#but the location of the morphic pool being right in the temple of bhaal makes either option awkward | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

sun-marie · 3 months ago

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potentially a hot take but it is my opinion that open ended, non-linear, exploration-based storytelling in video games is not worth it if it comes at the expense of the story's pacing. If you have a thousand different roads for the player to take but they're all just thrown at the player at once with no rhyme or reason, then no amount of "player agency" is going to make any if them feel satisfying, they now just feel like a chore.

#pacing in rpgs is a make or break for me #like i love the first pillars of eternity game #but i can't deny it has some god awful pacing when you consider how much is offered for the player to do #with very little connecting tissue #and this post in particular is brought to you by me starting act 3 of bg3 #the prime example imo #like i really love all the events that happen in act 3 *in isolation*#but like astarion and shadowheart's quest are just kinda there with no main story incentive #gortash and orin both have events that trigger after their defeated (karlach's cool down and orin's kidnapping victim)#but the location of the morphic pool being right in the temple of bhaal makes either option awkward #the fact that every diversion in the city results in 12 years of lag #so shit like the ironhand gnomes (while interesting and cool) do not seem worth it and bog the game down #it's just such a mess imo #i mean again in isolation i like nearly everything that happens in act 3 #and even after all the patches i do feel like they nailed the ending itself #so i still call it a good game #but Act 2 is just so tight and concise and GOOD #Act 3 just feels like a chore #anyway. sorry for the sour mood on y'all's dash now.#bg3 critical #pillars of eternity critical #marie speaks

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