I just completed the Siege of Dragonspear and man, ending made me so angry.. in good, immersive way It was a great expansion, just amazing quality! I loved the mixture of exploration and narrative storytelling, how you could interact with Crusade, do quests in diffrent ways, what can you do with Spectacles of Spectacle (do I remember name correctly? ) and all of the companions I traveled with: that would be Viconia, Baeloth, Glint, Corwin and M'khiin - for goblin friend I cared the least. Perhaps other party would resolve in more banters, because I didn't get too much of them... but when they didn't talk with each other, I could ask for their opinion during the conversations. That was cool too
I thought what with the very strange backlash going on I might leave a message for any lurking Beamdog devs.
Thanks and congratulations on SoD. I bought the first BG when I was 8 years old, I'm now 25 and I get to revisit this world, great story and all. I'm not done yet but I've enjoyed the ten plus hours I've spent getting immersed in the world so far. You should all be pretty proud of yourselves.
And story mode, goddamn, I've needed this for almost two decades.
I just thought I'd pop in to show my support amidst this insanity. Haven't finished the game. Think I'm halfway through. I'm quite enjoying it and think it's a worthy successor to BG. Thanks, devs!
I just completed the Siege of Dragonspear and man, ending made me so angry.. in good, immersive way It was a great expansion, just amazing quality! I loved the mixture of exploration and narrative storytelling, how you could interact with Crusade, do quests in diffrent ways, what can you do with Spectacles of Spectacle (do I remember name correctly? ) and all of the companions I traveled with: that would be Viconia, Baeloth, Glint, Corwin and M'khiin - for goblin friend I cared the least. Perhaps other party would resolve in more banters, because I didn't get too much of them... but when they didn't talk with each other, I could ask for their opinion during the conversations. That was cool too
Isn't singing Baeloth the best Baeloth? Hahah!
Being able to ask party members for opinions during conversations with NPCs is just one of the small innovations that make this game feel fresh despite being on a 17 year old engine.
As for banters, maybe you just got a bad batch? I have Rasaad, Minsc, Dynaheir, Neera, and Glint in my party and they seem to never run out of things to say. The only thing I don't like is how the banters are in real time instead of pausing the action like in BGII - I've had several pre-battle spell protections wear off because I don't want to interrupt the interaction
Hi everyone, just registered as i felt the need to say a few words.
First when original Baldur's Gate games came out they ware ahead of their time and i instantly fell in love with them, but that became also a problem as i soon found out i started to be very picky about what i play and rarely a game after that griped me so hard as Baldur's gate did.
So imagine my excitement when i first heard a new expansion is in the making, fallowed every stream, any new information i found about it, and when it was available for preorder i bought it with a smile on my face.
Then came the time for the last stream before release, and it started with a launch trailer during which i cried like a kid because i knew what is coming and if any other company decided to make a new Baldur's Gate game i don't know if i would feel the same to be honest.
I haven't played Siege of Dragonspear yet as i wanted to wait for 2.0 patch to start a new run from Baldur's Gate, also must say that i love the new interface, and character outlines is very nice feature, only so far found out a small problem with pathfinding as randomly one character would get stuck even when there is no obstacle, but i am sure any bugs that passed through will be sorted out.
When i start new expansion after i import my character i am absolutely sure and have no doubt about it that i will feel exactly as i did first time back in 1998.
I haven't played yet, but I was told that there was a trans character in this expansion somehow and that it was good representation - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! IT MEANS SO MUCH!!!
I haven't played yet, but I was told that there was a trans character in this expansion somehow and that it was good representation - THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! IT MEANS SO MUCH!!!
It makes me so happy to see this. The trans character is actually being expanded further, so keep an eye out for upcoming patches.
Just at the bridge and so far I'm having a blast, really feels like BG, taking right off from where BG 2 left off. I really like allot of the new UI features, class and npc comparison, I love the general loot key really reduces the tedium of clicking on each loot pile, sorting through each pile and needing to shift to the inventory to sort everything through. You can still do it if it's your thing, but to be honest I find myself very grateful for the feature . The only thing I don't like is it is a bit to dark, would rather it retained the blue and gold of BG 1:EE which I loved. Enjoy the new look and appreciate the extra effects they are a nice touch, and the maps look great so far.
As for the game experience for me it's been smooth with no bugs so far, and enjoyed the build-up to marching against the crusade, with the city crowded on the edge of war, filled with refugees as you gather support. Really appreciated some touches in some of the small quests both in call backs in BG 1 encounters (such as Sorcerer's Sundries) or the options such as dealing with a noble conspiracy.
Once everything got going I have loved the companion interaction, banters, interactions and particularly their interjections during quests and conversations and the ability to use their unique skills to deal or resolve quests (Safana's charm and voice, M'Khin's shaman's ability to talk to and help spirits etc ) and I've only just started. And I have really enjoyed the fun little quests particularly with the funny or amusing turns (seeing the new black pits was quite amusing) to how a seemingly small fetch quest became larger than expected with an encounter I didn't see coming and had a nice tie in to BG2 (the halfling treasures).
