The more the merrier

I will enjoy it

Thank you for creating this series. It is very helpfull, insightfull and fun. I wish you and the Lady you life with relaxing sleep whenever you can get it and as little suspicious silences as possible

Congrats for the child!

@razbuten I would be interested to see her play Dragon Age Origins. I believe it has both RT and pause time for tactics and the party can have AI sat up to determine their moves based on situation. I also think it has a relatively straightforward quest line.

it is my weak defense to people saying "can you really call her a non-gamer anymore?"

​@@razbutenObjection! That's a strong and perfectly adequate defense.

​@@razbutenif people actually say that then they are silly, having a partner willing to partake in your interests is great and sure your way like you said way back in part one wasn't the nicest way to introduce her, but she's still playing so it seems like she doesn't hate it, so it worked out, and us as an audience get a great series out of it win/win/win

@@adamevaskevich5528 Its just people making a joke about how many times hes done this formula

@@razbuten i love this series. It shows, what mammoth game developers have to accommodate for when designing for new players and...well, us. We will complain that it's too much handholding, but new players need that hand. Maybe it's time to design difficulties not by making the game easier, but the hand holding more prominent in starter difficulties, and turn them off for higher. Definitely more work but it could help

Or maybe Dishonored? Perhaps just a stealth gamer in general lol

@@magicianvv489 I think Dishonored falls more into fantasy and she doesn't like that genre. Hitman seems like a better fit.

this was literally what i was thinking, especially with "needing clear directions" and how hitman literally will just highlight your target for you (most of the time) even if theyre quite far

I don't think Hitman has much in the way on non-violent solutions. Indirectly violent solutions, sure, but violence definitely has to be done

​@@TheThunderbirdRising you're absolutely right, you can't not kill the target and there's no way around it.

the mean girl clique is my main loadout lololol

Same for me. I found those other guys way later. Shadowheart looked like a lawful good compared to the others lol

❤​@@ashtondean3548

Oh my god they ARE the mean girl clique, aren't they...? I love them with all my heart, sure, but oof... That's is a rough first impression indeed. XD

Well, that's the ones the game gives you first.

Fallout 4 is a good example, the faces look fine when they’re static, but half the NPCs and the player character look like creepy wax dolls during dialogue

Came here to say this. With the mocap for Tav/Durge, it’d be almost impossible to capture the facial expressions if a slider was used.

Also, honestly, back in the day we had literally zero customization for playable characters and we were all fine with it. Like, is it cool that I get to design my character the way I want (aka someone who’s completely different from me because this isn’t literally me… this is a character I play)? Yeah. But if I was playing this game with a pre-made character and get to interact with all the others the exact same way, I really wouldn’t mind. I feel like expecting a main character to look exactly like you kinda misses the point of playing videogames.

Even ignoring the technical aspects, I much prefer a broad range of preset faces each with their own distinct look to a maze of sliders for cheekbones and nostrils and eyelash length. It lets me consider the character as a whole and choose a face that suits the character concept and “vibe” I’m going for, rather than tinkering for hours just to create a face that looks “ok”. It would have been nice if BG3 had a few more faces to choose from (though with 8-10 options for each combination of race and gender, that’s almost 200 total), but it has a nice variety, and I appreciate how it provides both traditionally beautiful faces and some that are a bit more rugged or unusual.

But BG3 has a silent protagonist with few facial expressions. If any game would be fine with sliders it would be this one...

I will have to check that out! I imagine that is a really interesting experience as not only is she new to games, but also has some understanding of what went into making it.

I have a moderate familiarity with RPGs and SOME familarity with D&D/fantasy stuff in general, and it's taken me 100s of hours to learn to play the game properly lol I keep restarting because some way along into the story I find some new tactic or piece of information that I weirdly feel will change my whole experience of the game and I want to use it right the way along.

@@razbutenActually quite a lot of the VA's have videos on them playing the game, even down to Rolan's VA too. Shadowheart's and Lae' Zel's playthroughs stand out the most due to their lack of experience in gaming, as well as volume of game time uploaded. Astarion and Wyll on the opposite side of the spectrum, do have gaming experience.

Same for Mizora and Shadowheart (she might have more experience with games but I'm not sure), they even stream it on twitch

@@marmeusKarlach and Astarian's VAs played it for a bit as well.

*cries in alone*

It took me so long to figure out the I there was a letter and not a face, I was so confused xD

Are you going to give us an informal experiment video too hfm?

And the journey down the rabbit hole begins.

Haha...that's a gender-flip of the usual cozy game story (my girlfriend at the time got me into Stardew in 2017; I hadn't played a Harvest Moon-like since HM Friends of Mineral Town on the Game Boy Advance in 2003.)

And yet, here I was avoiding taking long rests, as I assumed after 3-4 my character would just fall over dead...

To be fair -- it's literally put to you as like your 2nd objective of the whole game right in your journal. There's this repeated emphasis on how little time you have and how wasteful it is to take too many long rests. Without having played a Larian game before you don't really know if its got kiddy-gloves on or not. I know DMs who would absolutely kill your character for taking long rests with a mindflayer parasite.

