RPGWatch Feature - Black Geyser Review

I see the long discussion on the respective merit of BeamDog and GrapeOcean Technologies, and the individual merit of Trent Oster.

I wouldn't diminish the role of BeamDog, nor Oster's, because
- Trent Oster had a significant role with his brother and Marcel Zeschuk, by making a demo and acquiring experience, which allowed to the "doctors" to find enough reason to bring the money and their own experience so they could all fund BioWare;
- he did 3D modelling, coding, art, and testing on BG in parallel to the work on NWN as producer, so it's hard to say whether he had merit or weight on that or not. The dynamics of a project are complex and many actors play a crucial role without being properly acknowledged;
- BeamDog has worked long and hard to improve and maintain what was a messy work to begin with, and many players benefited from the EE;
- Black Geyser built on the fame of Baldur's Gate (so, both original and EE) to make a game. So it's not completely original and they owe a part of the merit to the legacy of Baldur's Gate - talking of originality, even the name they chose is based on Baldur's Gate's.

It seems these days that many "classics" mimic either Baldur's Gate or Fallout.

Originally Posted by bjon045
The game just received another update today and it has some more good improvements.

The all-important Recent Reviews score on Steam is up to 76% too, and rapidly climbing - it was 73% when I checked it 2-3 days ago. Black Geyser confirmed amazing, lackblogger was right all along!

Originally Posted by Stingray
The all-important Recent Reviews score on Steam is up to 76% too, and rapidly climbing - it was 73% when I checked it 2-3 days ago. Black Geyser confirmed amazing, lackblogger was right all along!

The RPGWatch Curator has influenced 9876 people with this review since May 1

Originally Posted by HiddenX
The RPGWatch Curator has influenced 9876 people with this review since May 1

Given how low-profile this game is/was, and how many followers the curator has, I wonder what kind of % impact the curator and lackblogger's review has had on their actual sales numbers. Probably large. Kind of crazy.

quite a good game(7 hours in). i enjoyed it far more than pillars of Eternity or that other cRPG that came before him.
oh yeah better than that king makerath of something game also..which feels too much like temple of elemental evil. this has a much more BG influence in it.

quick, to the point. and fun, like a good game should be.

I am starting to get a bit further in and I am starting to really like it as well. I was playing slowly because I knew there were some big patches coming. I feel like the early game is the weakest part of the game and I think I would score it around a 7.5 now with the possibility of an 8 if it keeps improving.

An unpolished gem for sure.

Originally Posted by Redglyph
- BeamDog has worked long and hard to improve and maintain what was a messy work to begin with, and many players benefited from the EE

This is the only item on your list I take issue with. Modders at Gibberling 3, Pocket Plane and Spellhold did far, far more good work on the Baldur's Gate games than Beamdog ever did. Widescreen patches, bugfixes, UI upgrades, mods to seamlessly merge 1&2, banter packs, as well as dozens of companion mods and other content additions. Everything Beamdog did in the EE had already been done aside from the handful of companions they added, and much more besides.

Originally Posted by JFarrell71
This is the only item on your list I take issue with. Modders at Gibberling 3, Pocket Plane and Spellhold did far, far more good work on the Baldur's Gate games than Beamdog ever did. Widescreen patches, bugfixes, UI upgrades, mods to seamlessly merge 1&2, banter packs, as well as dozens of companion mods and other content additions. Everything Beamdog did in the EE had already been done aside from the handful of companions they added, and much more besides.

I trust you on this, I never tried those mods or followed them because I've only played BG recently.

That doesn't remove any credit to Beamdog. Fans are known to go further than companies on iconic games, it has always been the case. They do that as a hobby and with passion, usually working on a single title, whereas companies have to earn money and pay their employees or go bankrupt, and they're responsible for many titles.

Yet Beamdog has been, from what I saw, pretty active. The latest 2.6 patch reworked the pathfinding, for example, among a impressive list of other improvements and fixes, 9 years after the release of the EE. Instead they could have focused on developing their own game.

