Impressions so far (spoilers)

Mikey205

Right so Ive just got to the first area outside BG, and done the cave and lich and I must say im very impressed so far. The areas and music are beautiful, the companions are entertaining. Im liking Glint and Corwin, also Viconia, Dynaheir, Imoen and Minsc all seem spot on in writing. I did not like Safana but then i hated her in BG1 anyways so very glad when i met Glint. Story seems to be pretty awesome too, was surprised Sarevoks voice actor was back and that he showed up in the first dream. All in all am really enjoying it. Thanks Beamdog.

Fardragon

I feel the same about Safana. Didn't like her in BG1, not inclined to like her any more now.

Mikey205

Ye her voice is just so annoying (always has been). The one criticsm I have is that shes forced into the party. I would have preferred Imoen to be usable for that section instead and then start training afterwards like what all the other characters do. Anyway small complaint now I have kicked her for Glint happily sitting in my party.

Im liking how the new lines for Dynaheir and Viconia sound (Viconia sounds exactly the same and they upped the privileged soundingness of Dynaheir, I love the comments that she makes when her bags are full).

Minsc sounds a little too buffonish voice wise compared to BG1, but I am going to take that as being because hes very happy at this point in time (kicking evil with proven friends and his witch still being alive).

The hooded man sounds awesome.

Btw is it me or does Belt sound like Tuvok now from Star Trek, or the head dalish elf in DA:O. I liked it and the silly story about the curse. Was that voice actor in as well?

Fardragon

Minsc soulds exactly the same as he does in BG2 (which I am currently playing with the character I took through SoD).

Mikey205

Ye I havent played BG2 in quite sometime maybe im just too used to the BG1 voice (having played through it so many times recently) which was a bit deeper and more stand offish.

Just had first meeting with Caelar which was pretty epic and the "Black Pits". Tiny bit of inconsequential sloppy writing early on in BG city that could be tightened, but so far plot wise its almost BG2 level. Loved the pool of reflection though annoyed I didnt see the hooded man one as assumed Id get another vial, but loved the scene with Imoen so much. Game-wise everything is a step up from BG1, so far I'm giving it a 9/10 where BG2 is a 10 and BG1 is a 9/10 with NPC Project installed.

Also Im enjoying having some party members held back so can wander around with Mkhain and Glint a little bit. The banter and interaction there has been seriously top notch.

Im going to keep posting my thoughts and reactions in this thread. If everything stays at this level then I'll be one happy customer. Im having more fun than Pillars of Eternity so far.

Fardragon

I think you can get enough vials to see all three scenes.

Mikey205

Im playing on 2.0 at the moment cus didnt want to reinstall my BG:EE mods. Apparently theres a bug where you can only get 1 vial on difficulties lower than hard (I play on core). Its ok as its another excuse to play through again.

Fardragon

I play on core and found 3 phials.

Mikey205

On patched or 2.0 version?

Fardragon

Edit: actually, I'm not sure. I'm patched now, but that was a few weeks ago.

Mikey205

Just finished with Trollclaw Woods, wasn't quite as impressed with this area as Coastway Forest. I felt it was a bit too much of a dungeon crawler map for me without as much quest interaction as the last. Felt a bit like Cloakwood Forest mixed with Icewind Dale. However then I travelled to the Forest of Wyrms and hit an ambush, it was all a bit nondescript with some goblins and such, but then I stumbled on a scroll on a dead elf referencing the Exile and needing to keep Suldanesslar safe. I'm loving little nods like this that would make no sense to someone new playing this. The dream at the start of the Chapter was very cool too. Onward to the Forest of Wyrms now. So far it's an 8.5 out of 10.

Mikey205

One thing I'll add is that I thought BG1 did forests well, but Siege of Dragonspear forest environments have been much, much better. It genuinely feels like you're actually in a forest when wandering around. I really disliked most of the new areas in BG:EE, especially that initial snowy area in Cloudpeak Mountains for Rasaad's quest (the temple and final map were okay), but so far Siege of Dragonspear has easily surpassed both the original and BG2 in this respect. In particular the new dungeons look brilliant, caves look nice. Baldur's Gate touched up areas looked amazing as well. Area art has been fantastic. I spotted issues on 2.0 playing through BG:EE in the original areas, but hasn't affected anything in SOD areas so far. Also the river in Coastway Forest actually looked like it had water running under it.

