Video Games - Legendary Edition

[Werthead]

Yeah I think the 200 hours claim is for the entire Baldur's Gate saga (BG1+TotSC+SoD+BG2+ToB), and you can go over 200 hours fairly easily if you go back and redo all of BG2's second chapter with different character classes to get the different strongholds and all the different quests associated with them. For the time, it was certainly an absurdly huge game, and it's still pretty decent by modern standards.

BioWare certainly never got that close again, apart from the bloated shovelware quests in Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age: Inquisition which were nowhere near the quality of the BG series. You can fit the entire Mass Effect trilogy comfortably into a mega-completionist playthrough of BG2+Throne of Bhaal.

But that's the difference of making 2D isometric games with relatively straightforward graphics where designers could go from having an idea for an hour-long quest (including several unique locations) to having it fully implemented and working in the game in like a fortnight (if one of the artists was free to draw and scan the new locations). With modern 4K assets, full audio and voice recording etc, that's no longer remotely possible.

[IlyaP]

9 hours ago, Slurktan said:

Why 136 hours exactly?

That's the howlongtobeat estimation. 

[IlyaP]

14 hours ago, Impmk2 said:

SoD is a BG1EE expansion? I don't really think it counts.

Fair call. For some reason, I found myself thinking of it as being part of BG 2 - probably because it came out around the same (rough) time as BG 2: EE, if my memory is correct. 

But as @Clueless Northman mentioned - he does something similar to me: saving at forking path moments in the game, which can then be reloaded to do all the other styles of gameplay and associated quests. Thank the gods BG 2 didn't have a crafting system, otherwise I'd simply never do anything else ever again!

[Fez]

All this talk about Baldur's Gate has made me want to give it another go again. I played it way back in the day, but I've tried playing the EE maybe 5 times since it came out and I think I've always given up by some point in the Nashkal mines. I'd really like to get through it though because I want to play Baldur's Gate 2 again, I've haven't touched it all since way back when, but I refuse to start it until I have a completed BG save to import. Ah well, maybe this time will be the run.

Meanwhile, my CK3 campaign has hit a snag. I've successfully formed Yemen, and everything would be fine, except that no one in my family will marry unless they're in my court and I force them too. And because my original ruler had the ambitious trait, most of my vassals are her sons (to avoid the stress penalty), and none of their kids will marry. I think the problem is I'm too far away from anyone my culture or religion and the AI doesn't like that. So my family tree is remaining very pruned.

And I beat Expeditions: Viking. It was a fun game, but the first 25% was significantly better than the rest. It also takes place on a different map than the rest of the game. I think they finished it first and then realized they did not have the budget to make the rest of the game as good as that. The rest is still fine, but its closer to Expeditions: Conquistador, their first game; rather than being something significantly better.

 

[Slurktan]

18 hours ago, Werthead said:

Yeah I think the 200 hours claim is for the entire Baldur's Gate saga (BG1+TotSC+SoD+BG2+ToB), and you can go over 200 hours fairly easily if you go back and redo all of BG2's second chapter with different character classes to get the different strongholds and all the different quests associated with them. For the time, it was certainly an absurdly huge game, and it's still pretty decent by modern standards.

I also believe that number is only feasible for someone doing it the first time. BG and BG2 are not hard games and were not hard games then so if you are just being a completionist you should be running optimally at all times and things just don't take that long.

[Ghostlydragon]

Medievil on ps4. Why did I get this game. I never played the original but I'm not impressed. Not giving checkpoints is insane. I've played so much just to die and have to do it all again. I'll be so happy when it's over and I start up Assassins Creed Brotherhood next.

[Gorn]

2 hours ago, Fez said:

All this talk about Baldur's Gate has made me want to give it another go again. I played it way back in the day, but I've tried playing the EE maybe 5 times since it came out and I think I've always given up by some point in the Nashkal mines. I'd really like to get through it though because I want to play Baldur's Gate 2 again, I've haven't touched it all since way back when, but I refuse to start it until I have a completed BG save to import. Ah well, maybe this time will be the run.

