Baldur’s Gate 3 (PS5) review

I spent about 68 hours of playthrough time completing my first game of Baldur’s Gate 3, and at the time of writing I’ve almost completed Act 1 in a new game. And here’s what I made of it. Spoilers will be kept to an absolute bare minimum.

 

Story

The premise of Baldur’s Gate 3, which is made plain right from the off and isn’t a spoiler, is that the player character has been infected with a horrid mindflayer ‘tadpole’ that will soon turn them into a mindflayer (psionic alien thingydoo with tentacles that eats brains). Luckily, the ship on which the player is captive is attacked and crashes, enabling them to escape and try to get healed, potentially alongside other infected ex-prisoners.

The player can have a party of up to four, with three pre-made NPCs or hired hands (without any special dialogue, quests, or other than wafer-thin personality) making up the numbers. Options in dialogue and action are significant and do not fall into simple good/evil variations (though some choices are obviously nicer than others). DnD fans should be aware there’s also no alignment here, so don’t expect chaos/law to be tagged in dialogue choices or affect anything. Naturally, NPC companions will like or dislike certain things.

There’s often more than two choices to be made that substantially affect an outcome, and these can occur via dialogue or by action. A minor example of this is how I freed someone only to then be confronted by an individual over this. The irate individual then summoned a lot of help and things escalated to a full-blown battle. While I’ve only played through once right now, it’s pretty clear that certain actions affect things down the line and it feels like choices can shape the story significantly (I’m quite tempted to start an evil playthrough to experiment with this, although I’m torn between Electra the drow storm sorceress, and the halfling bard Little Schmidt).

Discussing the story in precise terms is impossible, and I don’t want to spoil it. In general, very vague terms, I liked the way it unfolded and the very clear variety of different approaches that can be taken. In addition to the main quest, companions have their own quest lines which are among the most interesting in the game. It can also often be worth it to have conflicting party members to enjoy the antagonistic banter. The majority of companions are found in the first act, with a small number in act two and one in the third act, potentially.

 

Character Creation

It’s possible to play as one of the various pre-made NPCs (I think every companion that can be found in the first act). However,  most people prefer to make their own character, and this has a lot of options in most areas. In a shocking turn, there are actually multiple good hairstyles (a rarity in RPGs), although preset faces are only 10 in number. Skin and eye colour (including ocular heterochromia, or different coloured eyes), tattoos, scars, and more can be customised. Larger races also have a quartet of body types (essentially, slim male and female and stronger/bigger variants). No fat body types, though.

Be sure to switch nudity on or off as you like in the settings as this might be OTT for some, or delightful for others.

Aside from the physical side of things, character creation covers races. Each has their own features and sometimes offer unique dialogue options (my second character, a white dragonborn monk, has had quite a lot of class and racial dialogue choices). This is the most minor impact of the class, which determines combat style and, to a lesser extent, social engagement. Classes like sorcerer, warlock, wizard, and bard offer a strong magic focus, while the monk, barbarian, rogue, and fighter are largely about physical conflict. Rangers, paladins, and clerics are more mixed. Be aware the subclass (chosen at different levels, but all, I think, in the first three) can add a big degree of variety and the monk and fighter can take on an arcane aspect with the Way of the Four Elements and Eldritch Knight subclasses respectively. This can be a good way of balancing a party.

Charisma-focused classes such as paladin, sorcerer, warlock, and bard offer the best chance of doing well in social interactions (and if you want to be overpowered in these pick up the cantrip Friends and enjoy advantage, although this has later negative consequences on the hardest game setting, I believe).

Racial variety, incidentally, can vary a bit, as there are 10 different types of dragonborn. This determines not just appearance but breath weapon (with resistance [halving the damage] for the corresponding element). Elves, meanwhile, have just two (wood and high) with drow (dark elf) being considered a separate race.

For the most part, I like character creation a lot, although more facial variety would be good.

Appearance can be altered in camp via the magic mirror, while Withers (also in camp) enables changing class. Note that changing race is not possible.

Gameplay

Gameplay has three main aspects: combat, stealth, and dialogue.

