BG:EE new content review (please make your suggestions for bg2:ee)
trinit
Member Posts: 705
It took me a while to finish the game but i managed to do so yesterday. I'm yet to try out black pit.
to make clear what were my expectations; for the most part i looked forward to bug-free, graphically improved BG1 with some new content and game mechanics improvements (alignment and reputation system for example). so let's take a look:
BUGS- bumpy ride for some it seems
. i had luck with bugs for the most part, the only real issue was not getting thief points back when dualling (edited with shadowkeeper) and patches came quickly, the ride is smooth enough although not always perfect. i'm sure this will be improved in coming month(s). But congrats to the team for their quick reactions and effort, i'm sure it was a great amount of pressure but they've handled it well.
NPC'S- new npc's are great! for bg1 that is.
i was most happy for this component. it is refreshing to have npc's with kits and/or more interesting classes, the pallete to choose from is now much more satisfying. also, despite more voice acting and background, they integrate very nicely and make bg1 feel really more alive in terms of world and interaction and richness, since we now get a more in-depth look at some of the side-stories of henchmen in faerun. extra areas for those who have them, give excellent feel for the character (hiding in forest or living in the monastery).
NEERA- VERY likeable, but voice acting seemed a bit forced to me. something about it made me cringe like when somebody makes embarrassing performance on a stage. i think it might be "color" of the voice or accent not going well with the personality. maybe acting itself? BUT in time i came to like it, and in places the acting is actually very good, so i'm not sure whether the previous comment should withstand. let's just say neera has the greatest fluctuation in quality of voice acting or requires an hour or two to get used to it. she has her less flattering moments (so chaotic! :P but nicely neutral
) but like i said, i really like her because of her lively unpretentious personality, she makes imoen seem flat. the interaction between PC and her is nicely written, responses are varied and engaging and her reactions unpredictable and entertaining. very good npc.
RASAAD- he sure likes the words that contain "light" in them, doesn't he? he was nice, pleasing, non-intrusive personality and predictable motivations and desires (have not tried romance). Because of that he seems stable and reliable (as lawful character should, i guess). voice acting is pleasing and i see him becoming a powerhouse in bg2:ee i guess that would be payoff, since he does require big amount of babysitting now. But, what i liked the most and what i see as key-point of his character is- bhaalspawn. his/her responses are great in terms of humor! it makes the interaction dynamic and satisfying, instead of what could be easily very dull blabber about some childhood hardships. and he really takes well even more brutal responses. i hope this continues, i really do.
and considering predictability- my jaw dropped when i saw you-know-who in cloud peak mountains. maybe i'm loosing my touch...
DORN- he has the best voice acting in my opinion (i think some of the manipulations of the voice, compared to examples on the official page, are gone right? he seems to sound much better now), very fitting to his appearance and character. i actually like the way you recruit him, it seems better than " i say hello and you follow for next 250 days because you have nothing better to do", i think his motivations for joining the group were most clear and acceptable. he is determined, straightforward and a bit mysterious, a good combination FOR BG1. i felt i got the least out of him and it seems like the stage is just set for what is to come in bg2:ee. that can be a good thing but i'm afraid it could also mean he has the least space for character development, because it is required he remains a bit stereotypical bloodthirsty monster (i'm not talking about alignment, he should remain evil, but have more to him then desire for revenge, killing and power( and please, don't make him betray the PC near the end-game or something like that -.-)).
i mean, sure his otherworldly connections could result in great quest, but his character should also evolve, particularly if he is in a relationship. i would love to see him develop a sarcastic and/or philosophic side to him (viconia's abusive comments in bg2 were pure gold) or better responses from charname, i felt they were a bit generic at times. IMO best potential with least of it realized for now, also, too bad he has no extra area.
