Starch
A nice little game that was fun to explore. Much shorter than I remembered it being tho. The main draw for this game was in exploring the various dungeons that were full of simple puzzles. Simple enough that younger kids can solve them but with enough complexity that those kids can feel some accomplishment from doing so. Going back and replaying it as an adult tho makes it seem a bit trivial, but I suppose thats par for the course. It also works surprisingly well on modern systems.
2014
Literally unplayable without Taken King.
On launch it had maybe 20 hours of content before it got boring which was unforgiveable for an MMO. After Taken King though, it became significantly better. Still not "game of the year" or even really above average but damn, the guns felt really good and I played waaaaaay too much of this with my best friend in college.
Never got into Destiny 2 tho cuz nothing carried over.
On launch it had maybe 20 hours of content before it got boring which was unforgiveable for an MMO. After Taken King though, it became significantly better. Still not "game of the year" or even really above average but damn, the guns felt really good and I played waaaaaay too much of this with my best friend in college.
Never got into Destiny 2 tho cuz nothing carried over.
2013
The biggest sin of Infinite is that it thinks it's quantum mechanics and alternate reality stuff makes sense, but in reality it's kinda like Ancient Aliens guy tier pants-on-head dumb about its own central plot points, which it unfortunately takes really seriously.
But I mean, idk, I know a lot of people aren't fans of Xshock/immersive sim style gunplay but I am. I liked it. Prolly won't ever replay it but hey, it was an enjoyable 13 hours of my life.
But I mean, idk, I know a lot of people aren't fans of Xshock/immersive sim style gunplay but I am. I liked it. Prolly won't ever replay it but hey, it was an enjoyable 13 hours of my life.
2012
Also played on xbox.
It's pretty alright as a co-op game but it does suffer a lot if one player goes out and levels their character without you. The guns feel like trash on xbox but are pretty alright on PC. Absolutely play mouse and keyboard for this, cuz it's ass on a controller.
Also, as far as the story goes, who really cares? It's stupid Rick and Morty tier nonsense, but it's whatever. Only played it as a fun way to shoot some silly guns with my friend, and it's excellent for that.
And I know the game is meant for 4 players but everything dies too fast with 4, so its prolly best with just 2.
It's pretty alright as a co-op game but it does suffer a lot if one player goes out and levels their character without you. The guns feel like trash on xbox but are pretty alright on PC. Absolutely play mouse and keyboard for this, cuz it's ass on a controller.
Also, as far as the story goes, who really cares? It's stupid Rick and Morty tier nonsense, but it's whatever. Only played it as a fun way to shoot some silly guns with my friend, and it's excellent for that.
And I know the game is meant for 4 players but everything dies too fast with 4, so its prolly best with just 2.
2009
I've also played on Xbox.
It's not really a life-changing game and I'd really feel sorry for anyone who thought it was their favorite game, but it's a decent enough mindless looter-shooter. For a really long time this was my go-to depression game and was fantastic for taking my mind off of shit for a few hours. Shoot some space guns and do some simple math. Very calming.
It's not really a life-changing game and I'd really feel sorry for anyone who thought it was their favorite game, but it's a decent enough mindless looter-shooter. For a really long time this was my go-to depression game and was fantastic for taking my mind off of shit for a few hours. Shoot some space guns and do some simple math. Very calming.
Dragonspear is probably Beamdog's best writing. I know that isn't saying much since their EE content for 1 and 2 were both kinda lackluster. Not insulting or bad, just forgettable. But Dragonspear is pretty nice, and helps fill in the gaps between the first and second games instead of just a quick narrator scene. It also very fantastically helps fix any narrative inconsistencies too, so that it explains why Minsc and Jaheira are with you in Waukeen's Promenade in Shadows of Amn, as well as why Imoen is now a multiclass, regardless of your decisions in the first game (assuming you didn't let Xzar kill Jaheira and that you didn't help Edwin kill Dynaheir).
My biggest gripe is Glint. I don't like him as a character. As a gay man myself, he feels like extremely poor representation.
The dungeons in the first half of Dragonspear are annoying slogs through waves of copy-pasted enemies that are easily dispatched with charges of the numerous wands of fire you never used in Tales of Sword Coast. But after the halfway point, especially starting with the Wyvern cave, Dragonspear really picks up and becomes a joy to play through.
It's also extremely linear, even moreso than Throne of Bhaal, which can be annoying and makes it easy to feel like you've missed content by progressing forwards when you didn't mean to.
All in all, if you like baldur's gate for the combat and the tactics, save your money and don't bother with Dragonspear. But if you're here for the narrative and want something that helps bridge the awkward gap in the two games, Dragonspear is a good addition.
My biggest gripe is Glint. I don't like him as a character. As a gay man myself, he feels like extremely poor representation.
The dungeons in the first half of Dragonspear are annoying slogs through waves of copy-pasted enemies that are easily dispatched with charges of the numerous wands of fire you never used in Tales of Sword Coast. But after the halfway point, especially starting with the Wyvern cave, Dragonspear really picks up and becomes a joy to play through.
It's also extremely linear, even moreso than Throne of Bhaal, which can be annoying and makes it easy to feel like you've missed content by progressing forwards when you didn't mean to.
All in all, if you like baldur's gate for the combat and the tactics, save your money and don't bother with Dragonspear. But if you're here for the narrative and want something that helps bridge the awkward gap in the two games, Dragonspear is a good addition.
Balance in skirmish was made even worse with this expansion and wasn't fixed until the HD remake thing.
As for the campaigns, the Japanese campaign was pretty fun, but way too short. The Chinese campaign sucked and was full of unlikeable characters. And I never got to the Indian campaign so idk about that one.
Crap expansion imo.
