I know this isn't normally a gaming forum, but 2023 has been such an exceptional year for PC gaming that I thought it might be an interesting discussion meta-topic? I just wanted to geek out a bit...
This year, a few huge things happened:
* Baldur's Gate 3 came out, 23 years after its sequel, to overwhelming acclaim, with a level of narrative and tactical freedom not seen in video games [1][2]
* Starfield, basically "Skyrim in Space", also came out a few weeks later (to worse reviews [3], but it's still a big deal for a lot of people)
* Microsoft pushed through its Activision deal, and around the same time also signed a new agreement with Nvidia [4], letting its Game Pass games [5] be available through GeForce Now game streaming [6]
First, taken together, all of this means that AAA games have never been quite so accessible. Anybody with a web browser (even a Chromebook) and a few dollars can play the latest AAA games in ultra graphics, no console or gaming desktop needed. We've come a LONG way from Google's Stadia fiasco -- GeForce Now is miles ahead, and very affordable. I'm playing on a Mac with an ultrawide monitor via the streaming service. No noise or heat, minimal latency, great graphics, all for less than $20/mo. Way better deal than Netflix on a entertainment per dollar basis. All you need is an average home internet connection.
Second, it's a moment of crowning glory for indie gaming... Larian, a formerly small studio (still private [7]), made what is possibly the best-reviewed video game of all time. Baldur's Gate 3 has so much narrative freedom it's incredible, whether you (no real spoilers) decide to kill a whole town instead of doing a quest, or jump down into some pit only to reveal an entire several hours' worth of additional content, or discover new party members you completely missed on your first playthrough. Even people who don't typically like turn-based RPGs are having a great time with it.
And lastly, Starfield. What would normally be Game of the Year contender material had the dubious fortune of coming out the same year as Baldur's Gate 3. Despite having the backing of a huge studio behind them (Bethesda, now owned by Microsoft), it is much more on rails and limited in some ways, sometimes being negatively compared to the older No Man's Sky. It's still great for scratching that Elder Scrolls in Space itch, though.
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Have you played any of these? What did you think?
If it's been a while since you touched PC games, now might be a great time to jump back in and see how it's matured.
Even if your computer can't run modern games, GFN makes it stupid easy (and pretty) with just a few clicks. Don't let past experiences with Stadia fool you; Nvidia does it much, much better.
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[1] PCGamer 97% BG3 review: https://www.pcgamer.com/baldurs-gate-3-review/
[2] 96% BG3 Metascore: https://www.metacritic.com/game/baldurs-gate-3/
[3] Starfield reviews: https://www.metacritic.com/game/starfield/
[4] Microsoft and Nvidia deal: https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/microsoft-and-nvidia-announce-expansive-new-gaming-deal
[5] PC Game pass: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass/pc-game-pass
[6] GeForce Now supported games: https://www.nvidia.com/content/nvidiaGDC/us/en_US/geforce-now/games.html/
[7] Larian Studios on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larian_Studios
I had an unfortunate incident of my GPU going kaputt this summer, and while waiting for the warranty repair I tried playing games on an older machine. But not that old, at the onset of lockdown it was considered new. And on that rig, BG3 suffered even in Act 1. The game after a few minutes would go from nice 45+ FPS on ultra to 10-15 on lowest graphics settings, staying in that slow mode for up to hours. It wasn't correlated with GPU temperature, or fixable by some weird setting.
I wasn't aware of GeForce Now. Maybe I would shell out a few bucks. Assuming the savegames would be transferred eventually to my gaming PC with GPU replaced. There, BG3 works fine in Act 3 (except for crashing in one area, fortunately it's a side-quest that can be skipped).
Seems to me a software bug, and I suspect owners of rigs in between encounter it only in Act 3.
Avoiding such horror stories could be an incentive to use streaming, even though GeForce Forge doesn't seem to have a free tier the same way Stadia did, it might make for it in other aspects. (it has a free tier however for 1 hour daily, and right now I have 52 gamers ahead of me waitlisting. I'm curious about BG3 performance there, so I'll wait it out)