfunster on Dec 18, 2023 10:30:02 GMT
I just reached level 4 about 25hrs in. Venturing out into the Western half (might not actually be half as not revealed it all yet) of the Act 1 map, it does feel like death awaits in all new directions.
I have discovered and attempted 4 fights which I've mentally noted down as 'too hard, come back at level 5' but I'm not really sure where I should go now to actually get that extra XP.
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Post by Mark1412 on Dec 19, 2023 13:32:00 GMT
Finished with what I felt was the best possible ending, having heard lots of stories of people not happy with theirs. Almost every character had a satisfying ending and Gale becoming a teacher was at least in keeping with him being a bore . Started this knowing almost nothing about D&D or Balder's Gate and pretty convinced that will nestle into my top ten when I look back on it. Stunned by how reactive it is to your choices. Certainly the high point of this generation so far. |
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Post by richyroo on Dec 19, 2023 13:41:11 GMT
Stunned by how reactive it is to your choices. Certainly the high point of this generation so far.
This is why I am definitely going to do a second playthrough at some point. I have watched a few videos on youtube and I can see that there is a LOT of content that I never saw due to the decisions I made.
It's crazy just how much work Larian put into this game in regards to choices you make and the way you play the game.
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Post by bichii2 on Dec 19, 2023 13:48:36 GMT
Yeah these first top posts on this page shows how I fucked up. Sounds like I skipped loads by accident. Shame.
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Post by Mark1412 on Dec 19, 2023 15:27:39 GMT
Stunned by how reactive it is to your choices. Certainly the high point of this generation so far.
This is why I am definitely going to do a second playthrough at some point. I have watched a few videos on youtube and I can see that there is a LOT of content that I never saw due to the decisions I made.
It's crazy just how much work Larian put into this game in regards to choices you make and the way you play the game.
I came to it off the back of the disappointment of the generation, the procedurally generated Starfield, so those early hours were staggering. |
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alastair
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Post by alastair on Dec 19, 2023 15:38:58 GMT
Yeah these first top posts on this page shows how I fucked up. Sounds like I skipped loads by accident. Shame. You could start again with a fresh character and pay attention...  Your journal fills up with quests pretty quickly but they don't all show up as map markers. Some span across multiple acts so don't fret when you can't seem to progress. |
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on Dec 19, 2023 15:46:09 GMT
I'm hag hunting again in act 3. That was one of my favourite parts of act 1 as it all seemingly came out of a nothing encounter on the road. |
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harrypalmer
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Post by harrypalmer on Dec 19, 2023 16:10:44 GMT
Finished with what I felt was the best possible ending, having heard lots of stories of people not happy with theirs. Almost every character had a satisfying ending and Gale becoming a teacher was at least in keeping with him being a bore . Started this knowing almost nothing about D&D or Balder's Gate and pretty convinced that will nestle into my top ten when I look back on it. Stunned by how reactive it is to your choices. Certainly the high point of this generation so far. Same! Finished at about 1am last night and was very pleased with my ending, everyone seemed happy! Playtime:110 hours. Also went in with no real knowledge of the lore and was sucked in big time. The game itself is simply astonishing in it's scope when it comes to how well the story reacts to your actions, I've never experienced anything like it, certainly not from a AAA game like this. The final boss fight was an absolute cluster fuck though! But I did summon about a million allies which was immense, so I can understand why it struggled. From a story perspective it gave me very strong Mass Effect vibes, which I enjoyed greatly. |
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Post by Mark1412 on Dec 19, 2023 17:17:44 GMT
Ha, yeah, the strain on the PS5 of that final boss was real and sapped some of the drama.
I kept forgetting to summon which I regretted afterwards.
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Dec 19, 2023 17:55:51 GMT
They added all that ending in a patch. The original it was just the chat on the docks, which they've also added loads of lines to in patches. Initially I seem to remember Shadowheart, Minsc and Jaheria all just stood their nodding and didn't say anything. Which was a bit naff.
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harrypalmer
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Post by harrypalmer on Dec 19, 2023 19:59:19 GMT
Yeah I read that, such a shame. The patched ending is really nice.
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Post by Mark1412 on Dec 19, 2023 20:13:39 GMT
Wow, some patch then. I really liked that it provided a satisfying goodbye but gave you some agency in what happened next too. I would have been disappointed had it ended on the docks because I was far more interested in my companion stories than the saving of the city. Was genuinely relieved to hear from Karlach at that point about what she had found. |
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Post by Vandelay on Dec 19, 2023 21:10:52 GMT
They added all that ending in a patch. The original it was just the chat on the docks, which they've also added loads of lines to in patches. Initially I seem to remember Shadowheart, Minsc and Jaheria all just stood their nodding and didn't say anything. Which was a bit naff. I'm not sure how patched my game was when I got to the end (sometime in September), but the ending was really disappointing after what had come before. Felt really shoddy and half arsed compared to everything else. A couple of characters got a little bit of closure Wyll and Karlach went off to the hell place - even with that I think one of them didn't actually say anything throughout the whole scene and there was a conversation with the companion I romanced, but none of it felt complete at all, particularly the animation and direction of the scenes. |
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zephro
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Post by zephro on Dec 19, 2023 21:12:45 GMT
They added all that ending in a patch. The original it was just the chat on the docks, which they've also added loads of lines to in patches. Initially I seem to remember Shadowheart, Minsc and Jaheria all just stood their nodding and didn't say anything. Which was a bit naff. I'm not sure how patched my game was when I got to the end (sometime in September), but the ending was really disappointing after what had come before. Felt really shoddy and half arsed compared to everything else. A couple of characters got a little bit of closure Wyll and Karlach went off to the hell place - even with that I think one of them didn't actually say anything throughout the whole scene and there was a conversation with the companion I romanced, but none of it felt complete at all, particularly the animation and direction of the scenes. That's the original. I loaded up my old saves to see all the new stuff. Just to get some closure. |
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Post by Zuluhero on Dec 20, 2023 15:07:30 GMT
Don't really want to read through the thread, so apologies if this has been answered before, but how is this on ps5 with a pad?
