June 2024 Channel Update – What You’ve Been Waiting For
Added 2024-06-23 21:43:42 +0000 UTCHi!
Feels like it’s been forever since the last update with me having been away for a bit in May!! I am doing Alright, and I hope you are too!
There’s a lot to cover so I’ll try to be concise 🏃♀️🏃♀️🏃♀️
TL;DR
Finished: INDIKA, Hellblade II, Still Wakes the Deep, a million first looks
Ongoing: Hades II, Metal Gear Solid 2
Next Up: Alan Wake II Night Springs DLC, Baldur’s Gate 3
Finished Stuff
INDIKA: It's the weird nun game - you know the one 🤣 I like bizarre, novel things, and this game definitely had weird stuff in spades alongside surrealist humour and interesting cinematography. It does have things to say about religion, faith, and more taboo/sensitive topics, so I can see it stepping on toes.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II: Compared to 1 they’ve really honed in on distilling this into a cinematic experience with zero video gamey button prompts, streamlined combat to ensure smooth animations, etc. It’s very nice to see Senua continue her journey and grow even more, although I think it’s difficult to re-capture that groundbreaking feel of the first game.
Still Wakes the Deep: A spooky narrative game of Scottish oil rig workers disturbing underwater horrors. The story is engaging and doesn’t overstay, but I don’t think its hyperlinear gameplay will be for people looking to be scared scared. It’s creepy and atmospheric, but I could handle playing it at night no prob.
We had first looks of:
1000xRESIST: In a post-apocalyptic future, we are “Watcher” – one of the many sister clones of the Allmother, who holds immunity to an alien disease that has wiped out the rest of the humanity. Things start to change as Watcher learns more about this society.
This one is a real doozy. It’s a visual novel-esque sci-fi thriller mixed with an immigrant story, intergenerational trauma, and everything in between. It’s also just up my niche alley in general: there’s sapphic AND Hong Kong stuff (was this made for me???? l o l)
The first look was a slow start but I’ve seen very passionate & high praise for it from lots of narrative folk, so I’ve been sloowly, secretly continuing it. It does pick up & now I find the worldbuilding + storytelling very fascinating and engaging. I’ll probably continue the videos after I finish the game. (Might be a while as I have this on lower priority with how niche it is.)
Little Kitty, Big City: A cat goes around wreaking havoc in a city! Nothing crazy, but it’s good ol’ cute cat fun.
Another Crab’s Treasure: A Soulslike of a crab suffering the consequences of being poor and unable to pay taxes in a capitalistic underwater society. Fun tone and the difficulty seems lenient. I enjoyed the first bit, but it’s a tad long for me to commit to on a whim (~20 hours).
Nine Sols: A “Taopunk” metroidvania Soulslike based on the Sekiro parry mechanic, by Red Candle Games. This is a big departure from their previous games Detention and Devotion. The gameplay seems quite unforgiving; I died to the first a good few times. There are mysteries with the story but the unpolished localization was somewhat distracting (it’s in “it’s grammatically correct but I can tell this wasn’t written by a native speaker” territory, which TBF isn’t going to be something that bothers everyone.)
The Alters demo: Dude is stranded on a foreign planet and makes slightly differing copies of himself to have enough manpower to survive. The gameplay is like Death Stranding + Fallout Shelter with some Eurojanky feel to it (Polish devs). I’m very curious where they’re gonna go with all the copies communicating and us managing them like Sims people lol. I’m looking forward to the full release.
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn demo: A “Soulslite” by the Ashen devs where we must defeat the evil Gods leaking things into our lands, destroying our people. I didn’t find the narrative nor the open world design super gripping, but the gun + melee gameplay was enjoyable.
Closer the Distance demo: By the devs of Orwell - Life is Strange meets the Sims in a quaint village where everyone knows each other. These people encounter a tragedy that ripple-affects everyone’s relationships and starts tearing the group apart. Looking forward to the full release of this one too.