Mikey205

Right well I had some fun in the Forest of Wyrms. Killed tons of spiders and wyverns then took down a dragon. These areas do really feel like Cloakwood. One thing I wasn't happy with was that I stumbled upon a bugbear cave and was busy clearing them out when a chief or something spoke to me. I was then given dialogue options as if I were on some quest (which I was not). I think this needs to be rewritten for ppl that just stumble on the cave (unless my char was actually meant to be bluffing). On the otherhand Im quite impressed by the new "ambushed" encounters which have been much more interesting than BG1 and 2. I stumbled across a green dragonling being attacked by giants. Decided to side with it and was rewarded with an ioun stone. Love little touches like this the encounters remind me of DA:Os little unique scenarios. So far im holding at 8.5.

mf2112

Mikey205 said:

One thing I'll add is that I thought BG1 did forests well, but Siege of Dragonspear forest environments have been much, much better. It genuinely feels like you're actually in a forest when wandering around. I really disliked most of the new areas in BG:EE, especially that initial snowy area in Cloudpeak Mountains for Rasaad's quest (the temple and final map were okay), but so far Siege of Dragonspear has easily surpassed both the original and BG2 in this respect. In particular the new dungeons look brilliant, caves look nice. Baldur's Gate touched up areas looked amazing as well. Area art has been fantastic. I spotted issues on 2.0 playing through BG:EE in the original areas, but hasn't affected anything in SOD areas so far. Also the river in Coastway Forest actually looked like it had water running under it.

The thing I didn't like in the forest areas was that the pathways felt very restricted. Several times I found my chars walking a long way around to go a short distance, and when I clicked on the map and then activated the map background to get the blue "walkable" area highlighted I realized that there large sections that were blocked off. I felt that a party with elves and a druid should be able to walk through any forest area, even if movement rate was slowed.

Mikey205

I quite like that to be honest as walking straight through thick undergrowth never feels quite right to me. Bumped into the neutral crusader camp yesterday night, felt a bit weird just running into their training camp randomly. I think instances like this could be vastly improved with some companion chat. Basically upon entering the area your companions could hint that they can see signs of crusaders and you could feedback what you'll do if you encounter them. Might be I missed something but im normally quite attentive with this sort of thing.

Fardragon

I'm inclined to agree that Forest of Wyrms with it's linear map is the weakest outdoor area in the game. Fortunately it has a cool dungeon at the end.

In general, the outdoor maps in SoD feel cramped and busy, compared to BG1 where they are open and comparatively empty.

If they had spread the same amount of content over a couple more larger maps, and made them accessible in both chapters 8 and 9 (? think those are the chapter numbers) it would have made the game feel a bit less linear.

Odd complaint: not enough empty space!

Mikey205

I don't mind the density, feels a bit more like BG2 which after 60 hours of BG1 isn't a bad thing (I love BG1 but I do get tired after so many hours of empty wilderness). I agree they should allow backtracking, I think it would be relatively easy to implement, by just removing the tents and camp NPCs from the map.

I finished exploring the Forest of Wyrms and wow, wasn't expecting that temple. You're right @Fardragon was very, very cool. Also figured out I'd had an attention lapse when talking to Jaheira who I now recall mentioning the wardstone. Anyway I'm going to enter the crusader camp tomorrow. Having a total blast.

Fardragon

Removing the tents can't really be done without having a whole new map.

However, they could have worked round the issue by not having so many encounters on the same map as the camp. For example BP1.5 and the dwarven excavation could have been on a separate map to the west that could have been accessible in chapters 8 and 9.

Mikey205

Why not they had the bridge collapse after all so a transition like that could be done. Even if they cant remove the tents just remove the NPCs or replace them with some flaming fist pansies saying they are guarding the supply lines.

LoveViconia

I liked Corwin too, so i romanced her and forced Viconia to be good so she would not leave the group. Anyway i heard some rumors about Corwin, are they real? lol

Calemyr

What rumors?

That she does something really stupid (albeit in character) at the end of the game that sours many players to her? Yes. That happens.

That she might join BG2EE? There have been many requests, and comments from blue-background folk about the hooks that could justify her inclusion. I don't think there's been any official statement on Beamdog's plans for BG2, however.

