A rather late review of SoD

LAZERDOG

Hey y'all! After quite some time I've finally finished my first play through of SoD Now I know quite a lot has been written about it already and there are several review threads around - but I'm just gonna add my thoughts anyways

Preface: I've never played Baldur's Gate 2 - however I have played through BG1 plenty of times. For my SoD campaign I created a shadow dancer (with an experience boost from the black pits) since my pacifist archer (with whom I enjoyed BG most) is not compatible with the campaign design. As for companions I went with Corwen, Minsc and Dynaheir.

There are some things that I really loved about SoD:

The new ui is useful and really well designed - apart from it's graphical design I really enjoyed the overhauled map and journal.

The companion ai is awesome! I prefer managing only my main character and with the default settings my companions did a really great job taking care of things so I could concentrate on backstabbing anyone who got in my way

As for the graphics a was a little disappointed when I entered the first outdoor "beamdog" area - the background of the tents seems to lack detail, the area isn't sharp and seems blurry. Luckily that first impression faded quickly and I even caught myself admiring the scenery - most areas are really beautiful and far beyond the design of the original Baldur's Gate while still feeling like a part of its world. Everything is just dripping with atmosphere - which is the next highlight of SoD.

Everything feels so much more alive than in BG1 - while everything seemed rather stale in the original there is now so much going on - from npcs to critters and descriptive text - there is a lot going on and it does wonders for the atmosphere. The music is also one of the highlights!

I really liked the increased interactivity of the companions - I'm really looking forward to a play through with Viconia and Baeloth (he is brilliant by the way - love him!). In general I liked the writing - there were some great humorous scenes and references. I can't really judge the quality of the writing since English is not my native language and thus I have to concentrate on the contents of dialogs/descriptions but I do feel well entertained.

Unfortunately there are also some downsides:

The game feels like it was designed with fighters and full parties in mind. Even with my new rather violent character I found myself struggling at many occasions with the choices the game offers. Neither could I play a very arrogant character that would face Caelar right away (and potentially go to hell with her to kick some demon ass - or hide in the shadows and flee like a coward), nor could I take a neutral stance on the crusade. I guess that's a problem with games that offer opponents with understandable motivation...

Also while my character is not a genius int 12 should be sufficient for him to understand what's going on from several clues that you find throughout the game. I was a little disappointed that they had no influence whatsoever and my character was forced to ask questions that had long been answered - which made him seem like a mighty idiot.

I know all of the issues above stem from limited production resources - there's only so much you can do with a small team. Nevertheless I'd like to see more freedom of choice in the next Beamdog rpg.

Also I think the game shines most in its larger areas - some of the smaller places seem almost a little too packed. That also contributes to feeling more like a war campaign than an adventure - which is why it feels more fitting to any non-thief characters.

All in all I enjoyed my experience with SoD. The atmosphere is great, it feels like a real addition to Baldur's Gate and there are several useful improvements. I really loved the graphics, music and generally the atmosphere. Some of the dialogs and scripted scenes were almost cinematic and I really liked the humor. I would have loved a longer adventure and I am a little disappointed by the limited choices which often seemed to go against my personal decisions. However SoD is a really good starting point for more original Beamdog content - I'm having high hopes for future rpg projects!

To anyone who survived my wall of text - thanks for bearing with me! Have a cookie!

rapsam2003

LAZERDOG said:

The game feels like it was designed with fighters and full parties in mind.

2 things. 1) Thief characters (like a shadowdancer) have always been weak in the BG saga. It's mainly because 2E thieves were designed to be the skill monkey. That doesn't work so well for a combat-oriented game, but it works well for a PnP adventure. I don't think the original BG team was given license to rebalance thieves. 2) DnD, including SoD, IS a party-based game. There are people who solo the BG saga for the added challenge, but the games were balanced around party play.

LAZERDOG

I was more thinking about thieves from a role playing perspective - they're (imho) not the ones charging into battle and leading armies. If I think about my experiences with the Thief series I'd even say they are rather calculating and low-risk kind of characters - strike only when you have to and you're certain you can win, plan every single step etc...

You're right about the party focus. I don't mind that actually but six characters are too much micromanagement for me. Maybe the new ai could help in that regard. Nevertheless I prefer parties with two to four members.

Edit: On a random note: I totally loved the sequence where you could avoid a battle by telling a story. That was awesome ^^

rapsam2003

LAZERDOG said:

I was more thinking about thieves from a role playing perspective - they're (imho) not the ones charging into battle and leading armies. If I think about my experiences with the Thief series I'd even say they are rather calculating and low-risk kind of characters - strike only when you have to and you're certain you can win, plan every single step etc...

You're right, but unfortunately 2E D&D didn't go into that degree of depth. So, in 2E, you obviously brought a thief (or maybe a bard) in order to handle traps or locks or anything of that nature. But they weren't the best combat characters. The same is true of the BG series, which is (mostly) based on 2E D&D.

LAZERDOG said:

Maybe the new ai could help in that regard. Nevertheless I prefer parties with two to four members.

The new AI helps a LOT in this regard.