@@norats122 I played DOS2. I just expect to role-play in a dnd-style rpg. Most of the hints about the mindflayer parasite being strange don't come up, or don't make sense when you actually take the threat seriously, and this is a flaw with how the game presents information to the players. Even after I found out that it didn't actually matter, I continued to avoid long-rests because I am role-playing, that's kinda like the point of an rpg. like, would you actually take that kind of risk, even if it is slower than normal, less-seriously? I think most people would bee-line a solution if it was really happening to them.

@@StolidLiquidYeah it’s just like how in Act 3 there are tremors that shake the entire city and stop you in your tracks, yet everyone just goes about their business, asking you to mow their lawn and save their cat that’s stuck in a tree. Not to mention the Absolute soon coming to ravage the city that everyone’s fully aware of.

@norats122 Yeah I agree, it's totally understandable that she thought that. I haven't played a Larian game before but just having a lot of fluency with video games I figured the parasite would be naturally resolved in the story and wasn't really a genuinely pressing issue

When I first invited my boyfriend to play DnD, he basically only gave it a go because I like it, but it was very explicit that he probably wouldn't like "that nerdy stuff." It is now 4 years later, and we have been playing every week since, and if it's called off one week because someone is sick or away, he is DEVASTATED. He literally looks forward to it all week.

bro, I'd be worse. I'd be pointing out every inaccuracy, ESPECIALLY the "wildshape into owlbear" thing.

@@chukyuniqul Ironically not an inaccuracy if you go with older editions which seems to have been the case for the D&D movie. It was a 5e shift but in both 3.0/3.5 and Pathfinder (which is basically 3.75) you can take abilities that allow you to become one. It's part of what I love about the movie since it lets you know what abilities they have on their character sheet.

@@TamaraBloodhoof In addition, a huge part of D&D is homebrew and imagining that a player would write a character who's "just a *very* special druid who actually CAN transform into an Owlbear!" is not out of the realm of possibility either

I take strong offense to the word "nerd" when directed at me. I play a lot of video games, but I'm not into the "nerd" pantheon of comics, anime, Star Wars, and whatnot. A former girlfriend of mine took great pleasure in many "I thought you said you weren't a nerd" moments during our relationship because I have a lot of cultural osmosis with geek culture from being a gamer, however...

Finally someone understands my process

​​@@razbuten"don't put that in" "don't clip that" and any other instruction to hide something always results in the opposite. I think that's one of the hidden laws of the internet.

@@Bobbias It's called the Streisand Effect, actually, and it's been around for a long time. It's basically drawing attention to something by the mere act of trying not to draw attention to it.

@@Bobbias same rule applies to playing dnd. you ask "oh no, is there a werewolf behind that door?" and you KNOW that in his head, the dm is going "well there is now."

@@iota-09shh, don't spoil it for the non-DMs

Games shouldn’t be made for everyone

@@Mike_DubayouElaborate on that?

@@taelib1425 if you try to make a game that appeals to everyone then in the end it will likely appeal to no one, gamers are too varied in the things they enjoy and some gamers have completely clashing ideologies when it comes to what they enjoy

Make it optional. Literally start the game asking the player how confident they are and give them the appropriate amount of handholding accordingly.

@@tankeasy8180 That's definitely a point I agree with. Games should have a creative vision and stick to it as much as they can while making an enjoyable experience. The reason I asked the other guy to elaborate is because given the context, it makes it sounds like he thinks games shouldn't be accessible to people who didn't grow up playing them, which I think would eventually insulate and strangle the hobby, so I wanted to give benefit of the doubt.

god yeah, that’s how i felt. the biggest thing for me was “holy shit the computer just, does all these calculations for me. this is awesome!”

THIS. I was sooo greatful the computer was tracking all the damn Conditions...lol

I think Dragon Age Origins has the best implementation of this in RPG history. You can order every command, or you can let AI do it for you, or you can edit the script if you think the AI is stupid. 3 options that cover everything. No other game has done this. Yes some games have AI but you cannot edit their stupidity. I hear FF 12 has something similar but it's still in my backlog.

@@TomCruz54321 Pillars of eternity games are very good at it.

The idea of the option to let the Origin PCs be auto played by the computer would be super cool. Playing single player is so daunting on re-playthroughs and an option to have to adapt to the chaos and make the game faster paced would be so awesome. A Mod or Update I'd wish for really badly.

It’s a woman problem u woman aren’t able to think critically or learn very well. You only think about how you feel and how whatever you’re thinking about makes you feel

Playing Crusader Kings 3 was my most humbling gaming experience. The first few sessions felt like me trying to drive a spaceship.

I felt sooo overwhelmed when I started playing Planet Zoo. I was like "eh, I played Wildlife Park, this'll be similar" and NOPE it was NOT. It was so much. I was so grateful for the tutorial levels.

Yea the whole Paradox library is like oh great even if I know how the other games work i’ll have to remember all the mechanics for this game somehow if I want to play it.

Paradox games are always humbling lol Same with Total War games. I like them, but my gaming ability elsewhere just does not transfer, even from Paradox game to Paradox game.

so? who is she romancing?

