For me it wasn't the fire that kept drawing comparisons to Divinity. It was the writing. The opening is beat for beat Divinity tropes and it was off-putting. It took hours more gameplay and character development for that edge to wear down, though it has probably permanently shaded my first playthrough. Perhaps that opening was one of the first things written, and thus the most akin to its predecessor.
Once the game settles in, things feel less Divinity and more Faerun. The fire metaphor is apt though. Things do creep in from time to time to remind you who built this adventure. It's like a signature. I don't always like it, seeing the hand in this case is more jarring because of how sensitive I am towards the setting and gameplay. But the craft is so thoughtful otherwise, it's broken through those barriers for me.
I agree, and it comes through in the companions, too. And despite them singling out Jaheira in the article I have a hard time recognising much of her, except for the appearance. Maybe the hundred years passing is the excuse but I wish her bossy, sarcastic, witty personality was more present and recognisable.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the game and it has been monopolizing my attention but it’s still not beating the Divinity 3 allegations (though I’m only at the end of Act 2, still).
There are some games that aren't DRM free on Steam that do go on GOG and remove the DRM. In some cases (unfortunately) the GOG version doesn't get consistently updated like the Steam version.
It's kind of a habit for people telling you about GOG deals or promos to mention that it's DRM free whether the Steam version has DRM or not, because DRM free is the primary selling point of the store. (They also sometimes include hacks/patches to deal with compatibility with modern systems that aren't always on the Steam version.) It isn't necessarily meant to imply that any other versions have DRM (though in a lot of cases they do).
At some level, even a "DRM Free" game like The Witcher could still be argued as having DRM since you need to authenticate your purchase with steam to download it.
Pretty close to the same at least. The main distinction would be that the Steam version still requires a copy of Steam to be running and logged in on the computer you copy it to, which at least means Steam has to have been online once ever to get the account logged in before using offline mode. GOG has offline installers that can be backed up and used without any client.
For the vast majority of use cases, it’s a pretty minor difference, but one way in which it might be significant is that the GOG installers will never stop working, but if one day years down the road Steam were to shut down, the Steam version could only run on computers that could be running offline-mode Steam. There’d probably be ways to break that simple bit of DRM, but a legal offline installer is a very nice bonus for things like archival sites or research applications.
It’s the kind of thing that even if you’re not choosing to use it, it’s nice that it exists, and hopefully it can continue to.
I don’t think you do need Steam running. If it’s truly DRM-free, just copy the game directory to a new machine and the game will run. Don’t launch through Steam, launch it directly from the game directory.
I’ve run games directly without Steam running on a handful of occasions, such as when someone else is using my Steam account (e.g. my kids on my other computer) and I want to play a game. I could probably play in offline mode I guess, but running it directly isn’t that hard.
It’s not an installer, but I don’t need an installer when I already have all the game files in one directory.
Interesting! There isn’t much of a story to Slime Rancher, so I could see a standalone film, free to do its own thing and set it that universe being fun.
There’s enough plot hooks to work off of though. Beatrix LeBeau signs up to go to the Far Far Range to take over a ranch in disrepair, left behind by Hobson who has mysteriously disappeared. Beatrix leaves behind their lover Casey, the two experiencing a long-distance relationship and the struggles that come from being so far apart from each other. Whilst striving to rebuild the ranch back up to its former glory, Beatrix slowly uncovers what happened to the elusive Hobson and revealing the mysteries of the Ancient Ruins, The Glass Desert, the reality-changing Quantum Slimes who seem to indicate more than one reality can exist, and ancient portals between worlds.
I mean, how could that not make for a great movie!
One qol improvement I’d like to see is faster team roster selection. Like every time you leave camp, you should get to select which companions will go with you (similar to many other CRPGs). Right now I find myself not using certain companions as often, mostly because I don’t want to go run around my camp for a minute rearranging my squad. It should be a simple drag and drop interface.
Aa a playstation gamer, I still can’t believe that a new Bethesda game isn’t releasing for ps5. Well played Microsoft. Imagine if Skyrim was never released on Sony consoles
Microsoft is a trillion dollar monopolistic anti competitive anti consumer company so once their eyes landed on the gaming space you knew it would result in bad things.
If they don’t use anything from GTA 5 in their mod I doubt so but high powered lawyers are scary and you don’t need to even have a valid case to sue someone. It’s the same thing nintendo does it’s their ip so they get their lawyers to send out dmca’s and threats and people cave.
I stopped modding back in GTAIV because of Rockstar’s bullshit. They nearly got my channel deleted age have always been dicks about modding, which is doubly upsetting when you see how greedy and stale they’ve become with the games.
Heard it’s been getting rapid updates though so that’s always encouraging. Maybe in 3-6 months it’ll be super refined. Keen to give this one a go once I wrap up Pathfinder
I heard that inventory management and transferring items between party members is a chore, which is a shame since it's something that PF games have already solved - shared inventory space for all party members. It makes it so much more convenient and fun to use than the mess DOS games had.
I haven’t noticed it being an issue. When you loot an item you can send it to a specific character and if you want to move lots of things you can hit tab, see the whole party and drag and drop items from inventory to inventory. Maybe it gets worse later on, I’m only 20 hours in.
I’ve been playing on “console” (SteamDeck) so I know the UI is different but the issue I’ve found is that there are three different “inventory” options and two different “loot” options, and each behaves a little differently.
For example if I loot a corpse, you’re right I can send to a specific party member. However if I loot a chest, that has to go to me.