Why? I've never finished BG1 myself (despite many attempts), because that one does have its tedious moments, and a pretty crazy difficulty spike in the endgame.

BG2 is a superior game in every respect. I've actually played them out of order, and didn't have any issues in picking up the storyline prior to the start of 2.

[dog-days]

I love the original BG - found it relaxing, just exploring huge tracts of wilderness, getting involved in weird sidequests, and enjoying the atmosphere. Either you can go and advance the plot somewhere, or you can amble through a spring meadow with a chew toy in an effort to find a demon's missing dog. But it's not for everyone.  BG2 is much more focused and structured. Even the post-Waukeen's Promenade plurality of choice is within the context of the "raise 20 000 GP" quest. 

[Derfel Cadarn]

3 hours ago, Fez said:

All this talk about Baldur's Gate has made me want to give it another go again. I played it way back in the day, but I've tried playing the EE maybe 5 times since it came out and I think I've always given up by some point in the Nashkal mines. I'd really like to get through it though because I want to play Baldur's Gate 2 again, I've haven't touched it all since way back when, but I refuse to start it until I have a completed BG save to import. Ah well, maybe this time will be the run.

Meanwhile, my CK3 campaign has hit a snag. I've successfully formed Yemen, and everything would be fine, except that no one in my family will marry unless they're in my court and I force them too. And because my original ruler had the ambitious trait, most of my vassals are her sons (to avoid the stress penalty), and none of their kids will marry. I think the problem is I'm too far away from anyone my culture or religion and the AI doesn't like that. So my family tree is remaining very pruned.

And I beat Expeditions: Viking. It was a fun game, but the first 25% was significantly better than the rest. It also takes place on a different map than the rest of the game. I think they finished it first and then realized they did not have the budget to make the rest of the game as good as that. The rest is still fine, but its closer to Expeditions: Conquistador, their first game; rather than being something significantly better.

 

I last played BG in 2013. Lacking time, I used the mod to play it on BG2 engine, specialised Khalid in duel-wielding/bastard swords - and imported gear from Throne of Bhaal (including speed boots for everyone). 
I started as lvl 1 but the lack of lvl cap for gear made my party utterly badass.

Khalid and my main both duel-wielded uber bastard swords (with extra critical hit) that turned everything into gore.

Khalid would whimper his way through battle - while being a fucking Terminator.

[Fez]

2 hours ago, Gorn said:

Why? I've never finished BG1 myself (despite many attempts), because that one does have its tedious moments, and a pretty crazy difficulty spike in the endgame.

BG2 is a superior game in every respect. I've actually played them out of order, and didn't have any issues in picking up the storyline prior to the start of 2.

Because I'm a dumb dumb. And even though they're separate games it just feels wrong to me to jump into the middle. I gotta see the whole story of the character.

[Slurktan]

48 minutes ago, Fez said:

Because I'm a dumb dumb. And even though they're separate games it just feels wrong to me to jump into the middle. I gotta see the whole story of the character.

So watch a plot synopsis on Youtube and go to BG2 lol.  BG1 just isn't worth it for the plot in any way.  It is at its best what dog-days says earlier an occasionally interesting travelogue caught in between the first section of plot and the last dungeon that is plot. 

Regardless if you want to know the whole story you cannot rely on just the games so you will have to read at least three trashy FR books from the early 90's which set up the plot of BG and its sequel.

[Fez]

1 minute ago, Slurktan said:

So watch a plot synopsis on Youtube and go to BG2 lol.  BG1 just isn't worth it for the plot in any way.  It is at its best what dog-days says earlier an occasionally interesting travelogue caught in between the first section of plot and the last dungeon that is plot. 

Regardless if you want to know the whole story you cannot rely on just the games so you will have to read at least three trashy FR books from the early 90's which set up the plot of BG and its sequel.

