Baldur’s Gate 2 is not for me...

[JDR13]

Wrong. I was trying to do something pressing (go to D'Arnise Keep). I hardly spoke to any NPCs. I did not pick up anymore companions. I kept getting interrupted by random enemies and companions within absurd amounts time. The immersion breaking portion is when you are constantly interrupted from what you are trying to do. BG2 is a game that pesters the player constantly.

Sorry, but some people just need to realize that other people find BG2 overrated or just plain dislike it. I am sure those in disagreement have the same opinion over other games. Like I said, I can see why OP takes issue with BG2. I do not think it's a terrible game; it's just a cloying annoyance to play.

Oh no! Too many things happening breaks my immershun!

Have you tried playing Myst? That might be a little more your speed.

 

[Lilura]

Well, BG2-related traffic constitutes maybe 40% of my blog's viewership, yet I have criticized it when I have every reason not to.

It's overrated. 75% is generous.

 

[SkiNNyBane]

I generally use infinite inventory mods for every rpg I play for this reason. It is not because I want to hold on to everything, but because I like to make "keep or not" decision once in a few hours, not every time I loot some random trash. In BG, I justed used codes to give me all the bags of holding. I used to think perhaps weight and inventory management could be justified by some elusive idea of immersion, but since playing DOS2, I now see it as purely autism that is probably a fossil from the age of toaster computers.

 

[octavius]

What annoys me most about BG2: The Bridge area don't connect properly with the other areas.

she's just a child (count by elf standard) and prepubescent at that

What a bunch of sick fucks, made a prepubescent child impregnable in game.

That's biologially problematic.

 

[Lilura]

BG games were the beginning of decline. The decline has gone so deep since then, that now they're praised as classics.

BG represented the third steepest incline after Fallout and Jagged Alliance 2. It was BG2 that began the decline with its social sim focus, munchkinism and general lack of good taste.

 

[smaug]

Don’t waste your time with BG2.

 

[oldmanpaco]

BG games were the beginning of decline. The decline has gone so deep since then, that now they're praised as classics.

It was BG2 that began the decline with its social sim focus, munchkinism and general lack of good taste.

Munchkinism was more of a problem with NWN and later games than BG2. And BG2's biggest problems are with ToB not the main game.

 

[Glop_dweller]

BG2 is probably the best RPG that I know of —after Planescape.

 

[Lilura]

BG2 is probably the best RPG that I know of —after Planescape.

I rank the Infinity Engine games like so:

And here is my top 10:

BG2 isn't even in my top 10 because Shadows of Amn is a complete mess. Throne of Bhaal didn't conclude the Bhaalspawn Saga well because SoA wasted too much time with Irenicus. I rank PS:T about 15th.

 

[Glop_dweller]

Those thumbnails don't link (for me) to legible images; so I cannot see the names... but that chart appears to list more Infinity games than I know of. I cannot see if you count Fallout among them... It's not really an Infinity engine game, but it's close enough IMO.
I rank Planescape as a better RPG than [even] Fallout, though I rank Fallout as the better game of the two.

Edit: I have managed to puzzle out the top list—those are the [5] Infinity engine games as I know them; but I cannot make out the full list of your top ten.

Witcher [1] is in my top 5.

 

[Darth Canoli]

Some people like the villain and its continuous presence during the game

Names, i want names!
Meanwhile, i'm bringing the firing squad ...

 

[SkiNNyBane]

Lilura where do you rate underrail?

 

[Bruma Hobo]

The Baldur's Gate games are combat-heavy games with shit combat. That's about it. Their incredibly puerile plots and characters, bland setting and exploration, and shallow role-playing options would have been forgiven if combat was not shit.

Rtwp combat does not work. It only leads to less party members and combat options, and easier encounters, because unless you pause every five seconds making the game a slog, or really love to constantly babysit a bunch of retards, it is a clusterfuck. It diminishes the importance of each and every roll in combat, unlike turn-based combat which emphasizes each critical hit or miss, like all proper role-playing games should. It also encourages filler combat, since it lets the player breeze through trash mobs. The Dragon Age series is only the logical conclusion of trying to make that kind of shit work, so please go lie on the bed you made for yourselves.

