BG - With the BGTutu version? Hmm. I loved it. I like lower level campaigns as you tend to value the story and characters more, and fights feel much more tactical rather than just you overpowering the enemy. BG2 - The linear progression was pretty annoying, I loved taking directions in BG1 without having to find a "quest giver" or activating it.
BG1+2 - I had a big issue with the UI though. Not being able to switch between a two handed weapon and a one handed weapon + shield without manually entering the inventory screen was annoying.
All - Multiplayer bugs out the wazoo. So many times I would be picking up an item as someone transitioned to another screen and it would duplicate or dissapear. Or when the host was alt tabbed the main character was invincible until he tabbed back in, and then CHARNAME would die a horrible death from pent up damage. Or, if someone was alt tabbed and you traded them an item, the game would freeze until they tabbed back in. Sometimes scripted events where the camera would move for everyone would fail in multiplayer too, this was mostly an issue in IWD2.
I got it on my second try. Got Viconia to drink a potion of magic resistance, which brought it to 100%. The demon wasted his best spells on her. Then Shar-Teel rushed him hasted with a potion a strength, and I got him pretty quickly.
I'm picturing Shar-Teel just tackling Alec'Letec to the ground and beating him to death with her bare hands, an image which is probably going to cause me to bat my eyes and coquettishly bite my lower lip at her when next I play the game.
...Look, I don't deny that she'd wear the pants in the relationship. Don't judge me!
She probably crushed his skull with her 18/58 thighs.
The trick with vamp wolves and ghouls is to avoid their paralyzing touch/bite. In the case of vamp wolves, they can only be hurt by +1 or better weapons, so you need lots of +1 artillery, and then use the scatter-and-ranged fire techinique. (i.e., scatter your party into a wide circle around the enemy, and whichever party memeber the vamp wolf attacks should run away while the other five keep firing.)
If you don't have +1 artillery, you flee at sight of a vamp wolf. That one you're talking about is very close to the edge of that map, so the right thing to do in the case you've described would have been to run off the map back to Beregost immediately, and then go around long to Nashkel to avoid the vamp wolf's territory.
There are lots of situations in good D&D games where you're supposed to realize that you're in over your head, and know when to retreat. For me, that's what makes it so much fun. I love managing all the tactical battles.
The journal annoyed me the most. All the quests were mixed up and it was hard to tell what's what.
I guess I'm spoiled by categorizing all the info per quest and sorting it by finished/unfished
I agree 1000%.... That's why am as OCD to try to get all the different entries in order if I can... Like when doing the mine, I'll get all the mine entries, when doing the Brage subquest I'll get all his entries, etc. It's tedious lol.
It wasn't that BG committed some unforgivable sin or anything, but I did lose interest. I wonder why.
I think I stopped playing the first time because Minsc turned on me for not saving his babe. Too bad really.. I was like.. one boss fight away from her. And I gave up frustrated I think.
The second time I played BG, it felt slower paced compared to NWN I guess. Plus, NWN had role play servers. Geeze. Played that up to 2010 XD Great times, but.. Time to start a real career and not a pretend career.
Right now though, I'm looking for a great iPad game for my late summer vacation. When I googled up BG: EE, I found much more than I hoped for.
Yeah, I get that completely. As in, sometime you are meant to -run-, or come prepared. I didn't exactly have +1 weapons at hand there, will try again another time. Of course I know, and "embrace" the Ghouls touches and what not, but the point was - party level / encounter.
Here's one I forgot - When you play single classed you can get your NPCs at 1st level if you grab them before level-up, but when you multi-class, you get them at 2nd level regardless. Kinda dumb... The game basically considers you higher level and makes them higher level as a result.
9) BG2 -- Beginning of the game assumes you played as good aligned in BG1. I know, I know, I know - This was almost impossible to change but I remember playing it and being like... these people got captured with me? They weren't even in my party lol.
I was really looking forward to BG2 but I always assumed that the party from my final save in BG1 would be there with me. It was so disappointing to find they had all gone.
This is probably my #1 biggest complaint about BG2 as well. I would NEVER finish BG1 with a party consisting of Minsc, Jaheira, and Khalid, which is a rather weak party IMO. Give me Kivan, Coran, Yeslick, Shar-Teel, or Kaigan over any of those characters.
