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Originally Posted by BowieFunes
The fact that everyone just claps "OMG game of the year!!1" without hesitating just baffles me.

when people say things like this, i wonder who it's in reference to? i find people typing dismissive, sweeping statements like this tend to presume a lot about people whose opinions about a video game run contrary to theirs

it's very presumptuous and condescending to assume that anyone who believes this game is very worthy of this sort of praise cannot possibly think so with any nuance

it's probably true that plenty of reviewers who gave this game 10/10 scores only played the first act or so, but that doesn't mean that the game is not still of high quality. and you are perfectly within your rights to think the game sucks because of the issues (which many people who think this game is excellent have no problem acknowledging) it has

in case you haven't noticed, this forum is full of threads pointing out problems, suggestions, bugs, and plenty of other types of feedback, so i have no idea where you're getting the idea that people are ignoring the flaws of the game, and a game reaching game of the year status on one website does not mean that anyone thinks this game is flawless. i actually haven't seen anyone say that, anywhere

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The short answer is, regardless of your opinion, a well-renowned PC gaming magazine (PC Gamer) named it PC Game of 2017.

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Just checking their 'review' of this game, I know again why I don't check those 'gaming magazine' for their game scores, when I look for a new game.

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Originally Posted by miaasma
Originally Posted by BowieFunes
The fact that everyone just claps "OMG game of the year!!1" without hesitating just baffles me.

when people say things like this, i wonder who it's in reference to? i find people typing dismissive, sweeping statements like this tend to presume a lot about people whose opinions about a video game run contrary to theirs

it's very presumptuous and condescending to assume that anyone who believes this game is very worthy of this sort of praise cannot possibly think so with any nuance

it's probably true that plenty of reviewers who gave this game 10/10 scores only played the first act or so, but that doesn't mean that the game is not still of high quality. and you are perfectly within your rights to think the game sucks because of the issues (which many people who think this game is excellent have no problem acknowledging) it has

in case you haven't noticed, this forum is full of threads pointing out problems, suggestions, bugs, and plenty of other types of feedback, so i have no idea where you're getting the idea that people are ignoring the flaws of the game, and a game reaching game of the year status on one website does not mean that anyone thinks this game is flawless. i actually haven't seen anyone say that, anywhere


Did you read the "review"? It's nothing but "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!11" with zero effort put into describing how the game works, omitting every single flaw it has, and only talking about the main characters, avoiding any discussion about the story itself or the antagonists, which are a total mess in my opinion. I honestly laugh when people call this story deep, it's just your typical "chosen one" drama which leaves no room to expand beyond the strings of your puppeteer, regardless on how many plot twists you can throw on it. I'm still waiting for the story of my main character Beast to actually grow, so far nothing happened except some random dialogue about the queen. It's as deep as a puppy dog piss pool.

Do I think the game is bad? Of course not, it's actually a great game, but the amount of flaws it has really makes me wonder if Larian is actually thinking in delivering a quality product like they did with DOS1, or they're just now milking the franchise for all what it's worth, releasing a half-finished product to meet consumer demands.
It just makes me sad that this amazing game fell into the "appeal to the masses" category, dumbing it down so a monkey can play it without much effort. Yay you leveled up, put two points in STR and scour the shops for an hour, there's your amazing RPG experience... frown

EDIT: I just saw another article in which they're actually trying to convince us that DOS2 is "dethroning" Ultima VII. I laughed so hard that I think I wet myself.

Last edited by BowieFunes; 09/01/18 12:35 PM.
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Originally Posted by BowieFunes

Did you read the "review"? It's nothing but "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!11" with zero effort put into describing how the game works, omitting every single flaw it has, and only talking about the main characters, avoiding any discussion about the story itself


It seems like YOU haven't read the actual review my confused friend. LoL
The link posted by the OP here is to GOTY article, with comments from PC Gamer staff. That is NOT the game review. At the end of the article there is a link to the actual review which you seem to have missed.
http://www.pcgamer.com/divinity-original-sin-2-review/
And yes, the review talks about many aspects of the game.

