finally signed up

Artemidorus

Hi all,

I played the original BG + ToSC back in the early aughts, and I loved it. I jumped all over BG:EE when it came out, and have played through it 4-5 times. I never played SoA back in the day, but recently picked up BG2:EE. I can't say that I enjoy it as much as the original so far--I prefer the openness of the original, and its music--but I'm giving it a shot.

rufus_hobart

Excellent, hope you continue to enjoy, and welcome to the forum! There's a whole lot of people, myself included, who enjoy BG1 over 2 for just that reason, so you're not alone. There are a myriad of threads on just that topic alone, #2 definitely takes a different approach I always found but I find them both highly entertaining. If you can get over the railroading aspect of BG2, I'd also recommend trying Icewind Dale, again a different feel but terrific setting and music makes it definitely worthwhile trying if you enjoy these sorts of games.

Artemidorus

Thanks for the welcome! I also like to play with CHARNAME + one NPC, so right now I'm missing out on some of the NPC interactions that people like so much about BG2. Eventually, I'm sure I'll play through with a full party.

rufus_hobart

Hah yeah that's definitely the bonus of BG2, the NPCs are fully fleshed out, but if you do the rotating roster trick of swapping in one and dropping the other person off, you'll get to experience most of them if you prefer not to play with a full complement of folks.

Garrik

I'd totally agree with you dude I always enjoyed Baldurs Gate 1 to 2....must because of that low level feel combined with the frustration of Sleep and Charm spells lol.

LordRumfish

I love the sandbox feel of the first game. I don't have to go to the Friendly Arm Inn if I don't wanna. In fact, I can walk off southwest and get in over my head with crazy coastal adventures involving sirens, carrion crawlers, ogre mages, and pirate treasure. I can play the majority of the game in whatever order I feel like, and in fact the main points of irritation are the NPCs I can't get to except by unlocking storyline areas.

In the second game, I feel like I am trapped by invisible walls forcing me into a particular zone, not unlike Neverwinter Nights (sure, you can do 4 different things in this area... but you have to do all of them, and ultimately your decisions have little impact on the outcome). I'm not saying I don't enjoy the 2nd game, but I don't like restrictions on where I can go or what order I do things in.

On a side note, I hope Adventure Y is more of a sandbox and less of a railroad, but that might have to wait until BG3 if such a game happens.