And I really like the class and race interactivity with a different dialogue relating to my characters thief skills such as when my CHARNAME had a thief attempt to rob him, or when insane mage with a sculpture fetish decided to end an encounter non-violently because my CHARNAME was an elf too. Really liked those touches, and I liked the detail of the 'you have been ambushed and must defend yourself', the one I got with forest trolls is a whole area to it's own .
Loved the returning characters they all seem very much them with some potential foreshadowing hinted at in some banters, as far as I've seen so far all done really well. Enjoying having old actors and expansions to the characters and their relationships and how the game sets up you to know certain characters even if you didn't know them through that CHARNAME's BG1 run, thus linking to their encounters in BG2 where a prior relationship is always presumed (such as Viconia just to take an example, my 2nd cleric/mage character unlike my main I created and went straight into Siege with the pre-defined good party so in the game he didn't know her, but she is a member of the Baldur's Gate forces and at the camp, so whatever character you have and even if you never take her your character would be familiar with her and her to you for the recognition in BG2 to fit mostly seamlessly through any full play through). And I really having a party camp and being able to easily companions in and out with some staying to do stuff at the camp when you want to try someone else. Despite concerns (to put it midly ) that some have kept raising about Safana she seems completely the same character as ever, still sensually seductive and forward personality with that manipulative edge or aim at times, with a sarcastic edge at times, just given depth and more develop rather than just femme fatale sex kitten. Most of the time she virtually seems figuratively drape herself all over my male CHARNAME, I wonder what she is really after , guess it'll emerge eventually. He's a charming guy, but I don't think he's that charming .
Oh, I finally found the great controversial character, she was right there, didn't even realise till afterwards, I been looking for a cleric to raise M'Khin, and only afterwards realized that was her. I thought 'that was it', that was one of the major problems seen to be shoving social agendas, and I missed it completely, unobtrusive completely. Will have to check her story I guess but I did think as a title of Shakespeare has it, much ado about nothing.
Well is not real review as I've only started the game but I wanted to in all this unnecessary controversy and such things to just add a voice telling developers and writers how much I'm enjoying the game and am glad they made it. I hope they remain proud of what they have done and don't get disheartened after this difficult week.
I think that the devs and the team deserve my congratulations and regards to make something that seemed imposible in the industry of videogames getting new content to this old but VERY beloved game. (One of my favourite). Adding even more to this epc saga of games.
They did it with not many resources, (a small company), with the baldurs gate code base destroyed in some flood... (or that I readed somewheere) re-enginering the game again for the EE, then doing new content, then surviving backlash of a horde of haters that happened to come by in this time...... If you think all from start... I think they should call this proyect Lazaro :D:D or something like that (You know the double reference).
Total epicness and the most important thing.. they did it putting efford and love in the proyect and you can feel that in tthe new product. It FEELS like Baldurs Gate... and that is not a small thing. They did it .. and they did it in one of the most valuable games of all times. (At least for me¡¡).
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, FOR REAL GO AHEAD WITH MORE¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡
What I'd like to say is that the music is SO GOOD! As a person, who fills every second of his life with it, SoD had me enamoured with the themes so damn well it's unbelievable.
I'm currently replaying the main menu theme over and over, because it gives me the same shivers BG2 menu theme did. I dare say that at least 1/3rd of the immersion comes from the themes themselves.
I'm considering getting the FLAC files on Steam and probably will end up doing that on Monday.
Yeah I gotta say, Dragonspear exceeded my expectations (and I was expecting it to be good). Thanks for all of the hard work everyone.
One of my favorite parts is Baeloth's Black Pit to End All Black Pits. That had me laughing my butt off. Baeloth has become my favorite of all the new characters. I've yet to play through BGII:EE (I was waiting for Dragonspear to come out so I could play them all with the same character), and I'm hoping Baeloth's in there somewhere. If he isn't, then he should be added in a patch (with the new Dragonspear NPC's). Maybe I should go play the Black Pits too...
I haven't finished your game yet, but with each minute of gameplay I feel compelled to keep playing. Good job on continuing the legacy of Baldur's Gate. I thank you for this great game, and wish you luck on any future endeavors (and Baldur's Gate 3 of course).
Comments
Thanks and congratulations on SoD. I bought the first BG when I was 8 years old, I'm now 25 and I get to revisit this world, great story and all. I'm not done yet but I've enjoyed the ten plus hours I've spent getting immersed in the world so far. You should all be pretty proud of yourselves.
And story mode, goddamn, I've needed this for almost two decades.
As for banters, maybe you just got a bad batch? I have Rasaad, Minsc, Dynaheir, Neera, and Glint in my party and they seem to never run out of things to say. The only thing I don't like is how the banters are in real time instead of pausing the action like in BGII - I've had several pre-battle spell protections wear off because I don't want to interrupt the interaction
First when original Baldur's Gate games came out they ware ahead of their time and i instantly fell in love with them, but that became also a problem as i soon found out i started to be very picky about what i play and rarely a game after that griped me so hard as Baldur's gate did.