Want more detailed reviews? Here
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/divinity-original-sin-ii
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/09/21/divinity-original-sin-2-review
https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/divinity-original-sin-2-review/1900-6416769/

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Originally Posted by 123xzcs
Originally Posted by BowieFunes

Did you read the "review"? It's nothing but "OMG THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER!!!11" with zero effort put into describing how the game works, omitting every single flaw it has, and only talking about the main characters, avoiding any discussion about the story itself


It seems like YOU haven't read the actual review my confused friend. LoL
The link posted by the OP here is to GOTY article, with comments from PC Gamer staff. That is NOT the game review. At the end of the article there is a link to the actual review which you seem to have missed.
http://www.pcgamer.com/divinity-original-sin-2-review/
And yes, the review talks about many aspects of the game.

Want more detailed reviews? Here
http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/divinity-original-sin-ii
http://www.ign.com/articles/2017/09/21/divinity-original-sin-2-review
https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/divinity-original-sin-2-review/1900-6416769/


Yes, apologies, you're right. Sadly, what I said applies also to the actual "review". Every single point is basically described as flawless, and not a single one of the mistakes or bugs are adressed...
If you're going to talk about the battlefield hazzards, why not adress the obvious flaw of cursed stuff covering half the map with almost no chance of removing it because the enemies keeps spamming curse for free?
If you're going to talk about the classless system, why not adress the fact that some skillsets are almost mandatory in order to progress in Tactician, like Warfare for example?
Not to mention, why avoid the glaring issue of non existant character progression, vital in any RPG?

Sorry, but that's shortsighted to me, and an obvious favoritism that will applaud anything.

Last edited by BowieFunes; 09/01/18 01:54 PM.
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Sadly D:OS2 is not really classless at all. Thanks to the armor system and the attributes, going mixed class is not really an option. You either go Str, Fin or Int and either Magical or Physical, both work heavily as class restrictions, except from buffs who are kind of classless now.

In D:OS1 you could go equally high on Str, Fin and Int and it still worked well in combat. You could mix scoundrel with aerothurg and it worked like a charm, now all that classlessness is gone.

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Originally Posted by BowieFunes

If you're going to talk about the battlefield hazzards, why not adress the obvious flaw of cursed stuff covering half the map with almost no chance of removing it because the enemies keeps spamming curse for free?
If you're going to talk about the classless system, why not adress the fact that some skillsets are almost mandatory in order to progress in Tactician, like Warfare for example?
It's a 2-minute game review, not an hour-long listing of game features and flaws. No game review will go into that level of detail and minutia like how large is the area of cursed surfaces, or which skills may be preferred over others. These are small things in a much larger picture. A review is meant to focus on the large aspects of the game, things that are important to new and old players, including people who haven't played any RPGs until now. It seems that you're grasping at straws and complaining about nothing, really.

Originally Posted by BowieFunes

Sorry, but that's shortsighted to me, and an obvious favoritism that will applaud anything.
So, all the major game reviewers are shortsighted and showing favoritism toward one specific game? Yea sure, it's a big conspiracy. silly This is just petty nonsense.

Originally Posted by Kalrakh

In D:OS1 you could go equally hich on Str, Fin and Int and it still worked well in combat. .

My party has Str, Fin, and Int equally spread, and it works wonderfully. If it doesn't work for you, you're doing something wrong. The armor system is very good and fixes a big issue in DOS1 combat - you could start every fight by CC'ing a bunch of enemies, and they never got up again. You could stun or freeze some bosses from the very beginning, and they never got a turn. That was too easy. I would cast a Hail Attack before a fight, and it was all over. The armor in DOS 2 fixes that, so I like it. It adds variety - every fight has two stages. First, I strip armor with damage, and then I go crazy with CC. So it's not true that it's all about damage. I use more CC than damage actually, and some CC works on armor too, e.g. 'slowed' status.

Last edited by 123xzcs; 09/01/18 04:04 PM.
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No, you are misunderstanding me: Str, Fin and Int equally spread on one character, not one party.

