BGTV

Super excited about emphatically not watching this show...

BBS -- TLOTMW

As titles go, Brave Battle Saga -- The Legend of the Magic Warrior is kind of an awkward jumble. (I'm sure its original Mandarin title has a nicer ring to it.) As games go, however, it's kind of a blast! BBS -- TLOTMW (wow, the initialism seems almost as long as the actual title!) is the latest game I'm working through on my Evercade. It was originally a Sega Genesis game released only in Taiwan, but now it has a full English version. The endless random encounters add unnecessary length and monotony, but the story is pretty fun (and occasionally downright funny) and there's a funky science-fantasy vibe that's getting stronger as I get deeper into the game. Anticipating later classics like Baldur's Gate, it opens with a single protagonist, but ultimately you pick up a rag-tag band of companions who all have their own personal storylines and motivations. Can't wait to see how it all plays out!

Baldur's Gate 3

So apparently there's this D&D-like game out now where the objective is to have sex with all the NPC companions and you can win the game in five minutes by stuffing one of those companions into a box.

Hard pass.

Return to IWD

With Amy and Matthew at a swim meet this past weekend, Nathaniel and I were on our own. We did a bit of modeling, but he was keen on some D&D video game action, so we played a bit of the classic '90s Chronicles of Mystara games on our Xbox. He was looking for something more, so I suggested we check out the renowned Baldur's Gate or Icewind Dale series; after I described both in detail, he opted for Icewind Dale, so we picked up the Enhanced Edition on Steam and jumped into some old-school second-edition character creation! Nathaniel created three heroes based on some of his favorite characters of past campaigns, and I contributed three of my own -- including a new incarnation of my all-time favorite character from my first-ever IWD play-through. We're still early in the game, but he's loving it so far, and I'm glad to be able to share this experience with him!

Eldrith Eliminated

Nathaniel and I have been playing Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance on Xbox on and off for the past five months or so. Today we finally beat the game, defeating the evil undead warlord Eldrith, architect of the titular dark alliance. It may be twenty years old, but the game aged well and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sunset Mountains

Nathaniel and I have reached the second of three chapters in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance. We're now traipsing through the Sunset Mountains, looking for the oil needed to start a signal fire. Tons of fun so far!

Down Into the Sewers

It's rare that I enjoy (non-hockey) games on the Xbox, but Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is right up my alley. Nathaniel is also quite taken with the game. He's playing as the archer, and I the sorceress, and since Saturday morning we've logged a couple of hours in the sewers beneath Baldur's Gate. It's also great to have a game I can play with Nathaniel, as he's not as keen on hockey games as Matthew is. I suspect we'll play this one all the way through!

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Just heard that the classic console game Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance is being re-released for Xbox tomorrow. Was it really twenty years ago that I first saw this game at Matt's house in Rochester? In any case, you bet your sweet beholder I'll be buying it! 

BG3!

TAKE MY MONEY!!!!!

Halo Honcho

Not to be outdone by his younger brother, Matthew completed the Halo game that he's been working on. It's funny to see them arguing over which franchise -- Halo or Call of Duty -- is better. I like to pipe up that the Baldur's Gate series is the best of all, but no one ever seconds that motion.

Strongholds & Campsites

One of the best parts of Baldur's Gate II was the stronghold. At a certain point in the game, your main character would get the opportunity to obtain a permanent headquarters where the party could rest safely, stock away surplus magic items, and even resolve local issues that were going on in the area around the stronghold. The coolest stronghold of all was the one that fighters could get -- a massive castle, complete with a great hall, guards and servants, and plenty of secret passages and hidden chambers. (Side note: During my last play-through, about four years ago, my party lacked the magic items necessary to defeat a powerful golem, so we basically just locked him in one of the many castle bedrooms -- and there he remained for the rest of the campaign!) The castle stuff in Baldur's Gate II remains one of my all-time favorite bits from any video game I've ever played.

So, that brings us to Pathfinder: Kingmaker. This game has the same play style as Baldur's Gate and its ilk, but it seeks to take that castle experience and flesh it out so that it becomes an absolutely integral part of the game. You don't just end up with a stronghold -- you build and manage your own kingdom! Super awesome, right? I assume so, but I may never see it.

I'm stuck in the campsite.

