BG1 vs BG2 Whats better?

ballsackattack

Its my full opinion that bg1 is definatly better than bg2. Why? Well first its got those memories, music, and beyond exceptional story, i mean serovok? Comon hes the best villin from our childhoods. But most of all its better because its actually relatable in a way. We can definatley relate to a busy rual town other than hellfire and god like enimies. For example look at lord of the rings, very simillar to bg1 in many ways. Why did people like Lotr? Its not crazy out of this world its a real situation with a flare of magic! Just as BG1 is. Who could imagine fighting dragons and illithis? Shure its fun but the real aspect of fighting a hard battle against a wolf with a long sword and chainmail armor.. thats actually been done no doubt. Its real! The city of bg is just as one would have been in the middle ages with a little flare. Too much flare and the relatability is gone.. Thats my argument and i would love feedback or different opinions(:

SharGuidesMyHand

You've touched on some of the reasons that I too find BG1 to be much preferable over BG2.

I've already outlined my grievances with BG2 in much more detail in this somewhat controversial thread: http://forum.baldursgate.com/discussion/32657/ive-come-to-feel-that-bg2-is-very-overrated-as-an-rpg/p1

In a nutshell, BG2 is unquestionably the more elaborate game, BUT:
1. While it has much more content in terms of weapons, spells, etc., much of this content is often less appreciable because the game is constantly nerfing it (i.e: making certain enemies immune to any weapons below a certain THAC bonus). Consequently, the game comes to feel like a continual rat race to find new and better weapons to replace your current ones.
2. BG1 allowed for much more freedom to wander, explore, investigate, and improvise on your journeys. By contrast, the majority of BG2 (even the stronghold sidequests) feels overlong, lineal, and (on subsequent replays) very repetitive. In fact, the majority of BG2 seems to be spent either searching a dungeon or trying to escape from one.
3. BG1 is much better balanced in terms of combat - it can probably be won by just about any approach once the player perfects it. By contrast, BG2 is very poorly balanced, with a top-heavy emphasis on magic, and basically forces you to have a magic-oriented party. The magic is also often very cheesy, with more ways to insta-kill (or be insta-killed) than I can count.

sirthaddaeus

bg1 is better than bg2 in my book. one of the things that i didn't like about bg2 besides all the points made by @SharGuidesMyHand‌ is that i felt they tried to cram as much D&D lore into the game. i mean references to dragonlance, spelljammer to name a few and so many wild and exotic locations. it just felt forced and didn't flow well together like bg1 did.

OlvynChuru

In my opinion, Bg2 is better. Here's why:

1. Fighters can actually hit things consistently, so combat isn't as luck-based.
2. Companions have a lot more depth.
3. All the weapons in Bg1 are basically the same except that some deal slightly more damage or are slightly more accurate than others. There's a lot more weapon variety in Bg2.
4. In general, I just find high level DnD a lot more fun than low level.

SharGuidesMyHand

OlvynChuru said:

Fighters can actually hit things consistently, so combat isn't as luck-based.

I think that depends on what they're trying to hit though - many enemies in BG2 have been given (rather cheesy IMO) immunities to many weapons.

SharGuidesMyHand

ballsackattack said:

But most of all its better because its actually relatable in a way. We can definatley relate to a busy rual town other than hellfire and god like enimies.

I'd also add that I find the characters, and especially the enemies, in BG1 to be generally more memorable, if not iconic. I suspect that that may be because many of the leading BG2 enemies, with the exception of a few characters like Irenicus, are actually monsters - i.e: a troll king, a "shade lord," a beholder, some dragons, etc - whereas the BG1 enemies are typically people with more identifiable personas.