Sergio's reviews

[Sergio - ex SHS member]

Been a while since I was in these shores. I've played a bit Baldur's gate during SHS down, but it seems that SHS after all these months is probably gone, even if I hope otherwise. I've got a few reviews, and before they become too old, I thought it was time to release them. Consider that I will be copying them into my topic in SHS, if SHS ever comes back.

First mod I will review: Dark Tidings (you can find it here: 

Dark Tidings. Version played: 1.0.  - Play this mod. I didn’t regret playing it; see if you enjoy it.
 

[Story – obviously, spoilers]

 

You are asked to check why the light of a lighthouse has now worn off; you go in the Island only to find that the gem that once was used to light the way for the ships is being used as a beacon to summon an avatar of a malevolent god.

So, the good:
- The sceneries and landscapes are pretty good. Acifer is really talented. Whenever I see stuff from him or Gorion I have to take a look.
- The dialogues are not bad; there is choices when you answer to people. The English used is understandable and I didn’t notice any incomprehensible statement.
- The story is crystal clear; you know what to do from beginning to the end.

My gripes with the mod:

 

 

1) The story offers, sadly, no real RP option. It’s true, in the dialogues you can choose to not act as a smartass/jerk, but once you’ve exhausted the options, it always ends in a bloodbath. I guess that the creatures being used do not exactly offer many alternatives; sea trolls are not exactly rational and sirenes are usually really territorial.

2) There is a moment in the story where you suggest the player that he has to make a choice: either he could save the world by risking to destroy the gem to cleanse the evil in the island, or just flee from the island by using the gem to make the light needed for ships to dock and leave the evil in the island.
I will be genuinely sincere with you: I knew from moment one that there were no real stake and the gem wouldn’t be destroyed; as a player, you pretty much know that the “threat” of this happening is simply not real. After all, there wouldn’t be a game to play if that happened. This doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be consequences of any kind – the gem could be really destroyed; the npcs with you would ponder the stake of what you’ve done, even by getting, let’s say “aggressive” (but not hostile).

Really, what I would do is just make it so that the gem gets destroyed and the undead knight would notice that; to the point where he would even say that by dieing in the island, you did such an act that you earned your good afterlife. Obviously <charname> would tell him that a good afterlife is not what he had in mind. The ghost would take note of it; then he would disappear.
After a couple of weeks someone would come get you, with a scroll saying that *the undead knight* had appreciated your help and he had asked some higher powers to actually save you. And that he met some resistance due to your special heritage, wishing for you to always behave like that, choosing good over your own sake. And with a bag of 1k, or why not, a crystal to light the lighthouse so you can get the 1k from the quest-giver.

3) I don’t understand why a gem that can be used as a beacon to bring Gods that are imprisoned in far-away realms is being used as a light in the lighthouse. I think such an artifact would be way too strong to be there.

4) There is no evil path available for an Evil player. It’s not like there is bound to be another choice, because the God being summoned is not the right kind of God to make deals. If only it was another… if only it was a rational evil god..

Do you wonder, as an evil player, what I would have liked to see if the god that was being summoned was rational? When I play mods I always hope that you can get some boons you wouldn’t be getting by doing the right choice. Other mod authors would have simply made it so that you could ally with him and he would simply give you his cloak; but I find that only a pretentious way to say “hey, I’ve got an evil path covered”, only to see that it’s a path where you get half the goods and half the boons you would be getting by being good.

Not only that; the God should also:
- ask you to kill the Undead knight that was trying to sabotage his summoning and helping you, the reward being what he drops if you face the God itself.
- ask you to use the gem to bring “new” followers to the island; how? You simply put the gem in the spot it should be; whoever comes saving you should actually ask you what happened, and you should suggest them to go into the portal by tempting them with riches and wonders beyond every imagination, only for them to be charmed by the God;
- the new charmed followers should bring you back home, but the God could actually ask you to take the gem with you, so more boats would appear at the island for him to get new charmed npcs and why not, followers;
- finally, the God would give you a choice: he would tell you that he could give you another boon if you bring the gem to one of his followers, that is waiting somewhere in athkatla; so you could choose between (hopefully):
> more than 1k gold by selling the gem to someone that may be interested in it (I think someone in the thieves guild would: especially considering that the gem is such a strong artifact), or
> giving it to one of the dark follower to the god to help the second part of the avatar appear (and getting another boon in exchange).

