Well Done Beamdog!

Necroscope86

Having just finished SoD - I really must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I remember thinking some months ago "Never gonna play SoD, sounds too different" - I was so so wrong, it feels like the perfect game to tie in between BG1/2.

I feel one of the highlights were the large scale battles, I loved the assault on Dragonspear.
Also, Caelar - really cleverly wrote character, I found myself both hating her, and wanting to side with her.

To me, SoD is the expansion to BG1, that ToB SHOULD have been to BG2.
I 'm aware some of the Beamdog staff are registered on here, so I say sirs and madams - Really well done.

islandking

I love specifically for the end of BridgeFort siege part, there're so many options there, so many possible routes to choose, I actually spent a half day loading saves to hear dialogues through

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Arctodus

Yep, I agree woth you @Necroscope86 : SoD is great !! I just finished my first run not so long ago and it was awesome !! I wasn't sure if I wanted to post a review of the game myself, because it's been out for so long, but you give me a nice opportunity right here !

For me, the quality of the gameplay is what stood out the most. You don't even know how happy I was when I found myself fighting Shadow Dancers, Barbarians, Wizards Slayers, etc, and right in the first dungeon. They finally were using all the kits possibilities, which is something not even SoA did. The massive fights involving lots and lots of enemies were also really nicely done. It shows that they did a great job with their IE update, because these fights weren't laggy at all. The game art is also absolutely gorgeous. Couple that with a strong AI that should make SCS proud, and you got a superb extension !

The small criticism I have with SoD is the story. Don't get me wrong, I don't think it's badly written, I just have that feeling that they decided to make a war campaign game and then wrote a story that fits their intention. That's why I have the feeling that some of the story elements were "tacked on" to make it work. But the story concept in itself is strong, because, it does make you want to keep going. And, let's be honest, this is also where Beamdog would catch the most flack : they had to tie up two beloved games with an hardcore fanbase in a short span of times (it's only an extension after all). It was written in the sky that some would discard their efforts, no matter what they did. They were between a rock and a hard place, really. So, in the end, they did a fine job in the circonstances story wise.

All in all, SoD is a staple of mine when I play the BG games. BG is a tetralogy for me now. The sheer quality of the game makes me really optimistic for a future game made by Beamdog, where they won't owe anything to any prior games, thus have more freedom to polish something of their own !!

Excalibur_2102

More importantly, when are you uploading your LP to youtube necro?

batoor

I don't regret buying it. They filled in some holes, but at the same time I feel the whole epilogue was lacking something... It didn't live up the expectations of what I was looking forward to at the start of the game..''oh boy oh boy! what could unfortunate circumstance could have forced to you leave the city!?'' Well something ''more'' than that.

And there's nothing in SoA that acknowledges that SoD actually happened. No town crier, no quests, no npcs or new dialogue.

Gorions ward ''You know aren't we forgetting something here?''

Irenicus ''Hmm..Perhaps''

Papa_Lou

This was a very refreshing thread. We need some good positivity here, every once in a while.

Glad you enjoyed the game, @Necroscope86 !

Krugos

I loved every minute of it!
I wish they would make another expansion to go between BG2 and TOB.