 

[Lacrymas]

What annoys me most about BG2: The Bridge area don't connect properly with the other areas.

she's just a child (count by elf standard) and prepubescent at that

What a bunch of sick fucks, made a prepubescent child impregnable in game.

That's biologially problematic.

Apart from Viconia, all the romance options in this game are questionable.

As for BG2 being overrated - it definitely is, especially when people put BG2 above BG1.

 

[Lilura]

Lilura where do you rate underrail?

Back before I became more hardline and anti-current gen, I actually reviewed it. However, if I reviewed it now I would characterize it as a pale imitation of Fallout and Jagged Alliance 2 (which are my sacred cows).

Basically, anyone who unfairly criticizes those two gets written off by me, both here and on the blog.

Baldur's Gate (the seminal/original) is also becoming a sacred cow (as is the Infinity Engine). I think I've sufficiently shown in my retrospectives that both BG and the IE deserve respect.

 

[barghwata]

The Baldur's Gate games are combat-heavy games with shit combat. That's about it. Their incredibly puerile plots and characters, bland setting and exploration, and shallow role-playing options would have been forgiven if combat was not shit.

Indeed, the baldur's gate games are the essence of mediocrity, half decent at evrything but great at nothing, the combat is generally a clusterfuck and plagued by trash mobs, the writing is bland and the characters are as one dimensional as you can get, and there isn't really much for roleplaying options.
Arcanum for example which was incredibly flawed (the combat is abysmal) at the very least managed to be brilliant in other aspects (writing, roleplaying, C&C.....) to compensate for its flaws and escape mediocrity which the baldur's gate games couldn't do.

 

[Chippy]

I try to remember my first impressions of BG2 after playing nothing but BG1 from when it was released to when BG2 was released. My initial impression was that the good points of BG1 (that had been removed from BG2) took too much away from it, and what they had tried to put in place wasn't up to the standard of the first game.

My attempt at a nutshell summary anyway.

 

[Lilura]

By the way, in terms of the written, my Baldur's Gate retrospective (which defends its legacy, highlights its virtues, but also admits its flaws) currently oscillates between 2nd and 4th in Google authority rankings, behind only big money-making sites like PC Gamer and Eurogamer.

At any rate, I'm glad that it's at least read on a daily basis because I put a lot of effort into it, and I've enjoyed playing the game, on and off, since its inception.

 

[Darth Canoli]

As for BG2 being overrated - it definitely is, especially when people put BG2 above BG1.

They're overrated when put above anything else, really.

 

[ga♥]

Guys if you feel that BG2 invetory management sucks, what about the other IE games that had no Bag of holding? Like PST... PST had an insane amount of crap that was useless.

 

[laclongquan]

Do a quick run back at the shops, what else? PST is way back when at the beginning of the millenia.

EDIT: fixed. My brain fart a little around the lobes these days.

 

[laclongquan]

I would characterize it as a pale imitation of Fallout and Jagged Alliance 2 (which are my sacred cows).

Basically, anyone who unfairly criticizes those two gets written off by me, both here and on the blog.

Pale imitation of Fallout and Ja2 is not the damnation you think it was. It's not even false praise. It actually make me a little curious to try it.

A little.

 

[Mr. Magniloquent]

There were only a few things that I remember not being fond of when I first played BG2. First was the paper dolls and models of the armor & shields. They had become too elaborate and didn't feel as authentic. I didn't like the new portraits. They went from painting to comic book tier. The only complaint of substance though was the weapon specialization. Having to chose a specific weapon type rather than a group of them was extremely annoying. Other than that, I was thrilled.

 

[Ismaul]

PST is way back when at the beginning of the 90s.

The 90s began in 99.

 

[Lone Wolf]

Did anyone mention to this gentleman that he could - of course - create his own party by clicking 'Multiplayer'?