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I love BG 1 because of its down-to-earthness!

AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
edited September 2012 in Archive (General Discussion)
You know, one great aspect why I really love BG 1 is because even the simple things in it meant something.
Back in the days you didn't need to come up with a huge dragon just to entertain and challenge the godlike Bhaalspawn, no, an Ogre Magus or a Tanar-Ri were enough to frighten me horribly.

I remember the Deathknight in Durlags Tower - I thought "OH my..., a Deathknight, what am I gonna do?! ngglll *shudder*" Sadly, in BG 2 I was way to hardened, by that time Deathknights were just annoying Wannabes in my eyes.

The same goes for items and combat, too.
Every Sword +1 in BG1 was a little treasure for me, possessing the power to turn my skin into stone or being able to cast a fireball for the first time made me feel very special. Again, in BG2 a Sword +1 was just another example for all those "aha, okay, more valuable junk to sell at the next shopkeeper, get into my sack" thingies.
Being hit by a flame arrow - ouuch!

I remember how I felt when I recieved my first Full plate Mail...! Melee and archer enemies were more dangerous in BG1 than in BG2, anyway, things felt more balanced - sure, a wizard could cause havoc but so could a warrior with lots of hp!
As I said in the beginning of this post - everything was a little bit more toned down and I really like this!
Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to complain about being too powerful in BG2 or some underpowered items / abilities / combat mechanics etc., there are only few things that cannot be undone/changed with modding and things in BG2 are simply a little bit different - that's just the way it is.

I'm just so glad about the revival of all this "rookie stuff" (items, monsters, spells etc.) from BG1 WITH the enhancements of the BG2 features (UI features, bags of bottomless holding etc.) :)
How about you?
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Comments

  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    Demoss said:

    Everything's dangerous in the first game and that's certainly why i like it so much, hell me and my brother got a total party death to one Ogre Berserker at lvl 1/2. Was hilarious!

    Also, a dwarf fighter i had kept breaking his weapons, iron shortage certainly added an interesting mechanic which in turn made any magical +1 or otherwise very valuable.

    That's what I mean!
    The "everything is dangerous" feeling (even a pack of wulfes or Hobgoblins) and the "soiled iron" crisis made things very interesting and atmospheric!
  • ShinShin Member Posts: 2,345
    I'd say it's all part of the journey, starting out weak and poorly equipped and setting out on a very long trip to reach your full potential. BG1 is the first part of the trip and I too enjoy the lower levels, but I also don't want to fight ogre magi and vacuum the countryside for gnolls and gibberlings forever. It's part of the thrill that you develop, grow in power and move on to other things. When there is BG2 to continue in, a lot of the things I do in BG1 feel more meaningful.
    Raistlin82
  • CandramelekhCandramelekh Member Posts: 109
    That's why BG1 is the best game ever, and BG2 is just a good remake
    Akuro
  • BjjorickBjjorick Member Posts: 1,208
    Well, the items didn't bother me too much until tob, when every store said 'sorry, i'm not well stocked' and had every weapon style of the +1, +2 and +3 variety. And whenever a mob drops a weapon that's not enchanged/magical, you know an enemy is coming up that is immune to magical weapons, like magic golems. Let's see, fighting golems, switch to warhammer of golem death, and they're dead. Werewolves? Sword of werewolf death.....and dead. hmmm, lich? Daystar, aka weapon of undead death, or mace of undead death, or.......and dead. Dragons? I've got a weapon of dragon slaying.....and dead.

    If you want to make bg2 and tob hard, fill the game with mindflayers. :) oooh, only one of them.....crap, it killed me (the zombies ate your brains!!!!!).

    But not just that, by bg2/tob, mages are stocked for everything. HLA's make it even easier. But lol, if only imoen was still a thief at the start of soa, i would get her the hla traps (time stop :D) and then cast alcarity......mass ownage......

    but yeah, by tob, it's usually just a matter of if the dragon will get a chain crit and kill you in a matter of seconds. If not, not challenge. just my opinion, but it's why tob is my least favorite. :)
    Permidion_Starkmlnevese
  • sandmanCCLsandmanCCL Member Posts: 1,389
    You should give the Temple Of Elemental Evil a shot. Runs on classic 3e rules and I believe you can only reach level 10 (maybe 12, I forget) by the end of it.

    I've always enjoyed the 4-10 levels range in D&D games. They've always been the most compelling stage because you can typically beat really powerful monsters through strategy and yet even "level relative" battles require you to at least pay attention.
    Mortiannanoodles_tooCandramelekh
  • MortiannaMortianna Member Posts: 1,356
    @sandmanCCL ToEE had so much potential, but Atari decided to do a rush job on it. Thankfully, the modding community has made it into everything it was supposed to be.
  • shawneshawne Member Posts: 3,239
    Mortianna said:

    @sandmanCCL ToEE had so much potential, but Atari decided to do a rush job on it. Thankfully, the modding community has made it into everything it was supposed to be.

    A recurring sentiment when it comes to D&D-based games, it seems. :)
    CrazedSlayerShadowdemon
  • AmardarialAmardarial Member Posts: 270
    shawne said:

    Mortianna said:

    @sandmanCCL ToEE had so much potential, but Atari decided to do a rush job on it. Thankfully, the modding community has made it into everything it was supposed to be.

