Lilura
RPG Codex Dragon Lady
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2013
- Messages
- 5,274
Well they increase movement speed, don't give you the full benefit of the haste spell. There aren't that many in BG2 (off the top of my head, you can get 3 not including Watcher Keep), only in ToB you can equip the whole party.
Yep, it's in ToB that everyone is potentially perma-hasted. Backtracking is trivialized by the increased movement speed, in general, and lack of narrow maze-like corridors in dungeon design, anyway.
I agree that Durlag Tower represents the apex of Bioware when it comes do dungeon design, disagree with the notion that one segment of the game is by itself enough to put it over the sequel. That said, there are a number of other things I prefer in BG1 like the itemization, exploration, lethality of non-magic combat, character sprites, inventory breaking pause and resting only healing one point (unless you're using a variety of inn rooms which cost money), low-key plot which for the majority of the game revolves around standard "Group of adventurers investigate local troubles" which I've always liked, the main villain and his motivations etc.
Yep, agree with your other reasons. I would just recommend DT to anyone who wants a good dungeon crawl, since it's a pretty extended segment and separated from the main campaign. It represents what I value most in RPGs, despite not being perfect.
Interesting read. To what capacity was he involved in the sequel when it comes to writing? I do think BG1 tone is quite a bit different compared to the sequel with the latter's much more epic story, romances and similar.
BG is LK's baby. He wrote most words you read, including Drizzt (ppl seem to think it was Salvatore). He played no small part in BG2, but there is no credited lead writer unless its Gaider. I know Gaider wrote Irenicus and LK wrote many of the companions (SoA Imoen is all LK, SoA Minsc), romances, epilogues, NPCs (e.g, Saemon). But yeah, the tone difference of the campaign, and its syntax, is pretty profound. Versatile writers, both of them.
There's nothing that even remotely compares to it in BG1 either. It is not at all representative of the main game, and it's memorable precisely because of how superior it is to anything else in BG1 or its expansion. For every level of Durlag's Tower you'll find a Nashkel Mines, Firewine Ruins (yeah, they fucking suck, sue me) or some other dreadfully repetitive and uninteresting slog that doesn't even begin to compare to any major dungeon you find in BG2.
Thieves' Maze, Firewine Ruins and Catacombs are also superior to any dungeon in BG2 because they are meat-grinders. There are no meat-grinders in BG2.