Current Stuff
Hades II early access: It’s Supergiant, and it’s Hades, so we already know it’s quality. Not sure of my full plans for this yet but the early access saves carry over into the full release, so I’ll likely play to Some Point, pick it up again when major patches roll around or so, and finish up the story when it comes out with the full release.
Metal Gear Solid 2: It’s Kojima, and it’s Metal Gear, so it was going to be entertaining no matter what lol. I think MGS1 was okay with the simpler mechanics but in 2 I find myself wishing Konami had put effort into modernizing/adding proper KB+M controls. I like the core things about the game, but the controls have been a point of friction. I think I’m past the halfway through atm.
Non-Let’s Play Stuff
If you missed it: I started doing some shorter videos where I give some thoughts on game trailers and upcoming games. I figure it’s nice to have some “casual” content that doesn’t require dozens of hours of commitment like with LPs!
Dragon Age: The Veilguard: Initial reveal / Gameplay reveal
Life is Strange: Double Exposure: Initial reveal / Gameplay reveal + more details
People seem to be enjoying these so I’ll keep this format in mind whenever I come across stuff that interests me. (If you have suggestions feel free to shoot! E.g. I got a few asks for Lost Records: Bloom & Rage so far)
Upcoming Stuff
We’ll have Alan Wake II Night Springs DLC next, which should be a short three-parter. After that, we’ll start Baldur’s Gate 3! It might won’t be at a breakneck pace, but a start’s a start - looking forward to digging into it finally! (ps. I’ve been watching some beginner videos to get some D&D/BG3 background & terminology, feel free to send over any nice resources you have.)
That’s it for now!!!!!! Thanks for sticking around, feel free to let me know any comments/suggestions, and and enjoy the start of your summer (or winter for Australians)🍸
Welonz
Comments
I'm really glad to hear you will continue 1000xResist. Such a great experience! Back when I played it, I actually thought that would be a perfect game for you to play and a few days later you actually released a video. I was a bit sad that it seemed to be just the first look but I was curious if it would return and that curiosity made me join a patreon after years of enjoying your videos. Baldurs Gate 3 is cool too.
Alex R
2024-07-03 16:53:12 +0000 UTCHappy to learn you've been playing 1000xresist and plans to release the videos! Lovely game. And by lovely I mean heartwrenching. Super curious to see you tackle BG3, too!
san
2024-06-29 14:44:38 +0000 UTCMakes sense, it is a pretty long game! However would you consider doing a reaction video on the differences between the main game and Final Draft?
Shweta Philip
2024-06-28 14:18:41 +0000 UTCI have a little bit of catching up to do as I 'm still in the middle of your FF7 Rebirth series. By the the way, I don't think I've ever seen a game with as many mini games as this. Even some game mechanics are mini game-ish. Amazing work on getting through them while remaining calm and composed. Doubt I would have managed, so it's a good thing I'm watching and not playing. Also, I know I've said it many times before, but just a big thank you for the wonderful work you do. It's great to watch and very much appreciated.
barry mate
2024-06-28 11:35:16 +0000 UTCI'd have to play through the whole game again for that so probably not!
Materwelonz
2024-06-28 07:10:13 +0000 UTCI do expect this to bump into other big releases - not fully set but I'm inclined to go with a slower pacing that I know I can keep up as opposed to pausing for longer stretches at some time (so, I guess that would be like Witcher 3 if you mean it in the way I am thinking of!)
Materwelonz
2024-06-28 07:08:10 +0000 UTCThat event was what I mentioned as "a notable exception" to avoid a spoiler. :)
Xavier Cho
2024-06-28 01:06:20 +0000 UTCI thought I'd add one caveat to the 'there's no penalty to dallying'. If you see a situation where things are 'imminently happening' (vague bc it should be obvious when you see it) if you don't do it right away it will definitely give you a consequence. I don't even think it's about resting just changing zones might do it. Regardless, very rare. By and large I definitely was too terrified to long rest most of the game and that caused other problems by not making camp events happen so the advice (as well as the rest of the post) is very good.
