Baldur's Gate 2 Enhanced Edition (Play This!=)

[May90]

Quests aren't lost, you'll get access to world map again.

Yaaaaaay! I thought chances of fulfilling my promise I gave to poor dryads early in the game were gone for good...

I am the same way.. I tried to play Ultima 4 and didn´t last an hour despite the fact that in my head, it is still the best game ever made.

Actually, I've never played any of the Baldur's Gate games before this year - and I love them! Of course, it depends on your tolerance towards outdated graphics, pathing, mechanics and such - while graphics is not an issue for me since I've been gaming since 1991 and still play VERY old games from time to time, pathing often drove me nuts (especially in dungeons with narrow paths -oh god!), and I dislike having to cast every spell manually, which after the party reaches level 10 or so becomes essentially pausing every second to issue 6 or more orders.

What I dislike the most about BG games is the same as what I dislike the most about NWN1 - lack of voicing for most dialogues. Voicing in RPGs is one of the main sources of immersion for me. They could've at least voiced all companions in BG2 fully...

[zealo]

I am the same way.. I tried to play Ultima 4 and didn´t last an hour despite the fact that in my head, it is still the best game ever made.

These games still hold up as RPG's fairly well to this day once you get past the phase of thinking everything looks so dated, still i wouldn't recommend a BG game today if gameplay was the main concern of the one asking as D&D in the form of games have varying issues, its tolerable though as long as BG1 is modded into the BG2 engine.

There's also a mod that puts BG1 into the neverwinter nights 2 engine, might give it another go once the team that did that one have shadows of amn done.

[klogaroth]

What I dislike the most about BG games is the same as what I dislike the most about NWN1 - lack of voicing for most dialogues. Voicing in RPGs is one of the main sources of immersion for me. They could've at least voiced all companions in BG2 fully...

With the volume of dialogue, and the age of the game, it just wouldn't have been practical. Not only was storage smaller but audio formats also weren't as good back then.
I still have my original Baldur's Gate CDs. Baldur's Gate 2 (without the Throne of Bhaal content) was already 4 CDs as it was. To voice all of the dialogue in the game using the audio formats of the day the game would've come on a ridiculous number of CDs and taken up pretty much all of your hard drive. (if it even fit on your hard drive)

[burek]

With the volume of dialogue, and the age of the game, it just wouldn't have been practical. Not only was storage smaller but audio formats also weren't as good back then.
I still have my original Baldur's Gate CDs. Baldur's Gate 2 (without the Throne of Bhaal content) was already 4 CDs as it was. To voice all of the dialogue in the game using the audio formats of the day the game would've come on a ridiculous number of CDs and taken up pretty much all of your hard drive. (if it even fit on your hard drive)

yeah those were the days, bg1 was on 5 cds + expansion while my hdd had two 700 mb partitions

[May90]

With the volume of dialogue, and the age of the game, it just wouldn't have been practical. Not only was storage smaller but audio formats also weren't as good back then.
I still have my original Baldur's Gate CDs. Baldur's Gate 2 (without the Throne of Bhaal content) was already 4 CDs as it was. To voice all of the dialogue in the game using the audio formats of the day the game would've come on a ridiculous number of CDs and taken up pretty much all of your hard drive. (if it even fit on your hard drive)

Yes, I understand it. Still, it breaks the immersion for me somewhat. Voice acting was one of the main reasons why I was so stunned by KotoR when I played it the first time: first time in my life, characters in a video game were so alive, so emotional (even if texts in KotoR still were kind of naive from modern perspective). And further on Bioware only improved on it, reaching simply godlike voicing in Mass Effect 2/3.

It is great that a team works on porting both BG games on Neverwinter Nights 2 engine (I've heard they'd succeeded on porting BG1 already). After all, BG is, indeed, graphically extremely outdated; it wasn't that impressive even in 1998 when it was released (and BG2 has essentially the same graphical level as BG1), let alone today, in the age of mass effects, skyrims and deus exes. Neverwinter Nights 2 with graphical mods, extreme anti aliasing and SweetFX though still looks quite well, so, just like we can play original Starcraft 1 campaigns in Starcraft 2, I hope one day we will play BG1/2 or Neverwinter Nights 1 on Dragon Age 3 engine.

[Tyris Flare]

Pretty sure KOTOR was the first game Bioware did full VA for, and now it's basically industry standard (to a fault sometimes, imo).

