Best way to play Baldur's Gate

[Zboj Lamignat]

Fuck's wrong witchu, boah?

Nothing, I hope. I like BG2 and IWD. Think PST is great experience for one "play"through. Found BG1 and IWD2 mostly not all that and skippable in hindsight.

Icewind Dale II suffers from a big case of cut content. It's the only IE game I was actively hoping would get the EE treatment, since maybe then Beamdog would be able to restore it. As far as I remember when talking to Josh, halfway through the game you could completely change sides. Several areas were completely cut, as did a lot of quests and reactivity.

Yes, I know it's been rushed by dying BI/Interplay, but I don't give any extra brownie points for that. It's even extra disappointing, since Targos is a high point of IE gaming and one of the best, if not the best, opening segments of all the crpgs I've played. But pretty much as soon as you step out of it it's "Hi, I'm Josh Sawyer, did you know that getting xp for kills in crpg is baaaaaaad?".

 

[Thac0]

I'm just dubious about whether Asperger Syndrome is an actual medical condition, or just "medically naming character traits."

Nice save, that is precisely what makes aspergers somewhat political. Id say Lilura definitly fits the symptoms, and as such she is mentally handicapped only if you consider asperger a mental illness.

 

[Lilura]

Yes, I know it's been rushed by dying BI/Interplay, but I don't give any extra brownie points for that. It's even extra disappointing, since Targos is a high point of IE gaming and one of the best, if not the best, opening segments of all the crpgs I've played. But pretty much as soon as you step out of it it's "Hi, I'm Josh Sawyer, did you know that getting xp for kills in crpg is baaaaaaad?".

That's 3rd Edition CR, not JES. And you still get kill XP even if you solo. It's only once you reach higher levels as solo that you don't get kill XP all the time (you still get it for top-tier enemies). I have posted the top-ranked solo Sorcerer write-up on the internet, which I'd like to see you try and argue against. Damn, you're a scrub!

Also, most RPGs are weakest at the end but IWD2 is strongest at the end. It has a few dips and loss of pacing mid-game, that's it.

Almost everything you say is wrong. Please try to do better in the future.

 

[Lonely Vazdru]

I want to play it for the first time. What's the best option?

Enlightened now, aren't you ?

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

BG:EE fucks up the experience by using BG2s classes, spells and weapon proficiency system, despite the fact that BG1 was designed and balanced for its own system. This reason alone is enough to favour the original. For the ultimate experience, don't save scum. The game is designed this approach in mind as well, which makes trash mobs, waylays, rest spawns and traps meaningful.

Dude, again, it's optional. Yeah, Beamdog are a bunch of hacks and implemented this in the most low qi/effort way possible (cue level/stat drain immunities in games that don't have stat/level drain), but if it hurts your butt so much then just use it to tip the scales the other way. Play with a monk, wizard slayer or beast master. Or just use vanilla classes. And the class system from BG2 does offer advantages to other games. The char dev aspect of them is already extremely basic, but classes like paladin, ranger, bard or pure thief make pretty much no sense outside of larp. Kits change that, which is a good thing in my book.

 

[Lilura]

Play with a monk, wizard slayer or beast master. Or just use vanilla classes. And the class system from BG2 does offer advantages to other games.

The OP classes far outweigh the UP classes. And it's not just about classes, as has been elaborated.

At this point, you are being wilfully ignorant.

The char dev aspect of them is already extremely basic, but classes like paladin, ranger, bard or pure thief make pretty much no sense outside of larp. Kits change that, which is a good thing in my book.

The above doesn't express a complete thought. Can you elaborate/be explicit so that we don't have to do your thinking for you, and fill in the gaps?

 

[Azdul]

Choosing between original BG1 engine and Enhanced Edition:

The picture on the right has uncanny resemblance to distinctive Beamdog art style:


I would recommend either Baldur's Gate Trilogy, with TobEx and containers from Tweaks Anthology, or EE with mods that revert it back to original as much as possible (e.g. "Classic movies").

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

And you still get kill XP even if you solo.

You do? Amazing.

The OP classes far outweigh the UP classes.