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Originally Posted by Kalrakh
No, you are misunderstanding me: Str, Fin and Int equally spread on one character, not one party.


Don't do that, it's not very smart smile

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The main problem with ‘professional’ reviews of the game is the forest fire of excitability surrounding the game’s legitimate successes, both within the gaming the community and, it seems, Larian itself.

Simply put, this game has virtually no competition, particularly in the vapid world of commercial gaming. It trounces rivals with regards to ambition, originality and just the balls to do things differently. It’s the equivalent of The Sopranos, or The Wire – it shakes things up so dramatically, and so shamelessly, that we’re naturally inclined to be far more forgiving of imperfections.

However, there are some serious imperfections in the game that hardly constitute ‘minor flaws’. The story suffers from some kind of narrative ADD, starting a plot thread, only to abandon it completely for another one over and over, as if it’s constantly reinventing itself, never confident enough to stick to one thing and develop it properly – a problem that exists right until the end. Think of characters like Dallis who are introduced and completely forgotten about for vast stretches, only to get the most hare-brained character reinventions at the last minute. Dallis, in particular, sums up all that is wrong with the story – without going into detail, there is no story in game, just a series of stopping and starting narratives and character introductions with no development, no ‘arc’, no emotional or psychological meaning.

The better parts of the plot consequently get lost – especially the void creatures, which largely, and wisely, go without spoken lines, and remain a vicious, mysterious presence throughout, with enemies on all sides.

Gameplaywise, the battles, although always enjoyable, have taken a massive step backwards in the invention department. How many can you actually remember? Roughly 5% are brilliantly conceived, easily the best any game has offered. The other 95% are the same battle over and over. Same number of enemies, same types of enemies (just reskinned), with only bigger stat points. Combat is a key feature of the game, and, with the exception of some outstanding set pieces, it simply doesn’t get the same creative treatment it got in the previous game.

Armour, also a huge feature of the game, clearly never evolves according to plan, and becomes a very obviously broken mechanic, particularly at higher levels, where both armour bars are inflated to comical proportions.

These are just 3 random ‘big features’ of the game – story, combat variety, armour – that clearly don’t hold up. There are many others that I’ll avoid mentioning for the sake of brevity.

But really, the biggest issue is Larian’s seemingly self-congratulatory stance on all of this. Just look at the last video update on the modding community. Sven quoting the positive review stats on steam and metacritic, as if it’s as simple as high numbers = job done. Or Sven quoting the number of bugs squashed in the latest patch – 1000s! – as though it’s once again a numbers game. There’s just no real acknowledgement of the specifics mentioned in the community’s feedback on abstract, more creative issues that numbers alone won't solve. There's just a very general thank you for the feedback at the end of the video – but what feedback in particular?

That’s what everyone really wants to know. Because the majority of the game’s issues have very simple solutions that many in the community have brainstormed and devised, only for it all to disappear into the black hole left by Larian’s silence on the topic.



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Not being a purist, I must say that I (and my wife) are enjoying this game very much.

101 hours into the game, mostly we walk around rather than fast travel. If we do fast travel, we have to get to a travel point rather than using the option on the minimap.

Had ONE crash (I know now that quickswapping in and out of the game to check if you shut down a file transfer can be annoying to your partner).

The only bug we have encountered is an oxen that walked through a pole. Unless you count the MegaMosquitoes that suddenly kidnap and scatter your party. Or the WoodLice that pop up all too often.

We have morals. Don't kill people who don't deserve it. Don't steal from people. Perhaps that is why we don't progress as fast as we could.

Still not sure of CC (unless it means Colour Climax).
Area of Effect (YIKES! I spelled it out rather than initialising) is fun. If you are not careful/considerate, you will damage your partner as well. Seems fair.

Story kind of thin? Must say I haven't noticed. Neither do I care.

Cheesing the game? When is it cheesing and when is it tactics. Depends on who you ask and what threads you read.

AI? Well there's another mess. How unfair that the enemy also can check my status'ses (stati) and always goes for my most important character. And what's this obsession with cursed fire?

