Evaluation of the new content *potential spoilers*
ajwz
Member Posts: 4,122
What do you guys think?
I know a lot of the existing criticism of the game has mainly focused around bugs and people not being able to get the game to work, but what are your views on the new content? Did they do a good job and would you like to see more?
Ok, so for me the idea of new content was not a major selling point for bgee - I was more interested in the engine overhaul and bugfixing.
I was, however, very pleasantly surprised when I first experienced it. It seems to fit in really well to the existing game. Honestly, my favourite new content is the black pits, which is just amazingly good fun. However the new characters are all very well written, and don't come across as fan fiction mod characters as I feared. The new areas look amazing, the quests are well written and the new magic items are tactfully done, and not just adding power creep to the game
I do have a complaint however:
If we exclude the black pits, which is not part of the main campaign, then all of the new content is linked to the new NPC's, which kind of forces you to have them in your party. Now admittedly for the first few play throughs I found this ok because that was what I was planning on doing anyway. But if you are just doing a solo run, or a run with your own premade party, then you won't be able to experience *any* of the new content while playing through, which makes me kind of sad.
I'm hoping that some of the DLC with change this.
I know a lot of the existing criticism of the game has mainly focused around bugs and people not being able to get the game to work, but what are your views on the new content? Did they do a good job and would you like to see more?
Ok, so for me the idea of new content was not a major selling point for bgee - I was more interested in the engine overhaul and bugfixing.
I was, however, very pleasantly surprised when I first experienced it. It seems to fit in really well to the existing game. Honestly, my favourite new content is the black pits, which is just amazingly good fun. However the new characters are all very well written, and don't come across as fan fiction mod characters as I feared. The new areas look amazing, the quests are well written and the new magic items are tactfully done, and not just adding power creep to the game
I do have a complaint however:
If we exclude the black pits, which is not part of the main campaign, then all of the new content is linked to the new NPC's, which kind of forces you to have them in your party. Now admittedly for the first few play throughs I found this ok because that was what I was planning on doing anyway. But if you are just doing a solo run, or a run with your own premade party, then you won't be able to experience *any* of the new content while playing through, which makes me kind of sad.
I'm hoping that some of the DLC with change this.
2
Comments
The voice acting is really inconsistent. Rasaad and Dorn are pretty solid and up to par with the others from the vanilla game. Neera is pretty bad, though, as are a number of the quest NPCs. I give the VA direction a B.
The actual quest content and whatnot is pretty decent, especially considering the normal NPCs in BG don't really have much of their own. Again I give it a B.
The Black Pits are pretty great, though. It may not be a part of the campaign but it is a really fun side show that you can mess around with for hours and hours after finishing the story. I haven't finished it yet but so far I'd give it an A.
So overall, I think it's a pretty solid first effort especially when you consider that they are working on an indie budget. They may have introduced a lot of bugs, but they have been fixing them pretty consistently so again they should get some props.
But yeah, I like it. I, too, was pleasantly suprised.
[spoiler=Neera, for example]
It would be nice if there was a way to take her quest without having her join. Have her mark the area on your map and meet you there. Then she can show up and participate as she needs to. The same for Dorn and Raasad. Somehow. Not sure how that could work with their story having to unfold a bit before having that available.
[/spoiler]
Of course, other NPCs pretty much don't have anything, but still. I believe the standard to compare to is BG2's NPC quests, although I'd be fine with those in BG:EE being a little shorter, seeing as it's just the start of the whole story.
I also hoped for more improvement on the spells graphics side. Some are really awesome while others haven't changed.
I hope they will add new content. Maybe a prequel on how Seravok became what he is and you play him.
I think both NPCs are fairly well written, though the dialogue is a bit short. I did enjoy the new areas in Rasaad's quest as well as his various interactions. Neera's character was ok, but her dialogue ends abruptly, and her quest is somewhat broken (missing dialogue, and a subquest that doesn't seem to tie together). That part was a little bit too disappointing.
Dorn I am eager to try on my next playthrough when I try to forge myself an evil party.
I haven't tried the Black Pits just yet, as I hope to finish the main campaign first before going there (currently on the final act). Based on just what I've seen so far, I have had mixed feelings about the new content. The Black Pits do seem interesting though, so I am eager to give it a try soon.
1) Rush to Nashkel
2) Have Rasaad join your party
3) Take his boots
4) Kick Rasaad from your party
5) Sell boots
6) Buy Dagger of Venom
Dagger of Venom at level 1 in first 10 minutes of the game FTW.
Also does anyone know why Rasaad and Neera stop dialogue totally with the PC after their quests are completed?
Neera achieved a tremendous status in Baldur's Gate. It's without a doubt the most controversial character in the game. Considering she's 3 weeks old and the game is 15 years old, that's quite the achievement. She's Overhaul's biggest mistake in my humble opinion.
Everything else, I feel, falls well within the game and I commend Overhaul. The new areas especially are beautifully drawn and give us an hint at what this game could have been, had Overhaul been able to gain access to the original art assets.
Black Pits was somewhat fun to go through first, but it was also rather a disappointment: Considering it was an addition to Baldur's Gate and not Icewind Dale, I would have expected something more plot-heavy, very possibly related upon the game itself instead of being completely detached, and not requiring me to build the whole party myself. Not to mention being entirely full of battle and very little else. All that would be great for something more hack-'n-slashy such as Icewind Dale, but from Baldur's Gate I just expected more.
All in all, I'd be disappointed if I had had any particular expectations, or were buying the game for these things instead of its other substantial enhancements.
In regards to how they perform I have to say that Rasaad is just bad at everything, he does very little dmg and at the same can't really take a beating either. I'm basically just dragging him along to see his content. Both Neera and Dorn are really useful party members though. Overall compared to the old NPCs they are nice with decent writing and voice work. I'd rate them as one of the better NPC companions available, especially since they've got more content behind them than most BG1 NPCs. Can't wait to see them in BG2EE.
I haven't done Black Pits and don't have really much interest in it either. I'd prefer if things were added into the original games rather than as seperate things.