I would make a review thread but it seems like reviewers just started playing, so there aren’t many yet.

  • Ertebolle
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    9911 months ago

    Hardly any mention of this from Apple or their associated media, despite the fact that an AAA game launching a Mac port on day 1 is virtually unheard-of in 2023.

    • @[email protected]
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      3311 months ago

      outside of Apple arcade, I don’t think Apple cares one iota about gaming. As evidenced by your observation. It’s a huge market to miss, but they don’t really seem to care. All they keep doing is adding old mobile remakes of games everyone has played before to their Arcade subscription nobody would ever pay for if it wasn’t bundled into Apple one…

      • @[email protected]
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        711 months ago

        They made a big deal about the latest Resident Evil and Death Stranding both coming to Mac at WWDC last year and this year

      • @[email protected]
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        211 months ago

        They’ve been investing way more in gaming lately, but I imagine their long-term plan involves setting up Apple Arcade as a premium brand for high-end titles in a way that might be undermined by promoting their “competition” now. Like if Apple promoted a lot of shows that were available on iTunes shortly before launching Apple TV+. No idea, though, I’m just wildly speculating.

        • @[email protected]
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          111 months ago

          I don’t know, they are focusing a ton right now on re-releasing REALLY old mobile games, just with a plus symbol added to the name. That’s polar opposite from premium high end titles. If they do want to go that direction they need to change course immediately!

    • @[email protected]
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      11 months ago

      Except it’s not available on Mac on day one. Larian hasn’t even announced when it will be aside from “at a later date.”

      Update: Apparently, the Steam Discussions page has a post that lists it as September 5.

    • @[email protected]
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      711 months ago

      Because it only launches today on PC to not compete with starfield. Other platforms are the original release date

    • @[email protected]
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      611 months ago

      Unless it’s shipped to the App Store and not just Steam, they wouldn’t market it anyway. I don’t believe they publicise third-party marketplaces / appstores (which Steam arguable is).

      • Ertebolle
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        1011 months ago

        Yep - M1 optimized too, so it actually runs well on Mac.

          • Ertebolle
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            211 months ago

            According to their listed requirements, yes. In practice, haven’t tested myself but the M2 is a bit better performance-wise than their minimum card on Windows (a GTX 970, when the M2 is closer to a GTX 1060) so I imagine it’ll work but not exactly with maxed-out settings.

            • @[email protected]
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              11 months ago

              > Minimum

              > GTX 970

              I guess I really need to upgrade, huh?

              It’s nice that it’s ARM native on launch tho, I think storage will be my only issue there (I opted for 256GB model because the storage upgrade is too expensive)

  • @[email protected]
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    5011 months ago

    I just love everything about this whole thing.

    I love the game itself, what an incredible feat.

    I love how almost naively passionate and nerdy the folks at Larian are.

    I love how aside from a few AAA game developers trying to tell everyone that this masterpiece shouldn’t set the new standard for RPGs (LOL) Everyone else just seems so happy these maniacs have actually pulled it off.

    I love the freedom this game offers. So many permutations, over 170 hrs of cinematics, most of which the average player will never see. All so that the world can feel almost as limitless as the tabletop D&D. There were no shortcuts to this goal. I’m sure the tech is great, but fundamentally, this wasn’t about clever technology, which can only do so much. It was about the herculean effort of 400+ people making content for over 6 years in some of the most indulgent over-engineering I’ve ever seen in a AAA title.

    They could have rolled out the EA Act I a few years ago and it still would have been better than most RPGs out there. Instead, we get an Act I with 33% more content and 2 entirely new acts.

    Got two kids under 4 and a demanding job so no idea when I’ll get to play even. But I’m just so happy something like this has happened in this shitty, cynical industry.

    • @[email protected]
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      111 months ago

      It really has been a breath of fresh air. I rarely ever buy EA but I bought this one. Played 236 hours just in that and forced myself to stop because I wanted more. There’s no DLC, just cosmetic stuff, they’re out here doin it.

      I can’t wait to get home and play for the first time in a while.

  • 🦄🦄🦄
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    11 months ago

    Only 10 more hours until it is downloaded 😍

    Edit: welp, it’s already done lol. See you in a couple of weeks boiiiiss

    • mrnotoriousman
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      1011 months ago

      One for me! I’m averaging 25-30Mbps. Took the day off of work for this lol

      • @[email protected]
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        611 months ago

        Try doing a half day next time. That way it’s downloading while you’re at work and you still get to play for hours

      • sharpiemarker
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        511 months ago

        Took the day off of work for this lol

        Bold strategy Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for 'em.

