Rank the 5 main IE games
SharGuidesMyHand
Member Posts: 2,584
BG1, BG2, PS:T, IWD1, IWD2 - how would you rank them in order from your favorite to least favorite?
My list:
1. BG1 - While it used the most prototypical and limited version of the IE, I still believe that BG was the fundamentally best game of the bunch. IMO, it has the most well-balanced mix of story and combat. While challenging, it's balanced in such a way that someone could potentially beat the game using any number of approaches if they're just developed well enough - which greatly enhances the RP aspect of the game, since it allows you the freedom to choose party members as much for their "likability" as for their efficiency. Thanks to subsequent mods and eventually EE, BG1's technical limitations are much less of an issue and it's fundamental greatness can now be even better appreciated.
2. IWD1 - Ideal for anyone who wants a change of pace from BG1 (which happens to be exactly what I'm in the mood for right now, LOL), this visually and musically fantastic game also offers you the chance to create your own custom party without having to worry about RPing any particular personality or background.
3. BG2 - I've already expressed some of my criticism with BG2 in this (somewhat controversial) thread here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32657/ive-come-to-feel-that-bg2-is-very-overrated-as-an-rpg/p1 In a nutshell, while BG2 is unquestionably visually/technically superior to BG1, I feel that it also sacrificed much of the fundamental freedoms and RP aspect of the original game. IMO, in sharp contrast to BG1, BG2 is very poorly balanced, with far too much bias toward casting and dispelling magic - it basically forces you to be a magic-oriented powergamer. Perhaps my memory of IWD is a bit hazy, but despite being almost entirely action-oriented, I seem to remember it as being better balanced in this regard. The fact that BG2 basically forces you to outright "cheese" or metagame at certain parts - i.e: when encountering the lich before you can even leave the first city - is also very frustrating for me. Also, despite the pretense of available subquests early in the game, much of BG2 actually feels only slightly less lineal than IWD IMO, since you spend about two-thirds of the game "imprisoned" somewhere and looking for an escape route (i.e: Irenicus' dungeon, Spellhold, the fish city, the drow city, etc.).
4. PS:T - I have to put an asterisk next to this one, because I probably haven't devoted enough time to this game to properly rank it. While it has my favorite music of all the games on this list (Deionarra's theme almost brings tears to my eyes - I've never said that about any other RPG's music), and the most unique setting and characters IMO, the sheer volume of the story's content simply became overwhelming for me. Still, I've been left with an unquenched desire to give the game a more thorough try, but my preoccupation with the current EEs has prevented that. Hopefully, there'll be a PST:EE in the very near future. ;-)
5. IWD2 - Simply put, I just can't get into any 3rd Ed D&D game (which also includes NWN), as I feel that it unnecessarily complicates what (at least in this case) should be a more straightforward action game.
My list:
1. BG1 - While it used the most prototypical and limited version of the IE, I still believe that BG was the fundamentally best game of the bunch. IMO, it has the most well-balanced mix of story and combat. While challenging, it's balanced in such a way that someone could potentially beat the game using any number of approaches if they're just developed well enough - which greatly enhances the RP aspect of the game, since it allows you the freedom to choose party members as much for their "likability" as for their efficiency. Thanks to subsequent mods and eventually EE, BG1's technical limitations are much less of an issue and it's fundamental greatness can now be even better appreciated.
2. IWD1 - Ideal for anyone who wants a change of pace from BG1 (which happens to be exactly what I'm in the mood for right now, LOL), this visually and musically fantastic game also offers you the chance to create your own custom party without having to worry about RPing any particular personality or background.
3. BG2 - I've already expressed some of my criticism with BG2 in this (somewhat controversial) thread here: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32657/ive-come-to-feel-that-bg2-is-very-overrated-as-an-rpg/p1 In a nutshell, while BG2 is unquestionably visually/technically superior to BG1, I feel that it also sacrificed much of the fundamental freedoms and RP aspect of the original game. IMO, in sharp contrast to BG1, BG2 is very poorly balanced, with far too much bias toward casting and dispelling magic - it basically forces you to be a magic-oriented powergamer. Perhaps my memory of IWD is a bit hazy, but despite being almost entirely action-oriented, I seem to remember it as being better balanced in this regard. The fact that BG2 basically forces you to outright "cheese" or metagame at certain parts - i.e: when encountering the lich before you can even leave the first city - is also very frustrating for me. Also, despite the pretense of available subquests early in the game, much of BG2 actually feels only slightly less lineal than IWD IMO, since you spend about two-thirds of the game "imprisoned" somewhere and looking for an escape route (i.e: Irenicus' dungeon, Spellhold, the fish city, the drow city, etc.).
