The number of times I’ve gotten two or even three critical failures/misses in a row is mind boggling. That said I’ve watched the NPCs do it as well, so there is a semblance of fairness. You’re right that the statistics feel off, but as is always the case, our minds are going to focus on these outliers without recalling all the many times the dice fell right in line with expectations.
I do swear that a 50% chance to hit with a Sacred Flame consistently feels more like a 15% chance.
It can be fun in small doses except when it wants you to watch a bunch of cutscenes instead of doing stuff. The biggest drawback is just the length of the game. If you played 5 hours per week it might take upwards of half a year to finish a playthrough.
That being said, it’s probably one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played and the best D&D computer game I’ve ever played. I’m fifty so that encompasses a lot of games. The range of morality and meaningful choices is extremely high. To the point where I want to experience making different choices but it’s hard because it’s such a time commitment to do a whole playthrough just to see what unique dialog options you get for playing a Tiefling or a Druid.
The romances and dialogs can be a little spicy, and it runs the gamut of adult language. I think nudity can be turned off and romance is optional, but you’d have to judge whether that would be a problem for their family. Even the full on sex scenes imply more than they show, but I’d be uncomfortable if I was surprised by one while playing with my kid. This is definitely a judgment call on your part.
It’s a great game and I wouldn’t want to discourage anyone from buying/playing it, but I’d be remiss to not mention some of the reasons it might not be for everyone. I’m hopeful it might lead to introducing my kids to tabletop play. But I’m not overly concerned with language or adult themes in an appropriate context.
Bad Batch is really that. Rebels is its own thing, unless you wrap it with Ahsoka. Rebels had a mediocre first season but after that it’s definitely top tier material.
I have yet to play an origin character other than durge. But it seems like it would make it easier to have everyone around for their bit of story. "Oops going into the magic shop need Gale. Here’s Jahira’s family, better grab her. Dammit, it’s Mizora, have to grab both Karlach and Wyll. Ugh, have to show this cave art to Shart.
Not even counting swapping in Gale when I need Feather Fall or buffing the party with Longstrider or Shart for Feast and Aid. I hate how cumbersome it is to swap characters. I know there are mods, but not on PS5.
When you are at the brain stem leading to the final fight if you have Gale in your party you can skip the entire final fight. Just send Gale up alone and he will confront the brain by himself leaving everyone else alive. This kills Gale so if he is your husbando you have a tough decision to make.
Tough decisions are for after you’ve gotten the golden d20. My current run though I’m mercenary as hell. I ate all the worms even the astral worm with gusto. I’ll be a mind flayer, murder Isobel, whatever. I might let the hag eat Vanya to have her as an ally in the final fight.
The only things I haven’t done are the ones that relied on dice rolls that I failed. I gave up the hag bonus the first time in favor of keeping Marina alive, but I also couldn’t think of a stat that could really benefit. I almost took it so that my charisma could stay 8 with the smuggler’s ring but ultimately decided that wasn’t worth letting Ethel have her.
I lucked out with the zathisk and book of Thay. Misclicks are the worst. “Hey bro, what’s up? Whoa! I didn’t mean to touch the carrot! [Deception] Oh I already had that on me. [Critical Failure].” A short combat later. “Fuck!”