Baldur's Gate The Baldur's Gate Series Thread

[Grunker]

True enough, but Dorn's Deep is one of the best areas in IE-history. I think some of the SoD areas compare pretty favourably to some of the more basic, but still good, IE areas.

 

[Grunker]

M'Khiin is one of the more interesting companions in the BG Saga though (not that the competition is that rough).

 

[Anomander Rake]

It's interesting when you don't think that you won't meet him later in the series.

 

[Valtiel]

Aaaaand I did it! I went to watcher's keep (that's a cool dungeon by the way) first, I've discovered that I previously cleared floor 1 and 2 in Amn and so I went straight to the alchemists floor, there I noticed I lost all keys for moving the valves and so I got bored and teleported with debug mode to the next room (later I thought that I could have respawned the keys but anyway) and fought my way down to the Demogorgon, whom I raped at my third or fourth serious attempt and felt so good (Now I get why someone would look for an increased challenge with ascension, with just a few tweaks for my party, a not optimized pc and two sorcerers, he just didn't lived to the expectations). So with the extra exp, a ton of consumable Breach and a +5 axe for korgan and a +6 halberd for Sarevok I went to Amelyssan and won that too without great effort, just breach her to death, and make a ton of damage with the 3 tanks, with fallen devas for healing and kite minions. With another companion instead of Imoen, it could have been also easier.

In the end I really loved these games, the expansions is underdeveloped for sure since it's just a linear series of foes without too much interactivity or reactivity.
On top of everything the feeling of carrying your peasant from level 1 in BG1 to godlike level in ToB is just crazy, and I think even greater to Mask of Betrayer.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

On top of everything the feeling of carrying your peasant from level 1 in BG1 to godlike level in ToB is just crazy, and I think even greater to Mask of Betrayer.

Both games have a decently epic plotline as an explanation for that. Especially Baldur's Gate.

NWN2 and MotB's plotline feels a lot less epic because you stay in the same place largely, whereas the BG series takes you all over the Baldur's Gate area, on a voyage to werewolf island, to Amn and its surrounding areas, to other planes of existence, to hell, to the Underdark, to a Sea City populated by fish men, to an insane asylum, to ancient sealed tombs and dungeons, to the city of the elves - all while fighting a large variety of monsters and humans. By TOB you have already fought at least a dozen beings that could each destroy the world in a lower magic setting.

BG2's epic levels feel DESERVED. NWN2's epic levels feel handed out.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

M'Khiin is one of the more interesting companions in the BG Saga though (not that the competition is that rough).

still haven't played Dragonspear, but if he's anything like the other beamdog npcs, I doubt I'm missing much

 

[Valtiel]

On top of everything the feeling of carrying your peasant from level 1 in BG1 to godlike level in ToB is just crazy, and I think even greater to Mask of Betrayer.

Both games have a decently epic plotline as an explanation for that. Especially Baldur's Gate.

NWN2 and MotB's plotline feels a lot less epic because you stay in the same place largely, whereas the BG series takes you all over the Baldur's Gate area, on a voyage to werewolf island, to Amn and its surrounding areas, to other planes of existence, to hell, to the Underdark, to a Sea City populated by fish men, to an insane asylum, to ancient sealed tombs and dungeons, to the city of the elves - all while fighting a large variety of monsters and humans. By TOB you have already fought at least a dozen beings that could each destroy the world in a lower magic setting.

BG2's epic levels feel DESERVED. NWN2's epic levels feel handed out.

yeah it's kind of crazy where the game leads you, and I wonder if we will ever have something like that in terms of scale and scope, because right now no modern game comes to my mind for a climax like this. Maybe it's lack of planning, maybe it's the way the industry is today, but I really can't see this coming, hell even Deadfire changed all its system and so defaulted the party and player, I hope POE3 was planned as a continuation of Deadfire and so won't erase all progress.