Similarly when I the character sheet inventory view I can sort by certain methods and then L3(?) to exit that menu. If I’m selling something it’s still (L3?) to open that menu, but B to exit it. Also the sorting options aren’t the same. Also switching between characters during a trade event is one button. However switching on the character sheet is three buttons. There is also a third lesser used “put in device” menu with even fewer sorting options and you can’t switch characters.
The game is excellent and you can get used to these things but I do sometimes have to spend time just sorting things.
Let’s say that’s something Microsoft would even allow, it diminishes the ability to compete with the PS5. Why would I get a Series X if there’s a chance that some big game launches will have less features than other current gen platforms?
Microsoft really hamstrung this generation of consoles by releasing the S and demanding it runs feature parity with the X.
Hey guys, you should get a Series X because BG3 is coming out. Sure it will be missing features that you’ll get on the PS5 like split screen, but you guys understand we need to support the Series S and have parity between our two consoles.
So even though you spent more money on a Series X, that’s capable of running the full game that the PS5 is getting, you should just be happy that you’re getting the game at all. Don’t worry about having paid for a console that’s capable of more.
Your comment makes zero sense. The decision not to release on Xbox at all is not Microsoft’s. It’s Larian who rather sacrifice an entire hardware base for a niche feature. You obviously didn’t read the article. It’s spelled out there.
While there would be some variance in technical capabilities between consoles, feature parity between the two would remain the same. It would remain the same because Microsoft would demand it remain the same, from both its own studios and third parties.
Wow, I’m amazed on how bad you’re at grasping the basics of what I wrote.
I 👏 DID 👏 NOT 👏 WRITE 👏 ABOUT 👏 CUTTING 👏 SPLIT SCREEN 👏 FROM 👏 SERIES S 👏 ONLY 👏 BUT 👏 ALL 👏 XBOX 👏 VARIANTS 👏 SO 👏 THE 👏 GAME 👏 CAN 👏 LAUNCH 👏 AND 👏 NOT 👏 LEAVE 👏 XBOX 👏 USERS 👏 IN 👏 THE 👏 RAIN!
The article is about feature parity between Series S and Series X and not about how all Xbox variants can’t have feature disparity with PlayStation. If Larian were to cut split screen for all Xbox versions, the game could launch just fine.
Where did Microsoft or Larian say that was an option? Where did Microsoft say that they would be happy to have features cut from the X to keep parity with the S?
I pointed out how poor a business decision this would be if Microsoft would allow it. It ruins their offering for the Series X. How can it compete with the PS5 if they start allowing developers to drop features from Xbox games? The entire point of the article is that Microsoft has boxed themselves into this corner. And your suggestion isn’t a good solution.
Where did Microsoft or Larian say that was an option?
That is an option because exclusive features come to one brand all the time. Everyone with even minor insight in video game business knows that.
Where did Microsoft say that they would be happy to have features cut from the X to keep parity with the S?
It’s not about happiness, it’s about what the rules allow and since there are exclusive features on other consoles all the time, it’s obviously allowed. That’s how the Spider-Man character ended up being exclusive on the PlayStation version of Marvel’s Avengers. Golden Eye 007 has online multiplayer exclusive to Nintendo Switch. Those are well-known facts and if you don’t know them: That’s on you.
I pointed out how poor a business decision this would be if Microsoft would allow it. It ruins their offering for the Series X. How can it compete with the PS5 if they start allowing developers to drop features from Xbox games?
Yeah, you’re such a great business genius, you think not launching a game at all is better than cutting a niche feature barely anyone cares about. Yes, you totally convinced me.
I guess you gonna vote me down again because you cannot stomach that I’m right and you’re wrong.
I think you are misreading, they are refusing to launch because of the feature parity but, that’s because they are consciously deciding that split screen is a hard requirement for the game to launch, whereas with other consoles(steam deck) they just removed split screen and called it good.
I just hope they've put in a testing procedure.
i don't understand how they can be releasing updates so frequently.
the game wont get less bugged if they're just playing whack-a-mole.
relying on user testing is okay when its in pre-release. but by now they should be testing properly before releasing updates.
or they could offer people a discount to sign up to use an 'unstable' branch, release stuff there for a couple of weeks to prove it before inflicting untested updates on the unsuspecting full price customers.
Wouldn’t that make McDonald’s happy meals also gambling? If not explain the franchises that will absolutely refuse to swap toys during certain promotions (Bionics and TY I can think of off the top of my head).
I don’t think people buy happy meals for the toys. You know what you’re getting to eat, which is the purpose of the chain. It is a food service company, not a toy manufacturing company and the toys are only tokens of appreciation for the customer.
EA is a video game company and your experience and ability to play the game basically depends on these loot boxes. In fact, you play or pay to increase the chances to get a good deck, but nothing is guaranteed. It is random or perhaps even more perverse, it is programmed to deny or condition good players on your decks to keep you playing for the next loot box.
The only way this is not gambling, is that you don’t win money at the end of the day. Just satisfaction.
Fifa loot boxes contain different players, so you could either get Messi or a 3rd grade soccer player, with the 3rd grader being weighted more heavily in terms of being acquired.
Those cards still hold value and the game is made to be played with multiple of the same cards. But you’re right, trading cards are a gamble.
You pay for a mystery pack
You either get good or bad cards
You’ll keep buying to get better stuff
It has all the checks.
But I think it’s important you don’t need to buy booster packs to enjoy the game. I can buy multiple pre-made decks and I know exactly what I get and still can enjoy the game.
Some games (now not talking about FIFA) even rely on loot boxes to make the game more enjoyable. You even can get timed stuff you can only use an X amount of days and poof… it’s gone.
Also digital purchases might be considered “too easy”. With cards you at least get something physical.
Not sure though… all I personally think is that micro transactions and loot boxes are killing the fun and quality of games.
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