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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • I’ve got a steam deck. BG3 runs fine on it and surprisingly so does Starfield. (albeit both on low graphics settings, but I’m cool with that). BG3 is also ok because it’s turn based. Though, so far, any blips in fps in Starfield haven’t messed up my being able to survive firefights.

    BG3 has a steeper learning curve for sure. I love the character interactions and the voice acting is superb. Starfield is easier to just pick up and start playing. (though my first time navigating my ship was a WTF moment and the game threw you into a ship battle right away) The early battles are easy enough that even with flailing, you survive. Over time I’ve gotten more accustomed to the controls. FWIW, NPC dialog and interactions are more janky for sure than BG3. BG3 is so smooth and realistic with dialog and expressions.

    Both games have abysmal inventory systems. hahahaha! So far, I’m enjoying both games. I’ve put BG3 down for a bit to allow time for Larian to clean up Act 3 a bit more. I’m 85 hours in and all of the story threads are coming together and the consequences of my choices are getting thick.

    Starfield is a hit with me too. It’s a grand exploration game. It scratches the Skyrim itch. It might be a looter shooter, but so far, I’m enjoying the quests. Eventually I will build outposts and build my own ship. There’s no VATs any more, except in ship to ship battles where you can use the targeting system.

    Unlike BG3, you aren’t limited on how much you can develop your character. BG3 is capped at level 12 so you only get a few times to choose new spells/skills/abilities. Eventually, you’re at your limit. Starfield has so many skills you can get, that I imagine that once you get many hours in, you’ll be at such a high level and have so many skills that it will still be a blast to play. Early on, it’s all so new, later on, you’ll have so many options for things to do and how to do it that the gameplay will still feel fresh.

    Long story short, I like both equally, but for very different reasons. Starfield is a big plate of good ole home cooking/mac and cheese. BG3 is a multi-course gourmet meal. I also have a steam deck, so I imagine that Starfield would play just fine on XBox.






  • I just finished book 3. Yep. I enjoyed the ride, but the plot seemed a little stretched the more things got expounded on. There was also some unnecessary filler that wore me out to read…

    spoiler

    all the long-form expounding on every crisis, struggling, fighting, chasing puppy etc. scenes.

    spoiler

    The premise of Thurman’s design seemed a little “out there”. Having a competition that each silo was unaware of and only one being allowed to survive seems ridiculous. Humanity is always going to fragment. As populations grow, expand to different territory, local customs and rites will evolve. Limiting things to only one silo is just unnecessary cruelty. The argument of needing the citizens to forget everything about nano tech, and bombs…also ridiculous.

    Nevertheless, I still greatly enjoyed the books.




  • I just finished book two last night. I’m enjoying the ride, but I admit that as the “how we got here” plot has unfolded in book two, I find myself a little perplexed. Maybe I just didn’t understand

    spoiler

    Thurman’s original motive. His line of reasoning is just not connecting for me._

    Nevertheless, the books are riveting and I find myself looking for any spare minutes to pick it back up and continue reading.