4. PS:T - I have to put an asterisk next to this one, because I probably haven't devoted enough time to this game to properly rank it. While it has my favorite music of all the games on this list (Deionarra's theme almost brings tears to my eyes - I've never said that about any other RPG's music), and the most unique setting and characters IMO, the sheer volume of the story's content simply became overwhelming for me. Still, I've been left with an unquenched desire to give the game a more thorough try, but my preoccupation with the current EEs has prevented that. Hopefully, there'll be a PST:EE in the very near future. ;-)
5. IWD2 - Simply put, I just can't get into any 3rd Ed D&D game (which also includes NWN), as I feel that it unnecessarily complicates what (at least in this case) should be a more straightforward action game.
3
Comments
1. Planescape: Torment
2. Baldur's Gate II
3. Icewind Dale II
4. Baldur's Gate
5. Icewind Dale
And while Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusade isn't strictly speaking written in the Infinity Engine, I'd still rank it above the original Baldur's Gate.
2. Icewind Dale - Atmosphere, story, music, IWD is to me a true work of art, the perfect *adventure*.
3. Baldur's Gate 2 - A game like Baldur's Gate 1, but grander and better. Where IWD is atmosphere, BG2 is freedom.
4. Planescape: Torment - The vastness and weirdness and surreality and fascination of the Planes given form. One of the few roleplaying games where the protagonist is primarily defined by who he is, not by what class he belongs to, or what powewrs he possesses. The game is so complex that I actually haven't yet played through it completely, to be honest...
5. Icewind Dale 2 - A great game that I love. It's only on 5th place because the others come first.
Now that I'm done, I see my order equals @SharGuidesMyHand 's.
2. Every IE game
Baldur's Gate Trilogy
I haven't played IWD yet so I can't comment out about it, and, yes, for me BG is just ONE THING, not BG1 and BG2, I like playing it altogether
I love bg and bg2 as equals. Probably followed by iwd. I loved iwd less, but I did not gave it a fair chance, I think.
Havent played PST, I will do that SOON
Overall I am with Elminster in that it really depends on my mood. I've actually been in an Icewind Dale mood recently, and started Icewind Dale II (had only beaten it once) before the news broke. Yet Icewind Dale is my least favorite of the bunch
I'd put them like this
1. Shadows of Amn: The standout of the bunch of standouts.
2. REALLY not much separating IWD1, BG1 and ToB for me. They are all equally good for different reasons.
3. Planescape: Torment. I get why people love this game, but it is really not for me. I love the way the Nameless One is so customizable, and I really enjoyed the roleplaying options, but the world was not really my style. A matter of preference and by no means objective.
4. Icewind Dale II: Needlessly complicated by big rule limitations. Not the same charm as in the first game and the story wasn't as fascinating.
2. BG2: An epic adventure with a great cast, though unmodded ToB gets a bit weak towards the end.
3. BG1: The start of the above epic adventure, the writing has some major plotholes and the characters are pretty thin, but it works
4. IWD2: Irrelevant story, zero character work, better than the first only by virtue of having options no other IE game offers (ie: subraces, loosened race/class restrictions, etc.)
5. IWD1: Because I can never get invested enough in the game to make it through chapter 2. All of the weaknesses of IWD2, plus the limited selection of the original BG1.
2) Baldur's Gate I Gave the most freedom and had a wide variety of party members and had a lot of fun exploration. I only wish the characters were as well developed as they were in BGII. I didn't find gameplay as fun as in BG II.
3) Baldur's Gate II: SOA Lots of character development really fleshed out the party members, which I really enjoyed. ANd there seemed to be a lot more side quests, and more RP opportunities. Unfortunately, for me the Romances fell flat at best, and the game was startlingly more linear, with nothing really like the world map exploration of BG I, and I really felt like nongood characters were really screwed over with the number of Evil party members, romances, and the paths/rewards of both sidequests and the main quests.
