Is Baldur's Gate worth playing?

[no]

BG is very much alive because of it's weird ass mod community that still manages to push out decent stuff (well, most of it is still crap) after so many years for a game that's supposedly pain in the ass to mod.
Still, I personally think neither of the BG's have aged as well as PS:T, since both lack any unique qualities that haven't been done in dozens of other RPGs. The series is definitely overrated by the masses as an epitome of RPG gaming. Yet I somehow find it enjoyable to play through the whole trilogy once in 1-2years with some selective modding applied. I thought BG1 was the best game ever when it came out, but then again I was barely a teenager and hadn't really played many other RPGs. Nowadays, I doubt I could stomach the clunky interface and pathfinding of the first, but luckily that's fixed with BG1tutu.

 

[Zomg]

Trying to go through BG1 reminds me of how much more playability the Gold Box games have retained. At least in Curse of the Azure Bonds, all of the meaningless combats can be auto'd away nearly instantly on new computers. Even when you're in one of the fights that's hard enough that it requires some human strategy to complete, you can automate the mopping up process after the big threats are down. If you're not going to make every fight interesting, give me a way to make them go away.

 

[aweigh]

No, BG1 isn't worth playing through.

 

[kingcomrade]

I think I got through the first disc of Baldur's Gate. BORING.

 

[Voss]

Trying to go through BG1 reminds me of how much more playability the Gold Box games have retained. At least in Curse of the Azure Bonds, all of the meaningless combats can be auto'd away nearly instantly on new computers. Even when you're in one of the fights that's hard enough that it requires some human strategy to complete, you can automate the mopping up process after the big threats are down. If you're not going to make every fight interesting, give me a way to make them go away.

Yes, clearly automated combat is the solution.

If combat is that uninteresting, I generally find its better not to waste money on a game at all.

 

[RK47]

Buy FF12 then

 

[Zomg]

Yes, clearly automated combat is the solution.

You're preaching to the choir, but there's a whole demographic that wants really, really, I mean really outrageously long and boring squad tactics gameplay with their RPGs, a la NWN and BG, and they've been conflated with people that actually like RPGs in the market. It's not the automation, it's the speed. I'd have enjoyed NWN2 a good bit if 95% of the combat were chucked and it became a 5-hour game. Just have one guy spend a weekend making a fast mode, that's all I ask as a representative of my demo.

 

[aweigh]

Trying to go through BG1 reminds me of how much more playability the Gold Box games have retained. At least in Curse of the Azure Bonds, all of the meaningless combats can be auto'd away nearly instantly on new computers. Even when you're in one of the fights that's hard enough that it requires some human strategy to complete, you can automate the mopping up process after the big threats are down. If you're not going to make every fight interesting, give me a way to make them go away.

Yes, clearly automated combat is the solution.

If combat is that uninteresting, I generally find its better not to waste money on a game at all.

I've recently been replaying Earthbound, probably one of my favorite games of all time, and I usually put battles on "AUTO" and press mash the Emulator's Fast Forward button. Sometimes combat isn't the sole defining reason an RPG is fun; it can have other qualities you enjoy.

In fact, I find zSnes has really rejuvenated my zest for SNES JRPG's, since I can usually Fast Forward through 90% of battles and instead actually enjoy the game. (Well, mostly Earthbound really. Although I did clear Dragon Warrior 5 like that.)

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Will it get better later on? Does it really deserve #7 in the Codex top 10?

Yes but only by virtue of the fact that there aren't that many even remotely decent RPG's.

 

[Voss]

Sad, isn't it? You like to think of yourself as a fan of a genre, but when you sit down and try to quantify it, the games you actually like turn out to be a statistical anomaly, and the genre doesn't actually exist.

Somewhere back in the shift from combat-oriented dungeon crawlers to story driven character progression engines to the current fad of undeveloped sandboxes with no challenge or detail whatsoever, there was a moment where a glimmer of potential existed. A small handful of games that were really close to something really amazing, but still lacking in a few subtle ways, and if the industry had followed up and tried to fix what was lacking they could have managed some truly impressive shit. But instead they wandered off and got mired in the quagmire of flash over substance, of graphics over choice, and easy over consequences, and that potential that glimmered in the shiny news CDs faded and cracked like a fat goth girl's make up in the sunlight.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Baldur's Gate was actually my first RPG (sad, i know). It's not a bad game per-se, but i think the biggest problem is that it's just too damn easy and pretty much devoid of anything substantial up until you first enter Baldur's Gate, at which point the game is almost over anyway (though it does become somewhat entertaining from this point on).

The only positive side is that you don't get bombarded with uber loot until much later (they really dropped the ball on this in the sequel). Heck, the best sword in the game has a +2 enchantment on it and that's pretty much all you can get. Bitch slapping Drizt with a party of level 5s was also fun.

BTW, if you get bored with the game check out the expansion at least. I remember the main dungeon being pretty good.

 

[mlc82]

I really tried to like this one but despised it anyway... I really don't like D&D much at all anyway, too many "bad" races which lead to 2d storylines since there's too many cop-outs of "Here come goblins to kill off the town, they are attacking the town because goblins are bad!". The story wasn't all that interesting, the majority of the characters seemed more like they belonged in a kid's cartoon than a serious storyline (annoying as hell for the most part), the combat was horrible and frequent, and the "fog of war" effect everywhere you go (including towns) really was irritating.