Edited September 7, 2023 by Sergio - ex SHS member

[Zaramorte]

interesting site... although an english language switch buttom would be helpful (edit... solved with an add-on )

 

thx

Edited September 7, 2023 by Zaramorte

[Acifer]

Thank you for the review of my mod!
There is one thing I want to point out: I tried to stay as close as possible to the source material - the original BG2 game. When designing it, I asked myself: What would the BG developers do? That means that this mod doesn't allow for a lot of different solutions with the bad guys - much like BG2 didn't allow you to. It’s more about exploration, interaction with the environment and tough fights. I see the mod in similarity with the "Cult of the eyeless" quest from BG2, you can't cooperate with the Unseeing Eye there either. It’s the same here: The entity you encounter simply has no interest in collaborating with anyone at all.

One note regarding the crystal, as I think there is a misunderstanding here:

Spoiler

You only meet an aspect of a deity, not the deity itself. Only a small shred of the supernatural being, so in that respect I believe the Luminous Crystal is indeed appropriate.

Spoiler

Your hints are very interesting, and I have to think about including a more selfish, evil path to the mod. I could include an alternate path regarding the Sirens as well, after all they are the ones who were first on the island before it was overrun by cultists.

Thank you very much for your feedback!

Edited September 8, 2023 by Acifer

[Sergio - ex SHS member]

Heavy spoilers concerning Dark Tidings, so don't read if you haven't played the mod. 

 

I've talked with DnD players because I had never heard about the God you've chosen to be called forth by the "evil followers". Suffice to say, none of them even hinted remotely at the possibility of an alliance. When Tharizdun is the God you've chosen, they all said the same thing: either you avoid summoning him forth, or you are doomed. Tharizdun is mad, an entity of pure destruction. 

 

These are the scenarios I was hinted at, if you are curious:

1) No reward, you are now a thrall, having lost your free will.
2) No reward, your memories are now rearranged and you are now a new cultist whose life purpose is freeing Tharizdun.
3) You are dead.
4) You are now possessed by Tharizdun.
5) You are driven mad by Tharizdun, a "blessing" in his mind, given that he is a mad God.

I'm not even sure that a part of him is so weak to be defeated by the Bhaalspawn, but that's the story you've chosen.

 

 

As for the gem

What I meant with my statement is that it's hard to believe that a gem that can be used to summon an avatar of a Dead God is being used as a light source for the lighthouse

 

 

Edited September 8, 2023 by Sergio - ex SHS member

[Sergio - ex SHS member]

Black hearts (finished 26/06/2023) --> according to me, this is currently the best quest mod available for BG1. Install and play it. I even think that it could be a stable additions in my install all the times I will be playing BG.
 

You can find informations about the mod here: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/82484/released-black-hearts-bg1/p1

Given that the post above highlights what the mod adds, I will simply write my thoughts.

 - If you told me this mod was a mini-dlc, I would have fallen for it. In my eyes, the mod matches a mini-dlc in quality and it is masterfully executed.

 - Illasera is a captivating character and you enjoy talking with her; so much that I kinda loathed when the mod ended. I wanted more.

- The dialogues added by the mod are meaningful, provide enough choices for any character, and when the party members chime in to banter, their banters are on point. Well done on Imoen, especially.

- The quests given by Illasera are funny and provide RP choices. The RP choices do not punish you for going evil. That’s a fresh breath of air for me, considering that I play only evil <charnames>.

 - The new sceneries are well done. Did you make them @AWizardDidIt?

 - I liked the surprise you left with the

 

Yagashura emissary

. The dialogue there was good too.

 - You won’t believe it, but I liked that you respected the player’s agency. I will give you an example. Other mods (such as Assassination) do not respect player agency by forcing the player to read everything the modders themselves have written. In this one, in the end fight, you can simply click the first dialogue option, and the “bad” guy won’t speak or tell your motives. You go straight to business. That’s a bold choice. I enjoyed it a lot.

Some things to report (I played this mod in BG:EE)

1) I had some difficulties in the quest concerning the mirror. I didn’t expect that the “solution” was supposed to be provided with dialogue. I used Tiax and he has nothing to say for what is happening. I know it’s probably hard to write for him. Anyway, either get Branwen or Ajantis to proceed.
Also, a cleric <charname> should be able to do the exorcism himself.

2) It’s not easy to find the “northern gorge”; you’ve decided to make the way out only in the middle of Farmlands, and by doing so, I had some difficulties finding it. I was able to by using CTRL+4 after clicking “explore” in the map.
 

3) I met a bug inside the new sewer area. When you meet the girl mage and his second in command, she flees because she tells you that another area is currently under attack.
The issue is that when you enter the area (see 00:02 in the video I will be publishing a bit below), there is only 1 Cherise and Malachi, but they get duplicated instantly. And after finishing the first talk with Cherise, you get a second talk, that you are supposed to see only when you’ve finished the quest mod (in the Sanctum area).