In general, I'm disappointed that my favorite NPCs (Kivan, Coran, Shar-Teel) didn't return in some capacity as playable characters. I do credit the makers for making Minsc, Jaheira, and Viconia much more efficient and likable in BG2, but that makes the game feel like a whole separate entity rather than a direct sequel.
I also don't like BG2's bias toward magic. BG1 was much more well-balanced IMO: you could win the game with almost any approach as long as you did it well enough. Personally, I liked to play with an all-ranged party: I could pump any spellcaster full of poisoned arrows/bolts before they could even start a spell, and the poison would prevent them from getting off spells for several rounds. In BG2, the makers cheated spellcasters so that their spells wouldn't be interrupted even when getting hit and/or poisoned. Too much of the game is predicated on casting or dispelling magic IMO.
In the same vein, BG2 suffers from a lack of NPC thieves and high quality archers (again, coinciding with the game's bias toward magic users). BG2 has only TWO NPC thieves who can still level up - one is a multi-class, and the other... well, you know the problem there. ;-) If you try to use Imoen and Nalia as your thieves, you have to buff them up with items and potions, which is a hassle. As far as archers go, the only one in BG2 that compares with the likes of Kivan or Coran is Mazzy IMO.
It wasn't that BG committed some unforgivable sin or anything, but I did lose interest. I wonder why.
I can relate to this too.
As visually impressive and detailed as BG1 is on the surface (especially at the time it was released), the game is fundamentally very repetitive in a lot of ways. Every city is essentially the same, every house in each city is essentially the same, and even many of the dungeons/sewers, forest areas, and enemies begin to feel the same after a time. Probably my biggest disappointment in all of gaming history was finally arriving at the city of Baldur's Gate and realizing it was essentially just a larger and more tedious repeat of Beregost. IMO, the city of Athkatla in BG2 is what Baldur's Gate SHOULD'VE been in BG1 - a lot more variety of characters and scenarios. I know many people will argue that BG1 gives a player more opportunity to "explore," which is probably true - but IMO, there is simply a lot LESS to actually explore in BG1. IMO, the makers of BG2 did a much better job of keeping the game fresh, original, and spontaneous all the way through. The exception to what I've said here is Durlag's Tower, which essentially provides a taste of the challenges a player will experience in BG2.
I also feel the character interactions were woefully underdeveloped in BG1, especially when compared to BG2. Although I actually think characters like Kivan and Shar-Teel are "cooler" than their counterparts in BG2, they simply don't interact nearly as much as they could/should. I would deliberately "mismatch" characters in BG1 to try to force interactions, but they were still too few and far between IMO. The exception here is the Jaheira/Khalid and Montaron/Xzar combo, who are basically destined to fight if you keep them together.
As visually impressive and detailed as BG1 is on the surface (especially at the time it was released), the game is fundamentally very repetitive in a lot of ways. Every city is essentially the same, every house in each city is essentially the same, and even many of the dungeons/sewers, forest areas, and enemies begin to feel the same after a time. Probably my biggest disappointment in all of gaming history was finally arriving at the city of Baldur's Gate and realizing it was essentially just a larger and more tedious repeat of Beregost. IMO, the city of Athkatla in BG2 is what Baldur's Gate SHOULD'VE been in BG1 - a lot more variety of characters and scenarios. I know many people will argue that BG1 gives a player more opportunity to "explore," which is probably true - but IMO, there is simply a lot LESS to actually explore in BG1. IMO, the makers of BG2 did a much better job of keeping the game fresh, original, and spontaneous all the way through. The exception to what I've said here is Durlag's Tower, which essentially provides a taste of the challenges a player will experience in BG2.
I also feel the character interactions were woefully underdeveloped in BG1, especially when compared to BG2. Although I actually think characters like Kivan and Shar-Teel are "cooler" than their counterparts in BG2, they simply don't interact nearly as much as they could/should. I would deliberately "mismatch" characters in BG1 to try to force interactions, but they were still too few and far between IMO. The exception here is the Jaheira/Khalid and Montaron/Xzar combo, who are basically destined to fight if you keep them together.
I really don't know what you're talking about with the whole "everything is the same" idea. Nothing about the exploration felt similar to every other area - and the cities were unique as well. Through many playthroughs I still enjoy going through the Xvart village, roaming along the coast, exploring the Halfling town, dying to traps in Ulcaster...
