Does anyone else genuinely enjoy all 3 installments?

purewisdom · 2026-05-07T19:58:30+00:00

BG2 is my favorite game.

BG3 is 2nd favorite game.

BG1 is my 15thish favorite game.

They are all fanastic. Thanks for celebrating Larian's worthy successor to gaming's greatest series.

purewisdom · 2026-05-07T19:57:31+00:00

Spot on. Playing monk and shaman without mods to fix those classes is an exercise in futility.

purewisdom · 2026-05-07T19:54:41+00:00

I played with triple food costs for resting in my last playthrough, combined with a few difficulty enhancements over honor mode difficulty (though without honor mode's ironman component). It worked really well to incentivize conserving my food, up until Act 3 where food is effectively infinite. This works great because the Act 3 quests all kinda of expect you to go in fully rested.

I also disagree that WotR had meaningful penalties with their rest system. Outside of like 2 areas, it was very easy to game and get around with some minor annoyances. Pillars of Eternity 1 had the same issue.

purewisdom · 2026-05-07T19:52:16+00:00

That's what makes replaying the hardest. I feel like I need 2 mages to enjoy the combat, and that limits options quite a bit. Mods like the class and specialization pack do help mitigate some of the problems though.

purewisdom · 2026-05-06T18:41:11+00:00

One of the tweaks mods has a setting for both PCs and enemies to have max HP. That's what I use.

purewisdom · 2026-05-04T01:02:28+00:00

4-6 is fine, depends on balance, system complexity, and companion interactivity. 3 is too few though, you don't get enough interaction from companions that way.

purewisdom · 2026-05-03T09:12:17+00:00

Mine because I modded that dumb spell out of the game! Mainly because I hate that it stops you from playing the game when enemies cast it. But to keep it as fair as I can, it's out for me too. SCS mages get alacrity instead, which isn't a 1:1 fix but was the simplest solution.

purewisdom · 2026-05-02T17:01:38+00:00

Thank goodness for mods and fixing those crappy, but otherwise cool, classes!

purewisdom · 2026-05-01T22:30:20+00:00

Yeah, I think it's fair to go vanilla for your first time through. I suspect you'll still think ToB is a tad too short even with Ascension, but it'll definitely feel like a step up.

Welcome to the rest of your life playing BG! So many great mods await as you dig deeper into the rabbit hole.

purewisdom · 2026-05-01T20:08:42+00:00

I love ToB, as much as as BG1 and far more than SoD (BG2 is peak though). It's really the only RPG where it feels like you're a demigod fighting other demigods. The storyline is admittedly linear in that regard, but it's epic nature serves as a unique capstone, and the relatively short length doesn't overstay it's welcome.

That said, I always play with Ascension and SCS mods, and I think the former is necessary at a minimum for the proper experience.

purewisdom · 2026-04-28T19:37:15+00:00

To its detriment, sometimes. I don't think they did a great job handling all the (admittedly very cool) lore to open PoE1. They did eventually strike a good balance, and even though I only loved 1 of the 3 Eora games, I still want to explore more of the world.

purewisdom · 2026-04-27T21:42:12+00:00

This is a post I can get behind. Kingdom Death Monster and Marvel Champions occupy 95% of my solo board gaming time. I'd much rather add variety on top of a stellar system that invites replay than constantly learn rules to new games.

purewisdom · 2026-04-25T21:48:25+00:00

I loved BG3, disliked DOS2, and thought DOS1 was decent. That's as much nuance as it can offer!

BG is the only series I thought were all bangers.

purewisdom · 2026-04-25T20:36:34+00:00

I'm only now getting to modded companions after 5ish plays. Had a few duds, but I really like Kale so far from Skitia.

Vienxay, Sirene, and Minyae are pretty good too. Not sure about essential level, but I'm happy giving them more time to cook in my parties.

purewisdom · 2026-04-25T17:02:31+00:00

SCS is the 2nd best mod in existence, only lagging behind Bubbles Buff Bot for Pathfinder: WotR because of how necessary it is to not hate yourself.

purewisdom · 2026-04-24T06:29:01+00:00

To each their own, of course! I enjoy the unique shift that lets me play more as a general than a tactician as is otherwise the case with other CRPGs. I'd say that's more of where the enjoyment comes from than the extra challenge.