NEW AREAS- one word-GREAT. i loved cloud peak mountains especially. great atmosphere, tastefully done, loved the small "hand-paint" intervention in places and of course- good integration in the rest of the game, although IMO, new areas are way better and more atmospheric than original. the only thing that bothered me, were some hard edged shadows in adoy's enclave, too artificial looking.
i hope and expect to see this trend continue in bg2:ee, even more so if there are some free-roaming areas planned. bg2 also has better graphic so that leaves space for even further improvement
GRAPHIC- i'm happy to see better cloud and fire effects (and spells in general) as well as GREAT to have zoom capability. i used it less then i expected but every now and then it is a blessing. just a note- zoom should be remembered between area transitions!
there is hardly anything spectacular here, but i see improvement and i'm satisfied. a minus that is worth to mention is GUI. i want to see higher-res GUI (but at the same size! upscaling just makes everything too small again) with better spellbook, priest-scroll icons. at 1280 resolution icons are much clearer at the same size then 1920 resolution. this is not good.
i like blue stone (gasp!) but not the brown/gold finishing. strong brown and blue in combination are aesthetically quite displeasing IMO.
New cinematics are BETTER then originals, colorful, detailed with good fantasy feeling. the old reduced 3d cannot compare to this. but, when there is much animation involved (opening sequence mostly) immersion fails. more animation and scenes would greatly improve the overall experience i think.
MUSIC- Excellent. compatible with original but IMO more memorable, melodic and likeable. reminds me of the best moments from icewind dale, which i think has some of the most engaging music tracks in IE games. hire sam for bg2:ee also please
GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS- increased stacks are a blessing. bg2 engine also. extra feedback is god-send. alignment and reputation systems remain the same. bad. i hope to see some more additions in future downloadable content.
some of it could include- subraces, more classes, more kits (also for monks, sorcerers etc) perhaps more multiclassing options and combinations. great thing to implement would be a sphere-based clerical casting with greater selection. just a (unrealistic) thought. none of these are crucial, they are mostly aesthetic.
journal is a mess i think, needs some organizing and (beter) mouse-wheel implementation. stores could also use this feature (so you can scroll merchant's and your inventory, depending on the position of the cursor).
flashy area transitions make the game MUCH more enjoyable.
i think this is it. these are my thoughts of bg:ee so far, i just wanted to make it known, since developers claim to listen to fan's opinion (so far it seems true), and if this helps or influences somebody, great. also, i will not grade my opinion with numbers like classic review. it seems senseless.
i hope i managed to be relatively objective. please, if you have any suggestions for future development of characters (as this seems to be focus of my review) or you don't agree, please say so.
to make clear what were my expectations; for the most part i looked forward to bug-free, graphically improved BG1 with some new content and game mechanics improvements (alignment and reputation system for example). so let's take a look:
BUGS- bumpy ride for some it seems
. i had luck with bugs for the most part, the only real issue was not getting thief points back when dualling (edited with shadowkeeper) and patches came quickly, the ride is smooth enough although not always perfect. i'm sure this will be improved in coming month(s). But congrats to the team for their quick reactions and effort, i'm sure it was a great amount of pressure but they've handled it well. NPC'S- new npc's are great! for bg1 that is.
i was most happy for this component. it is refreshing to have npc's with kits and/or more interesting classes, the pallete to choose from is now much more satisfying. also, despite more voice acting and background, they integrate very nicely and make bg1 feel really more alive in terms of world and interaction and richness, since we now get a more in-depth look at some of the side-stories of henchmen in faerun. extra areas for those who have them, give excellent feel for the character (hiding in forest or living in the monastery).
NEERA- VERY likeable, but voice acting seemed a bit forced to me. something about it made me cringe like when somebody makes embarrassing performance on a stage. i think it might be "color" of the voice or accent not going well with the personality. maybe acting itself? BUT in time i came to like it, and in places the acting is actually very good, so i'm not sure whether the previous comment should withstand. let's just say neera has the greatest fluctuation in quality of voice acting or requires an hour or two to get used to it. she has her less flattering moments (so chaotic! :P but nicely neutral
) but like i said, i really like her because of her lively unpretentious personality, she makes imoen seem flat. the interaction between PC and her is nicely written, responses are varied and engaging and her reactions unpredictable and entertaining. very good npc. RASAAD- he sure likes the words that contain "light" in them, doesn't he? he was nice, pleasing, non-intrusive personality and predictable motivations and desires (have not tried romance). Because of that he seems stable and reliable (as lawful character should, i guess). voice acting is pleasing and i see him becoming a powerhouse in bg2:ee i guess that would be payoff, since he does require big amount of babysitting now. But, what i liked the most and what i see as key-point of his character is- bhaalspawn. his/her responses are great in terms of humor! it makes the interaction dynamic and satisfying, instead of what could be easily very dull blabber about some childhood hardships. and he really takes well even more brutal responses. i hope this continues, i really do.
and considering predictability- my jaw dropped when i saw you-know-who in cloud peak mountains. maybe i'm loosing my touch...
