My review
coucounet
Member Posts: 7
Hi folks,
I know it's a bit late to post a review on SoD since the game was released several months ago, but I read so many bad (or even agressive) reviews that I almost felt forced to post mine.
First of all, let's say I'm a huge fan of Baldur's gate saga and of the forgotten realms games. I started playing BG1 and BG2 in the early 2000's (I'm 28 now), when both still came in 5 or 6 CDs versions (epic time !), and couldn't find any RPG coming close to these since that day. Of course, like many of us, I've also played Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter, Icewind Dale II, Neverwinter nights and its extensions as well since then. Each one of these opus brought me something. To me, Neverwinter nights is probably the worst of all. The story is cheap, the graphics are cheap, only a few maps worth the game. Icewind Dale is clearly not the better one regarding the story, but I enjoyed discovering the frozen plains of the north, improving my tactics, and the maps are beautiful. Planescape Torment (which I'm playing again at the moment) left me an undescriptible feeling when I ended it for the first time. I remember telling to myself « wow, this is the most wonderful book I've ever read ». However, the Baldur's gate saga remains my favorite one, because of this perfect balance between a great storyline and great battles.
It took me a few months before I decided to download and play SoD. One of the many reasons is of course what Beamdog had done with the enhanced editions before. The GUI upgrade looks fine to me, but I never manage to get into these new baldur's gate characters, Neera, etc. The « black pits » stuff was even more disappointing, and I was afraid that Siege of Dragonspear contributed even more to this disappointment. This feeling was of cours revived by the numerous bad reviews I had read about the game, depicting a « mediocre work » or even worse.
Now that I've finished Siege of Dragonspear, I can tell that this is, to me, a good work, if not a very good work. Those who criticize the game regarding the story or the characters seem to forgot all the shit Bioware producted in their time. For instance, Tales of the sword coast is quite ridiculous on a scenaristic point of view. The first quest, with that random wizard sending you on a isolated labyrinth to bring him back some stuff is perfectly stupid. I can't detect any « baldur's gate spirit » in it. The maps, except the werewolf island maybe, are generally pointless and the Durlag's tower is just a gigantic mario level with a lot of overpowered mobs to kill. Is that really the measurement standard which we're comparing Siege of Dragonspear to ? Let's talk about Throne of Bhaal as well : is this game really worth it after all ? Of course I loved the voice of Solar, summoning a planetar, the epicness of the game, the lvl 40 characters,... but let's face the truth : the storyline is maybe the poorest of all the forgotten realms games. Fives overpowered guys to shoot one after the other. Throne of Bhaal had nothing more to see with a classical RPG, it was just a platform game disguised as a RPG. Again, is this seriously the measurement standard we're now comparing Siege of Dragonspear to ?
I wish english were my mother tongue so I could express here more clearly all the feelings I had while playing this game. All I can do here is to beg the developers (it they read this!) not to focus on the bad reviews. As I told it, I'm a huge, huge fan of the baldur's gate saga. Like...huge. I play this game every year since more than 15 years now, it's part of me. I didnt like the enhanced editions stuff, but here, with Siege of Dragonspear, you guys and girls did a very, very good job.
I sincerely hope you're working on a new forgotten realms adventure, because I can't wait to play it.
I know it's a bit late to post a review on SoD since the game was released several months ago, but I read so many bad (or even agressive) reviews that I almost felt forced to post mine.
First of all, let's say I'm a huge fan of Baldur's gate saga and of the forgotten realms games. I started playing BG1 and BG2 in the early 2000's (I'm 28 now), when both still came in 5 or 6 CDs versions (epic time !), and couldn't find any RPG coming close to these since that day. Of course, like many of us, I've also played Planescape Torment, Icewind Dale, Heart of Winter, Icewind Dale II, Neverwinter nights and its extensions as well since then. Each one of these opus brought me something. To me, Neverwinter nights is probably the worst of all. The story is cheap, the graphics are cheap, only a few maps worth the game. Icewind Dale is clearly not the better one regarding the story, but I enjoyed discovering the frozen plains of the north, improving my tactics, and the maps are beautiful. Planescape Torment (which I'm playing again at the moment) left me an undescriptible feeling when I ended it for the first time. I remember telling to myself « wow, this is the most wonderful book I've ever read ». However, the Baldur's gate saga remains my favorite one, because of this perfect balance between a great storyline and great battles.
