There are so many things in this game where I think, 'how did they go from DOS:2 to this?' [...] You're heading in a good direction here Larian, keep it up we are all rooting for you : )
There’s a slight whiff of reddit off this post OP. If that doesn’t make sense, no bother at all… But I don’t share your starry-eyed optimism – and I wish I did: sounds like a pleasant drug. It’s been years since I’ve played a game that invoked what you describe. I’ve tried a few modern titles, and borderline enjoyed them for at most two thirds – but usually half – of the game, and then my brain just roped me back into reality, which these days is a lot more ‘grindy’ than any video game (keep saving up and then splurge it all on the next ‘house feature/upgrade’).
I do see the psychological appeal of games like Valheim: start off as a penniless nobody, slowly accumulate resources, get creative, build, build, build – and the brain probably gives you that dopamine fix from the castle you end up carving out when all's done. Except I get it from reality now, in that respect, and it would feel self-defeating IMO, at this point in my life, to play a game which merely apes that particular fix from building up a phony pixel-house bit-by-bit.
Hollow Knight brought back a sense of childlike wonder that I hadn’t experienced from games in years. Death thrash, likewise, has that implacable ‘magic’, but is only EA. These two games, and only these, lately struck me as ‘art’, in the way certain old games struck me as art: games like BG1 and in particular BG2.
What I mean by that is they’re clearly passion-projects. Hollow Knight, in particular, released tonnes and tonnes of free incredible DLC, which must have taken yonks to put together. And they only sold the base game for something like 5 quid. Death Thrash has the same vibe. It’s being put together by a small group of devs who probably enjoy making the thing more than gamers enjoy playing it.
I don’t see BG3 as sharing anything in common with what I’ve just described. It may be because the company is too huge now. There are too many chefs, too many creatives, so the lowest common denominator wins out to keep the peace. The end result strikes me as this very safe product: polished but vacuous, a kind of high-budget bubble-gum. Like a Marvel film. Lots of big boom moments that dazzle and disappear like fireworks over a fun but forgettable festival.
BG3 doesn’t have the Hollow Knight magic, or the Death Thrash magic – and it doesn’t have the BG1/2 magic. That’s just my take on it. I’d play this thing once, and I’d try and get through to the end – but I’ll probably only get two thirds of the way.
Which, like I mentioned, is an endorsement in itself these days.
Ah wells, at least some folk will enjoy it. And sure there’s always a target audience for Fane/Astarion memes and artwork, which Larian is sure to milk in every twitter post going forward.
