BG2:EE Thoughts and feelings and other stuff no one cares about.
I want to say I appreciate this somewhat partial revival of the franchise. I don't regret spending money to support this endeavor... even if it was somewhat disappointing.
First off the quality of the new material is rather eh. Neera is probably the best done and the whole story line left me wanting to slap someone. Hexxat... I don't know. This might be cool. It was too buggy... I kept working around the bugs just to see it but eventually that wasn't enough. From what I saw it was disappointing. It sort of seems like someone ripped off the valen mod but I didn't get too far into it. Overall the new content except the monk which I have not played (because I can't stomach the class):
Writing: D
Voicing: B (except the homeless woman that voiced initial Hexxat, go get the bottle of scotch you paid her back, she didn't earn it).
Graphics and art: A-
Black Pits: B
Programming/scripting: D (BUGS! You've got to playtest, playtest, playtest, TRY EVERY GROUP COMBINATION YOU CAN!)
Heightmapping and so forth: Seems fine
Minor improvements that weren't already available through mods: A+ (though much of this stuff was already out there).
Yeah, thinking about it, it's the writing. Wow. Generally nauseating. I've played MANY more polished mods. That said, I've played a lot worse.
I've no clue why so many file locations were changed. Especially critical files. There are many mods that won't work simply because they have checks on file locations (other than than Dialog file). Many modders put functions to check to see if TOB was installed, for instance, and these checks will no longer function. Leaving the original install setup the same would have made this much more desirable.
The stability is also not what it should be. It's playable but it crashes at least once every 5-10 hours for me. I never had those issues with BG2.
First off the quality of the new material is rather eh. Neera is probably the best done and the whole story line left me wanting to slap someone. Hexxat... I don't know. This might be cool. It was too buggy... I kept working around the bugs just to see it but eventually that wasn't enough. From what I saw it was disappointing. It sort of seems like someone ripped off the valen mod but I didn't get too far into it. Overall the new content except the monk which I have not played (because I can't stomach the class):
Writing: D
Voicing: B (except the homeless woman that voiced initial Hexxat, go get the bottle of scotch you paid her back, she didn't earn it).
Graphics and art: A-
Black Pits: B
Programming/scripting: D (BUGS! You've got to playtest, playtest, playtest, TRY EVERY GROUP COMBINATION YOU CAN!)
Heightmapping and so forth: Seems fine
Minor improvements that weren't already available through mods: A+ (though much of this stuff was already out there).
Yeah, thinking about it, it's the writing. Wow. Generally nauseating. I've played MANY more polished mods. That said, I've played a lot worse.
I've no clue why so many file locations were changed. Especially critical files. There are many mods that won't work simply because they have checks on file locations (other than than Dialog file). Many modders put functions to check to see if TOB was installed, for instance, and these checks will no longer function. Leaving the original install setup the same would have made this much more desirable.
The stability is also not what it should be. It's playable but it crashes at least once every 5-10 hours for me. I never had those issues with BG2.
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Comments
Hexxat... yeah she does unfortunately feel like a rushed product. Not just her bugs, but there are lots of niggling little things in her writing that stack up against her, whether it's other NPC's being stupid or out of character around her, or little bits that are telling you your character is going along with something that they wouldn't necessarily have gone along with. It just feels like it was rushed and not thought through as much as it should have been.
So Hexxat's writing is the only thing I would give a thumbs down to. Everything else is okay. And maybe because I've never played with a great many mods, but I find that situation. If there's any mods you really want, just go to the modding section on this forum to see if it's been made compatable with EE.
I did try to go back to playing some old IE games I still have after playing BG:EE, like Icewind Dale 1 + 2... but honestly I found it very difficult. All the little improvements to EE I find do add up and make the games much more playable and enjoyable on a modern system and I've not had many problems with crashing. Maybe Tymora just smiles on me.
Solufein mod is good too. It doesn't honestly feel quite right to what I expected him to be but, still, it's good. Both have extensive extra quests that are good too, or at least interesting. Solufein is a bit overpowered but this is from the inventor of tactics so perhaps he was designed for that. I can make many mods work myself, well more than have been "made compatible" but if the original author included extra nanny checks (like... do you have TOB) I have a hard time getting around them. I should write a post about which great mods I've gotten to work. Currently I'm running sellswords and return to brynnlaw. They both need polish but they run fine, have some good writing here and there... so far. I havn't completed brynnlaw yet.
Meanwhile, I advice to post your bug reports and/or problems about crashing on this forum. What particular problems did you have? What particular PC configuration did you use? You'll get a lot of help, no doubt about it.
I really advice to check Rasaad's quests in BG2EE. They're very good. Even if you don't like the class now, I still advice to try.
Can't talk about the file system, but I know there was a very very good reason to make the changes that were made...
I agree about the new material, it is not always up to standard- I am currently playing through chapter 2, and I have not even considered to take any of the "new guys" into my party.
I killed Hexxat, when she asked me for the cloak. She was too annoying (and it is not easy playing a vampire) There was also some kind of bug here...
Then I met Neera, we talked for about a minute. But I was very annoyed by her bad jokes, so I left her to her own destiny... I tried to go to the woods where she was hiding out, but that area is NO FUN at all. I couldn't cast any spells, and the quest/story was really uninteresting...
The monk guy, Rushard? don't even remember his name? : O
There is also someone else somewhere that I haven't met yet? I don't really care, the game was actually fine without these new companions ....
But yes, the writing is definitely underwhelming. Hexxat is probably the worst offender, which was pretty disappointing since I was excited to play her. Not surprising, really. There are a lot of guys who can do programming just fine, but good, even competent writers are pretty rare.