[burek]

It is great that a team works on porting both BG games on Neverwinter Nights 2 engine (I've heard they'd succeeded on porting BG1 already). After all, BG is, indeed, graphically extremely outdated; it wasn't that impressive even in 1998 when it was released (and BG2 has essentially the same graphical level as BG1), let alone today, in the age of mass effects, skyrims and deus exes. Neverwinter Nights 2 with graphical mods, extreme anti aliasing and SweetFX though still looks quite well, so, just like we can play original Starcraft 1 campaigns in Starcraft 2, I hope one day we will play BG1/2 or Neverwinter Nights 1 on Dragon Age 3 engine.

but bg is essentially 2d, one big picture for each area and characters moving on top of it. the quality of its graphics is in the beauty of those pictures, which was quite nice back in the day. i find that approach much more appealing, especially in those types of games. i hate games being ported to 3d, it usually ruins them completely for me (heroes of might & magic, disciples, etc)

[Tyris Flare]

A better graphical comparison for BG is probably Divinity: OS.

[Doomchicken]

My Wizard slayer with Ravager + 6 = good times. At level 40 from doing multiple runs and buffing my magic resistance I had a passive 100 percent magic resistance so I would just run around and destroy everything nice and easy

[May90]

Pretty sure KOTOR was the first game Bioware did full VA for, and now it's basically industry standard (to a fault sometimes, imo).

KotoR was the first such game from Bioware, but not the first in the industry. An amazing RPG "Evil Islands" had full voice acting and was released, I think, in 2000 - although the dialogues were 100% linear and not even close to their volume in Bioware games, so they managed to fit it all on just 2 CD. By the way, its voice acting was one of the best I've ever seen in a video game (unfortunately, English translation was quite average - the Russian original was simply beyond perfect, but, alas, most people can't really appreciate it for obvious reasons).

I agree that VA sometimes is to a fault. I think either it should be done very well or omitted whatsoever. Now, all Bioware games have incredible voice acting, so no remarks here, and I, actually, can't remember a single RPG I've played which had a poor voice acting - but then I try to play only high rated RPGs, and I can imagine how poor voice acting can ruin a game.

but bg is essentially 2d, one big picture for each area and characters moving on top of it. the quality of its graphics is in the beauty of those pictures, which was quite nice back in the day. i find that approach much more appealing, especially in those types of games. i hate games being ported to 3d, it usually ruins them completely for me (heroes of might & magic, disciples, etc)

Well, some people like it, but I am a convinced 3d player. The first 2 RPGs I've ever played, Evil Islands and KotoR, were 3d. I am fine with 2d RTS, but 2d RPG simply don't create the same level of immersion for me as 3d: in 3d I am living the character, while in 2d I am observing the character. Neverwinter Nights 1, clunky as its graphics were, still immersed me a lot more than Baldur's Gate games, and Underdark in NWN1 was really depressing for me, with all those walls pushing on me from all 6 directions, while Underdark in Baldur's Gate 2... well, it is dark, but I don't feel that atmosphere of depression and hopelessness as I did in NWN1.

My Wizard slayer with Ravager + 6 = good times. At level 40 from doing multiple runs and buffing my magic resistance I had a passive 100 percent magic resistance so I would just run around and destroy everything nice and easy

Well, I, on the other hand, seemingly went for the main plot too early. I am in the Underdark right now, and my party is level 11-13 while other people report being usually 15+ level at this point. And, since I am playing a tankless party, some battles become quite tough. Very often I have to use some forms of cheese. For example, the whole Mindflayer Dungeon I just summoned monsters and sent them after Mindflayers with my party far away, then rested, then summoned them and sent again, until the Mindflayers were deal (there was just no way I would beat them in hand-to-hand battle). In Beholder Cave I bombed those eye-guys with Fireballs from distance so they didn't see me, then rested, then bombed them again...

I hate resorting to cheese, but there is just no way I would make it through otherwise.

[Doomchicken]

Well, I, on the other hand, seemingly went for the main plot too early. I am in the Underdark right now, and my party is level 11-13 while other people report being usually 15+ level at this point. And, since I am playing a tankless party, some battles become quite tough. Very often I have to use some forms of cheese. For example, the whole Mindflayer Dungeon I just summoned monsters and sent them after Mindflayers with my party far away, then rested, then summoned them and sent again, until the Mindflayers were deal (there was just no way I would beat them in hand-to-hand battle). In Beholder Cave I bombed those eye-guys with Fireballs from distance so they didn't see me, then rested, then bombed them again...