While I'll agree that there is much better character development / interaction in BG2, I must state that this is the 2nd game in the series, and naturally they'd improve on such aspects.
BG -- Can't sleep in Viconia's bed. FIX THIS PLEASE! BG2 -- Viconia dumps me after I sleep in her bed. FIX THIS TOO! IWD -- Didn't get to see Poquelin and Yxunomei's armies fight. Why did I kill them all?
Best and funniest comment I've seen on this board so far! Congratulations!
Moreover, as someone commented, Level Drain is such a drag in BG2. Those vampires are so immensely overpowered. If they had one or two attacks with level drain, then fine. But every stinking attack removes levels. I especially hate having a level drained cleric or mage. Bugs me having to fill in the spell slots again.
I really don't know what you're talking about with the whole "everything is the same" idea. Nothing about the exploration felt similar to every other area - and the cities were unique as well. Through many playthroughs I still enjoy going through the Xvart village, roaming along the coast, exploring the Halfling town, dying to traps in Ulcaster...
I'd say about three-quarters of both Beregost and Baldur's Gate were comprised of houses with almost the exact same floorplan - one or two people on the first floor who simply say, "Please leave my house," and then ignore you while you ransack their house, and a second floor with one or two locked chests on the far end of the floor.
The sewers under Baldur's Gate felt to me like a tedious and unnecessary rehash of previous dungeon crawls, with even less challenges - a very frustrating and disappointing experience at such a late stage in the game.
Here's one - Not being able to camp in level 4 (without the aid of an adventurer's party) or level 5 (at all) in Dragon's Eye. Level 5 isn't easy by any means, and it's a b*tch having to walk all the way back out again to heal up / get magic back.
1. BG: Attempts on the player life didn't scale with their level. I don't mean scale in terms of TES/Dragon age:Origins, I mean storywise. Rulers of the forgotton Realms should be have some concept of what it would take to destroy a major character. So I'm hoping if things are now more optimised I will see an entire army charging towards me at some point.
Hardcore mode giving enemies more health and making them hit harder. There was a thread about this, and maybe it will appear in a mod (like Fields of the Dead) but I'd rather see more iron equiptment breaking, higher store prices, less magical equipment (or on harder enemies), etc.
16) IWD -- Changing store inventories. Better buy that item soon - OR ITS GONE. Why do make it so hard to make money, and then make it even harder by taking away certain items if I don't buy them soon enough? How about you place those items in dungeons instead, since some of them are the coolest ones in the game.. This is Dungeons and Dragons not Merchants and Barmaids! :P
Here's another one - when you export a character in Icewind Dale into a character sheet (Output text file I think it is) it doesn't export their biography. In fact, there's no real way to get that info out of the game except writing it down. Additionally, the biography section is really buggy and lagged so writing them takes forever.
Comments
BG2 - I wish it read my save file and included those party members at the start.
BG2 - The linear progression was pretty annoying, I loved taking directions in BG1 without having to find a "quest giver" or activating it.
BG1+2 - I had a big issue with the UI though. Not being able to switch between a two handed weapon and a one handed weapon + shield without manually entering the inventory screen was annoying.
All - Multiplayer bugs out the wazoo. So many times I would be picking up an item as someone transitioned to another screen and it would duplicate or dissapear. Or when the host was alt tabbed the main character was invincible until he tabbed back in, and then CHARNAME would die a horrible death from pent up damage. Or, if someone was alt tabbed and you traded them an item, the game would freeze until they tabbed back in. Sometimes scripted events where the camera would move for everyone would fail in multiplayer too, this was mostly an issue in IWD2.
The trick with vamp wolves and ghouls is to avoid their paralyzing touch/bite. In the case of vamp wolves, they can only be hurt by +1 or better weapons, so you need lots of +1 artillery, and then use the scatter-and-ranged fire techinique. (i.e., scatter your party into a wide circle around the enemy, and whichever party memeber the vamp wolf attacks should run away while the other five keep firing.)
If you don't have +1 artillery, you flee at sight of a vamp wolf. That one you're talking about is very close to the edge of that map, so the right thing to do in the case you've described would have been to run off the map back to Beregost immediately, and then go around long to Nashkel to avoid the vamp wolf's territory.