Video here: https://streamable.com/68l8w6
Savegame here (the archive also contains the video): https://easyupload.io/bp35vb 

4) Second thing to report is inside the Sanctum area: the sanctum portal has an issue with a graphical line (the archive above has everything)

5) Read the following images.

 

 

The statement I’m focusing on is: “leaving one of us dead or stranded behind”.

Are you sure it Is it correct that Illasera uses “one” and not “each”….
“leaving each of us dead or stranded behind…”

 

Also, sanctum text error here:

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Sergio - ex SHS member

[Sergio - ex SHS member]

Sequel of the review above, given that there are some issues with spoilers that make half of my review not appear.

 

Some questions, as a player:

 6) You can decide to give two different books to Illasera.
For the first one (The necromancer’s book), you can give her the book, but get in exchange the secrets it holds (some spells).
There is also a second book, the coded diary of the harpist. You can decide not to give it to her. What happens if you don’t?

 7) You find some “unholy symbol of Bhaal”, but they are void of power and use.
When you kill the final boss, even if she is a deathstalker, she has no evil artifact on her. Given that it’s an endgame area, consider adding an evil (and strong) artifact on her for evil Charnames.

Well, after finishing this, I went to play the ToB section. It’s a good send-off. But still…
I hope you will find the time and will to expand Illasera and bring her to the later expansions.
For ToB I would really enjoy seeing a possibility to spare her during the confrontation inside the grove. Right before the final hit, she should fall off, unconscious. You should get a dialogue asking if you wish to kill her permanently, and if you don’t, you bring her (unconscious) with you to the pocket plane.
Given that Amelyssan would probably check where she is, I think that in the pocket plane, Illasera should tell Charname that she needs an amulet to avoid divination. Charname could probably ask Cespenar how to make one.

In the end it would be cool to surprise Amelyssan if she thought she was dead, but hey, she is still alive.

 

Said this, thanks really a lot for this mod. I loved it. Edited September 10, 2023 by Sergio - ex SHS member

[subtledoctor]

47 minutes ago, Sergio - ex SHS member said:

this is currently the best quest mod available for BG1

Wow, that is a very strong statement, considering that BG1 mods now include Shades of the Sword Coast and Balduran’s SeaTower. 

I’m including Black Hearts in a new EET install, I’m excited to play it (along with Lava’s new stuff for BG2).

[Endarire]

Thankee for your modern mod reviews!

[Trouveur80]

On 9/8/2023 at 6:12 PM, subtledoctor said:

Wow, that is a very strong statement, considering that BG1 mods now include Shades of the Sword Coast and Balduran’s SeaTower. 

I’m including Black Hearts in a new EET install, I’m excited to play it (along with Lava’s new stuff for BG2).

And Gorgon's Eye. 

We as players are really lucky because some great mods were added to BGEE in last few years. 

[Sergio - ex SHS member]

Thalantyr item upgrade --> really undecided about this mod.

First of all, even if the mod is named “item upgrade”, the mod adds all the containers of BG2 to Thalantyr.

Second, the mod adds a dialogue with a double space, the following: Can you  make magic items or alter them? (The _ points to the unnecessary double space)

Third, the mod adds, as you can imagine, the possibility to upgrade items you find during your journey. This is a concept that I like really much, but personally, I find the execution very lacking, because improving these items most of the time feels unearned, due to the recipe being extremely easy to satisfy while getting unmatched power from these items.

I will offer some examples. Obviously, there will be spoilers.

 

The mod gives you the possibility to improve the dagger of Venom. The dagger of venom is probably one of the best, if not the best ORIGINAL weapon.
I say original because I always install the mod that removes EE content, so I don’t know if EE introduces new weapons worth using. For sure, I haven’t gone back since seeing the weapon “stupifier” providing a 25% chance of stunning the target for 1d4 rounds with no save (read now on the wiki that it was nerfed).

The "improved" dagger of venom has the following stats:
Becomes a +3 weapon
Has a +1 additional attack per round
Has a new effect: Each hit slows down a victim for 15 seconds (saving throw vs death)

This is insane. I don’t even disagree conceptually with the effects, what I disagree with is the fact that there is no real tradeoff to get such a weapon. You don’t sacrifice anything of value to get it. In fact the recipe is the following:
Dagger of Venom
Dagger +2
Oil of Speed(white)
strange Antidote
4000 gold

Do you think such a recipe is so hard to make? Why aren’t the enemies using these weapons then? For what you will be getting, the recipe is not expensive at all.

I will post another example: you can ask Thalantyr to make a belt named Girdle of Bravery. These are the stats:

Girdle of Bravery
Strength: +1 bonus
Wearer regenerates 1 hit point every 6 seconds.
Armor Class: +3 bonus

Requires:
Golden Girdle
Girdle of Bluntness
Girdle of Piercing
Potion of Frost Giant Strength
Potion of Cloud Giant Strength
Potion of Regeneration
5000 gold

I think that the recipe makes absolutely no sense for what you are going to get - the perk of the new belt are being justified by the presence of three ee not expensive and not rare potions that are giving you respectively a +1 STR and regeneration.