@@juanjuri6127 Haha, she's romanced basically all of them at this point. She actually went through and got every achievement though, including Foehammer.

​@@Shuddarundamn, your mom rocks! 😃

This reminds me of my mom a little! My sisters and I all grew up playing games with my dad but my mom was never really into it but the one game she did LOVE and would always play with us and eventually went through and beat it herself was the House of the Dead on the Wii of all things 😭

This also happened to my mom she put in 400 hours in 2 months and it was insane

I really appreciate the way they did it for origin Karlach. Having the character talk to herself beyond the narration does so much to make her feel alive.

yeah it was pretty bad tbh. there were a ton of other issues besides the first person narration too. the released audio by chublott was MUCH different than how the EA experience was at the time. edit: not only was the narration in the EA at the time bad the dialogue options were past tense indirect so it was unnerving.

It wasn't really first person, but it was a weird "2nd person" like DOS2.

2nd person does fit better, being based on D&D

I actually prefer the silent protagonist. Before voice acting, games like Fallout 1 could put all the dialogue options that they want without much overhead because it's all just text. With voice acting, having 6 options for every dialogue means more recording sessions and more salary to pay for voice actors. Voiced protagonist is the reason why we got the awful dialogue wheel and fewer dialogue options, which means fewer ways to roleplay. That's why I don't mind silent protagonists in indie games.

I missed everyone except for Shadowheart. Later my friend told me there are other companions in the game lmao. I thought I had to finish the game with shadowheart alone

Yeah, I was thinking this while watching the video. I wouldn't WANT to play a Baldur's Gate 3 that was meant for a player like this guy's wife. And that's okay.

Heavily disagree that 3 is the most approachable, a significant number of the the things brought up in this video are made more of a problem to accessibility in bg3 than dragon age games, as just a very quick modern comparison. BG3 just wasn't made to appeal to a casual/non gamer audience as much. There's a reason dragon age went from origins, into what inquisition ended up being (and mass effect into what andromeda ended up being). I'd also argue that bg1 and 2 are more accessible in a mechanics sense, than bg3. Though the dated graphics, and lack of a controller option knocks them down a lot.

@@aurovisuals7925I’m shocked that BG3 had the reception that it had. I loved it, but I also watched about 8 hours of tutorial content to prepare for it. There were sooooo many points that I would think normies would bounce off of.

BG3 is easily the most accessible CRPG... It's incredibly straightforward, especially compared to Divinity 2, and is MUCH more immersive due to the dialogue and cutscene system.

@@aurovisuals7925 But the problem is that Baldur's gate DID make it to the normie/non gamer audience, which is how it won GOTY. It's incredibly popular with non-CRPG players. I'm not sure how you miss that.

I was gonna say this, its also an explosive which wont lay exactly where you want it to since it expands depending on the environment

I know at least parts of that floor are also covered in grease.

I got that it's typical dnd stuff but it annoyed me and made me think in character i should really kill him. Got his comeuppance when i pimped him out for 2 str.

For what it’s worth I understand 🫂

Exactly what I feel trying to make my sister play Yakuza 0, but she's progressing, the problem is tgat she simplu do not try to understand how combat and other mechanics work, she basically just "throw thing to a wall and see what sticks" yk? But she is loving the games story, is just that simply refuses to stop and leran how things work hahahahaha kinda like how Raz girl do not try things just for trying, like not experimenting things.

It's worth having the patience to see through but I understand the frustration lmao

@@tashigikuina6332 i wouldn't say it's refusal to learn but like not really accustomed to learning via video games. Those of us that have been gaming our entire lives, we are use to having to learn mechanics, moves, conditions, etc. We know what to look for it's obvious for us.

@@lordblazer You actually have a really good point hahahaha. I saw it as like, hey why don't you take your time and try to understand how things work? But yep, maybe some people just do not perceive things this way

Bards: shred so hard they magic.

100% this.

Underrated Comment, this is exactly what got me more interested in D&D

Literally how I introduce classes to my beginner D&D players! I never go for mechanics, I just tell them what the core fantasy of the class is, sometimes going in-depth into subclasses they might like. One of my players wanted to play a fighter with magical capabilities, so I told them about Eldritch Knights, how they "pick up" spellcasting after some time fighting "like when Captain America gets lightning powers when he picks up Mjolnir", and they were SO IN from the jump. If I just told them "Yeah, Eldritch Knights can go bonk, but they also throw around some very limited spells", I know they wouldn't have been as excited

Yup, the "rule of cool" is important. I got into Warhammer because I thought the models looked amazing. I still only play armies if I like the way they look (I spend much more time building and painting than I do playing), and I don't like the way all of them play, but I never would have stuck with it if I didn't think my stuff was cool. I'm similarly just now getting into Magic (Commander), and am 100% sticking with a thematic deck based on something I think is cool, rather than what I think is strong. I can always adjust later if I figure out there are mechanical deficiencies in what I end up building.