Those familiar with Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition will be right at home, though there have been changes. I also recommend setting reactions (mostly opportunity attacks) to be asked about rather than occurring automatically. Even for opportunity attacks this can matter, but as other reactions can use up class resources (ki points for the monk or battlemaster fighter superiority dice) having them happen automatically can drain said resources unhelpfully. Some spells have changed how they work (polymorph has been massively nerfed) but, broadly speaking, it’s very faithful to the tabletop game.

For those unfamiliar with how this works, it’s similar to either XCOM or Divinity: Original Sin 2 (also by Larian). Physical attacks can be made any number of times, magical attacks, excepting basic cantrips, can only be done if there are available spell slots. These can only be replenished with rare potions or upon a long rest (save the warlock, who has fewer spell slots but gets them all back on a short rest). There are also some individual class resources, such as monk ki points, or channel divinity for clerics.

Summon spells, whether elementals near the top end or the cleric’s early spell Spiritual Weapon, are very useful because they not only add an extra attack or two, they also provide something else for enemies to target.

On standard difficulty, enemies behave in an intelligent way. Cast Grease on a foe and, if they can, they’ll jump out of the area rather than walk across it. It’s easy to be outmatched. Enemies do not scale to the player’s level and if you’re out of your depth this will soon become apparent. Some fights can be avoided entirely, including some major battles (in the second act I evaded/‘won’ a couple of these with good dialogue checks).

A good tip for ranged attacks is to dual-wield hand crossbows for two attacks rather than one (although I think this uses up the bonus action). In each turn, a character gets a main action, usually a spell or physical attack but this can also be ‘helping’ a downed character return from KO with 1 hp rather than risking them dying. They also get a bonus action, usually something like jumping (movement permitting), taking a potion, applying a poison to a weapon, or ‘dipping’ which is most commonly putting your weapon in a nearby flame to add fire damage on your next attack. Movement is as it sounds and is halved if you’re prone and stand up.

 

Stealth can be used to evade combat, steal from people, eavesdrop, or get an advantage in initiating combat. One fight I struggled with (I was slightly underlevelled and it was a tough fight) was eventually won by sneaking to start the fight in a more advantageous position. Note that the party can be easily split at any time so it can be worthwhile to send a rogue or monk ahead to scout things out and leave the clunking, heavy armour-clad fighter a little further back.

 

Dialogue is often just a matter of choice but there are three specific skills related to it: persuasion, deception, and intimidation. The former is the nicest, the middle is being a talented liar, and the third is a mix of charismatic power and threat level. However, as noted, there are also unique class and race options, and sometimes other skills (such as arcana or history) may offer alternatives.

When not out in the world, the player and party retire to their camp, which includes NPCs not currently in the party and reminded me a bit of Dragon Age: Origins.

All attack rolls, checks, and saving throws are made using a d20 (20-sided dice).

 

Graphics

The extra time and money Larian had means they were able to flesh out the Divinity: Original Sin 2 approach with much better character models allowing for closer shot conversations and cutscenes. For the PS5, there can often be a moment or two before textures decide they want to show up, with hair and armour looking rather potatoey until that happens.

Overall, the graphics are rather good, especially for the genre, but also not the main selling point.

 

Sound

Voice-acting is very well done, with a mostly British range of accents (although there’s at least one villainous American). This extends beyond the companions to the minor characters, from earnest tieflings to delightfully arrogant goblins. Also, the spell Speak with Animals will offer a large array of new interactions with friendly (and less amicable) beasts.

The music and sound effects are both good as well.

 

Bugs and Other Problems

Bugs were few, but I did have at least one crash. Over more than 70 hours that’s not horrendous but can obviously be improved. The texture loading I’ve already mentioned.

Occasionally it can be tricky targeting enemies on different levels in combat, or indicating which level a character should move to during battles with various elevations. For the latter, it’s easiest to find a ladder/rope etc and click ‘use’ on that, then move from there. For the former, enemies can be targeted with the left and right on the D-pad, which is a little clunky but can resolve the matter. Targeting can also be awkward either when characters are in close proximity.

 

Replayability

With a very large range of class and racial options, numerous party compositions, and varying major and minor decisions to make, there’s a super-abundance of replayability in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you have the time.

Be aware that while you can also re-spec NPC companions into new classes this may alter their available dialogue interactions.

 

Conclusion

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a great RPG, and well worth your time.

