From what you've said about being a completionist, this kind of goes along with changes I'd been making over the last few RPGs I've played and more so in BG3. A while ago games often expected you to loot *everything*, but that seems to be less the case now... Partly because BG3 doesn't reward searching everything, but also because it's unrealistic for me as the player character, I just *don't* search everything. You can kind of cheat by holding down some key (alt for me) and it puts labels on containers that have something in them.
I can somewhat see that (the loot 'everything' being useful in past games). I also don't want to miss anything that might help me in my quest, miss opening up a new quest, miss completing an objective, or miss a keycode or password that I'll need for a secure area, as games have also taught me to worry about. The latter is a main reason why I took, opened, and quickly rifled through the pages of every single book in BG3 that I could, which is a shame. But, hey, I got the "You read 100 books" trophy ;-)
I like your thoughts about just enjoying the game, and not getting caught up trying to do everything in one playthrough where it feels like a job. This was my first Larian game experience, and I will definitely do that in any future game they make... or any similar RPGs. I haven't played too many RPGs, so I will be careful
And quicksaving... YES! I would have lost so much progress and had to re-do many lengthy battles if I didn't quicksave often.
I'm okay with having junk objects and pointless rooms in games like BG3, and I actually wish more games could/would do it. (I hear some gamers on YouTube groan when there is nothing in a room they explored. "Why is this room even here?? There was nothing of value in it." Which I totally disagree with.) For me, it adds to the immersion to not have everything strategically placed for the player, and not have every item and room be meant for the player. Makes the world fell 'lived in' and realistic... like there is an ecosystem of life in the game that would be there whether or not the player was there. We are put into that world as a player, and it would be there whether or not we were in it.
One game I really enjoy is "Thief 2: The Metal Age." It has always felt immersive to me for those very reasons. It does a nice job of making you feel like you are a participant in that world, imo, instead of the world being hand-crafted for you, the player. I've always liked exploring every part of a mansion and courtyard in Thief 2, looking for loot, shortcuts, objectives, secrets, and the like. I know it's not an RPG, but rather a 'first-person sneaker', but the difference in that game to, say, BG3, Skyrim, Fallout, or Morrowind, is that you immediately know, visually (before you pick up), what are valuable or useful items vs. what are junk objects. And if you try to take junk, it just picks it up and floats it in front of your view and you can only drop or throw it. It doesn't add it to your inventory, which is nice. On the other hand if you pick up jewelry, gold goblets, or other valuable items, it immediately translates into coin/gold in your inventory... and objective-related objects get added to your inventory. Beautiful! Also, any riches gathered in one mission are quickly used when buying weapons and tools for the immediate next mission. It doesn't linger longer than that because your character has to 'pay rent' between missions. I enjoyed that and it feeds my completionist desires well. Thief 2 inspires and rewards me to explore every nook and cranny of every mission without burdening me down. Regarding its books and scrolls, there are many short ones to read to help the lore, but only the ones that might be beneficial to an 'objective' or completing a mission get added to your inventory so you can re-read later, as needed. Awesome!
For Thief 2, because it's an older game, it, obviously, has far fewer 'clutter' objects anyways which helps. That's harder to pull off in a more modern game, or an RPG game like BG3, but I have to believe there is a meet-in-the-middle way that RPGs could do it, so I don't go around collecting every silver platter, apple, spoon, rope, potion, spell, arrow, and painting in case it comes in handy 50 or 100 hours later in the game for a certain boss, or if I run out of money, food, or what have you. Games like BG3, Skyrim, and even the old Morrowind have a ton of objects to pick up... and you often don't know what to keep and what to discard. How much money will you need? Will something be useful in my journey? With Fallout 4, you actually 'need' to gather a ton of that stuff for recycling/scrapping if you want to build forts and such, ugh
In BG3, for example, I had each of my characters carry a rope for the entire game because I thought I'd need it at some point. I never needed them. Even read online that they are needed for one spot in the game. I didn't read where that spot was to not spoil it for myself, and somehow never found the spot to my knowledge. But if and when I play BG3 again, I'll again have to carry ropes, unless I look up exactly where they're used.
Side note to finish my Thief talk: If you like slow, patient gaming, sneaking in shadows, avoiding NPC confrontations, and are okay with some retro, I recommend giving Thief 1 and 2 a try. My preference is Thief 2, and you can start there, as they honed their stealth gaming craft there. Thief 1 was part Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones, and part stealth. I prefer the stealth and environments of Thief 2 more, and that was the first of the series I played. And if you play and like Thief 2 you can always go back to Thief 1 like I did. It's very similar because it's made by the same people as Thief 2, but just a little different. Can't explain without spoiling too much. Some people prefer Thief 1 over 2, but if you don't like Thief 1, give Thief 2 a try. I just hate the thought of someone not liking Thief 1 and then not trying Thief 2 as a result.
