Hi, I wanted to share this "Let's Play" series by a guy I've discovered on YouTube who goes by the name "Mynameisnotlilly". He plays a female character named "Lilly Black" all the way from BG1, through BG2, and Neverwinter Nights 1.
(Long review, then link.)
When he starts out in BG, he barely knows what he is doing, but if you skip ahead and watch some of his NWN videos, he becomes the most masterful roleplayer I've ever seen.
I've watched the first 100 episodes of BG, and about the first 50 episodes of Neverwinter Nights.
Right from the character creation screen in BG, the powergamer in me starts wanting to scream through the screen at him as he chooses stats for Lilly that give her absolutely no stat bonuses (gasp). He makes her a generalist mage (gasp). He explains her character, and then he absolutely sticks to that character through the whole series, even when the haughty, self-absorbed, and rude Lilly Black keeps shooting herself in the foot by giving "none of your business" dialogue answers, and getting penalized over, and over, and over. "She" misses quest after quest, and, here's the fun part - she doesn't care.
The powergamer in me wants to scream at Mynameisnotlilly again and again as he steadfastly refuses to take a hint from Jaheira and Khalid to go to Nashkel, and then when he steadfastly refuses to raise Khalid from the dead over about 25 episodes, (Lilly doesn't like men in her party), instead becoming obsessed with defeating Zargol and then Bassilus with his first-level three-woman party.
And I yell out loud and gnash my teeth while he consistently forgets to put helmets on his frontline fighters, getting them critical hit to death again and again, and musing into the microphone, 'Hmm, ha ha, I guess I wasn't paying attention - their armor doesn't seem to be doing them much good."
Yet, he takes a minimal reload approach, accepts the consequences of all the "mistakes", and plays forward with surprisingly few reloads.
And then, all of sudden, I find myself cheering aloud as he begins to figure out the game - like when he finally finds the Beregost Temple after three episodes of wandering around Beregost, or when he finally figures out that Jaheira can use a club for the same damage as a quarter staff, and then use a shield, and, oh yeah, she can wear heavy armor, and maybe it'd be a good idea if she put on a helmet.
I am finding this so refreshing and fun. Watching the tale of Lilly Black as she rises from petulant, ineffective girl to the goddess "Lady of Murder", then falls from deity and has to take a lowly job as an instructor at the Neverwinter Academy, (oh, the humiliation!), is inspiring me to start thinking about a new roleplaying alter ego for myself that I can roleplay over several video games. I've gotten into a rut, always trying to play myself in games, and doing what *I* would do.
@ZanathKariashi, you should like this, because he follows the style you advocate. @Quartz, I think you'd like it too, because it's vanilla BG1. There aren't even any labels over enemies, like "badly wounded" or "near death", to tell you how close enemies are to dropping.
Thank you if you've borne with me this far. Here's a link to the first series.
![image]()
(Long review, then link.)
When he starts out in BG, he barely knows what he is doing, but if you skip ahead and watch some of his NWN videos, he becomes the most masterful roleplayer I've ever seen.
I've watched the first 100 episodes of BG, and about the first 50 episodes of Neverwinter Nights.
Right from the character creation screen in BG, the powergamer in me starts wanting to scream through the screen at him as he chooses stats for Lilly that give her absolutely no stat bonuses (gasp). He makes her a generalist mage (gasp). He explains her character, and then he absolutely sticks to that character through the whole series, even when the haughty, self-absorbed, and rude Lilly Black keeps shooting herself in the foot by giving "none of your business" dialogue answers, and getting penalized over, and over, and over. "She" misses quest after quest, and, here's the fun part - she doesn't care.
The powergamer in me wants to scream at Mynameisnotlilly again and again as he steadfastly refuses to take a hint from Jaheira and Khalid to go to Nashkel, and then when he steadfastly refuses to raise Khalid from the dead over about 25 episodes, (Lilly doesn't like men in her party), instead becoming obsessed with defeating Zargol and then Bassilus with his first-level three-woman party.
And I yell out loud and gnash my teeth while he consistently forgets to put helmets on his frontline fighters, getting them critical hit to death again and again, and musing into the microphone, 'Hmm, ha ha, I guess I wasn't paying attention - their armor doesn't seem to be doing them much good."
Yet, he takes a minimal reload approach, accepts the consequences of all the "mistakes", and plays forward with surprisingly few reloads.
And then, all of sudden, I find myself cheering aloud as he begins to figure out the game - like when he finally finds the Beregost Temple after three episodes of wandering around Beregost, or when he finally figures out that Jaheira can use a club for the same damage as a quarter staff, and then use a shield, and, oh yeah, she can wear heavy armor, and maybe it'd be a good idea if she put on a helmet.
I am finding this so refreshing and fun. Watching the tale of Lilly Black as she rises from petulant, ineffective girl to the goddess "Lady of Murder", then falls from deity and has to take a lowly job as an instructor at the Neverwinter Academy, (oh, the humiliation!), is inspiring me to start thinking about a new roleplaying alter ego for myself that I can roleplay over several video games. I've gotten into a rut, always trying to play myself in games, and doing what *I* would do.
@ZanathKariashi, you should like this, because he follows the style you advocate. @Quartz, I think you'd like it too, because it's vanilla BG1. There aren't even any labels over enemies, like "badly wounded" or "near death", to tell you how close enemies are to dropping.
Thank you if you've borne with me this far. Here's a link to the first series.
