Solasta: Crown of the Magister

There's little I can say to this except - wow. A total sleeper that I played because a friend of mine has recommend it to me. This is basically what I want BG3 to be when it releases - Reactions done right with choices. Open world travel. Witty character banter based on their backgrounds/character. Combat was 9/10 with a few issues, Story was 9/10, the amazing little interactions and all that extra stuff made it 10/10. The best DnD 5e game out there right now. It still has plenty of bugs and glitches, most of which resolve themselves (like dice roll boxes staying to long etc), arrows feeling unintuitive, being unable to see if an item is in stock because it's greyed out regardless of it's too expensive or not available. But at the end of the day, none of these bugs would ruin the game. A long-ish experience, more than I expected, for sure. Will certainly hope the engine spawns more, maybe some DLCs. Considering all the bad reviews I read on steam and the overall score here being 3.9, it certainly doesn't deserve this. It lacks a bit of polish but is overall a real gem.

Some high end games (BG3), I struggled to create characters that looked good. This game the end results were plesant. Along with backgrounds, you choose personalities. 2 based on character, 2 whatever. Changes the dialog/banter and makes it more real to listen to. A1 Possibly changes some gameplay? The tutorial comes across as part of the story of each character and I thought it was accomplished fantastically. Outstanding. I like the world/story. Others often have contrived stories or characters are the 'chosen one' (cough bg3). I found the world really cool. It didn't slow down gameplay or have you read long books you find laying around. There weren't barrels everywhere that you felt obligated to loot for the odd gold piece and didn't have seashells/splinters/flowers around every corner. Thank the gods. The crafting system is remarkable. So much better implemented than a witcher type or OS:2 with their endless barrels and seashells. The User Interface is smooth as butter and visually well done. Nothing seems to be forced down your throat to do this action or that leaving you options. If characters go behind a large obstruction and your camera isn't swung around to see, a circle or hole in the obstruction still shows your characters. So good. The closest combat to table top since ToEE. A review online about RNG: "The biggest problem with combat... rolling dice makes for an... unpredictable experience... approaching a fight the exact same way over several attempts led to different outcomes each time." It's like the person is saying the results should be concrete. Sometimes things aren't going to go your way, and to me that is A1. I just don't see it as bad that an enemy saves or a sword misses. There were no Social and Political agenda items layered into the game, although an option to be called a "they" was a minus. But anyone should be able to play the game without feeling these things are shoved down their throat (looking at you Pathfinder WotR).

i do not know how this game wasnt on my RADAR until 2 weeks ago... let me tell yall something.. this game is worth the price of admission.. i am looking forward to more updates and DLC

And all non clergy casters should follow. -Again the wizard is the bigest sidekick. -Again the Priest can roll over every other class. Spell damage - biger than both sorcerer and wizard. Can tank and heal. Can go melle. Why do we have other classes? I wont mind if all were OP - even the enemies. -We DO receive a crafting or lockpicking tools with the backgrounds but NOT the proficiency to use them? After all it is prety easy to obtain them on the market. So when I chouse bacground that give the tools, it is resonable to be able to use them. -There are really stupid suppresions on the casters: Feats are really important - but the one for cantrips is as pointless as it gets. It is allready a too little damage for any cantrip - and we need to use 1 of 3 feats for HALF damage on miss? 1d8 for Shadow dagger allways give me 2 for both my sorcerer and wizard. What do we do whit HALF of 2 in a fight? AND you have the nerve to call the feat POWERFULL CANTRIPS - are you really haiting the non clergy carecters this much? -If we choose SpellWeaver Rogue - we receive the moust useless and week spells to choose from, and only to level 2. Paladins on the other hand - they really rock ... the spells are theirs to play with. -By the way - why the Priest that have chosen Fire can cast Ice spells? Is it to create a caster that combines the Draconic sorserer and Wizard? -Why Empowerd spells and the Feats like it are not accessable for wizards and only for sorceres? Not ot mention - empowerd for you means to roll again if you roll 1 - HAH - like you could't roll it again. Normally we receive +half the damage not some nothing for a Feat. Right now my wizard is doing 3 times more damage with Light crossbow than level 1 Magic Misssals. Only level 2 Scorching ray could do as much as the crossbow, if all of the 3 rays do not miss. -Why even Loremaster could not use any different spells than battle mage? Such a small divercity of spells for wizards.

This game was a chore. Decent DND systems (character, inventory), but no storyline and absolutely no fun or challenge. Every move is mapped out to the point where you don't have to engage your brain.