 

Thaddeus

 

Early Impressions Age of Wonders 4 (PS5)

 

Generally speaking, pre-ordering video games is a bad idea and I don’t usually do it. However, Age of Wonders 4 seemed to tick so many boxes that I made an exception and I don’t regret it, having played the game for about a week.

This is a preliminary sort of review so I can’t draw a full conclusion. I’ve completed multiple story missions (on easy, admittedly) and have just won a non-story, normal difficulty game.

Age of Wonders 4 is a 4X strategy game with a fantasy setting. Players have a relatively small number of cities (3 is standard but this can be modified by faction creation choices and in-game perks) and can achieve victory by either conquering other throne cities (capitals), expanding substantially, achieving magical dominance, or winning a score victory. The expansion and magical victories both require the construction of specific structures which must be defended.

Faction and ruler creation is an undoubted high point. By allowing for a multitude of small differences these stack up to an astonishing array of variety. Better yet, the system has been well thought through so there are very few, perhaps no, wrong choices and the dilemma between roleplay and gameplay choices is not really present.

There are around 10 fantasy races from which to pick, from fantasy staples of human, dwarf, elf, and halfling to feline, toad, and mole forms (others being goblin, orc, and rat). The forms do have default physical/mental attributes but none are fixed in stone, which is flexible but does reduce the lore flavour a little.

Players also pick culture, society traits, the starting magical tome, and their ruler. The ruler can be either a champion of the same race or a wizard king (think arcane dictator).

Other rulers will get along better with you if you have similar affinities, which are determined by culture, society traits, and tomes. Likewise, opposing affinities lead to a more antagonistic predisposition.

Affinities add to empire progression each turn. This works in two ways, with a specific affinity working along a specific branch, and all affinities combined adding up to a general branch. Perks are accessible with sufficient cumulative affinity, and unlocked using imperium, which is also used for major decisions like absorbing a conquered city into your empire.

Advancement also occurs by researching magical tomes. A good bet, especially early on, is sticking with the same general type (nature, for example) and deviating either rarely or never. One of the biggest advantages of research is minor and major race transformations. These upgrade your race in various ways and usually have a physical representation, though this can vary from practically unnoticeable to enormous.

Battles play out on a hex-grid in a somewhat XCOM style. The auto-combat option actually works very well most of the time and is a viable option if you aren’t inclined to manually run a fight. Occasionally it’s weaker than one might hope but sometimes it can turn in fantastic results too.

I’ve played with a few builds at this stage, having just won my first normal difficulty sandbox game and a few easy story mode games. There are a lot of valid strategies, and my last build was a straightforward but fun ranged focus which worked nicely. City development is critical, as is getting the right provinces (an early mix of farm, forester, and quarry plus taking advantage of special features like pastures that improve yields is advisable).

There’s also an underground on the map, although I’ve delved relatively little into this as yet. I do have plans for a molekin underground empire in the future. This adds another layer of flexibility as you can travel underground and emerge on the surface via tunnels (or vice versa). As many maps are broken up with rivers/seas, or lava, this is one more thing to consider.

Way too early for a definitive perspective but right now I’m liking Age of Wonders 4 a lot.

Thaddeus

Review: Wasteland 3 (PS4)

NB I completed my playthrough of this on the PS5, as my first (PS4) attempt was somewhat set back by the console breaking. 

Wasteland 3 is a post-apocalyptic RPG set in the USA (Colorado, specifically). It’s got a grim sense of humour throughout, a six-man party, and a very interesting setup for combat and non-combat skills, plus plenty of decisions to make. But is it a good game?

Gameplay

The combat of Wasteland 3 will be easily recognisable to anyone who’s enjoyed XCOM or XCOM 2, but does handle things differently enough to set it apart. For those unaware, this style involves a turn-based approach on a grid, with the entirety of one side progressing at once, which means getting the jump on enemies is worth a lot. Movement and actions, such as firing weapons or throwing grenades, consume AP (action points).

However, whereas XCOM 2 has two AP and that’s it, Wasteland 3 has a more nuanced system with characters capable of having more or less AP depending on stats, and different weapons consuming different amounts. Heavy weapons and sniper rifles consume almost a whole AP bar, whereas shotguns and pistols can be fired multiple times in a single round without difficulty. This increases flexibility and makes the choice of weaponry (a mix through the squad is a good idea) crucial. In addition to the player and enemy sides, you may have a friendly turn, which will be your non-controlled allies such as animal followers and extra chaps (or robots) you pick up along the way.