As much as I understand that, there are doorways which could be used to load sections. If they wanted to, they could add a very basic background on the other side which would lead into the section if people wanted to break it open.

in my second playthrough as a bard, I dumped a ton of skill points into dex and sleight of hand and somehow managed to roll a 25 on that lockpicking check. Shadowheart was like "you won't be able to get through there" and I was just like "all done!" 🤣

@@K.C-2049 A game telling you that you *can't* do something is such good motivation. Of course it's nice if the game still lets you do it, rather than just going 'lol nope' even if you've filled the success conditions just because they thought no-one would or could do it (looking at you, first boss fight in Ghost of Tsushima).

I think the key is making it clear to the player whether something is or isn't possible. Like are you pointlessly throwing yourself at an obstacle that isn't meant to be overcome OR have you just not found the right solution and need to keep trying. While you (and I'm sure many others) understand how it works, for a new player learning "you can't break doors - I tried everything" when actually they just couldn't break *that* door makes this an example of accidentally teaching the wrong lesson..

That's literally how my boyfriend reacted to this part of the video. "Why not just make a random character to test out if she likes the playstyle?" Plus it's not like you have to spend $2 to make a new save, the main menu is right there lol.

point 2 sounds dumb, didn't dnd and most ttrpgs start from the idea of modules which also included pre-made characters SPECIFICALLY so new players could get their bearing s without feeling bad if they failed to the point of losing the character?

I hope you realize starting the game as an origin character in no way works as a "gameplay tutorial" before making a tav. I'm sorry you struggle with this idea lol.

// "....didn't dnd and most ttrpgs start from the idea of modules which also included pre-made characters SPECIFICALLY so new players could get their bearing...." Common culture in TTRPG space is often dismissive of pre-made characters. Frequently, DMs & experienced players assume that learning the mechanics of games like D&D requires new players to suffer through the 2-3 hour process of making a custom character from scratch, before they really understand the implications of all the choices they are making. I wouldn't say that's "dumb." It's sad and human to be so self-absorbed in one's own preferences that one overlooks what might be better for others. // "I hope you realize starting the game as an origin character in no way works as a gameplay tutorial" I literally say *"you (Razbuten) said it's a shame there's no tutorial mode."* So if you have an issue with that phrasing about "gameplay tutorial," take it up with Razbuten, genius. And I will have to assume you fail to realize that origin characters = premade characters. Or that you and 4 other people can't read. Good talk.

@@FeebleAntelope "sounds dumb =/= is dumb" but you're right, it's more sad than dumb...

She clearly doesn't care about the lore difference, only what it changes gameplay wise.

@@xidroke6982 I feel like she actually cared about the gameplay differences even less, but he said he found it difficult to explain the differences in simple terms, what I said are the differences explained in simple terms. If you insist on being pedantic though, "one gets less spells but they recharge more often, the other 2 get more spells but you don't get them back as often." better?

Pretty much. I know a chick who literally got a desktop computer (she isn't a gamer and only had a shitty laptop) to play BG3 after stumbling across it on KZfaq and after listening to me gush over it for one too many times. She loves the game and even wants to join my DnD group for our next single session campaign.

I had some trouble putting my finger on it, but that's exactly it. Not understanding a game's mechanics and limits is completely understandable, but there's something extremely frustrating about someone just refusing to engage with what the game is presenting them.

The lady Raz lives with seems to wants to play games to engage in his interests, not here own. Which there isn't anything wrong with that, I actually find it quite endearing that she wants to be a part of his world, but I think this series should either have an episode where they actively search for a game that would suit her best, instead of analyzing how a game might play out for her, or look for a different approach entirely...

Hope you don't think I'm rude either, but this take is kinda elitest. Inexperienced players don't want to engage with a game that refuses to help them, even when they really really want to play the game. It's frustrating and painful to be wanting to like this game because everyone says it's so good and you think you'll get something out of it, only to find it doesn't _want_ you to play it. You spend hours trying to get used to everything, which is slow and frustrating and painful, and no matter what you do you can't enjoy the game because it's constantly punishing you, overwhelming you, and it's _not fun_. Pushing every button doesn't work because even if one does something, you don't know what. Exploring and trying to put in effort to learn what the buttons do doesn't actually teach you anything. I agree that games don't need to be accessible to people who don't want to play them, but that's not a thing! People who don't want to play the game but stick through for multiple hours are EXACTLY the people who wanted to play but can't understand anything. They aren't playing because they want to hate the game (usually, and that type is just in bad faith so ignore them), if they're really playing through against their will but lasting that long it means they're doing it for a reason, and probably would LIKE to enjoy the game, because they're spending so long on it. Why is it their fault that the game doesn't let them enjoy it, regardless of the reason they started playing? You're just saying you don't want games accessible to people who aren't willing to put in the hours reading wikis. You've created an argument for yourself so when anyone dislikes a game because it was confusing and overwhelming, you tell them that it was only because they weren't willing to learn. That they didn't _want_ it enough. I really like Warframe. My friends really want to play Warframe with me. They find it confusing and overwhelming and things aren't explained at all. I'm not going to blame them for that, the intro is ass! It sucked to play! You need a mentor to get anywhere! I stuck through it because I'm STUBBORN. Not because I was any more interested in the game. It's not fair that my friends don't get to enjoy this game, just because you think they didn't try hard enough.