      • @RubberDucky
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        111 months ago

        For me it downloaded within 40 minutes with swings between 300-170mb/s

        • mrnotoriousman
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          211 months ago

          Was about an hour 20 total for me! Loving it so far! Except they forgot to remove the version number so it’s always showing lol

  • @[email protected]
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    3011 months ago

    For the first time in years I lost track of time while playing a game. It was 6:15 in the morning when I thought about actually getting some sleep. Kids woke up shortly after that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    • Piecemakers
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      1011 months ago

      Seriously. The changes from beta have all been incredible (beyond the obvious [character options, et al], the cutscenes are slightly “reshot”, gfx overhaul, voiceover content, etc.) and while I knew key points of the storyline, their delivery or even triggers were fresh to discover. I’m so damn excited to play this full release, I’m doing everything I can just not to run solo instead of getting the gang together for multi sessions. 😅🤘🏼

      • @[email protected]
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        311 months ago

        The friend group tried to play D&D over discord and it was like pulling teeth to get everyone online at the same time. I typically like having multiple players in games like this because it makes it more fun to actually play AS the character because we all have different motives/mindsets.

        I’m doing a solo campaign first while I’m impatient, then I’ll do a group campaign when everyone can actually get together.

    • @[email protected]
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      11 months ago

      Damn. That puts me off it rather than wanting to buy it. The kids and Mrs would have no mercy if I get that engrossed.

        • pacoboyd
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          211 months ago

          I really want to play with my kid, she loves DnD, but I was exploring one place and I opened a barn door to be greeted by an orc rawdogging an ogre. Can’t have that stuff popping up with my kid playing.

      • @[email protected]
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        211 months ago

        Look, the only thing I can say is that I have no regrets :). What I plan on doing is just waking up an hour or so earlier and having some game time in the morning.

        • @[email protected]
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          211 months ago

          Does the game have good controller support? Steam Deck is the only way to get gaming done with the kids around.

    • @[email protected]
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      311 months ago

      He’s great isn’t he…

      But regardless of all that may you wander in wisdom and have an amazing day

      • Ris
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        111 months ago

        Oh it gets plenty kinky.

        • Piecemakers
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          111 months ago

          Fair assumption, though you might want to lead with that, rather than imply that you’ve made such a decision based on current issues rather than historical conjecture.

            • Piecemakers
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              11 months ago

              And we collectively have little patience for low-effort trolls. I hope you can understand. This isn’t that other place.

  • AnonStoleMyPants
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    1511 months ago

    Instant buy. I would buy it due to them making divinity original sin 2 with zero idea about this game. So fucking excited to play it.

    Unfortunately, I really really really want to play this with a friend of mine so I gotta find until he has a good slot.

  • @[email protected]
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    1311 months ago

    Hasn’t this been in early access for three years? There’s plenty of material out there if you’re just interested in the gameplay.

    • @[email protected]
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      2911 months ago

      Sure the gameplay is well tested (it has a overwhelmingly positive on Steam already from Early Access), but it’s a huge game, and everything beyond Act 1 is brand new, plus many things in Act 1 have been changed (ex. one origin character was rescripted and recorded).

      So while the gameplay and the implementation of the 5e ruleset is well known, the rest of the story and the journey is still mostly new, and that’s a huge part of what will make people enjoy the game or not.

      Just my few cents on why it’s still important to see how it reviews. Mortismal Gaming is already reporting that there are some crashes, bugs in the release version, especially in the later acts (even if that is normal for a game of this scope, it’s good to know).

      • @[email protected]
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        311 months ago

        That’s the main reason i suggested the older stuff. You get an idea of what it’s like without spoilers. It’s what i did when i started hearing about it. I don’t think it’s a game for me just based on the gameplay.

      • sharpiemarker
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        211 months ago

        That’s good to know! I played a little during early access and couldn’t get the controls down on Steam Deck. Probably better with m&k.

        • @[email protected]
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          411 months ago

          Absolutely. I don’t know how people play complex CRPG’s with a controller. Just the inventory alone would drive me nuts!

    • @[email protected]
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      811 months ago

      You have to use proton experimental to get it to boot, but I’ve been getting a pretty solid 30fps with decent visuals

    • @[email protected]
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      611 months ago

      The early access well for me. Pretty stable graphically. I used the track pad mostly with a few keybound shortcuts

    • @[email protected]
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      411 months ago

      Have yet to try but I’ve read you need to turn on proton experimental for it to work. I’ve seen that people are getting roughly 30fps with medium settings and FRS. Also, the final release has gamepad support.

      I’m probably going to give it a try later tonight and can update then if you’re still interested.

    • @[email protected]
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      311 months ago

      I’ll report back tonight or tomorrow and let you know. Gonna binge on the main PC for a bit with some associates first.

        • @[email protected]
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          211 months ago

          Aight so you’ll need to configure track pads to click on abilities during the turn based combat.

          Framerate is good on medium bit there are clear issues with the filtering as textures seem to clip in and out layers per sprite (from foliage spites to the NPCs and players. The result is like a low grade flicker.