Teyhr
2024-06-27 21:21:52 +0000 UTCIt's really hard to explain this right to people who haven't done it, but you don't miss VA exactly you just get different VA. They don't talk in conversations but they'll comment on the environment a lot more. And I don't just mean the stuff you can click on that you can also click on as other people. They put a ton of work into playing as Origin characters and giving unique stuff that I don't want to say here due to spoilers, so to me it's crazy that seemingly everyone thinks it literally isn't valid to do that as your playthrough (again this is not knocking creating your own). I've only played once, I may someday years later play again, and I certainly don't feel cheated out of VA or anything, and I felt excited when I got scenes that were clearly unique.
Teyhr
2024-06-27 21:12:25 +0000 UTCeh I wouldnt wanna miss out on all the VA by going origin char on a 1st playthrough
Calmmo
2024-06-27 18:02:12 +0000 UTCExcitement!
ElissaFae
2024-06-27 17:47:56 +0000 UTCGrim Fandango is great! And it's not too long either; howlongtobeat says it's around 12 hours. I remember having to look up the solution to some puzzles though lol. Very much in the old style of point and click games, where the solutions were complete nonsense. But still, it's a very fun game.
Kasp
2024-06-26 20:51:42 +0000 UTCI already posted a gigantic wall of text above, but I'll add a few more words to explain why I think BG3 is such an interesting game that may deserve all the anticipation and hype around it in our channel. Although I agree that BG3 has set a new standard of modern RPG, I think there are surprisingly few in it that haven't been done by other games before. It has decent graphics and cutscenes, but it's nothing spectacular compared to those of contemporary AAA games. Its maps aren't particularly large, and it only features a moderate number of companions for such a game. And it's not like BG3 has many innovative game mechanics either. Player choices and branching storylines have been done by many RPGs and narrative games. And even things like faithful D&D-based combat or interactive environment had been done by other games like Solasta or Divinity Original Sin before. I believe what really set BG3 aside from all the others in this genre is the sheer amount efforts from the developers to fill the game world with mindboggling details, secrets, story branches, and optional contents that many players wouldn't even notice. There have been many games that featured a stellar voice acting performance from one of their main characters, for example. But how many allow you to kill that character the moment you meet them to never see them again? If a side quest boss fight having his own BGM is impressive, it's crazy when they even thought of a case where the player casts Silence spell to stop him from singing. If a game allowing you to pickpocket a reward from an NPC without breaking the quest is unusual, it's almost inconceivable when the developers put a special dialogue just for such a case. I believe that kind of efforts they had put into the game is what really makes BG3 special. It's difficult to imagine how any other AAA studios funded by a major publisher would allow "wasting" their development resources to create so many contents that most players wouldn't even realise they exist. Even though Welonz has a very thorough gameplaying habit, I'm pretty sure she'll miss quite many contents, or even a few whole areas entirely. But for the same reason, I think it's likely that she'd be impressed by how reactive the environment feels because of the many paths she didn't take, or a few secrets she stumbles upon by sheer chance in her journey. And that's why I think BG3 is so special, and why I wanted to watch such a thorough and insightful gamer as Welonz playing it.
Xavier Cho
2024-06-25 09:12:37 +0000 UTCBaldur's Gate hype! There is so much advice and tips here already, that I'm just going to say: I'm super excited and I hope you'll have tons of fun!
captain carrot
2024-06-24 20:58:25 +0000 UTCHey Welonz! Would you be doing the Alan Wake 2 Final Draft as well sometime?
Shweta Philip
2024-06-24 19:44:24 +0000 UTCorigin characters are better for a second playthrough.
Tyko Brian
2024-06-24 16:55:29 +0000 UTCOMG IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING!! And on my birthday week too!! Anyway, I really don’t have anything new to add after what the others have said. Only these: PLAY THE GAME HOWEVER *YOU* LIKE. I feel like this game tries its best to let the player truly roleplay their characters. So naturally your character will have beliefs which will lead them to make certain choices and prefer some company over another. I know you’re researching DND and the game mechanics overall to grasp the gameplay quicker and better, but let’s not forget that the game was surprisingly popular for a turn-based CRPG with rather obscure rules. If millions of people could enjoy this game then perhaps the rules didn’t get that much in the way of enjoyment? Lastly, there is no need to rush it. It can be a long game specifically made to savour the experience (I have nothing against speedrunners). In short, you absolutely don't need any kind of handholding from the peanut gallery that is the YouTube comment section. I've seen you tackle all kinds of RPGs. This will be no more or less difficult for you. Also, since it's an R-P-G, there's no right or wrong choices to make, just the one YOUR CHARACTER thinks is the appropriate one. Good luck and good hunting, Welonz.