If anything Raz' Lady has already found her game. Watch the Minecraft episode. That's the only episode i can feel a genuine excitement from her with the game.

Congrats to both of you! I'm sure that'll be a certified god gamer in the making :)

My wife underwent a similar journey! I just got Hogwarts Legacy for her and she is having a blast. My six year old is also obsessed with Tunic and almost singlehandedly solved one of the hardest puzzles in the game. Gaming isn't a huge part of our life as it kind of takes a backseat to raising tiny humans, but it is a joy to share in the hobby as a family.

Lego Indiana Jones is one hell of a way to get into gaming

My husband and I (both gamers and D&D players) started our daughter on LEGO Star Wars a year ago, right now she's an avid fan of Minecraft and Dragon Quest: Builders 2, acts as her dad's cheerleader when he plays PS4, and we've started running D&D games for her too. It's great. You'll have a blast - congratulations to you both!

yeah, Mount and Blade does the same, as well as others. You can also always just offer it as an option

Ooh, that's a really cool approach, I'd definitely be into that!

There are tons of these online for 5e character creation, so would have been pretty straightforward to add it as an option. I think the ultimate reason they didn't was because they knew that the vast majority of people who played BG3 would have some level of familiarity with either 5e or RPGs in general. Not that that's a good excuse, mind you.

Same with various Elder Scrolls games. It's a pretty interesting option to have and I do wish more games would have it, if only because it's fun to have the designers and writers come together for this little initial peak into the game's world, writing and general tone. Merely reading a lot of the questions and options in the Bloodlines or Daggerfall quizes can give you a good first look at what these universes are gonna be about, from studying under a sword-master and helping your mother with cooking to confronting your drunk ex-roomate in a dingy bar and choosing what B-movie tier late TV program to watch.

​@@thosebloodybadgers8499yeah except unfortunately, those quizzes in early Elder Scrolls games usually give pretty awful suggestions like "Bard" and "Acrobat" which are mediocre at everything and good at nothing, because a lot times the sum of the answers ends up being somewhere in the middle for someone who isn't familiar with common fantasy archetypes or tropes. Say what you will about Skyrim, but I think the way Skyrim encourages you to lean into a playstyle is great for new players. It is, of course, understandably infuriating for fans of more "prep and numbers" style RPG games like ES II-IV.

Yeah. It's weird that he misunderstood that. From the way he spoke in the videos, he's supposed to be familiar with DOS 2 and BG3. 🤨

​@@9308323 whats your problem

such a sham you cannot use ropes ieven in areas where you normally wouldn't be climbing on a cliffface but just from a platform( the area near the elevator in the druid grove is a good point, also many spots in the goblin camp)

They should have done it how Pillars of Eternity did, in which you collected tools and various odd items and then had prompts (sorta like Choose Your Own Adventure books) which gave you vast ways to do things like climb a wall or cliff or something and had different options that included the tools. I would have loved that to be in BG3.

Hard disagree on only mouse and keyboard being viable. The controller implementation is absolutely great and way less overwhelming while still giving the same amount of control even if you have to navigate through a few radial menus. I am in my second playthrough (hard custom mode) and haven't had a single problem playing with controller. It's honestly so nice and comfy to be able to play without having to sit right in front of your screen :)

Like crochet or clay sculpting 😂

They already did with baking awhile ago.

@@MrWhygodwhy That just makes me think of whenever Jon from Many A True Nerd attempts baking on his channel, and his poor, exasperated (and French!) lady must bear the indignity...

I definitely disagree, a lot of his "findings" was just him coming to conclusions for the constant complaints she had. He over analyzed a lot of parts but failed to recognize the most important thing, her disinterest with the game itself. It's very obvious that she wasn't enjoying the entire process from the beginning, but was pushing through for the video.

Cyberpunk did a great job I feel like. MC speaks but doesn't break the immersion. I personally would have prefered a voiced MC in BG3

@@MrKylljoyi loved 2077 but i hard disagree lol. V is not your character, they are a person you step into the shoes of... kinda like geralt. like idk V doesn't feel like my character i've always done fem v but she's not my creation. dnd is usually your character. Like you even have premade backstories in 2077. You are a blank slate in bg3 and that's a good thing. if my dugre and my goodie two shoes ranger had the same va i'd be a little miffed ngl.

​@@MrKylljoy essentially with RPGs there's two routes, the blank slate or the preexisting character. The blank slate allows the players to decide who their characters are, whereas the preexisting character is a fully realized character that the audience can emphasize with. There's a trade-off and Voicing leans a character more towards the preexisting character side, which isn't what BG3 was going for.

Fallout 4's dialogue option are awful because it just says "sarcastic" or another 1 to 3 word explanation of what you're about to say. And when you do pick the option your character blurts out a whole sentence which might be vastly different to what you were imagining. Bg3 doesn't really have this problem since the whole sentence is just right there.

