I couldn't help but criticize Siege's mini-hub quests in my walkthrough: they are pretty banal, with mostly token reactivity and flavor-based dialogue (i.e, fluff).
My expectations are not for Planescape: Torment, Arcanum or MotB level quest structure, but it would have been nice if Beamdog focused more on quality rather than quantity; i.e, make the quests a lil' more involved with more choices & consequences, aka reactivity. Add more lore to them, some dungeon exploration, some battles. That sort of thing.
For me, the Bridgefort siege and especially the Dwarves of Dumathoin segments are the standouts of the campaign, thus far. I was really impressed by the latter, actually: a completely optional sidequest with solid encounter/dungeon design, documented lore to discover that hinted at what you're gonna face (the puzzle, the lich), a scrying pool that tapped into the plot with fully voiced vision cutscenes (again, optional - it's for players to discover), some nice touches like how the gems that adorned the phylacteries were transferred to your inventory when you shattered them; and finally, two solutions to the quest itself (binary in nature but at least it's there!) The post in which I covered this quest is the 2nd most popular in my walkthrough, and I think that's because the quest is pretty involved and thoughtful. The ppl who designed this quest deserve to be commended!
I'm hoping I find the Underground River a lil' more interesting than I have the content covered in these last few posts. Someone in this thread said is was great, but someone on my blog found it the most burnout-inducing (comment here).
Wish me luck guys! I hope to have this done in a week!
I love your walkthrough, @Lilura. It's enjoyable to read, and I always had a look when I reached the end of a map/chapter, to find out what I missed... (And in one or two cases it also helped me when I was stuck.)
Now that parts IX and X are out, I see that I totally missed that there even were side-quests in the Dragonspear Castle courtyard. The story conveyed a sense of urgency, so I just pushed onward... It does seem weird that they decided to make that a quest hub.
The story conveyed a sense of urgency, so I just pushed onward...
I would probably have done that if I wasn't writing a walkthrough. But I had ppl pulling me up in the early Parts for missing instances of stat-based reactivity, so I couldn't skip a whole area even if I think it's mostly humdrum.
I really liked that the Crusaders also had some quests we could do, it helped demonstrate that they were just people, too, who believed in their mission.
The ppl who designed this quest deserve to be commended!
I wrote the dialogue and had a hand in molding the characters involved, but a lot of the heavy design lifting was done by Phil Daigle and a lot of the environment work was done by Lorne.
The entire dungeon was a late addition to the game, glad to hear of people enjoying it.
I finished SOD for the first time last night. I have been playing on Insane difficulty and I imported from BGEE insane difficulty with SCS. My progression has been pretty close to this guide. I would usually play an area and once I finished it, the guide would be done a day later and I could check and see if I missed anything.
I just figured I would drop in and say thanks for taking the time to make this guide. It was a nice companion throughout my play through. As for the game, I am thinking about writing a personal review of it if I find the time.
Imo, its weakest parts were its dialogue, characterizations and storyline. I hope Beamdog gives Gaider free reign over these things in their next RPG, and I hope someone who wrote Irenicus and Dragon Age: Origins (Gaider) doesn't listen too much to ppl who were involved in or approved of the writing that Siege shipped with.
For me, Siege's strengths are area design, encounter design and AI - basically everything to do with combat (including itemization). The UI is commendable and the scripting, music and voice acting, too!
I've highlighted Siege's reactivity in the walkthrough. I think it's TOO token and flavor-based, but I'm grateful that it's at least THERE. See Swordflight, Mask of the Betrayer, Arcanum and Dragon Age: Origins for RPGs with reactivity that actually counts. In fact, they are exemplars for what RPGs should strive for, if you ask me.
The segments of Siege that I most enjoyed were the Dwarves of Dumathoin and Siege of Bridgefort. Very, very cool.
So yeah, overall I thought the campaign was solid and worth my time. It certainly does not deserve a 0/10 review bombing! But again, I just hope that Gaider takes the lead in the design of their next RPG and that the other ppl at Beamdog follow him, maybe giving some input here and there but that's it.
I'm gonna do a write-up for my playthrough of Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal - my first in several years. This will be an SCS Ascension run, too! Yes, I'm quite excited. Despite my criticisms of BG2 just seeing Imoen at the end of Siege of Dragonspear gave me a lump in my throat and made me yearn for a nostalgia hit.
I won't be bumping this topic with updates so check out the announcement on my blog if you're interested in following along and giving input to the run; i.e, commenting and voting in my polls to influence how I play etc.
Thanks, Doubledimas. Swordflight is the best D&D RPG I have ever played - a peerless exemplar for the genre.
I recommend it to fans of the Baldur's Gate Series. Beamdog devs could learn a thing or two from it, too!
I'll have to play Swordflight at some point... Glad to see you played Bastard of Kosigan as well, despite the bugs that plague that series. That was one of the most enjoyable nwn modules for me, royal intrigue has never been quite that fun.