So imagine my excitement when i first heard a new expansion is in the making, fallowed every stream, any new information i found about it, and when it was available for preorder i bought it with a smile on my face.
Then came the time for the last stream before release, and it started with a launch trailer during which i cried like a kid because i knew what is coming and if any other company decided to make a new Baldur's Gate game i don't know if i would feel the same to be honest.
I haven't played Siege of Dragonspear yet as i wanted to wait for 2.0 patch to start a new run from Baldur's Gate, also must say that i love the new interface, and character outlines is very nice feature, only so far found out a small problem with pathfinding as randomly one character would get stuck even when there is no obstacle, but i am sure any bugs that passed through will be sorted out.
When i start new expansion after i import my character i am absolutely sure and have no doubt about it that i will feel exactly as i did first time back in 1998.
So keep your head up and soldier through.
Anyway , I hope SOD has nice sales result and we can get new BG2 expansion pack
I pay the money , I enjoy tons of fun from baldur's gate
Beamdog , please continue work for infinity engine and improve it into better version , I will pay for IWD2-EE ,PST-EE and your brand new game
As for the game experience for me it's been smooth with no bugs so far, and enjoyed the build-up to marching against the crusade, with the city crowded on the edge of war, filled with refugees as you gather support. Really appreciated some touches in some of the small quests both in call backs in BG 1 encounters (such as Sorcerer's Sundries) or the options such as dealing with a noble conspiracy.
Once everything got going I have loved the companion interaction, banters, interactions and particularly their interjections during quests and conversations and the ability to use their unique skills to deal or resolve quests (Safana's charm and voice, M'Khin's shaman's ability to talk to and help spirits etc ) and I've only just started. And I have really enjoyed the fun little quests particularly with the funny or amusing turns (seeing the new black pits was quite amusing) to how a seemingly small fetch quest became larger than expected with an encounter I didn't see coming and had a nice tie in to BG2 (the halfling treasures).
And I really like the class and race interactivity with a different dialogue relating to my characters thief skills such as when my CHARNAME had a thief attempt to rob him, or when insane mage with a sculpture fetish decided to end an encounter non-violently because my CHARNAME was an elf too. Really liked those touches, and I liked the detail of the 'you have been ambushed and must defend yourself', the one I got with forest trolls is a whole area to it's own
Loved the returning characters they all seem very much them with some potential foreshadowing hinted at in some banters, as far as I've seen so far all done really well. Enjoying having old actors and expansions to the characters and their relationships and how the game sets up you to know certain characters even if you didn't know them through that CHARNAME's BG1 run, thus linking to their encounters in BG2 where a prior relationship is always presumed (such as Viconia just to take an example, my 2nd cleric/mage character unlike my main I created and went straight into Siege with the pre-defined good party so in the game he didn't know her, but she is a member of the Baldur's Gate forces and at the camp, so whatever character you have and even if you never take her your character would be familiar with her and her to you for the recognition in BG2 to fit mostly seamlessly through any full play through). And I really having a party camp and being able to easily companions in and out with some staying to do stuff at the camp when you want to try someone else. Despite concerns (to put it midly
Oh, I finally found the great controversial character, she was right there, didn't even realise till afterwards, I been looking for a cleric to raise M'Khin, and only afterwards realized that was her. I thought 'that was it', that was one of the major problems seen to be shoving social agendas, and I missed it completely, unobtrusive completely. Will have to check her story I guess but I did think as a title of Shakespeare has it, much ado about nothing.
Well is not real review as I've only started the game but I wanted to in all this unnecessary controversy and such things to just add a voice telling developers and writers how much I'm enjoying the game and am glad they made it. I hope they remain proud of what they have done and don't get disheartened after this difficult week.
They did it with not many resources, (a small company), with the baldurs gate code base destroyed in some flood... (or that I readed somewheere) re-enginering the game again for the EE, then doing new content, then surviving backlash of a horde of haters that happened to come by in this time...... If you think all from start... I think they should call this proyect Lazaro
Total epicness and the most important thing.. they did it putting efford and love in the proyect and you can feel that in tthe new product. It FEELS like Baldurs Gate... and that is not a small thing. They did it .. and they did it in one of the most valuable games of all times. (At least for me¡¡).
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, FOR REAL
I'm currently replaying the main menu theme over and over, because it gives me the same shivers BG2 menu theme did. I dare say that at least 1/3rd of the immersion comes from the themes themselves.
I'm considering getting the FLAC files on Steam and probably will end up doing that on Monday.
One of my favorite parts is Baeloth's Black Pit to End All Black Pits. That had me laughing my butt off. Baeloth has become my favorite of all the new characters. I've yet to play through BGII:EE (I was waiting for Dragonspear to come out so I could play them all with the same character), and I'm hoping Baeloth's in there somewhere. If he isn't, then he should be added in a patch (with the new Dragonspear NPC's). Maybe I should go play the Black Pits too...