​@@MrKylljoyTo me it's simple; Either we get at best Mass Effect 2, that lets you roleplay in a very limited capacity but you get to hear a great performance, or you can have Fallout New Vegas, with so many dialogue options that roleplaying is inevitable. For an RPG, I think the second option is the best approach.

Well said, people who play RPG games like it's some kind of checklist simulator are NOT going to be having any meaningful enjoyment in a game that is designed to be played a slowly.

Who in the world is Haslan? 😂

You're right. Most people play games due to some spark of interest, and unfortunately she was playing because she was asked to, so it was by nature a task. She was looking to complete that task. I am always happy when more people are able to get into games but if there is no intrinsic motivation or interest then there's not much chance it will be enjoyable for them.

@@9308323Halsin when he wildshapes into a lion

And of course that isn't the only solution to this "quest". It totally misses the sidequest of Kaga's deceptions. Or siding with Minthara. or siding with Minthara and then betraying her at the gate. There's a lot to experience.

this is so sweet

You calling your husband/boyfriend "lord" awakened something in me.

let's see prey

The faces aren't motion captured. They're hand animated. Only the bodies are mocap. BG3 could have made full customization available... hence why there are a f*ckton of head mods and the animations work just fine with them. The reason the devs gave for not having sliders is that if they are available players tend to make very similar looking faces and they wanted all npcs (including Tav/Durge) to look unique.

@@DM-nw5lu You are right about it not being motion captured animations, the bodies are motion captured for most of the npcs and characters in the game, and the face is 3d scanned into the game. but you are completely wrong about the reason. It was in community update #8 they talked about it that they used facial scans to provide more "realistic" features. "Our character creation features photorealistic fantasy races, based on 3D scans of actors and models (blemishes and all), selected because their features roughly resembled the direction for each race in the game, as well of course for diversity and variety in the human-like races. Our team spent much of pre-production carefully selecting, scanning, and moulding these scans, to become the base heads for character creation. [snip] We decided to use scanned faces in our production to create characters that were as realistic as possible. We scanned 40 people of different ages and ethnicity. While scouting for models we focused on features that would fit our fantasy races and we looked for faces that either had something unique about them or were very versatile to fit different characters." So you are correct, i mixed the two of them together, as i was thinking of the video from 2012 on larian studios youtube called "dragon command motion capture try-outs" Alongside the gif of community update 8 in the "camera dome"

@@zoulsgaming9455 To quote an 80 level article here from July 2023: "She then added that in her experience most fine-tuned characters that players spend hours making look very similar in the end. "So we wanted to avoid that. And if we would make sliders, we needed to make it into something that would be truly unique and wouldn’t look the same."" She being Alena Dubrovina, BG3's lead character artist. They 3D scanned the faces to make them more realistic.. it had nothing to do with the animation. That was my point. They could have easily added sliders but decided against it because they wanted Tav to look unique and not like generic hot person No. 5219.

@@DM-nw5luThat seems like an extremely dumb reason. They wanted characters to look unique so all of them get about 6 face options and 4 body options? You can just achieve the same thing with presets and still have sliders.

@@tortoiseoflegends4466 did you play the game? just curious

He broed her back, so they are equal^^

Honestly she sounds trouble. She must not be easy to live with.

​@@lastructchure389ragebait much

@@MazTheMeh16 not sure how it's ragebait when every clip of her talking is her complaining about something in the game haha

@@yveltalsea I mean, her complaining about struggling with the game is understandable, considering it's not something she's used to. But she still tried anyway. Its fair enough for you to point it out though. The way the other person phrased their comment, that her reactions or whatever means living with her is probably troublesome.. feels like a strange leap to make. It gives the vibe of 'this woman is voicing her opinion too much/talking back too much, she must be soo annoying, she should know her place 🙄' I'd like to hope this isn't how they meant it but I have little faith 😅

the first time I watched an enemy use shove to wake up his companion from a sleep spell I was like :O

You could adventure solo. Even if the game could control the companions, i feel like some of the finer set up actions would be lost, like using someone elses heroism to help set up your attack.

I'm going to play baldur's with my girl who isn't a gamer and I was thinking on going coop explorer difficulty and only 2 characters to not confuse her with us controlling 2 characters each, would you think it's good or should we go with 4 and let computer control others?

@@vilmiswow That's exactly what we were discussing, it's impossible to have companions led by AI. However, I think we lose a lot by not having background characters. Whether it's for the story or for the connections with them. I think I would try playing each one 2, and if it bothers her that you play 3, something like that.

@@vilmiswowthere are mods that enable AI control (there’s probably also mods to buff up origin characters so that you can play on a normal difficulty as a party of 2 too).

Stupid is perspective. I find it annoying when people get offended that someone doesn't find things they enjoy appealing to others

@@kylespevak6781 It's not about whether they enjoy it or not, you can not enjoy something while realizing that just because you don't enjoy or understand it, that doesn't make it stupid.

