Can you convince me to buy this game?
First of all, I don't intend to start a flaming debate. I'm just trying to speak straight, and with that said I don't see the point of this game.
I honestly don't understand why anyone with BG1,2's copies would want to purchase this game with no significant amount of additions to contents. No new dialogs among old party members, no new story, no new campaign, no new animations, no new spells or monsters...
To me, all it does seem to be a slight touch in GUI, moddability, and bugfix which is already done with BG2 fixpack.
Could anyone tell me what the merits of this game are? Why would I, or you, play this over modded BGT or TUTU game which is larger, customizable, and bug-free as long as you don't overextend yourself?
I understand there is the copyright infringement issue but honestly you guys should have acquired rights to heavily modify the game. BG1 is almost completely banterless, BG2 lacks enough party interactions compared to modern RPG. These games, especially BG1, is very dry in dialog depth and I hardly see any selling points.
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Can you still run Windows XP? Sure. Some people might even prefer XP over later versions. But Windows 7 is better, mostly because it's streamlined. Things work more smoothly, the data structure is more intuitive, it's easier to modify, and it makes better use of modern systems to reduce its footprint on your processor.
Windows 7 also allows you to make use of Microsoft Office 2010, which is leaps and bounds beyond what was possible with Microsoft Office 2000. With the release of Windows 7, most software developers started gearing their products toward that new OS, leaving Windows XP behind.
In the same way, the enhanced edition streamlines the data structure for Baldur's Gate's engine, making it more intuitive so that it both runs more smoothly and is easier to create mods for. Because it's designed to run on modern machines, it will leave a smaller footprint on your computer's processing speed, which you'll notice in how quickly screens load, a few added features here and there, and a general facelift of the interface.
Can you still play BG1? Sure. And some people will prefer that experience. The Enhanced Edition is newer, and in all areas that can be quantified objectively, much better. It will also see active support from Overhaul in the future, meaning that you'll see it continue to improve with patches, free (and occasionally paid) DLC packs, and more.
More than that--and perhaps most importantly, depending on your preferences as a gamer--any new mods created will likely be created for the Enhanced Edition. As time goes on, support for the original game may disappear, meaning that if you want to mod your game with new stuff, you'll want to have the enhanced edition. That's not anything to do with whether the EE is better or worse than the original--it's simply a facet of progress, and the community evolving its needs and desires.
I don't see, however, what sort of contemporary RPG can live up to the writing of the imperfect but yet breathtaking Baldur's Gate series. Dragon Age is merely a patchwork of antique and feudal history (they didn't even hide the copy-paste : Church/Chantry, Tevintid Empire/Roman Empire, etc) with a LOTR-like plot, and Skyrim... well, does not really rely on storytelling to begin with.
What I find amazing is that BG is written with a better hand than most heroic-fantasy novels, which are usually poor in regards of literature in general, true, but still.
Tons of bugfixes right in the game. Being able to play Baldur's Gate with all the bugs and problems fixed, on the BG2 engine, without having to spend hours installing mods and fixpacks and then still having to worry about it working properly after.
For me, that is well worth the $20 pricetag.
...Also, Neera is adorable.
ALSO also, male romanceable NPC's in the BG saga WITHOUT MODS that span both games and more importantly that AREN'T ANOMEN.
I own the original 6 disc Baldur's Gate, and purchased the single-disc, Dungeons & Dragons Anthology which included BG1 and BG2. I'm using a widescreen monitor and had to play it on my wife's laptop, which is annoying. While there may be mods to fix this, I've never liked downloading a ton of mods for my games, since the content and any unforseeable changes are suspect. With this version of the game, I can run it on my computer with the initial download.
I'm also excited to play BG1 using the class kits from BG2. Again, while mods may be available for this, I've always been suspect of downloading comprehensive mods with a myriad of changes which I may or may not dislike. The mods I've downloaded for games in the past were of narrow scope so that I could be more certain of every change made. For example, a hood and cloak mod for Morrowind, which added something I specifically wanted, and not a whole series of changes that I wouldn't be able to keep track of.
I'm also looking forward to the new content, which is supposedly around 12 hours worth of additional game content associated with the new NPC's. It would be similar to having an extended director's cut of my favorite movie, and will provide something new to experience within the game.
As for modern RPG's, I have found that the extra dialogue, cut scenes, etc. have become annoying. BG1 has enough dialogue without getting to the point that I get frustrated and want to get on with the game rather than a character going on and on. Perhaps the game to most fairly compare would be Dragon Age. I think it is a great game, but there are very few NPC's compared to BG1. Some of the dialogue, especially in the camp, gets to the point that I start getting impatient. There is also less opportunity to create parties that have a certain theme in mind.
It's not necessarily for everyone, so jumping to make a 'sell' when somebody doesn't really want the product hardly seems fruitful.
When i first thought about a BG EE, i was filled with joy, thinking how awersome would be have more banters in BG, change some NPCs, add a bit to the main history, and all had fallen down in my head when i heard about the copyright.
