Larian just cant help themselves. We WILL get DOS2-like magical items in huge quantities.
I used to play BG2 with a mod that made EVERY single magic items UNIQUE, no copies, and shifted them around in the world (even regular magic +1, +2 , ...weapons) And just that ALONE made the game incredibly fun and rewarding. You had only ONE Longsword +2 in the world, or 1 pair of boots of swiftness or a single ring of protection xxx...Not to mention the amazing item historical descriptions/stories we had.
But yea, doing this in 2022...rofl. Me wants my MMO COLOR CODED green /blue/ orange /purple /red /black / indigo/ LOOT lv1, and more LOOT lv2 to replace my LOOT lv3. GIME LOOT lv4.
Ive mentioned this before, for DOS2 if you removed ALL random GREEN, BLUE, PURPLE magical items and just added tons more unique ORANGE items, just called them MAGICAL ITEMS; the game would already be 2x better. The itemization alone in this game made me quit after 10 hours.
Pardon me? You rage-quit the game because the magic items had different colours? That sounds a little irrational, I only look at what the item does
Yes, the way Larian present their magic items reflects the expectations of most current videogame players, most of which are probably more familiar with MMO or Action games. That's just good business sense, which is why most videogames follow each other ( i.e. copy ) when anyone gets traction with a game concept.
Unfortunately, it's the 5e rules that are responsible for the nerfed magic items along with squashed level advancement and other things that were good about the 2e rules used in BG1/2, so we are pretty much stuck with shit magic items.
That said, I definitely prefer my shit magic items to not require me to be subject to stupid conditions before they actually do anything. There are far too many items that do nothing 95% of the time, and then do not very much the other 5%. Simple low-bonus items that always work are much preferable, which is why the 2H Sword with 1D4 fire damage you can get from the Nautiloid remains one of the best items.
There are some "sensible" limited items that don't do much, but are useful for what they do. Those that give access to spell effects, the item giving extra psychic damage to magic missile is pretty good for an arcane caster, several items that enhance a divine caster's healing. It's just unfortunate we have so many magic items that it is difficult to believe anyone uses. Maybe Larian should use their aggregated game data to determine which items are just never used.