4) IWD 2 the 3e ruleset worked surprisingly well, although in some ways I still prefer the one of the older games. I really appreciated the addition of subraces, but the customization still felt limiting (particularly I n the cleric deity selection) *very* linear with no real ability to backtrack. The lack of any personality or characterization for the party members or PC was a failing as well, I feel.
5) IWD I All the same problems as IWD2, but with the gameplay/UI frustrations of BG I and some brutally tough fights on top of that. I felt it was a frustrating and unrewarding experience.
6) BG II ToB: Ugh, it's a real shame Beamdog didn't get permission from WoTC to make any substantial changes with the series, because this entry *needs* it. Stupidly linear, incredibly short, almost nothing in the way of side quests, and very little opportunity to RP. Such a disappointing end to a fantastic series. (at least until Murder in Baldur's Gate showed up and one-upped it in awfulness)
2. Planescape: Torment - The best story in any game/movie/book I have ever witnessed. The world of Planescape is so unique and has many aspects flipped upside down (dangerous rats etc.). Similarly to BG1 it has this sense of freedom but in developing your character and in the way you talk to others. The areas , the characters and overall game looks amazing. It definately has the best music. I find the combat very enjoyable, even though it is considered the weakest point of the game. Planescape: Torment is just a beautiful game.
Between the above games and the rest there is a huge gap in my opinion.
3. Icewind Dale - Maybe I was expecting too much from this, but for a game that is combat focused I was a bit disappointed that most of the enemies are "monsters". It feels wierd to encounter so little other parties/npcs. It always baffled me that you can find an axe that has bouns damage vs dwarves, but you don't fight a single dwarf in this game. It has great music and locations and the best experience is to play multiplayer with friends. Overall I like to play it from time to time.
4. Baldur's Gate 2 - The biggest disappointment for me. Maybe it's because I was expecting the same game as BG1 and it's not a bad game, but I had to force myself to finish it. It misses many things I liked about the first game: the freedom, a lot areas to explore, many joinable npcs to choose (competent thieves), the overall art style. I don't like Irenicus as a villan, I don't care about his revenge, or Imoen so I had no motivation to chase after him. The combat is terrible with so many immunities that characters/monsters just pull out of their butts. Oh, and the last thing - romances, they are awful. Not a bad game, but has it's problems in my opinion.
5. Icewind Dale II - I like the beginning of the game, but further on it gets tedious and just falls apart. I think it was supposed to make the game more difficult, but getting no exp later on and enemies having immunities for no reason is just lazy in my opinion. I don't like the ending part and both Isair and Madae feel like a waste of time. The game has potential, I wish it was better.
So, yeah I have strong opinion about the IE games. I love some and don't like the other ones, though I won't argue and defend my favourites, since it's a matter of opinion. I'm glad that many people sill play and enjoy them.
1. Baldur's gate 2 - I like the mid levels MUCH better than traipsing around in fear of kobolds. Plus David Warner. Although it does tend to be more linear than BG1, it is still somewhat of dealer's choice in parts.
2. Baldur's Gate 1 - The original and, until 2 came out, that which all others were compared.
3. Plane Scape - Not so much because I enjoyed this as much as the others, but I recognize the accomplishment here.
4. IWD - I love a good dungeon romp and this gave me "MY" party to play with.
5. IWD2 - I don't fault the game. I just didn't think that 3E was necessary here. I'd have been happy with 2E just fine.
2. Shadows of Amn
3. Icewind Dale
4. Planescape: Torment
5. IWD2
1. BG2
2. IWD
3. IWD2
4. PS:T
5. BG1
BG2 is my number one because it was the first IE game I ever played, and I absolutely fell in love with it. At this point, I have probably played through it a couple of hundred times, and I know almost every quest, location, and character in detail. The complex story behind Irenicus and the development of the PC as a Bhaalspawn also made me really invest a part of myself into the game. Also, the epic dragon fights made me so angry when I first played the game years ago, since I didn't know what the Breach spell was or how important pre-buffing was.