Funny, I claim to like RPGs but realize that I've hated most of the ones I've played besides the Fallouts, Plancescape Torment and Knights of the Old Republic (yes I know, it wasn't REALLY an rpg, but I liked it anyway). I was also pretty impressed by some NWN mods out there, although the game out of the box was about as fun as watching the grass grow.

 

[Volourn]

"yes I know, it wasn't REALLY an rpg"

Sure, it was. Stop lying.

 

[mlc82]

"yes I know, it wasn't REALLY an rpg"

Sure, it was. Stop lying.

Nah, Fallout was the closest to an RPG that I've ever seen for a computer game... KOTOR was more of an adventure game with stats and stat based combat, only 2 real paths of character development and every bit required you to play as a warrior, fighting wave after wave of enemies whether using weapons or the force powers. Include ways to do things like eschew combat entirely, get your character involved in the political workings of the games, and diplomatically backstab and destroy the sith and you're getting more into RPG realms. Don't get me wrong though, I liked KOTOR a lot for the game it was.

Deus Ex (the original) is one of my favorite games of all time that included stat based play and called it an "RPG element", but I'd hardly it a role playing game, unless you want to call every other game that has you playing as one character or another an RPG.

 

[Romanian_Dude2005]

Why on earth did you start with BG1 in the first place? Every Bio fansite, every infinity nostalgic, every so CRPG fan that has a infinity sprite NPC has an avatar will say that BG2 > BG1.

I finished BG2 a few weeks ago, it's one of the best example for a sequel, it takes everything from BG1, makes it better and bigger. Not even Daggerfall, Sims 2 or Civilization 4 provide such a fine example for how sequels should be.

My opinion is that you should play BG2 first and then finish BG1.

 

[mlc82]

Why on earth did you start with BG1 in the first place? Every Bio fansite, every infinity nostalgic, every so CRPG fan that has a infinity sprite NPC has an avatar will say that BG2 > BG1.

I finished BG2 a few weeks ago, it's one of the best example for a sequel, it takes everything from BG1, makes it better and bigger. Not even Daggerfall, Sims 2 or Civilization 4 provide such a fine example for how sequels should be.

My opinion is that you should play BG2 first and then finish BG1.

I'm actually tempted to try out BG2 as much as I disliked the 1st one from the good things I've heard all about it, even here at rpgcodex.

 

[Romanian_Dude2005]

Don't expect Fallout gameplay or Planescape storyline. It's just better then BG1. The sub-quests on the other hand are almost Fallout 1 quality, if they had more chooices to them, then they would've even toped Fallout 1 in quest quality.

 

[mlc82]

Don't expect Fallout gameplay or Planescape storyline. It's just better then BG1. The sub-quests on the other hand are almost Fallout 1 quality, if they had more chooices to them, then they would've even toped Fallout 1 in quest quality.

Is there any more ambiguity to the choices in quests similar to Fallout or even Arcanum? All it was in BG1 was either "I'll do it for free because I'm a good guy" or "I expect a reward for doing that good deed because I'm evil!". Boring.

 

[Jasede]

No. And why should there be? It's D&D and the Forgotten Realms, after all. Even the rulebook states that good and evil are /clearly/ distinctive in the FR. It might be difficult to find out who the good/evil guys are in a good setting like Dark Sun, but morally ambiguous choices do not fit into D&D.

 

[Volourn]

"KOTOR was more of an adventure game with stats and stat based combat, only 2 real paths of character development and every bit required you to play as a warrior, fighting wave after wave of enemies whether using weapons or the force powers. Include ways to do things like eschew combat entirely, get your character involved in the political workings of the games, and diplomatically backstab and destroy the sith and you're getting more into RPG realms. Don't get me wrong though, I liked KOTOR a lot for the game it was."

Otside of aboding combat entiurely 9which is impossible in KOTOR of course); most of what you say simply isn't tue. Just ebcause there is just two ENDINGS doesn't mean there is only two paths of character development. That's balony. I wouldn't dare comapre KOTOR to FO in terms of role-playing (very few games can do that); but it *is* a role-playing game.

Being able to avoid all combat is not neccessary for a game to be a RPG. That's a hystierical myth.



"Every Bio fansite, every infinity nostalgic, every so CRPG fan that has a infinity sprite NPC has an avatar will say that BG2 > BG1."

Whjile I eaisly prefer BG2 over BG1; there is a vocval group who swear by BG1 over BG2... their biggest defense? The open spaces. LOL

 

[aweigh]

Arcanum > BG2.

 

[Slylandro]

BG1 is just historically significant, other than that there's nothing going for it. Of all the IE games only Icewind Dale 2 is worse.

 

[FrancoTAU]

I could never finish BG1. I lost interest by the time I made it to Baldur's Gate both times. Okay story, dull combat, and crappy D&D rules was just too much working against it. I do have to play BG2 eventually though since everyone raves about it.

 

[Lyric Suite]

My opinion is that you should play BG2 first and then finish BG1.

How is playing BG2 first going to make the first one any better? I'd say either start with BG1 or don't play it at all.

 

[Lyric Suite]

I'm actually tempted to try out BG2 as much as I disliked the 1st one from the good things I've heard all about it, even here at rpgcodex.

Don't expect too much. The game is huge, to be sure, but it's essentially as shallow as every other Bioware title. Then again, compared to modern RPGs it's an absolute masterpiece, so who knows, you might still enjoy it...