Tyko Brian
2024-06-24 16:49:44 +0000 UTCAlso, I want to highlight this: there is NO wrong way to play BG3, and if someone later on YouTube will whine about it, it's their problems, not yours. Please, play in whatever way you desire because most important thing is enjoying the game. BG3 will be a long, long playthrough and you shouldn't restrict yourself by "rules" from fandom. Obviously general and non-spoiler tips will be useful, but I wish you to explore it without fear that something you do will have consequences for your character (it 100% will lol, but that's not the point!), remember: each playthrough will be unique, so no fear, only curiosity and desire to conquer this new exciting world! Good luck!!!
Dylan Hearts
2024-06-24 15:02:55 +0000 UTCOh, we'll be seated for BG3 LP for sure! 2024 will be big for your channel as BG fandom is huge, I only hope that fandom will be respectful to your playthrough and not spoil things beforehand. I played BG2 many times and have strong sentimental feelings about it as it were simpler times and the future seemed to be bright and happy (not that now I'm unhappy, but more cynical and overwhelmed by information flow everywhere). I still playing BG3 (75% completion, I guess?) and enjoying it a LOT, the production is top notch, voice over acting is great, gay thirst are 100% fulfilled with plenty handsome guys lol I really didn't expected this game to be this sexy, but in a grounded, profound way which doesn't turn things into something banal and weird. The romance between main character and any companion captured really nice, conversations are gentle and wholesome. Despite all the nudity and sexual tensions BG3 surprisingly respectful about it, underlining that sexual is not about looks, but more about unique traits of the characters and their behavior in relationship. It's really well done, I just wanted to comment on that because you rarely see this kind of stuff done properly and giving to lore shine more (instead of filling time in the story as 99% happens in videogames/TV series/movies).
Dylan Hearts
2024-06-24 14:49:35 +0000 UTCWoohoo, BG3 is about to start! Really great news on a monday. :D Take your time with it Welonz and enjoy your journey.
Zischrot
2024-06-24 12:34:22 +0000 UTCThat bit about thinking out of the box with combat---💯💯💯
Sharrow
2024-06-24 12:08:07 +0000 UTCI can't believe it's finally happening after such a long anticipation! I've been eagerly waiting for this moment not only because BG3 is one of my favourite RPGs but also because I believe you are a perfect YouTube LPer to play it. Thanks for the update, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. As for the tips, I was wondering what could be the best way of helping you enjoy the game more without backseating or making you feel intimidated even more than you already seem to be. So, here's my best attempt at compiling a list of things that may enhance your experience of the game: 1. Initially, the game may give you the impression that terrible things may happen if you dally too long, but that isn't the case. I've seen a few streamers miss out on essential cutscenes because they didn't rest often enough, misled by this assumption. In fact, there's no negative impact of long resting with a notable exception, which I'm sure you won't need any help to figure out. 2. BG3 is an incredibly "dense" game, meaning it's filled to the brim with optional content that can be easily missed. For example, every animal in this game has *two* different sets of unique dialogues, one for animal noises and another for actual conversation. The latter can often be hilarious and even helpful in solving problems. Still, most new players only realise it after passing by many such opportunities because it requires a spell or potion called "Speak with Animals" to unlock them. A similar thing can be said of the spell "Speak with Dead", although not every corpse has something to say in this case. 3. On a related note, this game has many hidden areas or alternate routes, which may require some creative thinking to access. However, while thoroughly exploring the map may be beneficial because of it, opening every random container could be more tedious than rewarding unless you are low on resources (e.g. potions, thieving tools, etc.) 4. Combat in Larian cRPGs rewards "outside the box" creativity more than min-maxing in general. It's not an RPG where you are expected to spam spells or skills at enemies until they die. If you see a health bar on an object, you can probably destroy it. If you see a wet surface, you can electrocute or freeze enemies stepping on it. You can also throw most of the objects at an enemy or even an enemy at an object. To give you an idea of how much "outside the box" strategy is allowed in this game, here's an impressive combat I watched from a random streamer: he summoned a cat near a group of enemies outside the combat (you can engage the turn-based mode any time, by the way), which made them come closer to investigate. Then he blasted them all off the cliff with a single Thunderwave spell. It's just one example of endless possibilities you may be interested in exploring. 