BG 2 First plathrough Walkthrough or not?

r1kkie1

Hey!
Whats your recommendation, never played BG 2 before, go with a walkthrough or explore things on my own?

Griboe

DO NOT LOOK ONLINE!
Seriously. Have fun/anxiety/adrenaline/surprise on your own! Do NOT read anything online until you've finished the game once already.

Time4Tiddy

Please please explore things on your own the first time through. The story in BG2 is fantastic and there are so many ways to approach many of the quests. You're going to want to play this over at least a few times, so you can save the walkthrough for second or third.

The only advice you need is to hold off on the Unseeing Eye and Lord Firkraag's quest until you've done several others, those are very tough if you do them too quickly.

booinyoureyes

Only if you are very stuck. When it comes to key story points (like interaction with your companions), try not to.
Try to keep multiple saves just in case, particularly before entering an area.
Only use a walkthrough if you need a "map" for when you are totally olost.

CrevsDaak

Well, I got past BG2 without walktroughs, of any type, and I can tell you'll miss lots of things, but it is better to discover the game by yourself. You'll enjoy it a LOT more.

r1kkie1

Thanks guys! The walkthtough is in the trashcan.

Lucre

I'm going to take a contrarian view here.

I'm playing BG2EE having just played BG1EE. I also played both original games when they came out, but I remember almost nothing about them.

According to steam I have now put 50 hours into BG2 and I'm still on Chapter II. I envisage it might take 150-200 hours for me to complete BG2, and I don't really expect to play it again after I've finished it.

So I want to experience as much as I can of BG2 during my present playthough. For that reason I have installed a multiple strongholds mod, so I can experience all the strongholds quests. For the same reason I have been following a walkthrough, because I'm keen to miss as little as possible.

Using a walkthrough does make the game more linear (of course), but I don't feel the need to follow it slavishly. Also, I tend to use the walkthrough to find out what to do next, rather than to follow every single detail. So if I'm playing through a dungeon, I'll do the dungeon, then use the walkthrough to see whether I missed anything, or I might refer to the walkthrough if I get stuck in a battle. That way, you still retain a fair bit of the element of surprise.

I think if you envisage doing multiple playthroughs, then it is sensible to avoid walkthroughs, especially on the first playthrough. But if you only intend to play the game once, there is a place for using a walkthrough.

Heindrich

I'll echo what most have already said. I've been on both sides of the coin.

I do not normally replay a Singleplayer game, and thus I want to experience as much of it as possible in the first playthrough, so I possess a 'completionist' instinct. So, I played parts of BG 1 with a walkthrough and parts of it blind. And I gotta say, I enjoyed the Blind parts much much more. Baldur's Gate is a roleplaying game above all else, and the plot is central to the experience. If you spoil it with a Walkthrough, you've spoilt half the game.

That's why for BG 2, I have been playing Blind. I even recorded my first LP with it. And I have enjoyed the experience immensely. Way more rewarding than if I just found a walkthrough, rolled a min/maxed optimal character and followed instructions to acquire the most OP weapons and items across the land and steam-rolled through the game like an automaton.

r1kkie1

Must say, I played BG1 with a walkthrough and did like everything.
Been playing for some hours now in BG2 without the wakthrough, I enjoy it much more.

Aradene

If you were going to use a walkthrough but don't want to ruin everything for yourself I would strongly suggest sorcerer's plane - its divided up into links based on areas, npc and chapter so you reduce the risk of stumbling on to something you didn't actually want to read in the first place. It can help you appease you inner completionist without upsetting the mystery if that was what you were after.

http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/Walkthrough2/SoA/SoA-index.php

*note not updated for ee so there will still be some mystery where new content is concerned.

Pantalion

You can never recapture the innocence of the first playthrough.

It's up to you whether you care for innocence or the corrupting lure of knowledge is too great.

r1kkie1

Will keep playing without it and explore whatever I feel like doing. If i get stuck I might google it or so. But we will see.

Thanks for the advise!

Drayen

Yea, don't use a walkthrough, thats not how games like this are meant to be played. Take your time, open all the doors in the cities, discover things, do every quest, take your time and read everything.

MurrayConfederacy

Heya! I recommend using the brilliant Volothamps Comeuppance as a guide http://www.pocketplane.net/volothamp/bgguide.htm the walkthrough section is spoiler free and will give you hints on the most commonly troublesome parts of the story.

CrevsDaak

@MurrayConfederacy and those aren't spoilers? :P I think they are, and it is nice to do ALL the things by yourself.

MurrayConfederacy

@CrewsDaak I suppose you are right, but if you want a guide for a first playthrough, I wouldn't tell anyone to look past Volothamp's Comeuppance.

Yamcha

Use the manual, you will need it as AD&D newb, but walkthru never if you can avoid it.
A puzzle taking more then a minute to solve isnt a reason!

Qbert

i agree that doing at least the first run w/o a walkthrough is preferable and much more fun, but playing bgee for the first time w/ no prior knowledge of the game was difficult enough all by itself; adding in a journal that was all out of order and confused made it nigh on impossible.

i sat for hours backtracking the areas i had visited trying to figure out what to do next until i gave in and looked up what i was supposed to do.

Of course, that opens pandoras box so try to resist if you can, but i play this game for fun, and not being able to figure out what to do due to a glitch was def. not fun.

booinyoureyes

Hey man! Hope you are enjoying this wonderful game!

I have actually a bit of better advice. I think if you are ever stuck, you should come back here and just ask a specific question. Then the very helpful and awesome population of this thread can give you minor spoiler-free pointers without spoiling anything. Just enough to help you if you are stuck, but not too much to make it unfun.

If you want, just call me out with one of those @name things and I'll try and help

karnor00

BG1 has a huge amount of content that the game doesn't direct you to at all. If you just follow the main quest you will miss most of this content. You pretty much have to wander through the wilderness to find it. And I think a guide helps a lot with this.

BG2 is a much more guided experience - as you progress with the main quest you will get approached by people needing help (e.g. De Arnise Keep, Trademeet, etc). So even without a guide you won't miss a huge amount.