LoveViconia

@Calemyr

The rumors apparently have been mixed between Corwin and Mizhena, someone thought it was Corwin to have a "different taste", and some of her lines could really make you feel it was her, if you do check around other forum "many pretend" it's her, but now is Mizhena.

Calemyr

Huh. She's bi, I know that much. She had a husband, that went south, then experimented with other relationships, and doesn't much care what your gender is if she comes to like you. Nothing about a conflict between the wiring and the plumbing, to my knowledge. And the problem with Mizhena isn't being transgender, it's about the topic being poorly handled. Corwin, on the other hand is well written, so it doesn't come off like Chick Tract.

Mikey205

I've cleared Bridgefort and made it to the Coalition Camp. Enjoyed the Bridgefort section, was nice to be reunited with Khalid since he is my best fighter. I enjoyed the sidequests in the area, particularly the one with the Priest who's raising zombies (praise be to the Morningstar) since I a) enjoyed accusing her with no proof, b) after I pickpocketed her getting to use that in a conversation. The only thing that would be cooler is if you could accuse her before the zombie encounter.

The battle at Bridgefort was also pretty awesome, again lots of options in terms of what you can do. I chose to be suicidal, talked to the mage and announced myself. I was joined in the battle later on but that was a pretty cool battle that needed a few reloads.

The Boareskir Bridge event was a pretty cool idea, but I found the cutscene slightly underwhelming. I would have preferred an in-engine cutscene with some dialogue.

I've enjoyed all the conversations with the Hooded Man, but I have one problem which may just be my own thinking, but I feel like he talks too much like dream Irenicus as opposed to real Irenicus. Dream Irenicus always went into detail about seizing your destiny, taking control and not submitting to being merely human. But I'd assumed that he like the easy path, the bone dagger, the blood sea etc.. in BG1 and Imoen in the later BG2 dreams was a manifestation of the taint pushing you down a dark path. Real Irenicus I felt was only interested in you for what he could extract from you. Maybe I'm wrong and it was real Irenicus influencing you in the dreams, or now the BG2 dreams are warping real encounters that you'd previously had with Irenicus. It's messed with my interpretation of BG2 story quite some way. Still some way off the end I think though, so something may happen to change that. The dreams themselves in this feel a little bit too brief as well, almost wish those conversations took place in the dreams instead.

Mikey205

Anyways really enjoying the game, definitely an 8.5/10.

Purudaya

@Mikey205 The dreams in SoD - and your conversations with the Hooded Man generally – are given some context at the end of the game. I'll be curious to hear your thoughts about it

Mikey205

Sounds cool, I'm enjoying the conversations and dreams and look forward to them. Theyre just messing a bit with my prior interpretation but I only have an incomplete picture at the moment. Started exploring areas around coalition camp and encountered the dead magic zone which was an interesting fight. I think all these little "ambushes" have been varied and fun, much better than the originals which were always straight up fights mostly.

Mikey205

I'm creeping steadily forward, this game is longer than I expected (good thing). I've explored both optional neighbouring maps by the Coalition camp. Also took Neira with me for a bit to do her quest and noticed she had some entertaining banters with Dynaheir and Jaheira. Really like the interaction between old and new NPCs, as this was completely missing in BG:EE except for Viconia and Rasaad. I've had to sideline Glint for a little bit. Hope they'll consider adding some of these characters to BG2:EE, would pay for Glint, M'khain and Baeloth to be added as playable characters.

Fardragon

There are banters between the old and new npcs in BG1ee.

One thing SoD has quite a few of are challenging optional fights. You can simply walk away from the dead magic zone without fighting.

Mikey205

So I've made it to the siege now. The underground river section was great. Lots of cool encounters. Even an unexpected one with the hooded man which was cool. Made it into the crusader basemenr but think I missed out on some encounters as left after rescuing the ogres which seemed to trigger the parley and attack on coalition camp. The attack was fun, with the different teams. I've got to say im not a crazy fan of the mass battles with tons of allies. I started the siege but stopped when realised it might take a while. Shall venture forth tomorrow.

Mikey205

Fardragon said:

There are banters between the old and new npcs in BG1ee.

One thing SoD has quite a few of are challenging optional fights. You can simply walk away from the dead magic zone without fighting.

I never noticed any apart from viconia and rasaad so they cant have been amazingly memorable. I play with npc project so maybe that drowned it out