IWD is number two for a variety of reasons; the music from Jeremy Soule is absolutely amazing and it really made the game for me. Starting in Easthaven and hearing the towns music start made me love the game the first time I played it. I also like the fact that it feels like BG2, but it also feels different since it is more focused on dungeon crawling and the story isn't about the PC or the party, but is instead about the evils in the region. The setting, the story, the characters (Poquelin/Belhifet, Illmadia, Larrel, Icasaracht) were also strong in my opinion. Most people happen to forget about the crazy twist at the end, when we find out that the narrator was actually Belhifet the whole time.
IWD2 is my number three, mainly because of the story continuation from IWD and also because it added a variety of new races and kits to play as, which I thought was amazing. The 3.0 rules that the game used did take me a while to get used to, but once I figured it out the game really came together for me. However, I do feel that certain parts of the game are kind of weak, mainly towards the end when you get to the Severed Hand. I mean, Isair and Madae just let you walk all over the place and kill everything, it's kind of ridiculous. The fact that Orrick wasn't voiced also diminished the big finale, since it was practically just Isair and Madae that were voiced at the end.
PS:T is number four mainly because it was the last IE game I played, and I didn't really understand the hype over it. I agree that the story is very strong and so are the characters, but it just didn't really do it for me. Maybe it's because it didn't have enough big battles for me, i.e. dragon fights. I do think that the story of Ravel is interesting, especially since she's references in IWD and IWD2, I think the both of these games mention that the Seer and Firtha Kedros are parts of Ravel.
Finally, my last game is BG1 and the main reason is that the game is far too low leveled for me. You don't get access to lvl 6 or higher spells, and the NPC's are far too spread apart. Some of the quests are also kind of hard to find/do without some sort of guide, and the fact that Baldur's Gate is split into so many areas is kind of irritating to me, although it does make the city seem pretty huge. Meanwhile, Sarevok's plan was very iffy, mainly since even he didn't know if it would work, and the big revelation over the PC's parentage is revealed in a scroll that some players probably missed. The large amount of somewhat empty map areas also kind of destroy the game for me. In most map areas you just do one or two quest's and then you never need to come back.
2) PST - one of the most fantastic stories in gaming
3) IWD2 - linear but captivating story, plus 3E rules
4) IWD1 - too combat focused, but awesome scenery & music
5) BG1 - better exploration but too low leveled
2. BG2 -- just the best overall experience for NO-RELOAD runs; has SCS; therefore my most played game
3. IWD2 -- best polished game; unfortunately no challenge at all : because it lacks SCS!!!
4. IWD1 -- really solid game; lacks SCS
5. BG1 -- fairly good actually; too many open spaces; eclipsed by others
PST - The best story and characters, but it's super clunky which can make simple tasks frustrating and it's just a bit too wordy for me.
BG1 - The exploration and atmosphere, knowing the danger that could lurk behind every corner or tree is very exciting first time around. Lack of substantial sidequests, replayability and poor storytelling bring it down a bit for me.
IWD2 - Functionally the best, but like IWD1 it's a bit of a tiresome dungeon crawler. Haven't actually completed it.
IWD - Quite forgettable really. I don't think it offers anything that another IE game doesn't do better.
2. BG1. Really only lacking in how alive the NPCs seem. I love the wide open exploration.
3. IWD. More of a step down. But I love the epic sprawling battles and beautiful graphics.
4. IWD2. Huge step down. I like some parts of the game play, but 3E is just not my thing.
5. PST. I'm just not in to the naval gazing or overly bizarre setting.
2. BG2. This is a close second. But it is second because runs headlong into epic level play, which I don't care for as much. You and your (mostly non-Bhaalspawn) party literally reach levels higher than many of Faerun's gods. The high level spells and HLAs are neat. But the sky practically rains extremely powerful items, which has a sort of inflationary effect, cheapening them for me. While the villain is top notch, the metaphysical stuff about your soul is a bit murky and hard to follow. On the other hand, the dark and exotic atmosphere is really well done.
3) IWD. I tried playing this game a few times and quickly got bored. The snowy landscape made me almost antsy. I got the feeling that the game was mainly about combat mechanics.
4) IWD 2. I tried it once and didn't care for the ruleset.
5) PST. I have tried several times to get into this game over the years but I just can't. Strange! It just does not engage me at all starting out. I can never seem to push on to get past that.