My OPM career has been bookended by RPGs. Skyrim going in; Baldur’s Gate 3 going out. Well, kinda. It’s been more than a year, but I consider it a bookend.
25 years since Baldur’s Gate 2. Three years in early release beta testing. It’s an anti-Bethesda game – 40 hours in; no crashes; no bugs. It’s a wonder.
I’ve been playing these since my first one with Corey. Eye of the Beholder in 1991, by SSI. By ‘these’, I guess I mean D&D games. We did Ultima IV earlier, but that wasn’t D&D rules. And, of course, the grandaddy, Zork, which pre-dated him.
This is the best. I’ve never played a game this engaging; this fun. A game that makes you think like this one does. Do I want to accept a vampire into my group? Should I just kill him now, or make him promise to behave? What will be the repercussions down the road? It follows the rules. And Instead of my usual save scumming I’m letting things happen organically. With a reported 177 hours of cutscenes – I’m not going to be finishing it this year. Hooray!
I am definitely an abuser of save scumming (new phrase to me). I have been doing it a lot of Zelda: Tear of the Kingdom.