Agree, especially if you don't use them.

Can you elaborate/be explicit so that we don't have to do your thinking for you, and fill in the gaps?

I was kinda hoping you'd do that for me, seeing how you're all about upholding the tradition of powergaming in BG.

 

[Kalin]

I'm amazed to see sickos shill so openly for utter garbage like EE what the hell is wrong with you people.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

I've tried the EE for 5 minutes and decided that I want just to keep my happy memories about BG stored somewhere in the brain. It getts better and better over the years.

 

[Sykar]

Fuck Beamturd.

 

[CaffeineConquistador]

I play the original all modded up, but still haven’t heard an answer what makes EE so terrible, other than revealing laziness to hunt down and install mods. Also, Lilura’s cool; leave’m alone.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

1. Shitty price for what you get (was on numerous high discounts though and you can yaaarr GOG installers if you wish).
2. Bugged af and took years (not an exaggeration) to get patched to a playable state - concerns mostly BG1-2. IWD EE was ok on release (still bugged compared to original) and PST EE supposedly was ok too (never played it).
3. Aesthetic changes lack taste and quality.
4. All added content lacks taste and quality.
5. BG1 EE and IWD EE were largely "made" by porting them to BG2 engine so, as you can see itt, people get khraaazey, because you can steamroll content more easily. You can just ignore it + EEs have options to make game more difficult.

I still think most people don't really mind the above much and instead focus on beamdog being parasites stealing the legacy of the best crpgs evaaaaar. Which is true, of course (the part about parasites and stealing), I'm just not sure you should care so much. Originals are very much playable, with mods or without them, but as someone who already played them a lot I would now use EEs if only for certain convenience that they offer.

 

[d1r]

I play the original all modded up, but still haven’t heard an answer what makes EE so terrible, other than revealing laziness to hunt down and install mods. Also, Lilura’s cool; leave’m alone.

Horrible UI (can be fixed with mods), and there actually are some really nice ui mods out there
Black void of death at area borders which kill immersion.
Terrible terrible new companions that completely stand out to the rest of the cast (can be removed with mods).
Siege of Dragonspear nice dungeon crawling, but the story is abysmal and feels forced. The gap between BG1 and BG2 should have stayed a mystery.

 

[kangaxx]

Terrible terrible new companions that completely stand out to the rest of the cast (can be removed with mods).

I quite liked Dorn but thought the others were annoying as fuck. Problem is he just makes evil parties even more overpowered by giving them a shoo-in front man. His quests are interesting though IMO, particularly as you get through the series.

That evil drow sorcerer they added was ridiculous... pretty much a game-breaking meme.

 

[Lilura]

If you haven't played the original BG in its original engine, then you haven't actually played BG at all.

You've played some disgusting abomination.

Same goes for IWD and PS:T.

 

[Thal]

Dude, again, it's optional.

It's actually the proficiency system that is the biggest effective change. In most cases, there is only one good magic weapon for each weapon type. If you can't find it, you may be stuck with a +1 weapon for the entire game. Moreover, how is a new player supposed to know which classes and spells are new and which aren't? And then there's stuff like paused inventory screen (can't remember if this was optional) that trivialises quickslot loadout. You can for example make your characters immune to pretty much everything with consumables even without preparing in advance.

I'm not categorically against EE:s and I thought SoD was actually a pretty good IE campaign. But BG1 should be played as designed. After the fact I'm sure it's cool to dick around with an Avenger druid.

 

[harhar!]

I want to play it for the first time. What's the best option?

Enlightened now, aren't you ?

I didn't think this thread was going to be this controversial.

 

[Azdul]

If you haven't played the original BG in its original engine, then you haven't actually played BG at all.

AC, THAC0, proficiences, magical schools - on my first playthrough I found it useless and confusing, and invented my own strategy. 50 wand summoned puppies and 6 characters with slingshots were able to conquer Sword Coast. Zero HP hits interrupted opponents' spells, and critical hits very slowly chipped away their health.

At the time, I've found BG1 very user friendly, while BG2 was basically unplayable due to limit on summoned creatures.