Aielund saga is also a well written series, but a little heavy handed in the last part of the saga with the good aligned roleplay and ehm power creep.
Glad to see you played Bastard of Kosigan as well, despite the bugs that plague that series. That was one of the most enjoyable nwn modules for me, royal intrigue has never been quite that fun.
This one powers along like a page-turning novel. This is how you write dialogue for an RPG. Cerutti is now a novelist.
Are you in the correct map area? The blackthorn bark quest-giver doesn't mark it on your map so it is possible to get mixed up and go to the wrong area.
(If you're in the correct area yet can't find the bark, then you just need to find the "strange tree" map marker and then click on the tree trunk.)
Are you in the correct map area? The blackthorn bark quest-giver doesn't mark it on your map so it is possible to get mixed up and go to the wrong area.
(If you're in the correct area yet can't find the bark, then you just need to find the "strange tree" map marker and then click on the tree trunk.)
No, I wasn't, Realized that right after I made the comment. I was just being obtuse.
Just want to say thanks @Lilura as your walkthrough helped me through my first two runs and felt like you covered everything and wouldve missed so much with out it
Thanks, brunardo. I missed a lot of stuff.. it was written during my one and only run but people have kindly left comments with additions and clarifications.
Comments
My expectations are not for Planescape: Torment, Arcanum or MotB level quest structure, but it would have been nice if Beamdog focused more on quality rather than quantity; i.e, make the quests a lil' more involved with more choices & consequences, aka reactivity. Add more lore to them, some dungeon exploration, some battles. That sort of thing.
For me, the Bridgefort siege and especially the Dwarves of Dumathoin segments are the standouts of the campaign, thus far. I was really impressed by the latter, actually: a completely optional sidequest with solid encounter/dungeon design, documented lore to discover that hinted at what you're gonna face (the puzzle, the lich), a scrying pool that tapped into the plot with fully voiced vision cutscenes (again, optional - it's for players to discover), some nice touches like how the gems that adorned the phylacteries were transferred to your inventory when you shattered them; and finally, two solutions to the quest itself (binary in nature but at least it's there!) The post in which I covered this quest is the 2nd most popular in my walkthrough, and I think that's because the quest is pretty involved and thoughtful. The ppl who designed this quest deserve to be commended!
I'm hoping I find the Underground River a lil' more interesting than I have the content covered in these last few posts. Someone in this thread said is was great, but someone on my blog found it the most burnout-inducing (comment here).
Wish me luck guys! I hope to have this done in a week!
It's enjoyable to read, and I always had a look when I reached the end of a map/chapter, to find out what I missed...
(And in one or two cases it also helped me when I was stuck.)
Now that parts IX and X are out, I see that I totally missed that there even were side-quests in the Dragonspear Castle courtyard.
The story conveyed a sense of urgency, so I just pushed onward...
It does seem weird that they decided to make that a quest hub.
Thank you for your kind words, Ineth.
Siege of Dragonspear Walkthrough - Part XIII
The entire dungeon was a late addition to the game, glad to hear of people enjoying it.
I just figured I would drop in and say thanks for taking the time to make this guide. It was a nice companion throughout my play through. As for the game, I am thinking about writing a personal review of it if I find the time.
I have often thought of walkthroughs like this, too.
Siege of Dragonspear Walkthrough - Part XIV
Just one more post to go...
With this post the walkthrough is complete, though I may add a few things to it in the future.
Enjoy!
For me, Siege's strengths are area design, encounter design and AI - basically everything to do with combat (including itemization). The UI is commendable and the scripting, music and voice acting, too!
I've highlighted Siege's reactivity in the walkthrough. I think it's TOO token and flavor-based, but I'm grateful that it's at least THERE. See Swordflight, Mask of the Betrayer, Arcanum and Dragon Age: Origins for RPGs with reactivity that actually counts. In fact, they are exemplars for what RPGs should strive for, if you ask me.
The segments of Siege that I most enjoyed were the Dwarves of Dumathoin and Siege of Bridgefort. Very, very cool.
So yeah, overall I thought the campaign was solid and worth my time. It certainly does not deserve a 0/10 review bombing! But again, I just hope that Gaider takes the lead in the design of their next RPG and that the other ppl at Beamdog follow him, maybe giving some input here and there but that's it.
I recommend it to fans of the Baldur's Gate Series. Beamdog devs could learn a thing or two from it, too!
I'm gonna do a write-up for my playthrough of Shadows of Amn & Throne of Bhaal - my first in several years. This will be an SCS Ascension run, too! Yes, I'm quite excited. Despite my criticisms of BG2 just seeing Imoen at the end of Siege of Dragonspear gave me a lump in my throat and made me yearn for a nostalgia hit.
I won't be bumping this topic with updates so check out the announcement on my blog if you're interested in following along and giving input to the run; i.e, commenting and voting in my polls to influence how I play etc.
Aielund saga is also a well written series, but a little heavy handed in the last part of the saga with the good aligned roleplay and ehm power creep.