5. DnD can feel daunting for beginners, with its countless rules and mechanics. Thankfully, BG3 has a decent tooltip system that you can use to learn most of them in-game. So, if you see a highlighted text in an item description or wonder what things like "[Dexterity]" mean in dialogue options, try hovering your mouse over the area. I've seen too many streamers complaining about why their hit chance is so low without ever checking out the tooltip of the "Disadvantage" label or status effect icons. Understanding the difference between "ritual" spells and regular ones may make your life much easier in BG3, but you won't find it out unless you carefully examine the tooltips on these spells, for example. 6. The first obstacle you'll probably encounter is the character creation screen, with myriad jargon and confusing options. But you don't have to be concerned too much about them since BG3 lets you respec your character any time with a minimal cost. The only thing you can't change is your race, so you may want to spend some time to find out what would be the best choice for your character. However, maybe the most crucial choice in this stage is whether to choose a custom character or an "origin" one. While many players think it's best to go with a custom character for the first playthrough, I feel that it's purely a matter of preference, with their respective pros and cons. Even the "Dark Urge" origin, which is generally not recommended for the first-time player, was initially meant to be the default background for player character for a good reason. In short, a custom option is best if you prefer a blank slate on which to imagine your own character. In contrast, the origin option may give you a more engaging narrative, especially the Dark Urge route, because your background is more tightly tied to the game's main story. ...... I hope I didn't make you feel even more intimidated by the game than you already seem to be by writing such a long-winded list of tips. But probably it's because I got carried away from my excitement that I failed to keep it concise. I'm confident you'll do just fine whichever way you play. After all, that's what "RP" initially meant in RPGs before the genre deviated from its origins for more action-oriented gameplay and things like collectables or achievements. Thankfully, BG3 is a game that takes player choices seriously by making failures and mistakes as entertaining as successes. In fact, my favourite moment of another LPer’s playthrough involves the permanent death of a companion caused by a game bug. Also, it's a pretty accessible one despite its uncompromisingly complex game mechanics. Otherwise, it wouldn't have appealed to so many gamers who have never played a CRPG before. So, you don't have anything to worry about going into the game without knowing too much about DnD or CRPG traditions. I just hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Xavier Cho
2024-06-24 08:45:03 +0000 UTCfair enough :)
nunululu0101
2024-06-24 02:00:50 +0000 UTComg it’s happening! Excited to see you tackle Baldur’s Gate 3. i’m currently playing it as someone totally new to DnD and… it was pretty overwhelming, even with the in game tutorials i had a hard time understanding a lot of the mechanics. https://youtu.be/GNaVaHBFqX4?si=5QqqJewslmI4TrIy This guide by Lucky Ghost is spoiler free and really helped me grasp the basics at least. But i’m sure you’ll get the hang of it better than I have!
Suaffle
2024-06-24 01:46:06 +0000 UTCI'm really enjoying the new trailer reaction and discussion content !
Captain Kashup
2024-06-24 00:25:51 +0000 UTCI don't mind people thinking it's bad to play as an Origin character though I disagree but I do want to say I'm not saying she should definitely do it, I'm saying she should consider the option. I'm the only person that did it among my friend group and I really liked it. The people who didn't do it also really liked it. Larian put in a lot of work so that either way is very valid.
