Baldurs gate 1 better then Baldurs gate 2?
willmcclure72
Member Posts: 16
Well i seem to think that baldurs gate 1 was much better then baldurs gate 2. i think that even though heaps of people say that the Bg2 engine/setup was better i hate it. i was so much more used to the original and i think it was way better and is it just me or in Bg2 on the inventory screen the characters look some what retarted (especially imoen and jehira)? What are your guys opinions?
13
Comments
But well, there are many different opinions
For me, the BG2 engine is the most likeable, because of the TAB-highlighting, the Pause at inventory screen. The artist who did the BG1 characters, Dan Walker, had died prematurely (you can read about it in the BG 2 manual, in it's preface) and thus the in-game avatars of BG2 weren't as good as the BG1 ones. But for good-looking avatars, turn to the 1pp mod (don't know if it changed the paperdolls, I think not).
What was good about BG1 and lacking in BG2 was the exploration. BG2 feels cramped, with a mayor quest about every corner. But then, most of those quests are well done and the more complex fighting of battles that comes with higher-level magic has it's own kind of satisfaction as well.
So after my initial stance of 'BG2? Isn't it an engine to play Tutu?', I now like both of the games just as much, I think.
My biggest disappointments with BG2 were the paper dolls (like you mentioned, they are fairly horrendous, especially elves), and that moment when I reached the Athkatlan gates. I thought: "Aah yes, time to go out and get lost in the wilderness!" I fully expected the closest wilderness areas to light up as new areas, but alas... the map was empty and I couldn't leave until getting the quests at the copper coronet etc. :-(
I liked BG1 better overall, though I enjoyed both games genuinely. With the exception of spell effects and resoltuion, I also enjoyed the graphics in BG1 a lot better than those in BG1.
I liked BG2 story a bit better though.
So thank God for Infinity Animations \o/
#AndreaColombo i hope we will be able to use BG1 animations as well for BG:EE :x (as an option without DW or with some fixes) /hopes
More abilities/spells/classes/kits to play with, more character interactions, more variety of enemies. I even liked the UI more.
But there were things that BG1 did better, such as exploring the wilderness, character animations and paper dolls.
It has such a great feeling of adventure/exploration. The wilderness areas are awesome. Baldur's Gate city is huge and much more interesting and explorable than Athkatla.
I prefer BG1s story in terms of content and its gradual reveal, and I always felt slightly alienated by BG2s having really nothing to do with the Bhaalspawn plot at all before Throne of Bhaal, like it was originally intended to be a different series but then they threw in a few Bhaal references here and there so they could name it BG2
On the other hand, the BG2s handling of NPCs and classes with extra spells and kits is way better, though somewhat amendable with mods (Baldur's Gate Trilogy seems more faithful to the BG1 engine in terms of spawning etc. than BG1Tutu) and then you have the class strongholds and more "epic" locations like the Underdark. Still though, I'd rather load up vanilla BG1 on its inferior engine than BG2. It's the more immersive and rewarding game for me.
BTW, @willmcclure72, I wasn't talking about portraits, as with portraits it would be real easy to pick your own likes without having to turn to mods:
portraits.chosenofmystra.net/npc_portrait_change.html
*edited for clarification
Also, the dungeon & sidequest design seems better in BG2. The dungeons are varied, and take the isometric viewpoint into account better (wider corridors, no skinny firewine bridge ruins passages) making them easier to navigate and more enjoyable. Plus, each quest is more of a self-contained story. Bring-a-wyvern-head-to-the-mayor-of-Beregost just isn't the same.
All that said I do still love BG1. Which is why I'm posting on this forum 3 months before release and trying to avoid playing BGtutu so it stays fresh!
likeing bg 1 or 2 more is about 50/50
and even though you liked one over the other, you really like both games.
especially compared to most other games out there ; )
I would add that when you're starting out in BG1 it's exciting that you can still die at the hands of a solitary diseased gibberling. In comparison, by the time you're finishing up BG2 you're truly godlike. (I know that you're Bhaalspawn, but it's just insanely high level.)
Personally, I also found the BG1 story a little more relatable. I was able to accept its premise a little more effortlessly.
While Jon Irenicus is definitely an all time great villain (and so wonderfully voice acted by David Warner), the overarching plot of BG2 felt a little thinner to me. It's even kind of hard now for me to remember clearly what Irenicus' motives were... Something about getting his soul back, right? Anyway, it was all pretty murky and metaphysical. And it's even more like that in ToB.
That said, BG2 was nevertheless very nicely done in terms of a dark, sinister, and confusing atmosphere, a la film noir. The world of a story doesn't have to make sense if it's a compelling place that mesmerizes you. So what it may have lacked in terms of plot (for me), it made up for stylistically.
BG2 has more interactions, better gameplay, a better engine, more character options, more spells, tougher enemies and tons more quests, but I prefer BG1 for its storyline, free roaming, low level gameplay and (for me) more interesting plot. I love Irenicus as a villain, but his goals are purely selfish and fairly small in scale (aside from the attempt to become a god), where Sarevok was about to start a massive catastrophe. I dunno, they're both good villains but Sarevok speaks more to me. Also, I almost always prefer the start of a story, which is why I also prefer Fallout 1 over two, despite fallout 2 being the better game.
BG1 had the freedom on the map. If you found out where e.g. The friendly arm inn is, you still had to walk there from tile to tile and there were so many open areas to explore, it was just awesome.
Because you couldn't highlight containers, there were lots of stuff hidden in the maps, it always felt so rewarding when you found hidden stuff.
It's also the 1st installment, so it has the "oh shit, SPOILER" moment when you find out about your destiny, which leaves its's mark on your memory.
BG2 had the better, updated engine. It also had more classes and races to choose from. It had a lot more items and also a lot more stuff like crafting.
It had the class dependend strongholds etc.
It had all the nice NPC talk and quests and of course, the grand finale.
Because of the higher level cap, it allowed you to experiment with class combinations and stuff much easier than the 1st one.
Coo!
But consider this ; What if you started BG1 at level 7 and ended it at level 20 (with associated higher level enemies etc) ? Which would be the better game then? (someone should actually code this). My vote would probably go to BG1.
With BG 1, i love all the game except Candlekeep
I can relate to the certain lack of open-endedness in BG2, but the tactical gameplay was and is still is, IMO unmatched by any other game.