On standard difficulty I found the combat to be sharp enough I needed to stay awake but, for the most part, usually not too challenging. That said, I had several hours in my initial borked playthrough as experience so I wasn’t diving in fresh and that may’ve smoothed my path a bit. Nevertheless, combat is fun and if you take it for granted you can easily end up in trouble. This is a big Wasteland 3 review highlight.

Out of combat players have multiple significant decisions to make regarding who lives and dies, and who you help, or not. You can also unlock multiple new dialogue options by proficiency in various skills, most commonly the hard ass/kiss ass skills. The game does a good job of ensuring you can be as nice or dickish as you like.

 

Story

Post-apocalypse is a genre I can really take or leave, but I still liked Wasteland 3 a lot, which is a testament to how well it’s written. There are plenty of grisly moments and daft comedy, which both work well.

You play as the leaders (even if playing solo you make two characters at the get go) of Team November. And by leaders, I mean survivors, because the other four dozen get killed in the intro. Hailing from Arizona, you’re in Colorado at the invitation of the state’s ruler, the Patriarch. He’s got supplies which the Rangers desperately need, all you need to do is capture his kids and stop them causing problems. But things may not be so simple… The Patriarch’s children are Valor, Victory, and Liberty, or Nerd, Psycho, and Tyrant if you want to know their respective personalities.

Beyond this core of the game there are a good number of side quests, exploring the map will throw up some fun gems you can easily miss (I especially liked paying Santa a visit), and each major quest can go down various ways. It’s pretty good, with some interesting twists that I won’t spoil.

Companions could be better, though. I liked Lucia quite a lot, but the other (non-player made) companions stayed pretty much undeveloped through the story. They will leave if you act contrary to their interests, apparently.

 

Sound

In most areas good, this is sometimes excellent. One stand-out example was when I loaded up a game in the world map and the radio played some random nonsense. This happened and it was a psycho with a chainsaw and screaming in the background, which was very well done (although not great for those who are squeamish). Flamethrowers, explosions, gunfire, ambient effects, and voice acting are all either good or very good.

The music deserves a special mention as there are a small number of fights (including one in the intro area) that have their own excellent tracks, as does one (optional) fight that can lead to a new companion. The latter was a rare occasion when I deliberately paused mid-fight just to listen to the music a bit more.

 

Graphics

As an isometric RPG this is not the biggest deal in the world, but the graphics get the job done without being spectacular. Occasionally you see major characters (the Patriarch, for example) up close and they’ll look ok, but not amazing.

 

Bugs and Other Problems

There were some bugs. I had a small number of crashes, perhaps three or so in an entire playthrough (I’d guess perhaps 30 hours total, can’t be sure). In addition, I once got stuck in combat and the enemy turn just wouldn’t start. That’s not ideal.

 

Replayability

There are two ways this game offers good replayability: difficulty and choices. The difficulty has several basic levels making combat easier or harder, but with some degree of customization covering things like permanent character death and friendly fire (NB even when this is off, you’ll be affected by AoE stuff so don’t throw a Molotov on your animal follower or you’ll end up with a hotdog).

Choices are plentiful and missions can often have multiple outcomes. Sometimes failure to attend to a matter can lead to it being resolved in your absence (I have one confirmed case of this, unsure if other things can happen this way). And certain missions can only be completed if you ignore an alternative, which will have consequences.

 

Conclusion

Wasteland 3 is not flawless. It has the odd bug and could perhaps be a little longer (playtime is perhaps around 25-30 hours, I think). But it has fantastic combat, engaging missions with multiple outcomes, and the approach to skills is excellent as all of them are useful and deciding where to spend points (and which perks to get) will alter your playthrough significantly. It’s a very good game indeed.

 

Thaddeus

Review: Final Fantasy VII (PS5)

NB this is a review of the base game only, I haven’t played the Intergrade additional content yet. There will be some minor spoilers in the story section, but only vague and items relating to the premise.

 

Story

So, a quarter of a century of so after the original game came out for the original Playstation we have the PS4/5 version. The story is not identical. For a start, it only covers the first portion of the original multi-disc game. In addition, some areas are more fleshed out, or slightly altered. The additions are fairly significant, in terms of both main story midway through, and optional side-quests.