Yeah I agree. A big problem with introducing people to games is that people, in general, are incredibly short sighted and self centered, and if they don't understand something immediately, they assume it's either bad or impossible. Think about how so many people have relatives that absolutely cannot check their own emails, or how in the 90s it was stereotypical for older people to refuse to understand how their VCR worked. Humans, as a species, generally do not WANT to learn new things, and so when presented with a situation that requires learning, if they can leave, they will. It is PHENOMENALLY frustrating. I am a curious woman by nature; I like to learn new things and ask why things work the way they do. And almost everyone I have ever met is frustratingly incurious.

@@kylespevak6781 Also I'm not meaning to imply it's a dig on her character or anything like that, she's done nothing wrong. I just find it annoying.

That's 80% of the human population, encounter something you don't understand and rip it apart. Shit on it, spout disgust and be as dismissive of it and it's fans as much as possible.

I disagree i think it was very beginner friendly for me, but i have a rooted interest in fantasy media so I’m going to put more effort into reading the guiding text

@@shelbypbj I think compared to real D&D it's super beginner friendly, but compared to a lot of Video games there is a lot of terms to learn, and very little in terms of tutorials. Don't get me wrong it's my favorite game of all time, but at least a tutorial with some examples would be nice. Like maybe a little arrow pointing to different parts of the UI like where it says if it's an action or bonus action when they're first explained.

@@shelbypbj it's beginner friendly if you've already invested itself but even compared to Larian's own RPG system used in DOS, D&D is quite a huge ask for a beginner, with all the concessions included. Like, it's just not that intuitive to have this one character class apparently be specced into dexterity but then their weapon doesn't hit and deals no damage if it does? Well, I guess I'll either use the bow or get a lot of strength. Oh, except that doesn't apply to certain weapons and they use dexterity instead of strength when you take a certain feat. So, apparently this class used wisdom for casting spells while this one uses charisma and this one uses intelligence? What's the difference? Why do wizards even need high constitution, apparently? A wizard isn't a marathon runner, is he? What's "concentration"? You very much have to meet the game at its level and learn the rules, "winging it" will likely not take you far. That's very much a critique of tabletop RPGs in general - they're sometimes too complex for their own good. Except they're also sometimes too shallow for their own good. Kinda like when 5th ed brought a lot of newcomers but when these people got acquainted and very much familiar with the system, they found it lacking in comparison to even the previous editions and other alternatives, which went for more depth and complexity at the cost of further alienating newcomers. Balancing act and all that.

why fighter and not barbarian? (genuine as i didn't play might&magic)

@@iota-09 They are all about athletics, hitting hard without being counterattacked. They are also very fast so I figured champion fits them the most. I tried 1 level of barb but the combat suffers immensly in the midgame. Good intimidation checks though.

Not to mention the fact that you couldn't very well have a gnome sound like a half orc. So would that mean you have to get a different voice actor for every race? (though elves and humans could be voiced by the same one). It's something I found a little jarring in Dragon Age Inquisition when your qunari has the same voice actor as the human (though that game had 2 different voice actors you could choose from iirc).

this is a major drawback of voice acted player characters for me. I've often been frustrated by picking a dialogue option I thought would suit my character, only to get a completely different line delivered in a way I absolutely did not want. Very jarring to me. Plus, what if I just... don't care for the voice actor? I enjoy dragon age inquisition, but the american voice actors just don't do it for me. The english accented actors sound much more natural and suit the world of Thedas better. But that means that every character I make, qunari or dwarf or human, all sound the same. I just don't care for it. Breaks the immersion in a way that Origins or BG3 never did.

I feel like she is playing worse then a game journalist, she did 0 actual exploration in a game basically about exploration. I wonder if she was playing the game on her own if she would just refund it the first 20 minutes...

​@@DinantZSomeone who doesn't play video games plays worse than someone whose job it is to play videogames? What a shock!

@@jemandetwas1 You haven't been online long enough to hear what the people think about the skills of a game journalists?

@@DinantZ I know what people *think* of the skills of game journalists. Even though all those thoughts are based on one guy being bad at Cuphead, one guy being bad at Doom Eternal and one guy being bad at Sekiro. It's a stupid thing to be mad about considering just how much real issues plague gaming journalism

Idk because playing the first one is rough for someone who wasn't playing games like that when they first came out and also because the inventory control is trash and nonsense. I can't imagine how they would go. But if she did enjoy the first one then the rest of the series would be smooth sailing.

@@MarieMaia445 starting on two probably the safest. 1 is definitely a bit more complicated

actually bg3 does have ratial bonuses, with some classes actually having fairly substantial ones like drows and elves in general giving access to spells later, nevermind things like darkvision, weapon proficiencies, skill profiiencies etc, the only real missing bonus is stat bonus, but i actually kinda prefer that.

@@iota-09 I specifically said “racial stat bonuses,” since you can use the +2/+1 however you want, regardless of race. Outside of that, I agree that there are racial bonuses, but their effects on the game are minimal enough that I wouldn’t include them if I was worried about overwhelming someone with info. Most of the game is lit well enough that dark vision doesn’t matter, and the spells you get typically aren’t very impactful. Weapon proficiencies also barely matter, since you’re going to get whatever proficiencies you need from your class, tbh

I mean, I guess??? Like, I played BG1/2 and other RPGs because I had no D&D knowledge nor did I know anyone who played it. I got into these games and kinda learned from them and became knowledgeable of D&D just playing them despite never getting to try the tabletop edition until just recently. And surprisingly I learned pretty good D&D stuff from these games which included how bad Mindflayer and Gith stuff was; without having my hand held like this game kinda does unlike the other 2.

