The Maturation of Beamdog
Ygramul
Member Posts: 1,060
TL; DR: SoD represents the pinnacle of Infinity Engine-style RPGS; Beamdog has a vote-of-confidence for new original material, including brand new settings.
To start with: I loathed the early Beamdog additions to the BG games:
- I never play the Black Pits(es) and consider them a waste of development time
- the new NPC quests were shallow, unbalanced (sometimes irrelevantly easy), and badly written
- items added were frequently overpowered or obtained too easily (Gem of Seeing as a casual drop etc.)
I was just glad to be able play the BG games in new platforms hassle-free and that was that.
But Siege of Dragonspear (which I dreaded first and didn't play for over a year after purchase) represents such a huge leap from those humble beginnings that my opinion of Beamdog has shifted drastically:
1. Writing quality is much better. (The plot of SoD pulls the impossible feat of filling between the two games seamlessly while creating a deep and challenging story in itself. Scripted events are done much more fluently than even in the original games.)
2. NPC and quest depth is significantly better. (Let's table all the immature wailing about M'Zhena etc.)
3. Difficulty level is very nicely done. Particularly for a no-reloader, it will keep you on your toes without having any "you die just because" moments. (The original had such faults that SoD doesn't. Remember the kiss of death with Shoal the Nereid or the bandits-surround-you ambush when you are level 1 out of Candlekeep or other out of the blue shenanigans)
4. Items added were nuanced and carefully balanced
5. *** MOST IMPORTANT*** The AI is overhauled.
Yes, it is mostly adopted from the excellent SCS, but it is the right prerogative that Beamdog bothers with AI improvement. Having a no-tweaking-necessary version of SCS is excellent in a game.
Baldur's Gate series is popular after two decades for two simple reasons:
- engaging story
- excellent tactical challenge with depth
(Also, the same reasons why there is a dedicated "no-reload" following for the series.)
Beamdog's first forays to new content were amateurish (if polished) on both regards. Siege of Dragonspear, however, is a master class of both good story writing and tactical design. In my opinion, it easily matches and possibly exceeds the other state of the art such as Pillars of Eternity.
In short, I hope Beamdog will build upon this hard earned legacy, preserve its in-house talent of developers, and deliver us a brand new 100+ hour adventure that we will play for the next two decades.
To start with: I loathed the early Beamdog additions to the BG games:
- I never play the Black Pits(es) and consider them a waste of development time
- the new NPC quests were shallow, unbalanced (sometimes irrelevantly easy), and badly written
- items added were frequently overpowered or obtained too easily (Gem of Seeing as a casual drop etc.)
I was just glad to be able play the BG games in new platforms hassle-free and that was that.
But Siege of Dragonspear (which I dreaded first and didn't play for over a year after purchase) represents such a huge leap from those humble beginnings that my opinion of Beamdog has shifted drastically:
1. Writing quality is much better. (The plot of SoD pulls the impossible feat of filling between the two games seamlessly while creating a deep and challenging story in itself. Scripted events are done much more fluently than even in the original games.)
2. NPC and quest depth is significantly better. (Let's table all the immature wailing about M'Zhena etc.)
3. Difficulty level is very nicely done. Particularly for a no-reloader, it will keep you on your toes without having any "you die just because" moments. (The original had such faults that SoD doesn't. Remember the kiss of death with Shoal the Nereid or the bandits-surround-you ambush when you are level 1 out of Candlekeep or other out of the blue shenanigans)
4. Items added were nuanced and carefully balanced
5. *** MOST IMPORTANT*** The AI is overhauled.
Yes, it is mostly adopted from the excellent SCS, but it is the right prerogative that Beamdog bothers with AI improvement. Having a no-tweaking-necessary version of SCS is excellent in a game.
Baldur's Gate series is popular after two decades for two simple reasons:
- engaging story
- excellent tactical challenge with depth
(Also, the same reasons why there is a dedicated "no-reload" following for the series.)
Beamdog's first forays to new content were amateurish (if polished) on both regards. Siege of Dragonspear, however, is a master class of both good story writing and tactical design. In my opinion, it easily matches and possibly exceeds the other state of the art such as Pillars of Eternity.
In short, I hope Beamdog will build upon this hard earned legacy, preserve its in-house talent of developers, and deliver us a brand new 100+ hour adventure that we will play for the next two decades.
22
Comments
I CAN'T RESIST IT
YEARGH
@Buttercheese: You're an awesome artist and I love your stuff! Continue to bless the forums!
@JuliusBorisov: You're a great moderator and you've made this forum a nicer place!
@Blackraven: You're the one who inspired me to start no-reload runs!
@Anduin: I had a lucid dream about a lich prostitute and it wasn't that creepy!
How can anyone dislike the Black Pits? I thought they were pretty interesting and good addition to the games.
Plus Baeloth. There is a reason why they made him an NPC in the game.
...
Unless you are a sexy vampire and enjoy making money from people trying to penetrate you with wooden stakes...
*budum tish*
Aside that, I liked what they did with BGEE, BG2EE and SoD was great too. PSTEE...what is next? Beamdog has established it's name. Hope for a new and original project.
It actually wasn't bad. My only real mistake was saying yes when she asked if one of her other clients could watch us.
I mean, I thought he'd be easy to ignore because she turned him into a tiny frog.
But he just kept staring at me like
Edit: Andrew here reminded me of Glint. As I kept on saying before, I love his writing and voice acting is spot on. BP2 NPCs were also fantastic, at par or at times even better than Bioware NPCs I must say — are they also your doing?
I loved every minute of SoD (well, once I kicked Corwin off the team; her attitude was bringing morale down). I agree that the Black Pits were terrible. I don't mind the idea, but the execution was obnoxious especially in BGII.
I know PS:T was left untouched, and I think that was for the better. But if ya'll want to make an expansion for it, I'd love a game where you play through Fall-from-Grace's falling out with the Tanar'ri. I'd even write the story for it once my health is back in order.
Good luck to you in your future endeavors.
Your work will, I'm sure, be fondly remembered by people in this community for many years to come.