Some Words on BG3 & Starfield

 So, Baldur's Gate 3 is definitely the better of the games I've played recently - probably my (and maybe others') game of the year. It isn't perfect, but it's a good adaption of D&D 5E rules with a solid enough story, some great characters, and a lot of creative ways to interact with things. Excellent.

Starfield has me thinking a bit more, though. It's certainly not as good, but the overall game is reasonably good. 

Most of the not-good in the game itself seems to stem from engine limitations as Bethesda's Creation Engine, even with iteration, has a lot of the same feel of its previous games. Outpost building is a variation of what was seen in Fallout 4/76. Starship building seems to be a variation of that. The fact that you have to load between surface/space/shipboard play feels like it's largely because ship flight/combat seems to have been bolted on rather than really integrated. And there are interface and animation issues that look familiar all the way back to Oblivion, maybe even Morrowind.

But it all functions well enough most of the time. There are some fun stories to be followed, mostly in the faction quests. Exploring, side quests, and building may feel revolutionary, but can be entertaining.

That all comes together into what I would call a 6-7/10 game. Above average. Good, but not great.

The main story ending is... something, though.

-Spoilers-

So, the main story revolves around finding and collecting "artifacts" that grant a vague celestial vision and lead to gaining quasi-magic powers. Along the say, you encounter the "star born" who have these powers, strangely advanced ships and are also after the artifacts. When you collect them all, you gain access to the "Unity" - a multiversal nexus. There, you have the opportunity to step through, becoming a star born in another universe.

On the one hand, that's an interesting way to build a New Game+ mode into the story (even if you carry over no gear/ships/money/outposts, just skill/power progress and you get a star born style armor and ship). Narratively, it's also a fascinating way to put the player suddenly in the position of what was the "enemy" - suddenly, you're the traveler from another universe, so are you willing to again do what it takes to collect all the thingies to transcend again? This can certainly lead to the jaded do-whatever-it-takes point of view held by one of the star born from the main story.

In a way, that's fascinating!

But... I'm not sure its fun. Getting a little epilogue view of your effect on your previous universe is nice, but starting out in the new one with nearly nothing (the armor and ship aren't bad, but loss of all gear, ships, outposts you may have built up can be big) is deflating. Being the same character makes interactions with NPCs feel a bit more shallow, even if you can play out certain quest choices in other ways. Also, No Man's Sky kind of did this (albeit with much less narrative) years ago.

And maybe it's me (though I know it's not just me), but this invites a certain means of existential thinking that I find intimately familiar, but not at all fun.