Yes! Great post! Made me think about why I love games. Be warned…I am in a a sappy mood… but…
I think there is often the “first” element with the games we love. When I was in college, I had a Playstation that I used for tertris and occasional hot shots golf with pals. But I was not a gamer at all, really. Too busy. Then my mom died suddenly and my family did not do Christmas that year. So there I was over winter break…bored and sad and all alone in my apartment hundreds of miles from home. A friend gave me a bunch of games months before and on a whim, I put in the one with a red dragon on the cover. It was DAO.
I played it probably 20 times. I had no idea that games like that existed. Stories you could be part of??!! As an old school and avid reader of fantasy and sci fi, it was like a dream come true! II thought games were mindless escapism. I had no idea how rich and complex they could be.
Then the same friend suggested Mass Effect but said that it was better on a computer. So I built my first gaming PC, buying a piece a paycheck. Then it was ME series and DA2 and Dragon’s Dogma and Jade Empire. Then it was the Witcher series. Then the Dreamfall games. So many wonderful tales!
Then DAI was announced. That is when I discovered online chatrooms about gaming. I adored the discussions so much (still do)! Other people loved gaming as much as me??!!! Other people spend hours talking and critiquing every last drop of lore???!!! How on earth did I miss all this?
Then MEA came out and some pals got it for me as my graduation gift, because by that time gaming was my number one hobby. I mean, it was shite…still sweet of them tho. At least I had Bioshock to ease the disappointment.
Then it was building an awesome computer for CP77. Tho it too was a disappointing game, the new rig meant multiplayer games and late night streaming with friends. I played my first fast paced shooters and then the Assassin Creed games. Then it was indies with amazing pixel art and walking sims with quiet stories and beautiful puzzle games like the Witness and funny ones like Portal.
Only then did I feel able to try CRPGs, which seemed hard core to me. So much stuff to keep up with! I never played DnD because I am a loner and the whole isometric thing and RTwP was daunting. But…I figured XCOM prepared me a little for managing parties (lol—-naive fool!)…so then it was messing around in BG, POE, and DOS. Great fun all in different ways despite steeper learning curves.
So…I have now played a crap ton of games, like most people here. And I have enjoyed them all.
And I will say this. Nothing…absolutely nothing…has ever come close to DAO. Not a single other game, for me. Those characters are like family. The story is like a real memory. The lore is my absolute favorite. And it is what made me love games. It was my gateway, just like BG1 was for others here. A gateway with a red dragon.
So I totally understand everyone who laments that BG3 does not capture the spirit of BG1and2. 100%. I was the same way about DAI. Ye gods, how I raged about it in the forums. They pooped on the lore! They did not capture the essence! Etc. Etc. Etc.
But then I met an awesome fellow gamer that I play alot of stuff with. We talk about games all the time and she plays everything and has super strong and insightful opinions. And lo and behold, her gateway game was…DAI. Lol.
So…it may just be that someone out there picks up BG3 and it becomes their first gaming love. And in 15 years, they may feel the same about Gale and Lazael and Asterion as I feel about Alistair and Wynne and Sten. So…feeling sappy…I am a little more forgiving if it is not true DnD or 5e or even BG. In the grand scheme of things, it is a story based rpg and new ones can never be a bad thing imho. For us seasoned gamers, we have our ideal…that never goes away. And this game will never live up to that for most people.
But as someone’s first, it very well might.
Anyway, that is my old lady musing. Happy Thanksgiving all! 😊