What I hate most?
Fellow members that keep telling me about how simple minded and stupid I am because I don't dislike the same things they dislike.
Even if they don't dislike the same things I dislike.

All in all. I'm a happy simple minded camper (and the missus is too).
:hihi:

EDIT: I forgot to mention, that I am really irritated that I have to finish the game before we can restart and use the valuable lessons we have learned thus far.

Yes we can respec, but we have decided against it. Make choices and live with them (or die) is our motto.

Last edited by Ayath The Loafer; 09/01/18 04:16 PM.

Great last words.

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Originally Posted by Ayath The Loafer

What I hate most?
Fellow members that keep telling me about how simple minded and stupid I am because I don't dislike the same things they dislike.
Even if they don't dislike the same things I dislike.


I don’t believe anyone’s doing that friend. Certainly not me. People will have critiques of the game that don’t mesh with other people’s views, but that’s just the nature of the critiquing business. There’s no insult to anyone’s intellect going on there.

And where are all these wives coming from that love to play the game with their husbands? I’m not saying my mot doesn’t like the thing, but it clearly doesn’t quite light her fire either – different strokes for different folks, maybe… Happy hunting with your wife anyway. If you managed to get her to play more than three hours of it, that’s something I’ve yet to see myself.

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Originally Posted by smokey
The main problem with ‘professional’ reviews of the game is the forest fire of excitability surrounding the game’s legitimate successes, both within the gaming the community and, it seems, Larian itself.

Simply put, this game has virtually no competition, particularly in the vapid world of commercial gaming. It trounces rivals with regards to ambition, originality and just the balls to do things differently. It’s the equivalent of The Sopranos, or The Wire – it shakes things up so dramatically, and so shamelessly, that we’re naturally inclined to be far more forgiving of imperfections.

However, there are some serious imperfections in the game that hardly constitute ‘minor flaws’. The story suffers from some kind of narrative ADD, starting a plot thread, only to abandon it completely for another one over and over, as if it’s constantly reinventing itself, never confident enough to stick to one thing and develop it properly – a problem that exists right until the end. Think of characters like Dallis who are introduced and completely forgotten about for vast stretches, only to get the most hare-brained character reinventions at the last minute. Dallis, in particular, sums up all that is wrong with the story – without going into detail, there is no story in game, just a series of stopping and starting narratives and character introductions with no development, no ‘arc’, no emotional or psychological meaning.

The better parts of the plot consequently get lost – especially the void creatures, which largely, and wisely, go without spoken lines, and remain a vicious, mysterious presence throughout, with enemies on all sides.

Gameplaywise, the battles, although always enjoyable, have taken a massive step backwards in the invention department. How many can you actually remember? Roughly 5% are brilliantly conceived, easily the best any game has offered. The other 95% are the same battle over and over. Same number of enemies, same types of enemies (just reskinned), with only bigger stat points. Combat is a key feature of the game, and, with the exception of some outstanding set pieces, it simply doesn’t get the same creative treatment it got in the previous game.

Armour, also a huge feature of the game, clearly never evolves according to plan, and becomes a very obviously broken mechanic, particularly at higher levels, where both armour bars are inflated to comical proportions.

These are just 3 random ‘big features’ of the game – story, combat variety, armour – that clearly don’t hold up. There are many others that I’ll avoid mentioning for the sake of brevity.

But really, the biggest issue is Larian’s seemingly self-congratulatory stance on all of this. Just look at the last video update on the modding community. Sven quoting the positive review stats on steam and metacritic, as if it’s as simple as high numbers = job done. Or Sven quoting the number of bugs squashed in the latest patch – 1000s! – as though it’s once again a numbers game. There’s just no real acknowledgement of the specifics mentioned in the community’s feedback on abstract, more creative issues that numbers alone won't solve. There's just a very general thank you for the feedback at the end of the video – but what feedback in particular?

That’s what everyone really wants to know. Because the majority of the game’s issues have very simple solutions that many in the community have brainstormed and devised, only for it all to disappear into the black hole left by Larian’s silence on the topic.


