Would you buy Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition?
After a lot of debating I've decided against another run of IWD:EE and to go for IWD II instead. Downloaded the widescreen mod, Fix Pack & Tweak Pack and created my party. Well, what can I say.... the Enhanced Edition has totally spoiled me. While I thoroughly enjoy the 3E rule set, new sub-races and all the other great things the game has to offer I really miss the comfort of IWD:EE. Quick loot bar, Scaling UI and text size with resolution, polished inventory and record pages, etc.
So Beamdog... make Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition! Pretty please...?
So Beamdog... make Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition! Pretty please...?
- Would you buy Icewind Dale II: Enhanced Edition?929 votes
- I would totally play the shit out of this game91.93%
- Meh, probably not...  8.07%
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Comments
I must have all the EE-edified Infinity Engine games! ALL OF THEM.
In what way would IWD2 be enhanced? What would be changed? How it would look like? What AD&D system would it use? What spells/abilities/characters would be there?
There're lots of unknown facts about it. I really can't say now if I'll buy IWD2EE or not. It's still premature.
Either one is probably tough those engines were completely different than the BG2 modified one.
In IWD2, each caster class has its primary stat, and you need a score of 10 + spell level to cast a spell of that level. Sorcerers actually have a stat requirement.
Only 3 saving throw types, and they each have a primary ability - dexterity for reflex, wisdom for will, and constitution for fortitude. Compare that to 2nd Ed, where a fireball cast as a spell uses a different save type as a fireball cast from a wand. Why? It makes no sense at all! With 3rd edition saving throws, suddenly it becomes a lot more obvious that a mage will have a better chance at resisting Domination, whereas a rogue is more likely to save against a fireball and possibly evade it entirely.
More flexible multiclassing, etc etc. There is so much I love about that ruleset.
It isn't perfect, but it's close.
Besides the obvious graphical and engine enhancements and reduction in load times, some changes to the random loot tables would be welcome. New races and classes would also be welcome. I would love it if some races were changed to have more than one favoured class, for more variety.
New spells ported from IWD:EE would be nice, such as Timestop. Not sure if metamagic is necessary.
One thing I would like is for Battle Square to be ripped out and replaced with something better. I think just about anyone who has every played IWD2 can agree that Battle Square is a terrible idea. I would rather have something like the Black Pits. The Ice Golem should teleport you to arenas in which you fight one tough battle per rank. Your entire party, not just one character.
ID2 enhanced in a similar way to BG/BGII:EE? Yes. I really like ID2 and a modern version appearing would be awesome. However, ID2 is from a technical perspective very different from BG(II) and ID so Overhaul would basically have to start from scratch working on it. Considering what a pain the Infinity engine was it seems unlikely ID2 would be less of a hurdle and I'm not sure ID2:EE would be worth the effort. It's not "un"popular but it's hardly among the fan favourites either. Even ID didn't have the same critical acclaim as BG but at least it used the same engine so the conversion process was a lot more smooth.
Currently I'm not even buying ID:EE though, as much as I want to. Until Beamdog/Overhaul gives some support to games I've allready bought (BGII:EE patch, grrrrr!) I'm not going to be buying any new ones. The idea of a ID2:EE is currently a lot less exciting to me than the BGII patch and ID:EE.
I agree about the popularity of IWD2 and thus the slim chances of IWD2:EE. I love it, but not many others do. If I was making a decision about where to invest my resources, you can bet I would invest them into PST, because it is a far more popular game.
Nice character creation, shame about the game.
IWD2 was one of the best IE games ever made. As gameplay went it neared perfection as far as the engine goes.
In general I prefer D&D 3E over 2E anyday but the implementation of it in the infinity engine? Not so great.