Baldur's Gate feels more alive to me. You can open virtually every door. There are too many places in Athkatla that you just can't get into. And I'm not keen on the way the slums are dominated by the Copper Coronet, which is absolutely huge. In Baldur's Gate you might get a couple of taverns, a store and a few houses in the same sort of space.
Baldur's Gate. Feels more like an actual city whereas Athkatla was like ... okay so where do people actually LIVE around here, there are barely any houses?
I love Athkatla. I loved it from the word go. There is just so much stuff to do there, and it's open to you right away. Unlike Baldur's Gate which is closed for a good chunk of the game.
Baldurs gate felt more like a city. I think the way they went with Athkatla was good but like someone else said it felt like there wasnt enough houses. i guess that was because it was sectioned in to districts and all the civillian housing was outside the districts. I liked the general look of baldurs gate a lot more to. such a well designed city if maybe a little to small but u cant have everything
Athkatla was great from a storyline perspective (with each location having a distinct and separate feel and making it so you could systematically work through them) but BG felt better from a role-playing perspective as you looked for the nearest tavern or store in the middle of throngs of housing and people. Having said that, Athkatla would have been far too big to put in the format of the Gate- it perhaps would have been nice to have another district or two.
Baldur's Gate is better realized than Athkatla. I do think the devs did fine job at creating a compelling atmosphere for Athkatla. The look and feel of the city is great. However in terms of fleshing out canon detail BG goes a bit further. Both games took liberties and added custom content. But Athkatla is much more truncated from what is there in canon. And finally, IIRC there's way more sidequests in BG. There's a just a lot more to explore and interact with there.
Tricky to answer. On one hand Baldur's Gate is more fleshed out with all the civilian houses. On the other hand, that makes it a bit of a chore for me as the completionist in me requires that I walk into every house and see what's inside of every container, and most private residences in Baldur's Gate are rather devoid of useful items (as would be natural). On the other hand, here and there you get a quest or a cloak of protection, so it still pays off in that regard. Baldur's Gate also has the somewhat annoying bisecting wall through the middle of it which makes it so you have to enter certain areas (mostly just the NE part) from the correct side to get to where you want.
Athkatla is a lot easier to navigate, and when you explore it you can be pretty sure that whatever you find is interesting or meaningful in some way.. but on the other hand it could benefit from some BG-style civilian places to make it feel more alive.
Still, when I compare how I felt the first time I explored them, Baldur's Gate felt a lot like a big city, but still not excessively different from other areas in the game. The first time in Athkatla, it was like being thrown into an adventurer's candy-store. Everything in that city was more than it seemed to be, and I got the feeling that no matter what place I entered, something cool was waiting for me. Mayhap not very realistic, but it made exploration incredibly exciting. So I'd have to go with that.
Baldur's Gate hands down, and I think even the original devs would agree and I'll tell you why shortly.
I love Baldur's Gate (oh yes, even the game, thank you for asking!) for its great fantasy landmarks (like Wyrm's Crossing, Ramazith's tower, the Hall of Wonders, Sorcerous Sundries... heck, even the Iron Throne building itself!), the honorable Flaming Fist, the awesome people that were saluting my party as heroes! You can explore each part of the city and it looks like they took care of every single piece of it, I daresay it's probably the reason it's the titular city! I felt so great when I finally got to this city in Chapter 5!
Athkatla... well, I never liked it much, and I couldn't wait to get out from there as soon as I could. It looked very ugly and very unpolished to me. Mind you, I liked a few places like Waukeen's Promenade, but seriously, how did they stick whole civilian houses and inns that don't even have WINDOWS on them?! And the Bridge District? Wherever you come from you always start from the northernmost side of it, how is that??? Even the Gov't District has some copy-and-paste buildings from the slums if you look around. Not to mention that you can't explore all of it like others have said (I say, thank the gods!). Graphics aside, I think they willingly made the city THIS awful so they also included muggers, random ambushes, huge slums and even spellcasting ban! Seriously, who would want to live here?
Baldur's Gate, for reasons other people had mentioned and also because it is more faithful to the PnP Baldur's Gate, while the game Athkatla takes a lot of liberties.