DORN- he has the best voice acting in my opinion (i think some of the manipulations of the voice, compared to examples on the official page, are gone right? he seems to sound much better now), very fitting to his appearance and character. i actually like the way you recruit him, it seems better than " i say hello and you follow for next 250 days because you have nothing better to do", i think his motivations for joining the group were most clear and acceptable. he is determined, straightforward and a bit mysterious, a good combination FOR BG1. i felt i got the least out of him and it seems like the stage is just set for what is to come in bg2:ee. that can be a good thing but i'm afraid it could also mean he has the least space for character development, because it is required he remains a bit stereotypical bloodthirsty monster (i'm not talking about alignment, he should remain evil, but have more to him then desire for revenge, killing and power( and please, don't make him betray the PC near the end-game or something like that -.-)).
i mean, sure his otherworldly connections could result in great quest, but his character should also evolve, particularly if he is in a relationship. i would love to see him develop a sarcastic and/or philosophic side to him (viconia's abusive comments in bg2 were pure gold) or better responses from charname, i felt they were a bit generic at times. IMO best potential with least of it realized for now, also, too bad he has no extra area.
NEW AREAS- one word-GREAT. i loved cloud peak mountains especially. great atmosphere, tastefully done, loved the small "hand-paint" intervention in places and of course- good integration in the rest of the game, although IMO, new areas are way better and more atmospheric than original. the only thing that bothered me, were some hard edged shadows in adoy's enclave, too artificial looking.
i hope and expect to see this trend continue in bg2:ee, even more so if there are some free-roaming areas planned. bg2 also has better graphic so that leaves space for even further improvement
GRAPHIC- i'm happy to see better cloud and fire effects (and spells in general) as well as GREAT to have zoom capability. i used it less then i expected but every now and then it is a blessing. just a note- zoom should be remembered between area transitions!
there is hardly anything spectacular here, but i see improvement and i'm satisfied. a minus that is worth to mention is GUI. i want to see higher-res GUI (but at the same size! upscaling just makes everything too small again) with better spellbook, priest-scroll icons. at 1280 resolution icons are much clearer at the same size then 1920 resolution. this is not good.
i like blue stone (gasp!) but not the brown/gold finishing. strong brown and blue in combination are aesthetically quite displeasing IMO.
New cinematics are BETTER then originals, colorful, detailed with good fantasy feeling. the old reduced 3d cannot compare to this. but, when there is much animation involved (opening sequence mostly) immersion fails. more animation and scenes would greatly improve the overall experience i think.
MUSIC- Excellent. compatible with original but IMO more memorable, melodic and likeable. reminds me of the best moments from icewind dale, which i think has some of the most engaging music tracks in IE games. hire sam for bg2:ee also please
GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS- increased stacks are a blessing. bg2 engine also. extra feedback is god-send. alignment and reputation systems remain the same. bad. i hope to see some more additions in future downloadable content.
some of it could include- subraces, more classes, more kits (also for monks, sorcerers etc) perhaps more multiclassing options and combinations. great thing to implement would be a sphere-based clerical casting with greater selection. just a (unrealistic) thought. none of these are crucial, they are mostly aesthetic.
journal is a mess i think, needs some organizing and (beter) mouse-wheel implementation. stores could also use this feature (so you can scroll merchant's and your inventory, depending on the position of the cursor).
flashy area transitions make the game MUCH more enjoyable.
i think this is it. these are my thoughts of bg:ee so far, i just wanted to make it known, since developers claim to listen to fan's opinion (so far it seems true), and if this helps or influences somebody, great. also, i will not grade my opinion with numbers like classic review. it seems senseless.
i hope i managed to be relatively objective. please, if you have any suggestions for future development of characters (as this seems to be focus of my review) or you don't agree, please say so.
2
Comments
Seeing as the standard on modern PCs these seems to be 1920x1080, I expected the UI to be written in that resolution. For some reason (probably the 2gb limit on the ipad), it wasnt. Dont get me wrong guys, I really like what the devs are doing with this game in general, but this is the one thing I was truly disapointed in.