There are lots of situations in good D&D games where you're supposed to realize that you're in over your head, and know when to retreat. For me, that's what makes it so much fun. I love managing all the tactical battles.
I guess I'm spoiled by categorizing all the info per quest and sorting it by finished/unfished
It wasn't that BG committed some unforgivable sin or anything, but I did lose interest. I wonder why.
I think I stopped playing the first time because Minsc turned on me for not saving his babe. Too bad really.. I was like.. one boss fight away from her. And I gave up frustrated I think.
The second time I played BG, it felt slower paced compared to NWN I guess. Plus, NWN had role play servers. Geeze. Played that up to 2010 XD Great times, but.. Time to start a real career and not a pretend career.
Right now though, I'm looking for a great iPad game for my late summer vacation. When I googled up BG: EE, I found much more than I hoped for.
Yeah, I get that completely. As in, sometime you are meant to -run-, or come prepared. I didn't exactly have +1 weapons at hand there, will try again another time.
Of course I know, and "embrace" the Ghouls touches and what not, but the point was - party level / encounter.
@ekster
Must agree, the journal was quite messy, especially if you hoarded all the side-quests while wandering around.
In general, I'm disappointed that my favorite NPCs (Kivan, Coran, Shar-Teel) didn't return in some capacity as playable characters. I do credit the makers for making Minsc, Jaheira, and Viconia much more efficient and likable in BG2, but that makes the game feel like a whole separate entity rather than a direct sequel.
I also don't like BG2's bias toward magic. BG1 was much more well-balanced IMO: you could win the game with almost any approach as long as you did it well enough. Personally, I liked to play with an all-ranged party: I could pump any spellcaster full of poisoned arrows/bolts before they could even start a spell, and the poison would prevent them from getting off spells for several rounds. In BG2, the makers cheated spellcasters so that their spells wouldn't be interrupted even when getting hit and/or poisoned. Too much of the game is predicated on casting or dispelling magic IMO.
In the same vein, BG2 suffers from a lack of NPC thieves and high quality archers (again, coinciding with the game's bias toward magic users). BG2 has only TWO NPC thieves who can still level up - one is a multi-class, and the other... well, you know the problem there. ;-) If you try to use Imoen and Nalia as your thieves, you have to buff them up with items and potions, which is a hassle. As far as archers go, the only one in BG2 that compares with the likes of Kivan or Coran is Mazzy IMO.
I can relate to this too.
As visually impressive and detailed as BG1 is on the surface (especially at the time it was released), the game is fundamentally very repetitive in a lot of ways. Every city is essentially the same, every house in each city is essentially the same, and even many of the dungeons/sewers, forest areas, and enemies begin to feel the same after a time. Probably my biggest disappointment in all of gaming history was finally arriving at the city of Baldur's Gate and realizing it was essentially just a larger and more tedious repeat of Beregost. IMO, the city of Athkatla in BG2 is what Baldur's Gate SHOULD'VE been in BG1 - a lot more variety of characters and scenarios. I know many people will argue that BG1 gives a player more opportunity to "explore," which is probably true - but IMO, there is simply a lot LESS to actually explore in BG1. IMO, the makers of BG2 did a much better job of keeping the game fresh, original, and spontaneous all the way through. The exception to what I've said here is Durlag's Tower, which essentially provides a taste of the challenges a player will experience in BG2.
I also feel the character interactions were woefully underdeveloped in BG1, especially when compared to BG2. Although I actually think characters like Kivan and Shar-Teel are "cooler" than their counterparts in BG2, they simply don't interact nearly as much as they could/should. I would deliberately "mismatch" characters in BG1 to try to force interactions, but they were still too few and far between IMO. The exception here is the Jaheira/Khalid and Montaron/Xzar combo, who are basically destined to fight if you keep them together.
While I'll agree that there is much better character development / interaction in BG2, I must state that this is the 2nd game in the series, and naturally they'd improve on such aspects.
The sewers under Baldur's Gate felt to me like a tedious and unnecessary rehash of previous dungeon crawls, with even less challenges - a very frustrating and disappointing experience at such a late stage in the game.
Hardcore mode giving enemies more health and making them hit harder. There was a thread about this, and maybe it will appear in a mod (like Fields of the Dead) but I'd rather see more iron equiptment breaking, higher store prices, less magical equipment (or on harder enemies), etc.