 

[Grunker]

M'Khiin is one of the more interesting companions in the BG Saga though (not that the competition is that rough).

still haven't played Dragonspear, but if he's anything like the other beamdog npcs, I doubt I'm missing much

She is not, which is why I highlighted her. I don't like the Beamdog NPCs though Voghiln and Dorn are more inoffensive than the others.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

yeah it's kind of crazy where the game leads you, and I wonder if we will ever have something like that in terms of scale and scope, because right now no modern game comes to my mind for a climax like this. Maybe it's lack of planning, maybe it's the way the industry is today, but I really can't see this coming

Well, now you know how BG2 fans have been feeling for close to 20 years now.

But right after BG2 came out, the graphics arms race really started to heat up and that did a few things. Most notably, it dramatically increased the development costs over time because the assets have been getting more and more time consuming to make. Also, things were extremely limited for many years due to virtually every PC developer selling out by also marketing their games on inferior consoles with limitations far greater than PCs. Also, there was another push to take RPG gaming from a niche industry to a more casual-friendly one. All dialog had to be voiced. All even possibly confusing concepts had to be streamlined.

The end result is a game like Skyrim. A game where dragons are as easy to kill as mudcrabs. There is no confusing spell/counter-spell system as that would be too confusing. Just press a button and something awesome happens.

You still fight dragons, go to other planes of existence, defeat gods and demons, have special powers etc. It's every bit the epic that the Baldur's Gate series was in terms of plot points...

But none of it feels real. It's a hollow, soulless experience that you easily forget. A time-waster. A hamster wheel for the bored and easily entertained.

Now that niche gamers are a target market again, thanks to Steam in-part, hopefully we will see more games like BG. Hopefully with expansions and a story that is planned out. But sadly, even with this, developers still seem to not understand the formula of the original. Deadfire is going to be about pirates. PoE was about Balance. Beamdog has SJW cancer.

So frankly, I don't see an epic coming together like this again until a well-funded dev studio with real passion and vision can take the stage. Like Iron Tower tried to do for FO1 fans with AoD - albeit on a shoestring budget.

 

[hell bovine]

Now I get why someone would look for an increased challenge with ascension, with just a few tweaks for my party, a not optimized pc and two sorcerers, he just didn't lived to the expectations.

If you install SCS on top of Ascension, the game does a 180 turn in terms of difficulty.

 

[Grunker]

To close the door on M'khiin, the reason I find her interesting is that in contrast to almost all other companions in the BG saga she:

1) Doesn't stop to tell you personal details about herself constantly

2) Is sardonic but in a sort of oblivious, non-chalant way that isn't edgy or annoying

3) Has actual useful use in a couple of dialogues

4) Has an interesting background story without it being overly "fantastic" - she left her own race because they were stupid, not because she is the Driz'zt of goblins

5) Has some unique cool events like finding the spirit of an old goblin warrior where you as a player have to choose a character development path for her - and doing so will permanently change the gear available to her. You can also let herself decide

But above all, she doesn't insult your intelligence or act like a 16-year-old teenager transported to a fantasy world.

Only part about her I disliked was her voice which was a bit amateurishly acted (and the fact that her avatar sprite stays the same no matter how you equip her, but that was to be expected really).

 

[Lilura]

my 244th write-up, this one on Infinity Engine AXES.

Top 10 Best Infinity Engine Axes (Baldur's Gate, BG2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, IWD2)

 

[Dzupakazul]

The #1 axe ever (Azuredge) is praised for its unique combo of versatility, utility and accessibility, yet can't even be used by the game's +++++ Axes character, because he's Evil, and, in fact, most Good NPCs don't use Axes, you have to somehow gear them towards that goal (though if you just want a thrown axe, a single * in Axes never hurts anyone).

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

my 244th write-up, this one on Infinity Engine AXES.

Top 10 Best Infinity Engine Axes (Baldur's Gate, BG2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, IWD2)

only one I like out of those is Bala's. It's the only one that looks like a real axe instead of a cartoon doodle of an axe. I'd like the throwing axe too, but it doesn't look like a throwing axe.

