OK. I'm bringing back up the topic of random encounters because I just had some REALLY good experiences with random encounters in Solasta.
Holy crud! I went into the Badlands and suddenly got attacked by several orcs, two ogres and a tougher orc (can't remember what it was called). One of the toughest fights in the game that I've had so far and VERY exciting. My level 3 characters were surprised/ambushed in the middle of the night while resting on the road, and hey swarmed my 4 PCs and pounded on them. My half-orc barbarian went into a frenzy as soon as he could and got resistance, thankfully, tanking a good number of attacks against him. My druid barely got the chance to heal him and my sorcerer who was also taking a pounding. Fortunately, my sorcerer was able to cast Shatter a few times, and they were mostly clustered together. And fortunately my characters were rolling well. But dang! Exciting fight.
What I like about Random Encounters if they are done right:
1. You get to fight a variety of monsters; not just the ones who are set for the main storyline quests. In Solasta, I've fought elementals in the wild, wolves, eagles, orcs, goblins, ogres, bandits, and many, many more.
2. There are consequences for trying to rest in dangerous areas. You never know when an enemy might surprise attack you while you're trying to rest, and the more dangerous the area, the more dangerous the potential enemies that could attack you.
3. Makes the world feel a bit more alive. Instead of having a static world where nothing ever changes, random encounters provide sudden, surprise encounters. Even if you've played the game 1000 times, you might still have a different experience combat-wise because you could be roaming to an area that doesn't have enemies and suddenly have enemies pop out at you. You never know when you might round a corner and suddenly have someone attack you. It makes every door a bit more frightening and every corner a bit more nerve-wracking, especially if you're not doing well. Suddenly, sneaking becomes so much more valuable. I mean, I've played BG3 for over 500 hours, and I know where everything is in EA. I know when to sneak and when it's fine not to, and I can prepare for every fight and gimmick everything because I know exactly how to kill every single enemy in the game. After awhile, it gets stale and boring. Random Encounters would mean that suddenly, as I'm heading towards the bog, a pack of wolves pop out at me. Surprise! Wasn't expecting that.
That said, don't get me wrong, when Random Encounters aren't done right, it is pointless and stupid. However, if done well, Random Encounters can be VERY rewarding and fun.