As for the campaigns, the Japanese campaign was pretty fun, but way too short. The Chinese campaign sucked and was full of unlikeable characters. And I never got to the Indian campaign so idk about that one.
Crap expansion imo.
The campaigns added in this expansion were pretty fun but man, the balance in skirmish mode after this expansion was nonexistent. Sioux were WAY OP, and the Dutch became kinda OP too.
IMO, the only two ways to play AoE 3 today are vanilla or with the new HD remake thing with the constantly updating balance patches, cuz the only value this added was the campaigns.
IMO, the only two ways to play AoE 3 today are vanilla or with the new HD remake thing with the constantly updating balance patches, cuz the only value this added was the campaigns.
This is the version of BG2 I played as a kid. The collector's edition doesn't really add a whole lot of new content to the game, but the new items you can buy from the specialty dealers in the back of AdventureMart are stupidly powerful. Most of them aren't useful to most character builds, but you can probably find at least one cool item there that'll make your charname super powerful. This might also be what added in the twister rune too? Not 100% sure tbh. I also heard somewhere that this edition is responsible for Drizzt's cameo.
Shield of Balduran makes all the beholder fights trivial and Vhailor's Helm shows you exactly why simulacrum is a bit OP for a fighter ability.
Shield of Balduran makes all the beholder fights trivial and Vhailor's Helm shows you exactly why simulacrum is a bit OP for a fighter ability.
This review contains spoilers
This expansion adds in a lost island explored by Balduran with a dark secret, a little ice cave full of insane wizards, and durlags tower plus a little bonus mini quest afterwards. IMO, this content is indispensable to Baldur's Gate 1. I've never played the game without it, and it really feels like the game would be missing a lot if it weren't included.
Spoilers start here:
The ice cave is probably the weakest story beat in the expansion. The wizard fights are kinda fun and tactical, but that's about all you get from that aside from a bit of nice loot. Level 5 recommended for that, I think. If you're at level cap, you'll steamroll these guys and then it's over.
The Isle of Balduran is one of the more interesting sidequests from a narrative perspective, as you uncover the secret of an island colony where everyone is a werewolf and have to deal with their own internal politics as well as a local werewolf girl (or boy) who becomes smitten with charname. It's a well written diversion, the biggest downside is that it never is mentioned again, not even in the 2nd game. There were some mod attempts to fix that, but they never went anywhere, sadly.
And of course, the main course, Durlag's Tower. The indisputably best dungeon in the entire series. The powerful items you find here can really help swing the fight against Sarevok in your favor. On top of that, once you finish the tower, you still get another awesome bonus boss fight against a demon trying to invade the Sword Coast.
All in all, a necessary addition to Baldur's Gate.
Spoilers start here:
The ice cave is probably the weakest story beat in the expansion. The wizard fights are kinda fun and tactical, but that's about all you get from that aside from a bit of nice loot. Level 5 recommended for that, I think. If you're at level cap, you'll steamroll these guys and then it's over.
The Isle of Balduran is one of the more interesting sidequests from a narrative perspective, as you uncover the secret of an island colony where everyone is a werewolf and have to deal with their own internal politics as well as a local werewolf girl (or boy) who becomes smitten with charname. It's a well written diversion, the biggest downside is that it never is mentioned again, not even in the 2nd game. There were some mod attempts to fix that, but they never went anywhere, sadly.
And of course, the main course, Durlag's Tower. The indisputably best dungeon in the entire series. The powerful items you find here can really help swing the fight against Sarevok in your favor. On top of that, once you finish the tower, you still get another awesome bonus boss fight against a demon trying to invade the Sword Coast.
All in all, a necessary addition to Baldur's Gate.
Preface: this review is targeted at people who played the original and are interested if Beamdog's version is worth it.
And yeah, I think so. The game is significantly more stable now on modern computers widescreens. Also, if you don't like the new stylistic changes to the look of the game, they can all be disabled individually. Lots of new quality of life improvements such as icons depicting what your characters are doing as well as porting all the cool goodies from BG2 over to BG1, making it MUCH easier to transfer your character between the two games.
Some of the new characters are admittedly kinda lame, but then again, even Rasaad isn't as bad as Garrick, so that's nothing new.
New content is also nice, and is about as much extra content as Tales of Sword Coast added.
BG2EE on the other hand feels more like an afterthought in comparison.
And yeah, I think so. The game is significantly more stable now on modern computers widescreens. Also, if you don't like the new stylistic changes to the look of the game, they can all be disabled individually. Lots of new quality of life improvements such as icons depicting what your characters are doing as well as porting all the cool goodies from BG2 over to BG1, making it MUCH easier to transfer your character between the two games.
Some of the new characters are admittedly kinda lame, but then again, even Rasaad isn't as bad as Garrick, so that's nothing new.
New content is also nice, and is about as much extra content as Tales of Sword Coast added.
BG2EE on the other hand feels more like an afterthought in comparison.
2023
This little visual novel is everything it says on the tin and is an excellent example of speculative alien biology and worldbuilding. It's free and only takes an hour and a half to read through, so there's almost no reason not to give it a try.
It was fun for a little bit at first, but once you figure out the timing of everything in the game to avoid bludgers, steal quaffles, and score points (which really doesn't take much practice to perfect), the game becomes deterministically easy. No challenge and got boring fast.
2007
I got to play an early alpha build of Portal at a convention when I was a teen.
But yeah, when compared to Portal 2, you can really tell that the first game is more of a tech demo than a full fledged game. Glad it exists tho, as it definitely revolutionized the 3D puzzle genre.
But yeah, when compared to Portal 2, you can really tell that the first game is more of a tech demo than a full fledged game. Glad it exists tho, as it definitely revolutionized the 3D puzzle genre.
2011
Too bad they'll never make a sequel cuz Valve can't count to 3