Recent reviews by Ethereal

To understand my appreciation of BG3, you must first understand something about myself: I do not replay things unless a significant period of time has passed. I'm not talking months- I am talking YEARS. Even THEN- it's only if I have a lot of nostalgia for it. It doesn't matter if there are multiple endings, I'll likely go that same route when I revisit it in 5-10 years. It doesn't even matter if I adore the game. I immerse myself, do every little quest, and then I am ready to move on to the next thing.When i'm done, I'm done.

That said, for the first time in my entire life, I started a second play through the minute I beat the game. I straight up have a LIST of play throughs I want try. I WANT to try playing all of the origin characters, which is wild to me, because I have always gone for new character creation over premades. Larian is so masterful in their storytelling that I want to see EVERYTHING.

BG3 easily has the most robust, and intricate web of choices of any game I've ever played. Your choices matter- not just in the final thirty minutes of the game, but every single step of the way. In my second play through (a redemption Dark Urge run, for those in the know) I'm still making relatively similar choices as my first run, and I am STILL discovering new things. Things that feel insignificant, like taking a slightly different route up a path, can lead to a vastly different result. There are multiple approaches to EVERYTHING. Talk your way out of things, use your wit to gain advantage, or just straight up punch it until it dies. Your narrative experience is entirely yours.

The details are absolutely wild. There are so many little things to discover- all around the world. There's voice acting and narration for every line, all stunningly performed and diverse. Every companion has a rich, engaging story- even characters that I thought I'd hate came to grow on me as I learned more about them and their story.

The sheer volume of actions you can take really makes it feel about as close to an actual game of D&D as you can probably get. Utility spells don't feel like a waste. For example, I started my first play through as a Bard (my absolute favorite class) and I mostly took Speak to Animals as a challenge of "Hmph. We'll see how quickly this mechanic becomes pointless". The answer was NEVER- I found little critters to speak to from beginning to end.

All of that said, a game this ambitious is going to have a few little quirks- I certainly did run into my fair share of bugs- but Larian has such fabulous community support that I can't hold a grudge. They go above and beyond, and really listen to their player base without complaint- If you've reported something, you can be confident that it's going to be addressed and polished in a future patch (read the patch notes, btw- they're AMAZING).

I know that a game with such a stellar reputation can bring with it an amount of skepticism from those who have yet to play it- but I can say with absolute confidence that every accolade is well deserved. This game, the entire crew, and the entire community are a labor of love that has a little something for everyone; from fans of the series or just D&D in general to both experienced gamers and those who are just getting into gaming for the first time (we're so excited to have you here with us)! Don't let turn based combat scare you off if your used to more action base combat- this game is so much more than it's combat mechanics.

It is for all of these reasons that I am forced to concede that this has become my favorite game. I tried to resist, but I have come to accept it. Larian has rolled a critical success against my heart. May you always have a party gathered to venture forth.

I had first stumbled across the Cat Lady in the Steam Store and thought "Gritty Point and Click. I wouldn't mind giving this a go".

Well, one Humble Bundle later and I got the chance. The Trailers do it NO justice.

The Cat Lady is a beautifully dark tale that is both engaging and (though imperfect) full of surprising twists and turns. The mechanics work hand in hand to keep things from getting stale...but also work in creative ways. Even though some mechanics only come up for a scene- they don't feel unnessasarily placed or tedious. The characters are intriguing and the game itself is asethically interesting.

Will definately play again.

I've really loved FABLES as a comic, and didn't know whether to be excited or mortified when I saw that TellTale had a game in the works. What if the story made no sense with the context of the comic?! What if the characterization was bad? What if I punched a fist through my monitor and had to buy a new one?! So, after a long month of internal debating, I caved and dumped out my wallet for the first episode.

And, my universe was pretty much rocked.

The story telling is beautifully immersive. Combat sequences flow well, though Q commands are tedious (TAP DAT). The art style translates very well to an adaptation of a glorious comic and the characters are spot on. I had not imagined what Bigby Wolf had sounded like. I knew as soon as I made my first irritated comment to Mr.Toad.

Fantastic replay value. Worthwhile for those who haven't read the comic as well.