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Since my computer is about six years out of date, I do nothing else, basically. Legolas Send a noteboard - 17/07/2012 08:39:40 PM
This thread is brought to you thanks to Baldur's Gate 2, which I just recently got at GOG and started playing. And also by the strange mix of emotions the game causes me to have. On one hand I like the variety of characters, the variety of spells, how the game doesn't hold my hand at all, among various other points. But on the other hand despite everything seemingly being good, playing the game just somehow seems like a...chore. I can't even explain why, because the graphics don't seem so bad in my opinion, and the gameplay is quite good. But somehow I'm not having the amount of fun I would expect myself to with a game that has so many good things going for it.

I discovered BG2 two years ago as well, loved it. Then I moved on to its successor Neverwinter Nights, which is perhaps not a better game as such but still has sufficient advances over BG2 that it's hard to go back to the former afterwards (to say nothing of my shortlived attempt to play Baldur's Gate 1). Although recently I went back to BG2 and did like it again - the party dynamics and numerous good quests remain excellent, and some of its characters are iconic (Minsc and Irenicus come to mind).

The massive advantage of Neverwinter Nights is that, unlike BG2, it comes with an engine to create your own adventures, and a community that spent eight or so years making increasingly refined "modules" (and is still going on to some limited extent), meaning there are literally dozens of modules out there, some of them very extensive, that are as good or indeed considerably better than the original game (and hundreds that are at least somewhat enjoyable).

Other games that I've picked up and enjoyed include Age of Wonders (although again with the downside of continuously comparing to its sequel, which I'd owned for years), Heroes of Might and Magic III and IV (I'm inclined to say the former is the better game, though both can be fun), Disciples I (really not worth it if you've already played II, considering how small the differences between the two are). I also got the very highly praised Planescape Torment (same engine as BG2, but set in a darker, more mysterious and original universe), but never really got into that. Then at one point I made the mistake of buying Duke Nukem 3D, on the theory that I had enjoyed it way back when when playing it on a friend's computer - big mistake. I doubt I've played even thirty minutes, and I've very little desire to go back to it. Then not so long ago I got Age of Empires III, which seemed pretty good, but somehow didn't hold my interest for long, and that was only partially due to the way it pushed the limits on my computer (essentially, I could do everything as long as I didn't try to have naval combat on my screen - you'd be surprised how hard naval combat can be if you can only give instructions beforehand and afterwards and need to be far away while it's going on). And now finally, on someone's recommendation in another thread just this weekend, I bought Crusader Kings and have been enjoying it a lot so far.

So yeah, mixed record with GOG... but on the whole it's probably fair to say that between BG2, NWN and the two HoMMs, I got more than my money's worth for the total amount of money I spent at the site (AoE III and CK were from Steam, all the rest from GOG).
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Giving old games a try years after their initial release? - 17/07/2012 02:32:57 AM 2013 Views
Psychonauts was worth it. The art direction helped it to age pretty gracefully, too. *NM* - 17/07/2012 03:07:54 PM 399 Views
Psychonauts is only 7 years old, so it's not that old yet - 17/07/2012 11:02:09 PM 673 Views
I played Final Fantasy and Castlevania recently. - 17/07/2012 05:24:00 PM 718 Views
Don't know much about Castlevania, but which FF did you play? - 17/07/2012 10:58:23 PM 708 Views
Yes, sorry. I meant Final Fantasy 1 - 18/07/2012 01:12:59 AM 720 Views
Ah... In that case, I don't know a thing about either - 18/07/2012 01:23:26 AM 765 Views
Yeah, FF1 was pretty annoying. - 18/07/2012 06:03:52 PM 645 Views
On one hand that realism sounds awesome - 18/07/2012 08:07:18 PM 661 Views
Re: On one hand that realism sounds awesome - 18/07/2012 10:18:08 PM 639 Views
Re: On one hand that realism sounds awesome - 19/07/2012 05:32:54 AM 708 Views
Re: On one hand that realism sounds awesome - 19/07/2012 06:40:34 PM 680 Views
Since my computer is about six years out of date, I do nothing else, basically. - 17/07/2012 08:39:40 PM 704 Views
There's an xkcd for just this situation - 17/07/2012 10:48:53 PM 820 Views
There's an xkcd for most situations geeks are likely to encounter in their lives, honestly. - 17/07/2012 11:15:21 PM 732 Views
Very true, and no doubt the main reason for its appeal - 18/07/2012 01:18:42 AM 747 Views
Re: Very true, and no doubt the main reason for its appeal - 18/07/2012 09:46:48 PM 874 Views
Re: Very true, and no doubt the main reason for its appeal - 18/07/2012 10:30:25 PM 695 Views
Can't say I've gotten very far with the romance subplots yet. - 18/07/2012 11:03:39 PM 682 Views
Yeah, I haven't gotten any. - 18/07/2012 11:38:04 PM 692 Views
Re: Very true, and no doubt the main reason for its appeal - 19/07/2012 06:03:21 AM 729 Views
I used to have sooo much fun with Heroes of Might and Magic 3 years after its release - 18/07/2012 10:19:59 AM 748 Views
I play Heroes on my laptop with Windows 7 - 27/07/2012 04:08:31 PM 680 Views
I play the odd bit of Age of Empires II - 18/07/2012 10:50:21 AM 626 Views
Normal or Conquerors? - 18/07/2012 11:08:11 AM 659 Views
Re: Normal or Conquerors? - 18/07/2012 12:08:06 PM 731 Views
Awesome. - 18/07/2012 12:53:21 PM 696 Views
I'd say Morrowind could probably be one of those games... - 19/07/2012 12:44:25 AM 659 Views
I tried that recently. Spent more time creating my character than I did playing before quitting. *NM* - 19/07/2012 12:55:08 AM 573 Views
Then you are doing it wrong. - 19/07/2012 09:17:00 AM 754 Views
Or it's not his type of game. *shrug* I found Morrowind to be unbearably tedious. *NM* - 19/07/2012 04:12:04 PM 361 Views
Stop being reasonable. - 19/07/2012 05:02:08 PM 661 Views
Drats! You win this time, jh! *NM* - 19/07/2012 10:15:35 PM 360 Views
Reminds me of - 22/07/2012 01:15:49 PM 804 Views
Morrowind is still by far my favorite Elder Scrolls game - 19/07/2012 05:10:07 AM 683 Views

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