Nothing at the moment, but I'll be jumping into Ratchet and Clank PC alongside Remnants II until Armored Core 6 releases, then ride that into the BG3 head start.
Starfield looks so good it makes me sick. Here I was expecting Bethesda to phone in more crap, like F76, but this looks really incredible.
It does look extremely impressive, and I'm really tempted to play it. Though like Gray Ghost this is one I'll probably leave for the sales. While it looks amazing in so many ways, I also do get a bit of the same vibe of the two Bethesda games I've tried previously (Fallout 3 and Morrowind) that led to me giving up after a few hours. I'd be hard pressed to put my finger on what exactly it is - a kind of loneliness? - but that echo of a feel is enough to make me concerned Starfield might be another Bethesda game that I appreciate more intellectually than actually enjoy playing for very long. It was the same thing that put me off playing Skyrim.
But I think Starfield looks more than good enough to give a chance (as, frankly, does Skyrim), so perhaps when I've had my fill of BG3 for a while I'll do more to overcome my Bethesda prejudice .
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
Okay, I've decided, and despite what I said earlier about not playing a melee character I'm going with a paladin for my pre-BG3 warm-up run through BG1/2. That's partly in tribute to the fact that the very first BG1 run I ever did, back in 1998 (or 1999?) was a paladin, and though I created a variation on the same character for my first BG2 run as well I don't think I've played a paladin since. I also quite like the tension between a character who wants to be noble and good and the darker urgings of their Bhaalspawn nature, and the fact that a paladin can play into the almost mock-heroic tone of BG1 in particular.
But let's see how I get on. I see that I actually have four other in-progress BG1 runs at various stages that I haven't finished yet, plus one more that I'd actually got as far as BG2 with, so my paladin may yet fall by the wayside. If so, maybe I'll finish one of those other runs instead .
(I also feel that a paladin can't abandon their childhood friend, so it also looks as though I'm going to be stuck with the "canon" party this run-through too! Oh well. I'll maybe treat myself to a playthrough with both Tiax and Xan next time.)
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
Star Wars Outlaws looks great so far! Will be interested to see more details. 😊
It still doesn't look to me quite like a real game, but I like the promise.
That looks so cool! I'll be honest, I'd not paid it much attention as I tend to turn off at open world action adventure, but while it looks like it has lots of the gameplay elements of such games that I tend to find a bit meh, things like the main character's chat, her pet and just the little details of how characters talk, move and fight, such as the main character shaking her hand after hurting it punching someone, look like they might bring the world to life in a way that could blow me away. And motivate me to put the effort into mastering its action combat and movement which is not something I'm naturally good at . I'll definitely keep my eye on this one from now on.
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
I'll always be interested in a Star Wars game, I'm still not sure about the story though, seems a little generic right now. There's also a possible Amy Hennig game, and I'm still on deathwatch for the Eclipse game. Hopefully none of them are just cashing in on the name.
The fact that Armored Core VI, Baldur's Gate 3 and Starfield are all releasing in the span of the very same week (25th, 28 and 31st August, if we are going for their Early Access release) is still insane to me.
Party control in Baldur's Gate 3 is a complete mess that begs to be addressed. SAY NO TO THE TOILET CHAIN
Given how outrageously popular Skyrim is, it always seemed weird to me that there were no big publishers trying to copy their formula. We have a entire genre of Dark Souls inspired games, but Bethesda games have no copycats.
Well, good for Obsidian for taking advantage of what is hopefully a lucrative gap in the market. That it’s first person only really tanks my interest, but I’ll at least casually follow its development to see if it does anything to rouse my interest.
Given how outrageously popular Skyrim is, it always seemed weird to me that there were no big publishers trying to copy their formula. We have a entire genre of Dark Souls inspired games, but Bethesda games have no copycats.
Well, good for Obsidian for taking advantage of what is hopefully a lucrative gap in the market. That it’s first person only really tanks my interest, but I’ll at least casually follow its development to see if it does anything to rouse my interest.
To be fair, Elder Scrolls isn't just a barebone RPG in a generic open world. Its biggest strength is that it has TONS of lore that games can use to form a coherent experience. I wonder how Avowed will manage this considering this is a new franchise.
That it’s first person only really tanks my interest, but I’ll at least casually follow its development to see if it does anything to rouse my interest.
I’m in the same boat. First person was one of the things that severely undermined my enjoyment of Outer Worlds, and I’m worried Avowed exploration and combat will feel like a fantasy version of that. Still, like you, I’m not totally ruling it out yet.
Originally Posted by snowram
Its biggest strength is that it has TONS of lore that games can use to form a coherent experience. I wonder how Avowed will manage this considering this is a new franchise.
Avowed is set in the same world as Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, isn’t it? I’m sure that setting has a long way to go to get to Elder Scrolls depth of lore, but at least it’s not starting from a blank slate.
"You may call it 'nonsense' if you like, but I've heard nonsense, compared with which that would be as sensible as a dictionary!"
Given how outrageously popular Skyrim is, it always seemed weird to me that there were no big publishers trying to copy their formula. We have a entire genre of Dark Souls inspired games, but Bethesda games have no copycats.
Well, good for Obsidian for taking advantage of what is hopefully a lucrative gap in the market. That it’s first person only really tanks my interest, but I’ll at least casually follow its development to see if it does anything to rouse my interest.
To be fair, Elder Scrolls isn't just a barebone RPG in a generic open world. Its biggest strength is that it has TONS of lore that games can use to form a coherent experience. I wonder how Avowed will manage this considering this is a new franchise.
As Red Queen said, this is a spin off from Pillars of Eternity. I think lore is one of the few things those games did really well.
But I don’t think lore is the main strength of TES. I think it’s the absolute freedom to play how you want. Do you want to be a dread necromancer bringing terror to the land? Sure. Do you want to be a virtuous Paladin on a mission to complete the main quest? Go ahead. Do you want to be a thief who breaks into every dwelling and steals all of the spoons in the game world? Have at it.
I’m not sure if Avowed will have quite that level of freedom or will be a more structured affair. I assume more structured, because as janky as Bethesda games can be, their games have such scopes that they still require tremendous amounts of work. I don’t know if Obsidian has enough developers to get something like that off the ground.
My expectation is that Avowed will have combat and exploration similar to Bethesda games with less freedom and a better story (which is frankly a low bar).
Given how outrageously popular Skyrim is, it always seemed weird to me that there were no big publishers trying to copy their formula. We have a entire genre of Dark Souls inspired games, but Bethesda games have no copycats.
I think the challenge here is that Bethesda games are more of a platform than a game. DS delivered a very unique and interesting gameplay loop and a very effective interpretation of "action RPG", so naturally devs look at their output when designing their own titles.
Bethesda's strong point is original and highly moddable engine, and that's more of a company asset than design principle. I am sure devs look at how Bethesda designs open worlds, but that's really all worth learning from their games no?
And Avowed will not be Elder Scrolls6:
Quote
CEO Feargus Urquhart told me that in scope Avowed is more akin to Obsidian's past RPGs like The Outer Worlds in size than it is a sprawling open world a la Skyrim, though that was actually Obsidian's initial pitch. When the developers sat down and focused on what Obsidian does best—stories and companions, in particular—the more compact scale came naturally.
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. I'll definitely keep my eye on this one from now on.