Only credit I give Beamdog is they remastered classic CRPGs so modern players can play and enjoy them without needing those mods JFarrell71 mentioned in his post.

Believe me those mods were a pain to install and easy to mess up.

Having said that they proved they can't make an original RPG. They always fail or release something subpar like Siege of Dragonspear. Which the less said the better.

Now as for Black Geyser I'm enjoying it more after the 100's of little hot-fix patches. As they recently added party banter. Which wasn't in the game on release.

Originally Posted by Stingray
The all-important Recent Reviews score on Steam is up to 76% too, and rapidly climbing - it was 73% when I checked it 2-3 days ago. Black Geyser confirmed amazing, lackblogger was right all along!

the first gothic games received terrible scores, like 65 or something.
which are my top of the top rpg games.
perhaps fallout contends with them. but they still win.

I don't trust reviews that much. it is a gamble. but if you trust your instincts, you're usually right. i've done that on a few surprising titles(not rpg's) and was very pleased by the results.

but yeah, that game should get 80-85 at least. on my book

OP rates IWD 1 and 2 way too high. Besides that, good review.

I'm mildly tempted to pick this up on sale right now. But I still have too much of a back log.

The game just received yet another update!

The main new feature is more loot and containers for storing stuff i.e. Potion Case, Parchment Satchel and Ingredient Pouch.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/…15187788465634

Latest Changes
3440x1440 resolution now always works correctly
Fixed Shady Dealer dialogue in Garden of Delights
Added Potion Case, Parchment Satchel and Ingredient Pouch for storing items
Item containers (such as bottomless bags) now retain their content if sold
Temple of Alnarius no longer needs a loading screen in Market Street
Level 1 to 4 scrolls are now restocked by vendors
Jade romance now has a correct cutscene
The Fish Out of Water quest now correctly ends in every scenario
Fixed ghost visual effects
Loot added to many empty containers in Crimson Crossing
Loot added to small houses in Amanuel's Hoard
Loot added to Fasitgrove houses
Isilmerald Sightseeing achievement description is now more accurate
Multiclass characters can now utilize the Outlaw "Disarm Trap" skill as well instead of Magical Perception to disarm the Wizard's tutorial trap
The levelup tutorial no longer appears if the player finishes the levelup process while another tutorial panel is displayed
The Twisted Requiem spell now properly adds buffs to the revived party members and reduces the caster's HP by the correct amount
Resurrection fix: Revived character's contribution to Adventure XP will not be lost as long as they can be revived
Additional recipes added to various vendors (Ilio, Zelima, Hu'dai, Red Damsel, Freynagar Brewery, Ay'eda, Regon, Arnulf, Aravina, Deron-Guld Herbalist, Southern Shore)
Incorrect reply options no longer appear in Rothgor starting dialogue
Cannibals, corrupted wolves and skeletons added to Castle Alastor outdoors area
All powders are now plantable
Planting stacked items no longer plants the full stack
Large white visual bug no longer appears for some freezing effects
Tolbard's shop now displays correctly in all circumstances
Arnulf now correctly moves to Fasitgrove after you complete his quest
The Estranged Sisters quest no longer gives gold as a reward when it shouldn't
Fixed Kronica longsword's attack times to match other Longswords
Added missing Shortbow damage bonus for Fighters
The Divine Aid spell now damages Abominations as well
Isla cutscene no longer breaks in the Trapped Under the Surface quest when you attack her
Shady Dealer can now spawn/despawn while he is in party sight
Reply option that ends the companion dialogue is now always the last option
Reply option in Stephan's dialogue now correctly reflects your intention to attack him in the Trapped Under the Surface quest
Fixed a bug that prevented Lich Agelas from casting the Unholy Siblings spell
More loot added to Thieves' Guild and cemetery crypts
Increased XP value for Xurzax the Devourer
Increased Gryphon sight range and XP value

Noce to see the the game receives care. I stopped to play some weeks ago but will return in a few days I guess.

No matter how this playes out in the long run, for the company it is a success. Releasing a working game with a fresh and small company isn't an easy task. But they made it and the game is enjoyable. Congrats, you're a real game dev now.