Oh I know. I played BG1 to completion in 1999. The plot is not the point. The point is that it feels wrong to me to start with BG2. I need a character save file that I did myself.

I'm aware that this is stupid, but I can get this way about RPGs. I need to begin at the beginning.

[Slurktan]

4 minutes ago, Fez said:

Oh I know. I played BG1 to completion in 1999. The plot is not the point. The point is that it feels wrong to me to start with BG2. I need a character save file that I did myself.

I'm aware that this is stupid, but I can get this way about RPGs. I need to begin at the beginning.

So you won't be using a class kit then should you ever get this into BG2?  They aren't in BG1 so I guess they would have to be out then.

EDIT:  Also you are aware that you can play through dialogue options that your characters imprisonment in Irenicus's prison is their beginning right?

[Fez]

32 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

So you won't be using a class kit then should you ever get this into BG2?  They aren't in BG1 so I guess they would have to be out then.

EDIT:  Also you are aware that you can play through dialogue options that your characters imprisonment in Irenicus's prison is their beginning right?

No, I'd use a class kit if the game lets me; I don't know precisely how it handles imported characters though. Because the point isn't about setting up the character or the world exactly how I want it, the point is that I need to go through the whole experience from the beginning.

[Werthead]

1 hour ago, Slurktan said:

Regardless if you want to know the whole story you cannot rely on just the games so you will have to read at least three trashy FR books from the early 90's which set up the plot of BG and its sequel.

Hell no, those books are heinously awful.

The writer of the books did at least later admit that, and that they books had been speed-written in a few weeks apiece based on very early outlines of the story, and he had to skip 90% of the material in the outline to fit the plots of the two massive games into two slim novels. The guy who wrote the Planescape: Torment novel had the same problem (not to mention there's 450,000 words of dialogue in the game, about the same as Lord of the Rings, and about 75,000 in the book).

[IlyaP]

11 hours ago, Slurktan said:

I also believe that number is only feasible for someone doing it the first time. BG and BG2 are not hard games and were not hard games then so if you are just being a completionist you should be running optimally at all times and things just don't take that long.

Like @dog-days suggested - some of us like to wander and take it slow, and enjoy the scenery and the music and whatnot. And to pace things, read the lore, the books, talk to everyone, and so on. 

[RumHam]

Is Mass Effect 2 better than the first one? 

[Derfel Cadarn]

2 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Is Mass Effect 2 better than the first one? 

Yes imho.

it got rid of the annoying inventory system and mako missions. Combat was also better. 

[IlyaP]

1 hour ago, Derfel Cadarn said:

Yes imho.

it got rid of the annoying inventory system and mako missions. Combat was also better. 

I've been stumped by people who prefer ME2 to ME1. Aside from the plot choices made at the very start, which were not to my taste, the increased focus on action over exploration, combined with the arguably worse UI, constantly frustrated me. (Though the lack of Mako missions is a bonus, given its famously frustrating control system.)

[IlyaP]

Put a small pause on Diablo: Belzebub as I hit level 30, reached the end-bosses and was...still too weak. And given how long it takes to level up, I figured I'd put it aside to catch up on a few other games. So I decided to play Doom 2016. It took all of four sessions across three days to finish the game. And it was a blast. Have already purchased Doom: Eternal, which I hope to get to sometime later this year.

So now I'm catching up with Doom 3: BFG Edition using the Absolute HD mod. And...it's a choice. It's a fascinating beast, with really suspect gameplay choices and design ideas. Thankfully, the Absolute mod improves a lot - reintroducing colours into the game, fixing the color balance, improving lighting so as to render the flashlight useless (a nice idea in theory, bad in execution - Half-Life did it better). Am hoping to finish it off this week to do a write-up of the game as filtered through the AHD mod, as I think it is to Doom 3 what the 1.3 patch was to Daikatana - the best possible version of the game, removing many flaws and providing many necessary quality of life and gameplay improvements.