Ok, i get sad but it is BG EE renewed, it's something to be taken in account, even if the game isn't soo diferent than old BG it's an investment for BG3 (maybe), or other titles that need a lot an enhanced edition (as planescape:Torment).
But i give that to you, why should i be punished by a bad contract deal between Beamdog and the owner of the copyrights, and from what i saw until now it isn't an assignment of rights but more an service contract that Beamdog is doing, by code and work the game for some other company with the copyrights.
I choose to believe, i pre-ordered, but i did it with no reason for believe, i really made a leap of faith here as many other members of this community, let's see what will come.
I will not say to you to pre-order the game, there's no logic sense other than help to fund an abstract possible BG3 or other enhanced edition project, but when the game get it's release, play a demon, see a teaser trailer (if any of those get a release in fact), search for contents of the game and if you like, buy it.
This isn't in the BG EE package but i hope they consider this fact anyway, with time, tecnology will evolve, we will face windows 9/10/11... and one day the old BG game will be unplayable, so i hope the devs give this EE version the due care at the passing years (if beamdog hold itself in the market) to adapt this title to the new tecnologies, that will make this game eternal, and BG deserve it.
Ps: Windows 7 is a "must have" in place of Windows XP because XP works at maximum with 2 GB of ram memory (or 3, don't remember atm), Windows 7 (and Vista, but that one is a shit) are the first OS to work with 4GB+ of ram memory.
Ps2: NPCs doesn't justify an enhanced edition, as mods can easly introduce them, or better, can change the old one as mods aren't binded by contract clauses.
It is a two day effort for me to get Baldur's Gate+BG2 working on my laptop. And this time I had to rebuy the second game just to get it to install. This isn't including any mods. Getting Tutu to work was the Easy Part.
The bug fixes, extra content, new NPCs, etc. is all secondary to just getting it to run on my computer. One click installation.
Ok, Fact is that this enhanced edition has new content, works on modern PCs, AND on Mac, iOS, and Android. Also will have even more DLC released post ship, many bugs fixed, and for only $20? More than worth it for me, heck just the fact that it will work on my modern PC without issue is enough for me to buy it for that price, and then I get all the extra stuff too, and without installing a single MOD? Worth it.
By the way @Shin, i just finish of read the whole thread of the @Hadriel guy (that probally made another account and changed his tone on it, i think), i don't think that @Hadriel's thread can help in anything at all, it's too much closed on his 7 reasons for dislike the game, added by some people trying to reason with him, calm him down and flame him (sometimes with reason and others without reason).
But the best part:
Only one person agreed with him. Who? Of course it was our friend @GueulEclator, our number 1 conflict guy of the year
While i have an extremly open mind and believe that sometimes in special cases and sometimes some games deserve counterfeit (piracy is an act that mandatory need to pursue profit), Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition isn't among them. When he said that he was counterfeiting the game, he just showed that all he want was to leech the devs work.
If you do not support them, that's $20 in your pocket, or 1/3 the price of a new game that you have never experienced before that you may want to roll the dice on. But please tell me which game you purchased and I'll get back to you in 13 years to see if it was worth the investment.
Also it means I no longer have to play BG1 with mods to make it look better.
Hopefully my purchase will contribute towards making BG3 a possibility, and they wont turn it into a blasphemous 3D action game.
I'm also playing DAO again right now, I forgot how much I love that game. Its not quite as good as BG1+2, but its definitely the closest that a modern RPG has come to the kind of games I love playing.
congrats to all the patient explanations above me... now @IntoTheDarkness, convince me, why should i (or anybody) care if you play or not play the game?
in other news, all the questions you ask have been answered on forum, devs site, twitter accounts, facebook pages, interviews etc. use browser functions and read.
"There's not enough dialog. You're adding dialog? Okay it's still not enough, so f**k it."
Great attitude? Check...
"Compared to modern RPGs..."
Game shouldn't be compared to modern RPGs. It's old and timeless and now it's going to be sold as "new" on iPad, because for a tablet RPG it will be excellent. They know their limitations.
"Why not use Tutu"
Because TuTu is a flaming turd, and these guys seem to be displaying about 20x more professionalism than TuTu did. (Messing stuff up by putting BG1 in BG2 engine, then proceeding to FIX said messed up things unlike TuTu which just said "oops lol, sorry")
BG:EE guarantees you, that all of the people will play same version of the game, with all the good stuff included as default. No more bugs, crashes and other crap, which could be the case in heavily modded game.
You want to buy it? Do it.
You don't want to? Ace, don't.
That simple.
Don't ask others to give analogies or examples or whatever, put the facts down and count pros and cons yourself.
If it's not for you, don't bother.
I fail to see the point.
I have every Black Isle/Bioware/Obsidian game and love them.
And here, countless person is asking, why he should pay 10 bucks more for even more enhanced game, the game which is going to be like flower in the middle of the muck in the end of November.
Please, take no offence, but original BG costs like 10 bucks, they spent a lot of time to improve this game, you want the developers to ask 3-5 bucks for all the work they already did, when other developers ask 60 bucks for improved game, but just call it a sequel instead of enhanced version?