          I’ll bump it up to high later, but as we know Steam Deck likes to engage surface of the sun with a jet engine mode on AAA games high settings.

    • @[email protected]
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      111 months ago

      I’d like to find this out too. My main computer is a Mac, so I will likely just buy it and try it out on there, but I hope it works cleanly on the deck.

      I read just a couple of days ago that they’re committed to supporting the deck, but as of now I don’t see the supported icon.

      I have had issues with some “works great” games - cyberpunk in particular has an issue with things like text size so I’ll try it with the deck hooked to a monitor and with a keyboard and mouse - but I’m hoping that BG3 will work out of the gate,l (so to speak).

  • Prethoryn Overmind
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    1011 months ago

    If you never played the original Baldurs Gate games or the devs original Divinity Original Sin games then you are in for an absolute treat.

    This game is basically Dungeons and Dragons with so many ways to play and have fun.

    Imagine if you will a half demon and a Dragonborn walk into a bar. The Dragonborn is a bard and the half demon is what is called a Tiefling. The two are best friends ready to take on the world. They meet a dark elf who is a powerful druid that can turn into a spider and a dwarf who is also warlock. The four of them find themselves surrounded by bandits but fret not the Dragonborn sings his tunes to make the Tiefling stronger. The drwarf helps freeze them in place and the druid spins her spindly legs to eat the bandits.

    Together they will save the world. Well if your brain imagines all that in your own way then welcome to Baldurs Gate 3.

  • @[email protected]
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    911 months ago

    I had the early access on Stadia 😭 will have to wait for the delayed Xbox launch now.

      • @[email protected]
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        411 months ago

        Indeed. They even refunded my Ubisoft+ sub costs which surprised the hell out of me. I got two controllers free from various deals as well, they are decent Bluetooth controllers now. I think I paid for a handful of months of pro that I didn’t get back, but everything else was refunded.

    • @[email protected]
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      -111 months ago

      I tried playing it on PC today, but it ran really poorly even on low, so I refunded it and will be waiting for the Xbox version as well.

  • @[email protected]
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    811 months ago

    Anyone comment on the general writing style? I didn’t gel with the Divinity games. Loved the gameplay systems but found that the tone of the writing stopped me from getting sucked into the world unlike the original BG games.

    • KroninJ
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      911 months ago

      RPGs aren’t my style generally so I can’t really put my finger on anything specific with storytelling but I can at least say , for someone that (unfortunately) finds it difficult to get into stories, I found bg3 much more intriguing and easier to get sucked into then divinity 2.

      I’m also currently playing on a build from 2 years ago and seeing all the updates since then, I’m really exited to pick it up today and see how it’s improved.

    • @[email protected]
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      411 months ago

      Aside from the writing style, it’s much more cinematic than the div games. I’m finding it a lot easier to get sucked into the story

    • @[email protected]
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      311 months ago

      I think the writing is overall better than it was in Divinity Original Sin 2. The world is darker and more sinister. There is also a deeper emphasis on what your character is thinking, with a narrator describing things more regularly to you.

      That being said this is unmistakably a Larian game. I’d suggest watching some gameplay online to see if it’s for you.

      • @[email protected]
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        411 months ago

        I think the writing is overall better than it was in Divinity Original Sin 2. The world is darker and more sinister.

        That’s great to read. I really like DOS2, but the dialogue tends to be a bit too nudge-nudge-wink-winky sometimes.

        • @msage
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          211 months ago

          Yeah, that game was being silly at the beginning, but it got much darker very quickly. Some quibs here and there, and I got a lot of laughs, but that game wasn’t all that funny overall.

  • ratz30
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    811 months ago

    I sadly have to wait for my partner to install her copy first as this is her only free day, and our Canadian internet is shit. I probably won’t get to play until tomorrow evening. Hope everyone enjoys launch day

    • @[email protected]
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      1811 months ago

      If you are using steam, you can just copy all the files from your device to hers. Then let steam validate the files and you are off to the races. My spouse and I do this all the time to save of bandwidth and time.

      • ratz30
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        511 months ago

        Damn that’s a good idea. I haven’t installed yet, but will have her copy over to me when it’s done in 4 hours lol

        • Domi
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          1111 months ago

          FYI, Steam has a new feature where you can install games over local network for friends if both enable it.

          Might be handy in this case.

          • @[email protected]
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            111 months ago

            TO further add onto that, the Source player can’t be doing anything else. As in not downloading and not playing games at the same time.

    • @[email protected]
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      311 months ago

      I started installing at like 11:05am and it still isnt done yet. Why do i pay for 100 dollar internet!

    • @[email protected]
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      511 months ago

      Could be worse.

      Glances over at the Xbox

      I went ahead and bought it for the Steam Deck. Might buy it again for the PS5 next month if I really like it.

    • Ertebolle
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      311 months ago

      macOS getting a new game before PS5 does is downright cruel.