Teyhr
2024-06-24 00:16:36 +0000 UTCYou're welcome to disagree! I bring it up because nobody seems to even consider it as an option, but I did it in both DOS2 and BG3 and found it way more interesting to see and interact with. I don't personally find much value in a clean slate protagonist in video games, I'd rather be a clearly defined person with a mission. For me it's much easier to enjoy somebody like Geralt or Commander Shepard who is a defined person with a role that you guide. Many others much prefer the clean slate, and I don't want to knock that. Either way though, Origin character is a different kind of experience and Welonz is only going to play once since it's a huge game so I just wanted to bring it up as something to think about. When you say you 'miss out' on experiencing them as they were written, I get what you're saying but you also 'miss out' on experiencing what it's like to be an Origin Avatar if you don't, it's impossible not to miss out on something.
Teyhr
2024-06-24 00:09:27 +0000 UTCAgain recommending Corru.observer, it has such a good story and there's not a lot of good commented playthoughs of it out there
Lu A
2024-06-24 00:08:54 +0000 UTCI'm super excited to see more of Alan Wake and find out what all the fuss is about with BG3. I'm also glad you've been able to continue with Resist. Your first look really piqued my interest.
Blue72
2024-06-23 23:39:29 +0000 UTCA big second for Grim Fandango, whenever time permits. Maybe something for the spooky season. One of the funniest games ever made, with top-notch writing and characters.
Blue72
2024-06-23 23:32:51 +0000 UTCWhether you play it or not, I would love to see your thoughts/reactions to The Hundred Line - Last Defense Academy!
smolbabydol
2024-06-23 23:28:20 +0000 UTCThere is a person who wants you to play one of the origin characters first. I highly recommend you to not do that. origin characters are basically your party members but in BG3 you can play as them. I highly recommend you to just play as a custom character and discover your party members naturally in a normal playthrough. In fact: Please do not even click on the origin characters in the character creator !! It just spoils them with a little introduction !! also regarding the nudity: I think you should leave the nudity including genitals on. There is not much nudity in the game so you can easily censor it for YouTube.... BUT if you turn it off it actually cuts short - including dialogue - some of the romance scenes - which will make you miss content. That's all !
nunululu0101
2024-06-23 22:50:51 +0000 UTCThe only tip I have for BG3: I highly recommend you to save this map of the Sword Coast - which is in the west of the continent: https://media.wizards.com/2015/images/dnd/resources/Sword-Coast-Map_HighRes.jpg Baldur's Gate itself is a little south of the middle of the coast. It helped me as a total newbie to the setting of D&D to visualize where what is. The game for some reason never shows us a world map. It is not as useful as the map of Thedas for Dragon Age because the game takes place only around Baldur's Gate but still. Speaking of Dragon Age: Your BG3 playthrough is 100% gonna overlap with the next Dragon Age this fall. just saying :)
nunululu0101
2024-06-23 22:43:02 +0000 UTCAgree. I think you also miss out on experiencing the companion you play as they were written playing as an origin character. It's also weird how they are like half voiced.
Sharrow
2024-06-23 22:26:17 +0000 UTCHey Welonz, thanks for a great month. Hope you didn't miss the break you planned! Excited for BG3! I want to recommend an older game I think you'd like, Grim Fandango. It's an old Lucas Arts point and click, remastered version on Steam. I think you'd like a lot of the Lucas Arts PnGs, they were foundational, but especially this one. The graphic style is really unique and holds up well. A very interesting combination of Mexican folklore and film noir in the art and story. Certain puzzles can be a struggle and no hand holding but you'd definitely manage.
Sharrow
2024-06-23 22:20:03 +0000 UTCIt’s a bummer to see 1000xRESIST so low priority. I would’ve loved to watch your playthrough while I was going through it. Games like that could definitely use the publicity. Oh well, glad you’re enjoying it!
Jonathan B.
2024-06-23 22:16:30 +0000 UTCHoly shit, Baldur’s Gate 3! Incredible… out of curiosity though, if any other big games come out while you’re playing it will you pause it or something like that? Or will it be more like how you played the Witcher 3?