Resting rivals the long load times for the most annoying problem with this game. Your characters consume rations when you rest (fine) and often you get attacked while resting (also fine), but
camping is so tedious and time-consuming that it seriously detracts from the experience of the game. You're sending out hunters, you're appointing a cook, you're camouflaging the tents, you're setting the shifts for your watch, you're sharpening your weapons....you get the idea. I have no doubt that some folks will find this added realism to be enjoyable -- I thought it was kind of cool the first time around -- but as I'm traipsing through dungeons and finding myself in need of rest to replenish hit points and spells, I just dread the whole process of resting. I think I need to give this game a rest.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Wow, I just found out about Pathfinder: Kingmaker, a single-player computer RPG in the style of Baldur's Gate and its successors. Click here to see the Kickstarter page -- but there's only a few hours left!

It's Torment Indeed

So I ended up shelling out twenty bucks for the PC version of Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition, and I can't say I'm in love with it. I'll try anything that resembles Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale (this game is built using the same engine as those two classics), but Torment is turning out to be slow and talky. I'm a couple of hours into the game, and I'm now wandering around the slums of Sigil (all the while killing the same bandits that keep respawning in exactly the same places) in search of information. Each new map brings about the same grim exercise in identifying every named NPC, initiating dialogue with them, and scanning through reams of text to figure out if they have anything truly useful to say. Not sure how far I will get with this game, especially with my copy of Tales From the Yawning Portal scheduled to arrive today...

New D&D Comic

There's a new D&D comic book from IDW. Minsc of Baldur's Gate meets Strahd von Zarovich of Ravenloft! Horrific hilarity ensues!

Eh...

I bought the first issue, but I'm not especially hopeful it will improve upon the last several iterations of D&D comics. Bring back Fell's Five, I say!

Siege of Dragonspear

If you're looking for more action in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, you can now purchase the new expansion, Siege of Dragonspear. Click here for more details.

BG Expansion

Another Baldur's Gate expansion is on its way (click here for details), but I'm starting to think I've reached something of a Baldur's Gate saturation point over the last couple of years. I may need to let some time pass before I jump into this one.

Legendary!

Tonight I completed Sword Coast Legends, and, all things considered, it was an enjoyable game -- if a bit too much like an MMO in terms of game mechanics. It's not in the same league as the Baldur's Gate family, but it's a solid D&D video game nonetheless. I would definitely recommend it.

For what it's worth, my final foursome consisted of my human paladin PC, the derro rogue Izhkin, the elf cleric Illydia, and the drow wizard Dalanir. This party configuration offered a nice balance of melee and ranged attackers, and all three NPCs had powers that allowed them to summon creatures. The back-to-back boss fights at the end of the game turned out to be kind of a long slog, but we chugged regeneration potions while spamming the bosses with summoned creatures, and I never really felt like the party was in serious jeopardy. There are tougher battles in the game -- including one against a mind flayer, its thralls, and a red dragon that pops in to breathe fire from time to time -- but the final showdown did have a certain cinematic feel to it, and there's a cool bit between the two fights where you have to make a choice that dramatically alters the way the end of the game unfolds. Heh. One NPC was really pissed at me...but when the fate of the Sword Coast is at stake, you've gotta do what you've gotta do!

Thoughts on SCL

I'm still not sure what I think of Sword Coast Legends. I suspect I'm still fairly early in the single-player campaign, and I haven't fooled around with the DM tools yet, so there's still a great deal to explore -- and I'm looking forward to it. Still, the game thus far has left me feeling somewhat underwhelmed. I had hoped for the second coming of Baldur's Gate -- an unreasonable expectation, I admit -- but what I'm finding is that SCL is more like a single-player Neverwinter. 

SCL really does feel like an MMO to me. The storyline is linear with bland side-quests ("Find me eight ooze samples!" and such) and the gameplay hardly resembles Fifth Edition (or any edition) tabletop D&D. Instead, characters have powers with cooldown timers as in any MMORPG, they never need to rest (electing where and when to rest is, of course, a major strategic component of "real" D&D), and they never truly die unless there's a TPK.

It's a fun game, though, and I have every intention of playing all the way through the campaign and then building modules with the DM toolkit. Creating my own digital Troya Nova -- or some other location from the Druid Cycle world -- will probably win me over to liking SCL more than I do now.

Random SCL Thought

I'm enjoying Sword Coast Legends. It's a worthy successor to Baldur's Gate and other such classic D&D video games, and despite having very little time to devote to it, I think I'm making pretty good progress. But for whatever reason, whenever I hear the voice of NPC necromancer Hommet Shaw, I picture Ricky Gervais...

More on Siege

Click here for lots of additional info -- new NPC allies! new locations! -- about the upcoming expansion for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. There's even a trailer!