Skip to content

Took me 130 hours to beat BG2. What am I doing wrong?

IntoTheDarknessIntoTheDarkness Member Posts: 118
edited May 2015 in General Discussion (Spoiler Warning!)



I've already played BG2 before and I am familiar with all game mechanics. I only did the main quest and important side quests(ones that appear on the map). I didn't even bother buffing pre-battle to save time as all encounters felt easy. I never died and was forced to reload. It took me 130 in-game hours to just beat BG2 portion of the game, however. (I measured it using a software.)

Then I went to (http://howlongtobeat.com/) to find out that BG2EE, on average, took

57 Hours for Main + Extras.

Am I doing something wrong? How is it even possible to do the main quest and major side quests in 57 hours?

Comments

  • MetallomanMetalloman Member, Moderator, Translator (NDA) Posts: 3,975
    edited May 2015
    130 real time hours or 130 in game hours? XD
    Could it be that you own BGII:EE on Steam and you left the game running on pause during meals or other? Steam counts the running time so if you left the game on while doing other things this is an explanation.
  • JoshBGJoshBG Member Posts: 91
    Are you reading every dialogue? :)
  • IntoTheDarknessIntoTheDarkness Member Posts: 118
    JoshBG said:

    Are you reading every dialogue? :)

    Yes. Although I have played the game, I rather enjoy the stories and dialogues.
    Metalloman said:

    130 real time hours or 130 in game hours? XD
    Could it be that you own BGII:EE on Steam and you left the game running on pause during meals or other? Steam counts the running time so if you left the game on while doing other things this is an explanation.

    130 in-game hours. I literally spent 130 interactive hours on BG2 portion of the game, only! T_T so sad when there are so many other games I look forward to and so little time..
  • semiticgoddesssemiticgoddess Member Posts: 14,903
    Time to complete a game is not a reliable measure of one's skill or what have you. Much of that time may have been spent walking around, shopping, going over spellbooks, inventory management, and so forth.

    If you take an unusually short period of time to complete a game, you're probably good at it. The opposite does not hold true for open-ended games like BG2.
  • dunbardunbar Member Posts: 1,603
    I agree that the time you take to complete BG is not an indicator of your skill at the game. Also I suspect that there could be some confusion as to the definition of 'in-game' hours - I'm certainly not sure, but I do know that I spend a heck of a lot of time with the game paused (while I strategize/panic/make tea etc.).
  • CoM_SolaufeinCoM_Solaufein Member Posts: 2,606
    Sounds like you are enjoying yourself. Perfect games are not meant to be rushed through.
  • elminsterelminster Member, Developer Posts: 16,317
    I can see that. There are a lot of people to talk to in Athkatla, let alone Trademeet and any of the other areas. So I could see someone spending a lot of time playing through the game. Heck I think I have 200 hours of BG2EE on Steam and I've only gotten through 1 playthrough there (I've got a few other playthroughs going including one that just got to ToB).
  • ArchaosArchaos Member Posts: 1,421
    I think it takes VERY roughly 200 hours for BG1, 150 for BG2 and whatever for ToB if you do everything and take your time.

    Don't worry about that time.
  • JuliusBorisovJuliusBorisov Member, Administrator, Moderator, Developer Posts: 22,760
    Believe, you're as close to being right, not wrong, if you beat BG2 in 130 instead of 57 hours.

    The more you play this game (complete each quest, chat with each NPC, explore each corner of each map), the better.
  • brunardobrunardo Member Posts: 527
    Yeah thats the beauty of this game, take your time exploring everything
  • FinneousPJFinneousPJ Member Posts: 6,455
    @Archaos Why do you budget more hours for BG1 than 2? I would imagine it is the other way round.
  • BelanosBelanos Member Posts: 968
    Why are you even worried about it? If you enjoyed those 130 hours, then it was time well spent. Playing a computer game is about having fun, it's not a race where you have to always make your best time.
  • ArchaosArchaos Member Posts: 1,421
    edited May 2015
    FinneousPJ said:

    @Archaos Why do you budget more hours for BG1 than 2? I would imagine it is the other way round.

    It's what I remember and experienced. BG2 has more condensed stuff but BG1 has many huge areas that take some time to fully explore even if they're mostly empty.

    There's also the Baldur's Gate city that has 9 districts with a ton of houses and NPCs to talk to.

    I believe even my ingame days where far more than the days in BG2, and that's on my second playthrough of BG1.
  • DreadKhanDreadKhan Member Posts: 3,857
    If you play BG2 like a storyless dungeoncrawl, 57 hours seems more reasonable.

    Rushing a storybased RPG just MIGHT be missing the point. I'm certain if you only care about number-crunching dungeoncrawls that better systems exist. 2nd Ed is not very amenable to this modern playstyle.
  • SertoriusSertorius Member Posts: 172
    Doing it fast makes it sound like a chore or something. Unless you are doing a speedrun, the more time you spend, the more entertainment you get from it.

    You are playing a singleplayer game, as long as you are enjoying yourself, there is no wrong way to go about it.

    Or, at least, that's how I see it.
Sign In or Register to comment.

2025 Overhaul Games, a division of Beamdog. © 2025 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Forgotten Realms, Baldur's Gate, Wizards of the Coast and their logos are trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. and are used with permission. © 1998 BioWare Corp. All Rights Reserved. BioWare, the BioWare Infinity Engine and the BioWare logo are trademarks of Bioware Corp. Black Isle Studios and the Black Isle Studios logo are trademarks of Interplay Entertainment Corp. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.