 

[Zboj Lamignat]

It's actually the proficiency system that is the biggest effective change. In most cases, there is only one good magic weapon for each weapon type. If you can't find it, you may be stuck with a +1 weapon for the entire game. Moreover, how is a new player supposed to know which classes and spells are new and which aren't? And then there's stuff like paused inventory screen (can't remember if this was optional) that trivialises quickslot loadout. You can for example make your characters immune to pretty much everything with consumables even without preparing in advance.

These are decent points. I don't really think weapon proficiency change has that big of an impact, though. Maybe for fighters and going 5 points into something that sucks, but it could well happen in the original, too. With classes it's not rocket science: vanilla is vanilla, kits are kits. And going blind you might pick inquisitor, but you might also pick wizard slayer, because wizard slayer sounds cool, amirite. But, like I already said multiple times, at least someone picking blade or skald, for example, will get a decent mileage out of it, instead of getting bard and instantly going "wtf is this, where is muh restart battan".

I think we're just treading water tbh. There was a time when one couldn't recommend EE to anyone outside of some malicious trolling, but right now you're kidding yourself if you think some total zoomer newcomer wouldn't be better off with it. But if someone wants to go with vanilla for pure, original experience then all power to them, of course.

 

[DalekFlay]

I still think most people don't really mind the above much and instead focus on beamdog being parasites stealing the legacy of the best crpgs evaaaaar. Which is true, of course (the part about parasites and stealing), I'm just not sure you should care so much.

This exactly. I said on the first page that few here will give you an honest appraisal of the EE in 2020, and that's because the hate for Beamdog is strong. If you go elsewhere, watch RPG coverage on Youtube, whatever... the consensus is the EEs are the best way to play now overall. I'd say that's likely even more true if you're a newb to the series and just want to try it out.

There are absolutely reasons a "hardcore" player might want the originals, but I don't think that applies at all to the OP.

 

[valky667]

If you haven't played the original BG in its original engine, then you haven't actually played BG at all.

You've played some disgusting abomination.

Same goes for IWD and PS:T.

despite my +shits +whatever (nice) - this!
IWD:EE is actually worse than the original and thankfully they don't seem to find the 'code' or whatever for IWD:2 thy come up with. IWD:EE got new classes and such, that makes the game steamroll....

IWD II is the real shit - I got raped so much then I first started my 1st HoF run with my fancy lvl 18ish 6 men party - by 3 fucking goblins right after I arrived.
My best run was a min/maxed 4 ppl party, my main tank had *uhm* 71 AC and my 2nd decoy 59. I think only the temple dragon and 1-2 specific monster could actually hit em. But that stupid bladesingers....oh did I hate them!

prejudice seems to be quite high here nice, nice...

Would still recommend the EE, though. Or grab the ISO from somewhere....and apply the widescreen mode or play with whatever resolution you desire. Am picky in that regard.
+ SCS! that's where the real fun starts....

some mindless out of the box posting - I got beer and just spent fucking 5h to get me Grand Turismo 5, because the fucking tram was blocked and I had to take the bus....what a shitty day

edit: and I don't like any of the stupid added NPCs in either games, that are tagged/fagged with EE (!)

 

[Goldschmidt]

Baldur's Gate 1 is better than Baldur's Gate 2, but both games are good. Not only is Baldur's Gate 1 better as an overall package, but it's better in almost every single way as well. Story, writing, exploration, aesthetics, user interface, combat, dungeon design, sound, music, resource management and ruleset employment. All of these are better in Baldur's Gate 1, which is the 4th greatest RPG of all-time!

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day.

Well at least we can agree that PST is way overhyped.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Start with Wizardry IV, which is a prequel that's pretty much required to understand a lot of things in BG1 and 2.

 

[valky667]

Start with Wizardry IV, which is a prequel that's pretty much required to understand a lot of things in BG1 and 2.

I don't think so - using google and reading the average story-premise takes but 5 minutes, than to play Wiz IV - would require endurance 19 or a talent check on reading, though. END to nullify all that that stupidness....that you have to endure.