I still laugh every time I look at this
Almost a year later my partner and I have returned to BG3, but started anew on PC. I was worried getting back into it would be tough, what with this being her first videogame ever. But we got quickly into a roll with things and after a week I think we were like 20+ hours into Act 1 with lots of side quests completed. Her competency is just so improved. Some might say one of the appeals of computer games is that the computer runs everything for you, but last year when we were first playing this it felt like playing two games at once with the amount of clarification and then instruction I’d need to give her. Now we are probably 40+ hours into the second act and she’s totally autonomous, though she still really struggles with navigating 3D space. It’s great to see someone learn and I’m glad it’s her I get to play with as she’s figuring all this out.
The game really is quite fun. Someoen said it upthread but having complete access to everyone’s stat sheet reduces a lot of the annoying out-of-game-in-a-browser work I’d usually find myself performing with some of the older crpgs when in a tough encounter or ambiguous roleplay situation. It does give way to a completionist/mastering mindset, which I think is generally a negative regressive thing in videogames, but I’m having fun here so what the hell.
Act 2 is a real changeup from the first. It’s almost offputting but I like the increased danger and I am continuously surprised just by how gruesome things can get. The hag in the first chapter was really quite scary, but for some reason I thought that would be a one-off thing in an otherwise whimsy filled world ala the first town in DivOS1 with the dumb ass cheese mongers and citenzry going ahhyuck! like Goofy. We just killed (after failing to persuade) the fine doctor and, though it’s been fun to see my girlfriend react to dark fantasy shit that I’ve lived around all my life, I couldn’t help but cringe at some of the violence and creepiness during that encounter.
Act 2 seems to have moved much quicker than Act 1. I think we are nearing its end, having already unlocked a big puzzle dungeon in the family mausoleum and marched almost up to the door of Moonrise Towers. But we never went and explored the Mountain Pass, and I wonder if it’s worth it, and whether we won’t be allowed to after a certain point. I know that’s Act 1 stuff, but there’s the Kreche, some side-quests we can still do, and certainly a lot of stuff we could explore we’ve just never ever seen since we went through the Underdark. Can anyone offer some guidance about how we should proceed?
you’re pretty close to being locked out of act 1 stuff, so I’d go back and do the creche because it’s cool
Yeah, if you are interested then check it out now instead of later. If you haven’t done the creche yet then you don’t have Laezel and there’s gonna be even more creche stuff to see in another play through, too (unless you’re a gith, which might open up other parts of the creche for you).
We finally finished Act 2 last night. Some of the battles there were extremely tough. Hoping that Act 3 has a bit more levity to it, is something like a tonal shift, at least for a brief amount of time. I’d take some less hard battles too. Act 2 was a constant onslaught of tough fights.
It’s certainly got some levity and is of a totally different tone, since the gloomy necromancy part of the trio is gone. It is huge. You can go hours without fighting hardly anyone, and you can fight 3 huge bosses in an afternoon. Remember you can toggle on non lethal damage for weapon attacks, if you want to.
I’d say the fights are harder strictly speaking but your power curve ramps hard in levels 10-12 and once you get your hands on a bunch of the extremely juicy magic items available and everything feels easier
everything except saving those fucking gnomes
(one year later) Finally installing. I had planned to start once the new patch with the extra subclasses comes out, but with no release date announced yet, I figured maybe I’ll save the Dark Urge for that update, and see if I can do a Felix-style playthrough first.