 

[MilesBeyond]

Today in fun facts: Did you know that one of the tavern songs in Baldur's Gate is actually reused from the impressively awful Descent to Undermountain?

 

[AwesomeButton]

А bunch of tavern songs in BG/BGII are medieval songs.

 

[Chippy]

Just logging in to voice my disappointment in the Codex's review of SOD - I've just played it and the EE's for the first time (I've got patience and I wanted to be impartial) and ... they are so much more fucking worse than any review I've read anywhere. I don't care about the trannies in SOD or the nonsensical plot; why didn't anyone prioritize/mention that the writers in that game couldn't even string coherent sentence's together? There were times when I had to actually give up reading because I actually couldn't comprehend the sentence structure. The last time that happened to me was in Eye: Divine Cybermancy; and at least those French fuckers had an excuse. English wasn't their first language.
Now I made it as far as BG2 and have to give up because after 5 years there are still colossal bugs. The journal isn't working. AFTER 5 FUCKING YEARS, THE JOURNAL IS NON-FUNCTIONAL. Not to mention bugs like the cult of the eyeless not triggering, or game breaking bugs like Imoen not appearing in one of her dreams.

I wont play these EE's again unless this mod gets working: http://gibberlings3.net/forums/index.php?showforum=195 and incorperates a 'SOD be gone' feature. But shame on the reviewers of SOD and the whole 'controversy'. What people should have done (although I couldn't even be bothered myself) is screenshot every fucked up sentence in that game, and post it in a review. Then ask the question of how any qualified writer could be given that job -and how any company could QA their work- when they were making mistakes with the English language that retards made in my primary school when I was 7 years old.

Fucking Beamdog ruining BG. Worse than finding out about too much soy shrinking your balls and then realising it's the primary ingredient in most chocolate.

 

[Great Deceiver]

sentence's

 

[Anomander Rake]

rip

https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/70315/bg2-ee-will-inventory-lag-get-fixed-in-2-5-update

 

[octavius]

The developers will look whether it's possible to fix this for the 2.5 patch.

"Developers".

 

[Falksi]

my 244th write-up, this one on Infinity Engine AXES.

Top 10 Best Infinity Engine Axes (Baldur's Gate, BG2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, IWD2)

only one I like out of those is Bala's. It's the only one that looks like a real axe instead of a cartoon doodle of an axe. I'd like the throwing axe too, but it doesn't look like a throwing axe.

Is realism important? That's a question worth axeing.......

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

my 244th write-up, this one on Infinity Engine AXES.

Top 10 Best Infinity Engine Axes (Baldur's Gate, BG2, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, IWD2)

only one I like out of those is Bala's. It's the only one that looks like a real axe instead of a cartoon doodle of an axe. I'd like the throwing axe too, but it doesn't look like a throwing axe.

Is realism important? That's a question worth axeing.......

not if you don't mind all your RPGs eventually having weapon like this:

 

[empathymachine]

on M'khiin, the reason I find her interesting is that in contrast to almost all other companions in the BG saga

I must admit that I even let M'Khiin join my recent mostly-solo trilogy run, and the only thing that bugged me big time was her rapid departure. Just before the final-final SoD act (which seemed like an undercooked and badly executed afterthought, to be honest) she just mumbled something in the lines of "it's getting hot in here, deal with this shit yourself". This, after all her semi-quality dialogue about tribal ethics, commitment to those (i.e. my PC) who help her on the way without outright dismissing as a goblin etc. felt like a half-assed example of a typical "we-don't-know-how-to-convincingly-end this" Beamdog's narrative decline moment. A fucking shame.

 

[Lilura]

My 256th write-up:

Dark Side of the Sword Coast, Stone of Askavar and Grey Clan Compatibility (+ commentary)

 

[Anomander Rake]

Lilura, I remember a mod where there was a certain party that was supposed to kill you and there was a whole organization behind. It had tons of clone items, op weapons and so on.
The mod was for BG1. Do you know which mod I'm referring to?