I hate resorting to cheese, but there is just no way I would make it through otherwise.

I would be lying if I said I didn't resort to cheese on my sorc's playthrough. I've always personally found it to be harder to main a mage than a warrior type in BG 2 which results in me playing dirty. Could just be me though

[May90]

I would be lying if I said I didn't resort to cheese on my sorc's playthrough. I've always personally found it to be harder to main a mage than a warrior type in BG 2 which results in me playing dirty. Could just be me though

I mained longbow Archer for this walkthrough, which is probably even worse than sorc since
a) he can't hit most enemies with normal arrows and enchanted arrows are too expensive;
and
b) Somehow I managed to become Fallen Archer, which removed a lot of abilities I could use and made me unable to access Ranger spells.

[Doomchicken]

I mained longbow Archer for this walkthrough, which is probably even worse than sorc since
a) he can't hit most enemies with normal arrows and enchanted arrows are too expensive;
and
b) Somehow I managed to become Fallen Archer, which removed a lot of abilities I could use and made me unable to access Ranger spells.

Probably the same way you'd become a fallen paladin. Reputation dropped too low somehow.

[anakin57]

awesome! BG2 is still one of my all-time favorite RPGs, and got me hooked on Bioware permanently. How can you go wrong with Minsc and his sidekick?

[Xargoth6634]

Can't play old third person rpgs anymore. Too boring.

[Delaios]

I want to buy it and play it, but at the same time I'm scared. I'm scared that I'll find it horrid, and unplayable and the only part of me that kept telling me that this was a fantastic game back in the late 90's is the nostalgia effect... Gulp!

A lot of people praise this game, so I bought it recently (never played it before). Instant buyers remorse for me. I only lasted a few minutes. I know the game is old, but the graphics just give me headaches (I have a similar issue with System Shock 2 and other old shooters). It doesn't help that the controls and UI aren't very intuitive either. Had no clue where I was supposed to go and couldn't find a journal or decent map to give any sense of direction.

[WarpedAcorn]

A lot of people praise this game, so I bought it recently (never played it before). Instant buyers remorse for me. I only lasted a few minutes. I know the game is old, but the graphics just give me headaches (I have a similar issue with System Shock 2 and other old shooters). It doesn't help that the controls and UI aren't very intuitive either. Had no clue where I was supposed to go and couldn't find a journal or decent map to give any sense of direction.

Yep, this was before the days of "quest markers" to guide you. Part of the point of the BG experience is exploration. I can understand mechanics not being intuitive if you are not familiar with the D&D 2nd Edition rules...but the UI is pretty straightforward. I'm not sure of the complaint there.

[zealo]

A lot of people praise this game, so I bought it recently (never played it before). Instant buyers remorse for me. I only lasted a few minutes. I know the game is old, but the graphics just give me headaches (I have a similar issue with System Shock 2 and other old shooters). It doesn't help that the controls and UI aren't very intuitive either. Had no clue where I was supposed to go and couldn't find a journal or decent map to give any sense of direction.

The game do provide directions on what to do next but it is hidden within the story itself instead of having clear markers and sometimes require a bit of exploration, definitely less handholding going on than modern games but its possible.

[PizzaSHARK]

A lot of people praise this game, so I bought it recently (never played it before). Instant buyers remorse for me. I only lasted a few minutes. I know the game is old, but the graphics just give me headaches (I have a similar issue with System Shock 2 and other old shooters). It doesn't help that the controls and UI aren't very intuitive either. Had no clue where I was supposed to go and couldn't find a journal or decent map to give any sense of direction.

It's not a linear game, so don't expect it to railroad you from place to place. Once you leave the market district for the first time, you'll be introduced to someone who will basically set up the next chapter for you. Basically, you'll need to gather a specified amount of gold in order to proceed next along the plot, and once you do, you'll meet some new people and have to make a choice with who to decide to spend the gold on.

But before you make that choice, you have a lot of leeway in where you can go and what you can do. The two open-ended chapters are two and six; chapters three through five involve you moving along a mostly linear path as you rescue and then return with your friend, while chapter seven is a mostly linear path to the conclusion of the game. Chapter two is basically "get the money to save my friend", and chapter six is basically "do anything I didn't do, before I go fight the villain."

[Deleted]

I love the Arena thing they have made for BG 1 Enhanced and BG2 enhanced. Its awesome. Something i allways wanted in these games.

Do you guys know if BG 3 is still on ?