Perfectly put. My crappy english skills prevent me to write a well thought post like this one, hehe.

Originally Posted by smokey
Originally Posted by Ayath The Loafer

What I hate most?
Fellow members that keep telling me about how simple minded and stupid I am because I don't dislike the same things they dislike.
Even if they don't dislike the same things I dislike.


I don’t believe anyone’s doing that friend. Certainly not me. People will have critiques of the game that don’t mesh with other people’s views, but that’s just the nature of the critiquing business. There’s no insult to anyone’s intellect going on there.

And where are all these wives coming from that love to play the game with their husbands? I’m not saying my mot doesn’t like the thing, but it clearly doesn’t quite light her fire either – different strokes for different folks, maybe… Happy hunting with your wife anyway. If you managed to get her to play more than three hours of it, that’s something I’ve yet to see myself.


I think he's talking about the ingame NPCs, who constantly treat you like some kind of retard who can't figure anything by his own.

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Originally Posted by 123xzcs
Originally Posted by Kalrakh
No, you are misunderstanding me: Str, Fin and Int equally spread on one character, not one party.


Don't do that, it's not very smart smile


Yet again you prove, that you are completely missing the point.

And also +1 for smokey comment.

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Originally Posted by smokey
Originally Posted by Ayath The Loafer

What I hate most?
Fellow members that keep telling me about how simple minded and stupid I am because I don't dislike the same things they dislike.
Even if they don't dislike the same things I dislike.


I don’t believe anyone’s doing that friend. Certainly not me. People will have critiques of the game that don’t mesh with other people’s views, but that’s just the nature of the critiquing business. There’s no insult to anyone’s intellect going on there.

And where are all these wives coming from that love to play the game with their husbands? I’m not saying my mot doesn’t like the thing, but it clearly doesn’t quite light her fire either – different strokes for different folks, maybe… Happy hunting with your wife anyway. If you managed to get her to play more than three hours of it, that’s something I’ve yet to see myself.


Sorry. I may have come across a tad too heavy handed.
It's more of a comment on a number of dirrent posts in different threads that resulted in an outburst.

The wifey?
Uhhh.. We started way back when it was only Dungeons and Dragons Pen&Paper. Before Ad&d. Before there were computers in private homes.
We now have a setting every friday after I come home from work and we play for 4-6 hours.
I freely admit that I am jumping to the rescue often enough. She definitely plays for the fun of it, not caring one bit about crafting and spreading her two characters out before an attack. I accept that we loose more fights than we could have. But we have a blast. Together.


Great last words.

Oh no. Not again...
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the game is a lot of fun when done through trial and error with another person

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Originally Posted by 123xzcs
Originally Posted by BlueFeuer

I can loathe playing it and think it deserves GOTY at the same time

jawdrop jawdrop
This is exactly why don't trust reviews by random people on forums. This person should never attempt a career in professional game reviewing. silly crazy


Yes...It's just like Netflix viewer reviews...;) Often we find the movie very good--in contrast to most reviewers who said it stunk--or we find that it stunk, despite most reviewers who said it was great.

Reviews are merely opinions--not science or fact. Of course.

Witcher 3 got GOTY in '15 and it was riddled with flaws too--most of which CDPr fixed in a timely fashion. This game deserves GOTY because it is so good, despite the flaws some encounter--I've encountered almost none in my current play through with the last patch.

Bottom line--like with movies or books, game reviews are opinion and nothing more, or less than that. My opinion is that if you are an RPG fan for whom a 10-hour game is not in the least attractive, then you will love D:OS2's massive amount of content and variation. It really satisfies. But if you are a click-click person who loved Diablo II/III, you are not going to like it, probably, exactly because this game has so much depth. GOTY, for sure.


I'm never wrong about anything, and so if you see an error in any of my posts you will know immediately that I did not write it...;)
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Whether or not OS2 became GoTY is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is whether the game made you happy and content playing it.

Wonder how many of those critics made it past Act 1...

Last edited by Yasen; 15/01/18 08:15 PM.
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