Is it possible to create a 'true successor' to Baldur's gate?

[The Game Analists]

[deleted]

 

[Somberlain]

D&D rules and spells, good exploration, good itemization with interesting and unique items and well-thought encounter design with powerful enemies and enemies groups that have many different abilities. Not just copypasted trashmobs.

 

[One-and-a-half-Ivan]

Romances.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Isn't that what Pillars of Eternity did?

 

[octavius]

Seriously, what is it that you all love? The Real Time with Pause? The miss miss miss crit gameplay? The early game arrow tag? What, dammit, what?

The butthurt liking it causes.

 

[likaq]

D&D rules and spells, good exploration, good itemization with interesting and unique items and well-thought encounter design with powerful enemies and enemies groups that have many different abilities. Not just copypasted trashmobs.

Yep, bg had good exploration and no trash mobs.

Oh wait.

 

[Somberlain]

Yep, bg had good exploration and no trash mobs.

Oh wait.

Yes, my post totally reads that BG had no trash mobs.

 

[octavius]

BG1 is one of the very few CRPGs where you can avoid most of the trash mobs if you want, yet some people spent all their time in BG1 with trash mobs, and then write how much they hate the trash mobs.

 

[MilesBeyond]

The biggest thing is probably the D&D thing. Faerun is one of those settings that many love to hate, but at the end of the day in terms of fantasy worlds it's probably second only to Middle-Earth in terms of history, lore, etc. A D&D game has got dozens of years of fluff to draw on. Also, the system in general. What I really love about D&D games is that they, more than any other game I've played, make you feel like you're part of a bigger world. Every class seems to have a role in society beyond adventuring. The spell system alone makes me want to play D&D games.

As for Baldur's Gate in particular?

RTwP is very much a double-edged sword, but one thing it's extremely good at is handling large battles. Facing even just 10 enemies at once is often mind-numbingly tedious in turn-based and frustratingly hectic in RT. Hell, in Fallout I always run from wolf packs just because I can't be arsed to sit there while eight enemies take their turns. RTwP loses some of the tactical depth of TB, and the pacing and action of RT, but not all of it. There's still some depth to RTwP, as well as some adrenaline, and as a result I think it's a fair compromise. Plus I mean fights like the Bandit Camp or the Xvart Village would be a complete nightmare to do in TB - to say nothing of that one tunnel in ToB where you fight a couple hundred slaves.

Actually, you know what? "A fair compromise" might be the best way to sum up the BG trilogy, and BG2 in particular. BG2 does not have the best writing, the best story, the best companions, the best plot, the best combat, the best character creation and customization, etc etc. Basically everything BG2 does, I can think of plenty of games that do it better. But almost every one of those games has something that it's just horrible at. BG2 doesn't really have any stand-out weaknesses. Just about everything it sets out to do is at least moderately enjoyable.


tl;dr BG2's greatness, IMHO, is not due to it excelling in one area so much as it more or less succeeding in nearly every area.


As for a successor? I don't know about that. When I want to play Baldur's Gate, I play Baldur's Gate. DA:O and PoE are both games that I enjoyed but they're also games that I felt would have been better if they had been more focused on doing their own thing than being "the next BG." Though considering how DA2 turned out, maybe not.

 

[Grokalibre]

The successor of the fabled BG serie is already out and it's called Dragon Age, whether you like it or not.

 

[Somberlain]

The successor of the fabled BG serie is already out and it's called Dragon Age, whether you like it or not.

And a glorious successor it is, like Invisible War and Thiaf.

 

[hoverdog]

The successor of the fabled BG serie is already out and it's called Dragon Age, whether you like it or not.

Joined:
Apr 28, 2015

 

[MilesBeyond]

The tagline for the Dragon Age series should be "At least it's a better sequel than Ultima IX"

 

[Animal]

Starting as a nobody. Growing to be a lethal machine with D&D rules. Exploring the Forgotten Realms. Having a bunch of quirky characters available to join your party. RTWP with isometric view. Nice 2d Art.

The game is not perfect, but it also doesn't have anything very bad about it. It's good to play and has value for replayability.

Most recent RPGs fail miserably in some areas:

PoE: boring dialogues, boring combat, boring items...
D:OS: retarded dialogues and voiceovers, crappy graphics (imo)

All Third person console real-timeish rpgs: boring copy/pasta combat.

And so on and so on....

 

[Lhynn]

Isn't that what Pillars of Eternity did?

What part?

It certainly doesnt have anything resembling D&D. rules are bad, spells are crap, itemization is awful, no encounter design to speak of during 99% of the encounters, and stupid design behind those that did.

Yep, bg had good exploration and no trash mobs.

Oh wait.

BG1 did have trash mobs, but they werent copypasted, spawns were random actually.

 

[Andhaira]

Before answering the question in the OP you have to go understand the context and time period surrounding Baldur's Gate 1, when it was released.

Back in 1998 there was a long drought of old school fantasy CRPGs. Fallout had recently come out, but Fallout was post apoclyptic. Furthermore more and more games were either being influenced by Diablo and attempting to copy that, or trying to go with the whole 3D craze (Soulbringer, Ultima 9) or FMV craze (Lands of Lore 2)

Baldur's Gate 1 came out at the proper time it needed to, to become a resounding success. It was old school even in that time, with AD&D rules, party based combat and game, old school character generation, and isometric non 3D graphics with lush painted backgrounds. Also, a proper fantastical plot with entertaining side quests.

Secondly, Baldur's Gate 2 is a completely different beast to BG 1. A spiritual sequel to BG 1 is not the same as a spiritual sequel to BG II. And this is where a problem arises; most people actually want a spiritual sequel to BG II. This is not easy to do, not even today. However, due to player expectations developers try to cram the best parts of BG 1 and BG II into the same game, PoE being an example. The game suffers as a result, though PoE would be a great game had the underlying system been better and/or had it been turn based.

 

[Jaesun]

Who wants another shitty ACTION D&D game?

TURN-BASED OR ELSE!

 

[Excidium II]

BG1 is one of the very few CRPGs where you can avoid most of the trash mobs if you want, yet some people spent all their time in BG1 with trash mobs, and then write how much they hate the trash mobs.

Because if you avoid trash mobs you miss content

 

[ArchAngel]

Minsc of course

 

[*-*/\--/\~]

I wonder if I was the only one who read all the item descriptions in IE games. Best way to learn English ever. :D

 

[Roguey]

BG1 is one of the very few CRPGs where you can avoid most of the trash mobs if you want, yet some people spent all their time in BG1 with trash mobs, and then write how much they hate the trash mobs.

The crit path of BG is garbage up until Cloakwood Forest or so where it turns itself around.

 

[upwardlymobile]

hmm yes d&d rules are great and really translate well to computers, god how I yearn to see my THAC0 stat when I bring up my character sheet in an rpg

also nobody gives a shit about the forgotten realms setting anymore

the systems from DOS and underrail are great, going back to d&d would be a mistake

 

[Neanderthal]

Yes BG2.

Sorry couldn't resist.

 

[Lhynn]

hmm yes d&d rules are great and really translate well to computers, god how I yearn to see my THAC0 stat when I bring up my character sheet in an rpg

also nobody gives a shit about the forgotten realms setting anymore

the systems from DOS and underrail are great, going back to d&d would be a mistake

 

[Excidium II]

I only want another D&D game if it's just to use one of the more alternative settings.