The original BG1 had rather inconsistent writing so the writing of the new content (other than Neera's) didn't really stand out in a negative way. The writing in the original BG2 is much more polished and consistent, and the new material unfortunately sticks out sometimes.
Rashaad's dialogue feels forced. Out of nothing he asks you to tell him how to live his life, wtf? I thought monks were supposed to be mindful and thoughtful, but he behaves like a brainless minion.
Hexxat, pfft. Being arrogant if you are really overpowered is one thing. But when lots of the other npcs can stomp her to the ground, she should not behave like this. Come on, my party is killing vampires for breakfast, lunch and dinner. With this in mind, she should not be able to make npcs like Korgan shiver and talk like she is the shit when her usefulness rating is just average. Either change her writing or make her overpowered. Right now, playing her just feels naive.
Dorn... dunno. He just seemed to be of the category stupid evil. I haven't tested him yet. Is he any good?
What I like about EE is for the same reason as the OP. It makes the great game of Baldur Gate accessible for a newer generation. Besides that, for each bug they fix, they introduce a new one. And a lot of the mods have problems with it as well. I would only recommend Baldur Gate EE for its portable versions like on Ipad or Android.
BG2 though, is one of the most EPIC games ever. Some more effort really needed to go into this writing. Neera is the only one I'd give a passing grade (and, again, haven't used the monk). I did laugh out loud at Dorn's first quest though. That was ok.
I enjoyed her quests except for the hidden refuge getting blown up before I could compete them all was a bummer.
I tried to use Hexxat in the same run, did a few of her quests, but it just feels like you're wasting a party spot on her. I dunno how vampires work in 2nd but they really should have made her multi or dual class, she's just too weak.
Other new content is good, especially in regard to making TOB more playable.
The real disappointment, for me anyway, is that they don't have endings that follow through on that. Dorn's ending tells you that after fighting crusaders of Tyr, solars and silver dragons for his survival, he somehow lost several times to one unremarkable human woman with a stubborn streak. His romance epilogue is a cop-out semi-copypasted version of the same. Did my promise to make him an avatar of my power as I ascended to godhood not stick? And no matter what you do with Rasaad, Alorgoth gets away scot-free. No justice, no karma, no satisfacting ending. Rasaad just can't catch a break, even though he totally deserves to.
In short, the ending is just as important as the journey to get there, and if I had the means to edit the epilogues for a number of characters they'd be getting different, more satisfying fates before you could say, "positive impact of community input".
As far as endings go it isn't bad.
Algoroth is loved by Shar, so he never goes down.
Why can't bad guys be Mary Sues too?
Not that I see Alorgoth as a Mary Sue per se. I mean, the setting is fairly aware of his evil nature. And wearing oddly durable plot armour isn't the only prerequisite required for a MS. But let's not get into that.
I haven't finished a BG2:EE run yet, but so far I like the writing for Hexxat and Dorn a great deal.
Anyways the writings didn't particularly stand out in BGEE because in BGEE there were so little contents that every new NPC was dead silent outside of their single related quest. I've been playing BG with npc project mod and was used to constant banters... except this time everyone went mute thanks to new NPCs.
In BG2EE the writing is so bad that I often cringe as I read some of the lines. Dorn's recruiting quest was funny but some of interactions were completely absurd, Rassad was uninteresting as ever. 'You smell like cheese' dialogue between Neera and Viconia forced me to alt+f4 the game because of the level Viconia had to swoop down to from her original writing quality; it's like Neera stripped off half of Viconia's IQ with wild magic. Some lines are so unnatural that it feels like they were written by non native speaker.
Beamdog needs a better writer. Them being a small studio is not even an excuse; it's one thing indi developers can do well compared to AAA games.
I bought BGEE and BG2EE to enjoy new contents but I ended up kicking out all the new NPCs and not bothering with their quests in the end because the writing was horrid, immersion breaking, constantly miscommunicating and plain boring.
I'm not saying BG2EE is bad as whole because I like other aspects of the game but you have to admit the writing is pretty bad.
How in the name of Tempus do you get to this conclusion? Monks kick the ass of any other warrior-class character hands down. Highest damage in the frigging game (a whirlwinding lvl 30 monk does more dmg in a round than x3 ADHW), THE best AC and a magic resistance that can easily be bumped beyond 100.
This is wildly beside the point of the thread but I just needed tell you that you are WRONG.
Edit: @mlnevese I don't wish to start a discussion, just had to point out to @Askinwhobe that while not liking monks is fine, calling them underwhelming is just wrong. Thanks for making me clear out my intent.
Don't like:
1. Made it impossible to kill Arkanis Gath. There isn't an excuse for this. If you want to punish players for fighting the shadow thieves (which I like to do) than have the shadow thieves start attacking or ambushing them. I didn't care for Renal Bloodscalp and decided to put an end to him. Those who attack me for it should be tough but not impossible to kill. Besides, if this means I sign on with a different group than the shadow thieves then so be it.
2. Got rid of pre-EE BG1 ability to dual-class to (not from but to) a specialist mage. I was able to dual-class from a cleric or fighter to the specialist mage my ability scores qualified for. I liked that. Since one is essentially changing careers from fighter, cleric, or thief to mage anyway I saw no reason not transition to a specialist mage as I wouldn't level up in my old class regardless of if I was a specialist mage or regular one.
Did like:
1. Better details with weapons skills. More categories & more detailed in BG2 than BG1, and they expanded that forwards-fine.
2. Expanded kits forwards, I really liked this as I like some of the kits-enough said.
So I think I've had a fighter turned necromancer and a cleric turned enchanter-human in each case as elves & gnomes multi-class but don't dual-class (I did the latter).