For the most part, these work well. An especially good aspect is that there’s a not-at-all-subtle explanation for why things work out the way they do, and the ending of the story does give overt notice that things might be substantially different going forward.

Pacing is mostly good but there are times when it can be jarring. When one character is rushing to save a child, the game decides to throw a needless very mini-quest (30 seconds work) that is done at walking pace and pointlessly steals away the sense of urgency. However, for the most part the story is handled well.

 

Gameplay

This is the area where I changed my mind most from the demo on the PS4 to finishing the game. I really liked the materia system, and have no problem with either standard turn-based battles or the ATB approach of the original. Materia is kept in this game, and works well (as might be expected), but the ATB system has been substantially reworked. You now have two ATB slots which are slowly filled over time, and more rapidly when you attack. Most things (spells, abilities, and items) require a single slot although some abilities require both.

This actually worked very well and prevents the real time nature of basic attacks getting swallowed by spamming spells. In addition, the varying nature of the four playable characters does make a big difference, with Tifa super-fast and Barret able to deal plenty of damage (especially at range) but rather slower. Initially, I thought it was just button mashing, and while that can work with more basic fights, smart use of materia and understanding how the system works makes a big difference for tougher foes.

Beyond your usual fights there are also optional arena style locations/events (Shinra’s combat simulator, or Corneo’s colosseum, for example). The latter is especially worth visiting as some of the optional fights here can yield more powerful limit breaks.

And there’s a darts mini-game in Seventh Heaven, which I quite liked. Looking forward to when we visit the Golden Saucer.

 

 

Sound

I’ll be honest, I own several varieties of One Winged Angel so I was wondering how the score would stack up. It’s fantastic, building on the excellence of the original and generally adding more, including the boss theme (particularly when fighting the Airbuster) and One Winged Angel. The only thing I felt could have been better musically was the reactor theme.

There’s also voice-acting. Some of this is very good, particularly Barret (John Eric Bentley) who gets some great lines and delivers them very well, covering the range from heartfelt emotion to overblown comedy and the occasional dry remark. Cloud, being somewhat of a dick, was a difficult character to pull off, but he’s likeable enough to work as the protagonist without losing his capacity to be pretty laconic. The friendship between Cloud and Barret developing is handled very well, and that’s a combination of good writing and a strong voice performance.

 

Graphics

Comparing the game from the late 20^th century (which, even at the time, had poor character models) to today’s effort is a bit like comparing the drawing you did as a five year old to the one you did in your thirties. Overall, the graphics are very impressive, particularly the grand set pieces and character models for the main characters. They tread the line between realism and larger-than-life very well.

There are a few weak spots. Minor characters can have, er, interesting faces, and here and there textures are distinctly muddy. On the whole, however, it’s good stuff.

One minor weak point is that there’s a photo mode (which can also be used in almost every cutscene, exempting only FMVs) but because the player only ever controls Cloud (excepting rare times when he’s absent) you can’t really focus on other characters. Also, there’s no posing, as per Dragon Quest XI S’ mode, or facial expressions, as per Ghost of Tsushima. However, there is an array of filters and some other settings to fiddle with.

 

 

Bugs and Other Issues

During my playthrough (about 35-36 hours) I encountered no crashes, hangs, freezes, or other problems. I’m sure there is a flaw somewhere, but I didn’t find it. Overall, very impressed with how smooth the sailing was.

 

Replayability

Haven’t started this yet, but completing the game unlocks the hard difficulty (which can be played on a chapter-by-chapter basis). In addition, at least one chapter (there are 18) has differing endings, it seems. Overall, choices are not that common and you’re mostly on rails. However, the hard mode will suit those who like a challenge. There are also multiple languages, and I might try a German playthrough at some point.

 

 

Conclusion

It’s a bit weird playing such an up to date take (with some amendments) of an old favourite, but I think the Final Fantasy VII Remake is a very enjoyable game. If you’re on the fence then check out the demo (if it’s still available), but I’ve got to say that during the course of my playthrough I liked it more and more, and am looking forward to the next part.

 

Thaddeus

 

PS Having some technical woe so apologies for the lack of proofreading and any ensuing errors.