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harrypalmer
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Post by harrypalmer on Dec 20, 2023 15:17:36 GMT
It's absolutely fine. Bit fiddly in some situations but never felt bad.
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Post by Mark1412 on Dec 20, 2023 15:54:52 GMT
It was what put me off initially but I'd second it's absolutely fine. Worst thing about it is by the end there are lots of radial wheels when attacking but no time pressures to make it any more than a mild inconvenience and you can rearrange them to your liking.
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Post by richyroo on Dec 21, 2023 14:22:27 GMT
Don't really want to read through the thread, so apologies if this has been answered before, but how is this on ps5 with a pad?
I've never played this on PC, only on PS5 and Xbox.
I thought the controller worked EXTREMELY well. Its quite impressive really how everything is at your fingertips. The radial menus work very well and you can switch between them all fairly quickly. It's clear that they gave the controller a lot of thought when they integrated it into this game, it certainly wasn't an afterthought.
Only slight downside I would say would be the inventory management. It can be a little bit fiddly, but it certainly didn't annoy me or get in the way of my enjoyment.
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Post by dasbooter on Dec 21, 2023 18:22:47 GMT
Yass, the latest hotfix fixed my bugged Halsin/Thaniel quest.
Damn.. that portal defence fight was annoying. Failed first attempt. I have a bad habit of somehow breaking my big AoE concentration spells by accident.
Edit:
I will equip the blindness/darkness spell for next time
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on Dec 21, 2023 19:33:24 GMT
Weirdly I found that really easy. I think I just had SH cast turn undead the spirit guardians. Gale cast wall of fire and then we just picked up the stragglers  |
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Post by dasbooter on Dec 21, 2023 19:44:01 GMT
Weirdly I found that really easy. I think I just had SH cast turn undead the spirit guardians. Gale cast wall of fire and then we just picked up the stragglers Sounds good. Yeah I was thinking as I triggered the fight "wish I had Shadowheart in my party" :-D |
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on Dec 21, 2023 19:45:54 GMT
What kind of maniac doesn’t have Shadowheart in their party?! |
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Post by Chopsen on Dec 21, 2023 21:02:22 GMT
o/
Miserable posh bint.
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Post by Chopsen on Dec 21, 2023 21:04:45 GMT
Bet you she votes Tory
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harrypalmer
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Post by harrypalmer on Dec 21, 2023 21:54:04 GMT
I think I had her in my party the entire game.
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on Dec 21, 2023 22:38:59 GMT
The one thing I kind of regret is not varying my party more. I’ve not used jaheira, halsin or wyll at all. Karlach has been a mainstay even if lae’zel may be technically better. But Karlach is cool. Shadowheart has been in the whole time then Astarion and Gale rotate.
If I play again I’ll definitely mix it up a bit.
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harrypalmer
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Post by harrypalmer on Dec 21, 2023 23:04:11 GMT
Yeah same. Although I did briefly try all the characters for quests I pretty much stuck with SH, Gale, Karlach the entire game although Laz comes in for the tough fights.
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RobEG
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Post by RobEG on Dec 21, 2023 23:07:11 GMT
Laz is currently being tortured by Orin somewhere  |
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Post by muddyfunster on Dec 21, 2023 23:21:22 GMT
Ok, I'm now having a superb time with this. 50 odd hours in, still in act 1 but now in the Underdark. I think the Grove and opening areas were an 8/10 (good but quite generic RPG in feel) but I'm just loving the exploration down here. Some great quests, and intriguing areas. At level 5 feeling reasonably powerful too, and the combat is now fun.
It's scratching the itch I hoped it would: the Dragon Age Origins one. The combat is a bit different but the feel of it is very similar. The companions dynamics are reminiscent and it's beginning to get that epic quest vibe. This bit reminds me of the Deep Roads. It's reminiscent of that old school Bioware structure on a good way
Really my only complaint is I still don't really get a lot of the lore and the game hasn't made a great effort to explain it all. It doesn't have a glossary does it?
I'm not really a fan of reading loads of in-game books just to know who is who and I'm fairly lost. I had to look up what Faerun was earlier and it turns out that's pretty fundamental (but unless I missed it, was not explained). I'd just like to know the basics like what year is it, how long has passed since some of the events mentioned etc. Any good resources for absorbing this kind of thing?
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