But laezel tells you that she is a gith with knowledge of the mindflayers as soon as you meet her. I had virtually zero knowledge of DnD when I picked up BG3, but I've played a ton of dragon age/DOS2. When laezel told me not to touch anything, my immediate reaction was to roll my eyes and explore everything anyway, because it's a video game, I wanted to gather information, and she'd already established herself as a deeply cautious person. The characters in an RPG don't usually speak for the devs, they just share their opinions as individuals. A new player taking everything the NPCs say as gospel from the devs is never going to fully enjoy an immersive RPG where your primary objective is to be curious and stick your nose in things. It seems like every issue this new player had with the game would have been resolved by investigating the fantasy world within the game, rather than trying exclusively to apply real world logic to it. Any game would be frustrating and not fun if you refused to suspend your disbelief a bit and meet it halfway.

Can relate to the "forgetting things in inventory") took me a while to start consistently using them. But I have successfully developed the opposite habit of "do I have something for this specific situation in inventory?" and I hoard all kinds of arrows religiously 😂 they exist for a reason) I feel like finishing the first playthrough and starting the second, I am hoarding less and spend things more often, because now I know more or less what to expect. I also now know which objects to buy/keep around and which I don't need as much.

@@katerynasirko1832 and keeping all of your characters prepared can be tricky too. no item hoarding with this game (though my Bard DOES tend to end up with an excessive amount of scrolls lol)

That's a good observation. Thinking back, I found the times that took me out of the convos the most in BG3 were when the camera whipped back to my character just sort of miming gestures or facial contortions in reaction to something said.

It kind of reminds me of Mass Effect in that way. Except I think that game had a timer for its dialogue, and if you didn't say anything, it made you _literally_ not say anything and just stand there like a goofball. I might be misremembering, but I feel like I have memories of that being a game mechanic somewhere in my head...

This is pretty much the entire problem. Even isometric/top-down RPGs like Pathfinder have more immersive conversations because it doesn't flip back to your character emoting after psychically projecting their response.

It was one of the downfalls/flaws I hated most from the game, despite being a huge fan of the other 2 games and waiting forever for this part 3 to come out.

Vibe is more powerful than lore to new people. Lore only starts to tickle most players after a while of engagement. Wanna be a nerd or have a bit of a high society feel? Pick wizard Wanna be a witch or like the idea of following a strong theme like fire or ice? Sorc Bad boys and bad girls you go for Warlock. I personally like lore and deep character exploration, but most players I find prefer personal expression, and that starts with visuals. Plus BG3 being a video game and not a DMed campaign, you can only RP so much anyway. The class restricted dialogues are neat little candies but you are never gonna meet your Warlock patron and be asked to do something you would never do like Wyll is.

Does magic come from: A - a book B - your soul C - satan Now all the game has to do is make that obvious, visually.

So it actually sucks, but you decided to have fun with it. Like "any bad videogame". Interesting

@@tydendurler9574 nailed it. this tactician run is practice for an honor mode challenge run. I got hard stuck on a certain puzzle though, the FLT. Cheese doesn't work, and I can't do it legit, so I've shelved the game for now until I can figure out a method that's reliable enough for honor mode.

@@eugloopydilemma "shelved it for now"...like...any bad videogame. ;)

@@tydendurler9574 I actually agree with the sentiment going around that it's one of the greats, but that one puzzle is a huge flaw in my opinion, I'll absolutely pick it back up and keep enjoying it once I find a reliable solution for FLT on honor mode.

​@@tydendurler9574 wait youre not joking, you actually hate BG3.... lol ok then

A lot of her complaints are that she cannot do X thing, which is something we all probably wish could do in a videogame, but isn't a realistic expectation and it is directly affecting how much she enjoys a game.

@@Omen_aMeh. I think she actually raised a great point here. The Tav should be trying to ask any and everyone about Halsin at this point in the game. It’s bizarre that the option doesn’t exist, even if most of the responses wouldn’t be fruitful.

honestly her problems are why i don’t like playing rpg games. i like role-playing, but these games always create a barrier between the player and the character. if the point is to have lots of options but there are none for me, what’s the point?

I always assume that my character DOES ask about stuff like that, but that those npc's don't have anything to tell me about it. Maybe they're all just tight-lipped because they've been forced to be by the brand, who knows. But it would be even more boring and time consuming to have a text option for EVERY npc that says "Do you know Halsin?" and every single one of them simply replies grumpily: "No idea."

​@@chesspiece4257you probably have weird expectations, I guess. Lol. Op made the best point he could, if you don't expect the game to let you do whatever YOU want, and instead expect the game to allow you to do whatever IT wants you to do, then you'll enjoy yourself more easily.

I'd say, simple fighting systems like in Skyrim are ideal, especially on low difficulty. Makes you feel competent while not actually having to do much more than to spam your standard actions