Mikey S
2024-06-23 22:13:38 +0000 UTCGotta say I respectfully disagree on the part about playing an origin character in the first playthrough. Yeah, you make some good points that I agree with, but for the first PT I will always prefer a "clean slate", a char that you can truly shape in your own image without the baggage an origin character comes with.
Alexander Berby
2024-06-23 22:08:33 +0000 UTCIf you ever feel like you have time to slip it into your schedule, I'd love to see a full playthrough of Nine Sols - it's a really endearing game and I think you'd end up liking it a lot. One bit of warning about BG3: The autosaves can be hours apart, because it only saves the first time you reach particular, pre-designated spots. You should get used to manual quicksaving with F5. Also, I know you tend to roll with whatever happens rather than reloading to a save if something goes wrong, and this is usually fine in BG3, but there are a few key encounters where a run of bad luck can lead to key NPCs dying and having significant story consequences, without it leading to a full game over, so you might want to keep an eye out for that and be okay with reloading a save if it happens.
Alexander McClelland
2024-06-23 22:04:08 +0000 UTCThanks for the update! Looking very much forward to your playthrough of BG3. Go in at your own pace and with your own style and it'll be a banger for sure!
Alexander Berby
2024-06-23 22:03:28 +0000 UTCI have some non-spoilers comments for your upcoming BG3 playthrough, Welonz. First, when you start BG3, give serious thought to playing as one of the Origin characters (but not the Dark Urge, that's basically hard mode). The Origin characters are the people who can join your party in act 1, like Astarion / etc. When you play as them yourself, you're given full control of their personal quest and extra insight with added cutscenes and narrative scenes you don't get when they're just in their party. There are also unique dialogue lines that show up when you're talking as one. However, you will hear them speak less than normal since they won't verbalize what you say when you pick the dialogues. A custom created character will not have any unique cutscenes or interactions, so playing as an Origin character lets you have 4 of them in the party and lets you experience one but maybe with a personality you like more (for example Astarion does not have to be a jerk if you play as him). They can do all the romances just like a created character can, as well. EDIT: After seeing a several people disagree I went looking and was surprised to see from Larian's stats that 94% of people create a custom character and only 6% go Origin. I think it's a cool choice and very interesting but I'm in way more of a minority than I thought! I'm also adding this edit to affirm that making your own character is a great experience too and I'm not trying to tell Welonz she has to do anything! Second, if you want to be somebody who succeeds in a lot of dialogue choices, the person you are playing as should be somebody with high charisma who can take proficiency in Persuasion and Deception at least (like Bard or Sorcerer). Intimidate is less useful unless you want to be a jerk. I don't think they've changed this but if you initiate dialogue with a companion character it really meddles with the approval / reaction system which can hurt you down the line. Third, there is a respec option you get midway through Act 1, Withers, who can completely reroll any character in your party if you talk to him as that character, so you aren't locked into the classes of any characters. It's totally fine to leave them as is but you can fiddle and it won't break their quests or anything. All that said, the game is perfectly playable and beatable as anything, these are just tips if you want to maximize some ability to get to certain content. The combat is tactical and just rewards a little planning and thought, and it does a great job with the UI of helping you through everything you can do so you shouldn't need to study too hard on D&D. It's great to get some ideas but don't feel like a college level test is approaching.
Teyhr
2024-06-23 21:53:06 +0000 UTCOh looking forward to more Alan Wake and BG3 Eurogamer has a short video for beginners to D&D which might be helpful EDIT: rewatching the video made me realise it was more about D&D than BG3, so may not be useful (but you have lots of other very helpful advice here so I wouldn’t worry) https://youtu.be/UzkexMPD4es?si=frw9pvdMgCH7-gUY
Bookwyrm
2024-06-23 21:51:43 +0000 UTCLooking forward to BG3, thanks Welonz!
Ravindu Ratnayake
2024-06-23 21:46:19 +0000 UTCBG3! I'm excited, but please take your time with it - there's a lot to process if you're not too familiar with D&D mechanics! Good idea on researching before you take the plunge!
Elias Smith
2024-06-23 21:45:55 +0000 UTC
