Game News Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition Released

[Infinitron]

Tags: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn; Beamdog

Beamdog's Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition was released today, and is now available directly from their site and from Steam, for the price of $25. Here's the launch trailer:

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Rumor has it that BG2:EE will be an improvement over its predecessor - due in no small part to the efforts of the skilled Infinity Engine modders that Beamdog hired using the profits from the first game, no doubt. Whether it is worth buying in an age where the cRPG genre is finally looking forward towards a brighter future remains arguable. Not to mention that the bugs are definitely still out there.

 

[Quatlo]

25 bucks? I highly doubt that they can pull off the same stunt of nostalga-buy like with the first EE. I don't know a single person happy with their purchase, but who would be if they buy a 14 year old game that doesn't work.

Do they bundle it with new quality Bioware quality romances at least?

 

[crawlkill]

they brought on the guy who did the Arath mod! possibly the only gay content in gaming ever that doesn't give me a migraine! I may have to buy it just for that.

 

[Surf Solar]

So all the new areas they have put in are arena type maps again?

 

[FeelTheRads]

they brought on the guy who did the Arath mod! possibly the only gay content in gaming ever that doesn't give me a migraine! I may have to buy it just for that.

So what's that Arath mod? Did they just hire a guy who did a romance mod?

 

[Achiman]

$25... Just can't justify it. I will be interested to know whether the additional content is more than the Darkest day mod, that was my fav mod for BG2.

 

[Crane]

Do the EE games still not work with Intel HD graphics cards?

 

[aVENGER]

Do the EE games still not work with Intel HD graphics cards?

The issue with the Intel graphic cards was fixed for BG:EE in the recent patch 1.2.

BGII:EE also has that fix included so it should work fine with Intel cards right out of the box.

 

[crawlkill]

So what's that Arath mod? Did they just hire a guy who did a romance mod?

Liam Esler's made a gazilliondy mods. I'm not sure if he's the single most prolific modder in the community, but he's way up there. Bunch of NPCs, of whom Arath is one. He's got a web site up now that profiles aaall the madness stuff he's done for BG2. And he can, like, write dialogue! That you'll remember for more than five minutes! I'm not really active in that community, but I've played a bunch of custom BG2 content, and I don't think they coulda plucked a better dude from that herd.

 

[Wise Emperor]

Is Trent still daydreaming about BG3?

 

[UnknownBro]

I hate this abomination, I really do...

 

[Grunker]

Wake me when this supports every single mod I use.

According to Kaeloree (that's the Liam crawlkill is refering to), who is a modder that still warrants a healthy amount of respect, this may happen before forever.

I still have serious doubts, but if it does happen, this release isn't the total scam that the BG:EE was.

Hardly holding my breath, though.

 

[MicoSelva]

I've already bought this game like three times, I'm not buying it again.

 

[Luzur]

i might pirate it sometime in the future, but im not buying the same game again, wake me up when they release BGIII.

 

[Haba]

wake me up when they release BGIII.

I'd rather not wake up to that.

 

[Luzur]

wake me up when they release BGIII.

I'd rather not wake up to that.

dont worry, i'll set the alarm clock so we can both wake up and smell the ashes.

 

[l3loodAngel]

Wake me when this supports every single mod I use.

Wait... You are actually serious?

 

[Zed]

does the EE have a "play without new content" mode?

 

[l3loodAngel]

Of course not. They are proud of their work.

 

[Kem0sabe]

I might pirate this just out of principle, the price they are selling is an insult, worse still is their gall, they actually think they are doing great stuff by with these "improvements".

 

[Crane]

I feel like I've missed something, since I haven't been playing attention to the EE remakes. Why do a lot of people dislike them, other than the high price?

 

[Quatlo]

I feel like I've missed something, since I haven't been playing attention to the EE remakes. Why do a lot of people dislike them, other than the high price?

First EE was relased in broken state, new ui is just upscaled so it looks terrible on higher resolutions, new npcs come with obligatory fanfic level romances.
They promised much much more than they delivered, and they delivered nothing that we couldn't do better with one of free mods. They didn't "enhance" any of the old content, new one was mostly new arena game mode which was separate from the main game and was pretty mediocre.
I'd pay 5 bucks for that if it was relased as weidu mod and was compatible with big picture.

 

[Grunker]

Wake me when this supports every single mod I use.

Wait... You are actually serious?

Eh... yes? Of course? Why would I even consider this before I can play with essential mods?

I feel like I've missed something, since I haven't been playing attention to the EE remakes. Why do a lot of people dislike them, other than the high price?

Incompatability with mods and extra bugs. In essence, there's not much enhanced about BG:EE, and while BG2:EE is better, there is still no reason to use it until it supports essential mods, and even then, the price-tag makes it a dubious investment.

The sole reason to buy BG:EE/BG2:EE is for people who have no friends with modding ability and who can't figure out how to use mods themselves.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

I feel like I've missed something, since I haven't been playing attention to the EE remakes. Why do a lot of people dislike them, other than the high price?

Paying 20+ bucks for a 10+ yo game with "improvements" worse than the ones offered for free by mods and a truckload of serious bugs is not enough for you?

 

[Vival]

Sweet, it's about $31 on Steam in Euroland - what a steal! Thanks Trent but i think i'm good.