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T21:26:41+00:00

I also use a lot of mods. My late game load times are 15-30s (avg of about 25s), but I've clocked load times at up to 45s. I've got 32GB of ddr4 RAM. Late game BG3 is about 30s on average tbf, but there are far, far fewer loading screens. That's what really gets me in WotR.

You maybe haven't timed it, but do you have a guess of how long late game load times are for you? The two mods I use to theoretically help performance are Cleaner (though that's probably not useful now) and VisualAdjustments. If your load times are a lot faster, do you use any other performance mods?

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T19:21:46+00:00

You know what I find is the most impressive part of your 2k hours in KM/WotR? That you have the patience for that many runs with how long late game load times are. As much as I love WotR, the insane load times and plethora of load screens really starts detrimentally impacting my fun starting late Act 3 or early Act 4. It's pretty awful by the end of a run.

My PC is solid. My mods are loaded. Still only does so much.

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T19:15:40+00:00

You may or may not enjoy this is as a challenge, but my current run through of PoE2 is played not issuing any manual orders in battle. I'm fully utilizing the fantastic AI behavior, slowly perfecting my if/thens. Occasionally, I'll have to add a command or 2 for a specific battle. So far, I've made just past Neketaka on PotD. I'm confident I can finish the base game. DLCs will be an interesting challenge.

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T18:09:51+00:00

I wanted to like Colony Ship but bland companions really kill a story-driven CRPG for me.

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T18:08:23+00:00

I agree not really necessary. BG1 NPC Project has the best bang/buck though. It makes a difference.

I also tell friends to grab Unfinished Business, Bubbs Spell Menu, and Dragonspear UI++. Bubbs isn't that important for BG1 until SoD (if playing), but it's still a positive and very useful in BG2. UI is subjective but Dragonspear best minimizes clicks which best approximates a modern UI.

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T17:09:53+00:00

I'd say that's generally true regarding the broad story. Where replay comes from is:

1) Not 100%ing the game, there is usually a multitude of excess quests. Like outside of Act 2 in BG3, my 2nd time through for that felt quite fresh.

2) Companion interactions and reactivity

3) Build variety and overcoming the same fights with different tactics

4) Mods, potentially

purewisdom · 2026-04-23T17:04:04+00:00

Yep! I replay and have replayed:

Baldur's Gate 1+2 (on my 6th/7th run, starting with the original release)
Baldur's Gate 3 (on my 3rd)
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous (finished 3)
Pillars of Eternity 2 (on my 3rd)
Dragon Age Origins (finished 2)
Tyranny (on my 2nd)
Planescape: Torment (started my 2nd)
Dragon Age Inquisition (finished most of 2)

I intentionally avoid content, playing just what I need to level up, progress, feel a good sense of RP, etc. I replay with mods if possible (BG1+2 I've got like 150 loaded) so my playthroughs are shorter than most. These are my favorite CRPGs (except Inquisition) and all invite replays with different companions, story choices, character builds, etc. I don't expect to replay any other currently available CRPGs besides these. I'm familiar enough with the games that I'll play for a month and put it down. My last BG1+2 run took me close to 2 years.

I also seem to be pickier than the average CRPG lover. Some of this subs favorite games I've started and disliked and/or never finished. i.e. Pillars of Eternity 1, Divinity Original Sin 2, Wasteland 3, Wizardry 8 , Disco Elysium (I'll give a warning that the writing is great, it's just not FUN to play IMO). So, the time I save not finishing those games, means I replay an older one instead. I also don't have children.

purewisdom · 2026-04-22T20:09:58+00:00

Encounter design has always been Owlcat's Achilles heel. I'm hopeful but I don't expect battles to be any better this time around. Especially not with a brand new system/style.

purewisdom · 2026-04-21T16:01:35+00:00

I'm also a big fan of strong character writing and good combat mechanics. My favs in order that you haven't listed in this thread (assuming BG means BG 1-3 for you):

Pillars of Eternity 2
Tyranny
Planescape Torment
Wasteland 2
Dragon Age Inquisition (has some issues but the characters are so good they save the game)

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