I will make a comparison; for ToB there is a mod named “Item upgrade mod”, author Weimer. You can find the readme here: https://weidu.org/c2/README-ItemUpgrades.txt . Luckily, it offers a recipe using the three girdles. That’s the recipe:

Golden Girdle
Girdle of Bluntness
Girdle of Piercing
3 Bloodstones (rings, amulets, or gems, but no mix-and-match)
10,000 Gold

You get: Girdle of Glory +3 AC

Now I have to ask you: which one of these would you be using in ToB, the one made by Thalantyr or the one made by Cespenar? I know which one I would use. The fact is, I don’t dislike items being this powerful. I dislike when you get a recipe that is so easy to satisfy that it feels unearned. I would use the dagger of venom, if it was hard to get (hard as, you have to sacrifice this or that good dagger; you have to spend a lot of money; you have to find the X item). I would still be a bit wary of using the Girdle too, but if the recipe was hard to obtain, why not?

On the other hand, there is also a recipe for the balduran’s cloak. By using it, you sacrifice a +2 cloak to gain a meager +1 saving throw. The cloak of Balduran is already the best cloak for <charname>, but if you want to make it better, you have to pay the price of sacrificing a cloak +2 (and to this day, I’ve found only one in Catacombs under candlekeep). This is one of the few recipes I find interesting.

I will add that I would have liked some other items too, like the possibility to merge the Helm of Glory and Helm of defense, but they aren’t available in the items.


 

So, after all of this, why am I undecided? Because I feel that the only recipe I would be using is probably the one for the Balduran's cloak. All the rest have an impact on the balance that takes me out of the game.

 

Edited September 10, 2023 by Sergio - ex SHS member

[InKal]

Spoiler

3 hours ago, Sergio - ex SHS member said:

The "improved" dagger of venom has the following stats:
Becomes a +3 weapon
Has a +1 additional attack per round
Has a new effect: Each hit slows down a victim for 15 seconds (saving throw vs death)

 

haha, I made this and just throwed it out, didn't even bother selling. Clearly the mod is like "lets have some fun" category or better "lets upgrade some shiiiiiiiit, bitches" but it's working, bugfree and kinda fun. Good mod, imo. All mods of this kind are pretty much more or less op, usually more.

[Zaramorte]

On 9/8/2023 at 5:22 PM, Sergio - ex SHS member said:

Black hearts

Oh! Spare me... ! now i have other 3000 lines to traslate

When i'll be ruler of the world, I'll impose latin as only language

5 hours ago, Sergio - ex SHS member said:

Thalantyr item upgrade --> really undecided about this mod.

of course it could used for cheating in the "early " game, but that's up to the player

Edited September 10, 2023 by Zaramorte

[Connelly]

Agree on the Dagger +3 or the Girdle of Bravery being nuts. The upgrade to the Berserking Sword is also disgusting, as it's a World's Edge with a fear proc that you can make as soon as you get access to Sorcerous Sundries, sooner if a mod adds Remove Curse scrolls to earlier shops. The upgrade in Aura is also very strong, but at least exchanges the control curse for a lower health/higher damage risk mechanic.

Still, the interest of the Cloak of Balduran aside, some options like the returning daggers +1 and fusing +1 rings or cloaks into +2 are decent options, either for early ranged attacks for squishy characters or decluttering inventory once you start phasing out the +1 gear. Mashing a bunch of mage robes into one is also convenient, but you can get enough of the required items to end up making way too many of those to be balanced. Mmmmmaybe the Gauntlets of Grandmastery and the Rings of Free Action +1/+2, but those are iffy.

I uninstalled it for a while as I didn't want to deal with the OP items, but I came back to it for those early QoL conveniences. With that new expansion mod, maybe there's a case to for a modification of the recipes to make the stronger upgrades more costly.

Edited September 10, 2023 by Connelly

[mickabouille]

10 hours ago, Sergio - ex SHS member said:

Second, the mod adds a dialogue with a double space, the following: Can you  make magic items or alter them? (The _ points to the unnecessary double space)

I'd say, if _this_ is one of the three most problematic things with this mod, I suppose It's not that bad

[Trouveur80]

6 hours ago, Connelly said:

The upgrade in Aura is also very strong, but at least exchanges the control curse for a lower health/higher damage risk mechanic.

With latest Aura version, the uncursed sword is far less powerful, it's a +3 sword with a -2 AC penalty.