Baldur's Gate - It had more taverns, more commoner houses, you actually had streets, underground sewer system, great atmosphere - Baldur's Gate is the better city
i didn't like the design of baldur's gate, too cramped. SoA cities were better imho. I'm from a small city (mobile, AL), so i don't like realistic cities (like cramped)
Both are incredible, but Athkatla is where a great deal of the action takes place in BG2. It's incredibly atmospheric, the music is fantastic, the sidequests are abundant without adopting the same go-kill-him or go-fetch-this mannerisms as most of the BG1 quests. To be honest, I'm shocked more people didn't say Athkatla! I thought it was one of the main reasons BG2 was such a legendary game! That said, Baldur's Gate is also an incredibly well done city. Few games have constructed anything quite as well as BG's cities were constructed.
I always liked Candlekeep and the fact that almost no one had a house of their own and thus slept outdoors or at the inn (which, after a while, you'd think would get expensive)
I had to say, Baldur's Gate. It felt like an actual place where people lived and worked and whatnot. Athkatla felt like... it was designed and built by someone who had no experience in an actual city. Oh, sure, it *looked* big and impressive, but it felt hollow and empty. And geez, how many liches can hang out in one city, anyhow? The only area I felt was well done was the docks area, which had a very nautical feel.
Personally, I hope that the next game has either Waterdeep (so many things to see and do, so many places to go, and so many people to meet!) or the Dales. Maybe even both.
Shoot me, if you will, but I've always found a lot of charme in Beregost too. I mean, of course it's far from the splendor of Baldur's Gate, but that's to be expected. It just feels like a nice and familiar small town where people live with a sense of community and work and whatnot.
Nashkel had a similar feel, but it was way too empty even for a small town... I mean, where are all the houses, and the locals? Too little people, and too little houses even for as little people! Still a good feeling, though.
In BG2, I've always found Trademeet to be better designed than Athkatla from this standpoint.
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Baldur's Gate also has the somewhat annoying bisecting wall through the middle of it which makes it so you have to enter certain areas (mostly just the NE part) from the correct side to get to where you want.
Athkatla is a lot easier to navigate, and when you explore it you can be pretty sure that whatever you find is interesting or meaningful in some way.. but on the other hand it could benefit from some BG-style civilian places to make it feel more alive.
Still, when I compare how I felt the first time I explored them, Baldur's Gate felt a lot like a big city, but still not excessively different from other areas in the game. The first time in Athkatla, it was like being thrown into an adventurer's candy-store. Everything in that city was more than it seemed to be, and I got the feeling that no matter what place I entered, something cool was waiting for me. Mayhap not very realistic, but it made exploration incredibly exciting. So I'd have to go with that.
I love Baldur's Gate (oh yes, even the game, thank you for asking!) for its great fantasy landmarks (like Wyrm's Crossing, Ramazith's tower, the Hall of Wonders, Sorcerous Sundries... heck, even the Iron Throne building itself!), the honorable Flaming Fist, the awesome people that were saluting my party as heroes! You can explore each part of the city and it looks like they took care of every single piece of it, I daresay it's probably the reason it's the titular city! I felt so great when I finally got to this city in Chapter 5!
Athkatla... well, I never liked it much, and I couldn't wait to get out from there as soon as I could. It looked very ugly and very unpolished to me. Mind you, I liked a few places like Waukeen's Promenade, but seriously, how did they stick whole civilian houses and inns that don't even have WINDOWS on them?! And the Bridge District? Wherever you come from you always start from the northernmost side of it, how is that??? Even the Gov't District has some copy-and-paste buildings from the slums if you look around. Not to mention that you can't explore all of it like others have said (I say, thank the gods!).
Graphics aside, I think they willingly made the city THIS awful so they also included muggers, random ambushes, huge slums and even spellcasting ban! Seriously, who would want to live here?
Athkatla's a more streamlined experience. Which isn't a bad thing, as it doesn't lead you to hyperventilate and start running in circles.
To be honest, I'm shocked more people didn't say Athkatla! I thought it was one of the main reasons BG2 was such a legendary game!
That said, Baldur's Gate is also an incredibly well done city. Few games have constructed anything quite as well as BG's cities were constructed.
Personally, I hope that the next game has either Waterdeep (so many things to see and do, so many places to go, and so many people to meet!) or the Dales. Maybe even both.
Nashkel had a similar feel, but it was way too empty even for a small town... I mean, where are all the houses, and the locals? Too little people, and too little houses even for as little people! Still a good feeling, though.
In BG2, I've always found Trademeet to be better designed than Athkatla from this standpoint.