Remove ToB from BG2:EE
ajwz
Member Posts: 4,122
Ok, so I know this is going to be controversial, but:
ToB was a disaster. Gameplay-wise it is so bad as to be unplayable, 2nd edition and infinity just doesn't work at this level, and HLA's just compound this - without exception they are all awful.
Even if you don't dislike the ToB gameplay as strongly as this, I think most people will tell you ToB was by far the weakest part of the BG series.
Putting gameplay aside however (perhaps it is fair to say "Well if you don't like it then just don't play it)
The writing was EVEN WORSE than the gameplay. It is an unbelievable, disappointing setting with DBZ type powerlevels, and poorly written NPC's and dialogue.
Sarevok should never ever have happened - it was just lazy and unjustifiable, and ultimately it was an incredibly disappointing ending to and otherwise great series of games.
So, what I would like to see is the complete retconning of the whole of ToB in BG2:EE and rebuilding high level gameplay and the ending to the Baldur's gate series from scratch by the new team.
Maybe this is impossible becuase of contract limitations, but then please at lease write an "alternative" (more correct) ending after all these years.
ToB was a disaster. Gameplay-wise it is so bad as to be unplayable, 2nd edition and infinity just doesn't work at this level, and HLA's just compound this - without exception they are all awful.
Even if you don't dislike the ToB gameplay as strongly as this, I think most people will tell you ToB was by far the weakest part of the BG series.
Putting gameplay aside however (perhaps it is fair to say "Well if you don't like it then just don't play it)
The writing was EVEN WORSE than the gameplay. It is an unbelievable, disappointing setting with DBZ type powerlevels, and poorly written NPC's and dialogue.
Sarevok should never ever have happened - it was just lazy and unjustifiable, and ultimately it was an incredibly disappointing ending to and otherwise great series of games.
So, what I would like to see is the complete retconning of the whole of ToB in BG2:EE and rebuilding high level gameplay and the ending to the Baldur's gate series from scratch by the new team.
Maybe this is impossible becuase of contract limitations, but then please at lease write an "alternative" (more correct) ending after all these years.
5
Comments
ToB certainly need a Special Care.
It probably would be nice if adjustments could be made to ToB, but we'll have to wait and see first.
I wouldn't call it stupid or selfish. It's grounded in truth: ToB is weak sauce. But the series needs to end somehow. Erasing it is too strong a solution I think.
ToB had its moments, to be sure. Frankly, I have my doubts that the level of quality (even in ToB) could be replicated today, especially with a limited budget and new team of developers.
Take the good with the bad.
The developers wanted to give an ending to it and as Space_Hamster said, it could've been a lot worse considering the developers likely had other plans or limitations at the time and couldn't invest too much into ToB.
Erasing it would be too much. In my opinion, I was disappointed with the small amount of side quests and fresh new features but it was a satisfactory ending. Would you rather it end like the Sopranos?
And why not remove Bladurs Gate from Baldurs Gate ?
Prophecy from beginning head towards to fight with others Bhaal childrens and ToB can´t have epic story because epic story was already spoken. ToB should been end CHARNAME story, his last epic fight. They would add some more contents ( to follow up BG3 ) but removing ToB is bullshit.
At the risk of sounding like a cliche baldy, don't like it, don't play it. But ToB needs to stay for reasons stated above.
though I dont know what can be done in order to Improve significantly, but I guess thats another thread.....
As others have said, ToB will likely need as much as if not more work than SoA. I hope they will be able to do alot with ToB and make it more like the final game in the trillogy rather than just an expansion like it was meant to be, but only time will tell..
All the BG games were extremely combat oriented and linear. Everything always led to a fight and all the same people always died, so I don't know why it's a complaint against ToB that it had so much combat or that it was so straightforward.
"Hey, I hate everything about ToB, so please, remove it from the game so that thousands of players, including new ones, will be unable to play it. You know, just because I hate it! And by the way, I'm unable to notice that no one is forcing me to play ToB!"
That's not stupid AND selfish to you? Seriously...?
Some people would say the same thing about dragon age 2 for example, and ToB is definitely the DA2 of BG. It is a shame that some people decide to fovour being polite over saying what they actually think, particularly on a relatively anonymous forum like these messageboards.
It just needs polish that's all. I think it's fantastic. To ask that it be removed is 'stupid' as Zelgadis put it because he probably doesn't think it's as bad as everybody else does. It isn't really selfish.. just ill thought and not going to happen.
Most of the times I was forced to activated Debug Mode and go haywire with CTRL+I (I think) for speeding up the characters dialogues, since I rarely got the chance to
or even
I won't lie on the subject at all - I loved the story, the character interactions and also the gameplay on tougher fights (simply absolutely loved Sendai's battle). High Level abilities made it somewhat cheesy on some battles, but then again, if you role play, you don't POWER play anyway
Aside from the story proportion vs. Time and Space proportions, the only negative side I feel is related to a certain character that is so obvious that you can guess who's who 5 seconds into the dialogue *cough cough*
I would add a bigger map, more sidequests and a more peaceful city (it doesn't require to be 20 cities, 1 is enough. A single area like Trademeet)
And when I say sidequests I mean big sidequests that you can eventually connect with the main story. Don't let it feel so rushed and linear. More like Baldur's Gate 2.
I know it ought to NOT happen, but you never know. Maybe the success of BGEE will lead to some less strict contracts for BG2EE
Maybe read the topic next time before throwing out words like "stupid" or "selfish".
p.s. he wasn't unable to notice that "no-one is forcing you to play ToB". Quoting from original and unedited post: "(perhaps it is fair to say "Well if you don't like it then just don't play it)".