It took me a few months before I decided to download and play SoD. One of the many reasons is of course what Beamdog had done with the enhanced editions before. The GUI upgrade looks fine to me, but I never manage to get into these new baldur's gate characters, Neera, etc. The « black pits » stuff was even more disappointing, and I was afraid that Siege of Dragonspear contributed even more to this disappointment. This feeling was of cours revived by the numerous bad reviews I had read about the game, depicting a « mediocre work » or even worse.
Now that I've finished Siege of Dragonspear, I can tell that this is, to me, a good work, if not a very good work. Those who criticize the game regarding the story or the characters seem to forgot all the shit Bioware producted in their time. For instance, Tales of the sword coast is quite ridiculous on a scenaristic point of view. The first quest, with that random wizard sending you on a isolated labyrinth to bring him back some stuff is perfectly stupid. I can't detect any « baldur's gate spirit » in it. The maps, except the werewolf island maybe, are generally pointless and the Durlag's tower is just a gigantic mario level with a lot of overpowered mobs to kill. Is that really the measurement standard which we're comparing Siege of Dragonspear to ? Let's talk about Throne of Bhaal as well : is this game really worth it after all ? Of course I loved the voice of Solar, summoning a planetar, the epicness of the game, the lvl 40 characters,... but let's face the truth : the storyline is maybe the poorest of all the forgotten realms games. Fives overpowered guys to shoot one after the other. Throne of Bhaal had nothing more to see with a classical RPG, it was just a platform game disguised as a RPG. Again, is this seriously the measurement standard we're now comparing Siege of Dragonspear to ?
Moving on to Siege of Dragonspear, this game is for me and for many reasons the best forgotten realms game released since the original Shadows of Amn. Better than Tales of the sword coast, better than Throne of bhaal, better than Icewind and, of course, way better than Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2. In the first place, because of Corwin. As I wrote it below, I never got into Neera, Rasaad or Dorn Il-Khan. Never wanted to make them join my party because I'm used to play with a very specific team and because their background didnt please me. But Corwin is by far one of the best NPC I've ever met in the forgotten realms games. She has a beautiful background, she's a strong woman, she's a very good (but not overpowered) archer, and she offers a very interesting romance. Second reason is because of the maps. I was afraid that Siege of Dragonspear were a succession of dungeons to empty but it's defefinitely not the case. I absolutely love the forest and cave maps, all of them. I would even say that some of the SoD cave maps (like the one right under the castle) are amongst my favorite maps, including all the forgotten realms games. Last reason is, of course, the storyline. Some sections are really, really beautiful, like that moment on the bridge, when you can feel all the bhaal's destiny knocking you down. Caelar Argent is a powerful and deep character, I was fucking proud to fight with her in the end. The death of Skie Silvershield really moved me, while making me hate Irenicus even more.
I wish english were my mother tongue so I could express here more clearly all the feelings I had while playing this game. All I can do here is to beg the developers (it they read this!) not to focus on the bad reviews. As I told it, I'm a huge, huge fan of the baldur's gate saga. Like...huge. I play this game every year since more than 15 years now, it's part of me. I didnt like the enhanced editions stuff, but here, with Siege of Dragonspear, you guys and girls did a very, very good job.
I sincerely hope you're working on a new forgotten realms adventure, because I can't wait to play it.
9
Comments
Carry on.
My appreciation for, and disappointment with certain aspects keeps changing in subsequent play throughs
In BGEE I've never talked to Jaheira & Khalid . I've killed Dynaheir and never - ever - talked to Minsc. They nonetheless show up saying that we are good friends and wanting to battle by my side.
Same mistake that happens in SoA . And the mistake I thought that SoD would fix.
PS: And all those archers hit and running made me feel like the gibberlings on my first playthrough. IMHO it's not "improving AI" (the Severed Hand ambushes is a VERY nice example of AI well applied), it's just bloody annoying.
So they will run across the entire dungeon while you are chasing and trying to whittle down their monstrous amount of health. I've found the best thing to do is still keep 1-2 people trying to hit them with ranged, because they have an animation when hit that makes them freeze for a split second....and then your metees can finally land a hit