    A recurring sentiment when it comes to D&D-based games, it seems. :)
    ToEE was way worse, whole portions of the game were never finished, add things like how Prestige Classes were supposed to be, etc

    Atari really screwed everyone on this one, wouldn't even let the company who made it put out a patch for it, as it was deemed a failure and not worth the time or money. (Company of course tried anyways, died shortly thereafter)

    Could have easily been the best D&D/RPG since BG 1 if the game meet it's full production and came out complete.
  • CheesebellyCheesebelly Member Posts: 1,727
    edited September 2012

    "Forward march!"
    *Everybody in the party gets hit by poisoned arrows.*
    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- *reloads*

    OMG this so much! I can't believe the times I got poisoned and had to super rage-reload because of it (for me poison was insta-death at a younger age, in my brains at least. Little did I know that huge spider poison, Hobgoblin elite and bandit poison does just 6 points of damage XD )

    This also kind of reminds me of those days where a Raider in Fallout 1 did a 450 damage critical hit with an SMG >.<
    chickenhed
  • HaHaCharadeHaHaCharade Member Posts: 1,643
    Baldur's Gate I feels less cheesy then its sequel, but then again, higher-level AD&D by definition gets a bit of a cheese-factor going. Still, I like that "Rings of Protection +!" actually rock, and that waking up in the middle of the night to a group of 15 Kobolds with bow and arrows usually means your mage is kaput.
  • Roller12Roller12 Member Posts: 437
    Im afraid the remake wont be like that. With all the added classes and new spells, itll be as flashy and easy as BG2.
    CandramelekhThe_New_Romancechickenhed
  • ChippyChippy Member Posts: 241
    Getting the long sword +2 from Grey Wolf was significant, from that moment on I felt the difference in my character and his ability to hit, kill and explode enemies. I miss that sword.
    Compare that to Skyrim where I'm just interchanging super hero outfits/spells/weapons and clicking on enemies once or twice until they die.

  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    edited September 2012

    "Forward march!"
    *Everybody in the party gets hit by poisoned arrows.*
    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- *reloads*

    "Spare no one!"

    And when you finally beat one, that death groan - "uhhhuhhuhoggh" is about as close as I can onomatopoeiatically spell it. I hear it in my daydreams and in my subconscious mind all the time.

    Ah, good times. For those of us in its generation of players, BG is a truly Jungian archetypal creator, projecting from us into the collective consciousness of humanity.

    LOL, I do tend to go overboard in my thinking and wording after I've "had a few". It's Saturday night, and all.

    Majoca
  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    Roller12 said:

    Im afraid the remake wont be like that. With all the added classes and new spells, itll be as flashy and easy as BG2.

    I wouldn't bet on that because of the lower levels and healthpools of the party. For example spells like "Power Word: Kill" could have some huge impact on the gameplay .

    I guess your doubts would come true if only the player has access to the new spells, classes, rules etc. - but I really hope that's not the case (and I doubt it).
    Anyways I'm really looking forward to mod the game in order to make it much harder.
    My plans:
    - more believable economy
    - deadlier combat
    - improved healing (ranged healing, Healing Potions will restore a percentage of the user's health instead of a fixed amount etc.) in order to keep the pace with the deadlier combat
    - using upcoming combat scripts from other modders
    - balancing melee, archer & mage classes to make them all deadly
    - deadlier posion, diseases & bleeding
    etc.
    Hell, that'll gonna be fun :)

    By the way: Do you guys remember the lonesome fighter in the area of the Firewine Bridge who didn't wear any armor but almost always hit you with his sword in the duel?
    When I was playing BG 2 and saw the Kensai class I thought "hey, back in BG 1 that could've been a Kensai"...
    The_New_Romance
  • Permidion_StarkPermidion_Stark Member Posts: 4,861
    edited September 2012
    One of the things I love about BG1 is that you can wander into situations where you are way out of your depth and then have to high tail it out of there. It makes for a much more interesting game than IWD where the challenge increases incrementally as your party goes up in levels.
    chickenhed
  • BjjorickBjjorick Member Posts: 1,208
    @Akuro
    not sure why, but i always hated healing potions that heal a % rather then a set range. I don't think a potion should heal 8, but 6-8 or 8~12, what have you.

    Not sure why, just seems it cheapens it. I have 175 hp, and this potion heals 18 hp where as when i had 8 hp, it barely healed 1...... maybe more real, but lol, i don't play games for realism :)

    you other ideas sound good, but i'm curious about your 'realistic economy'. I can see that going at least 4 different ways off the top of my head. :)
  • UnseeyingEyeUnseeyingEye Member Posts: 48
    @Akuro

    I agree with everything you have said. I remember trying to tackle that ogre to get back somebody's belt or something... that was tough. Durlag's Tower challenged me many times. And that Balor in the TOTSC expansion... man just one balor challenged my entire level-capped party. I laugh at Balors in SOA and send them back to the Abyss.

    Not to mention spells. Fireball and lightning bolt was devastating.
    Akurog314
  • MajocaMajoca Member Posts: 263
    edited September 2012
    @Akuro

    I think you could look at the lighter potions of healing in different ways, like the potions are more for mages and thieves or when your party cant rest but is not being attacked, it adds the extra bits of health you may need to just escape. but I agree with some of yours points ^^
    Akuro
  • BelgarathMTHBelgarathMTH Member Posts: 5,653
    On a side note (I go off on tangents a lot), one of the uses of lesser healing potions I've found that I enjoy is not to try to use them in combat, but rather use them for what I call "topping off" the health bars of the characters in between minor battles. Then there is no cumulative drain on health that forces you to stop and rest every battle or two during dungeons and wilderness areas.

    I find that having to rest too often spoils my immersion and my suspension of disbelief. So Cure Light Wounds and minor healing potions become very useful to me for maintaining realism.

    I just installed a mod on my current SoA run that scales the spell "Goodberries" to heal 5 points of damage each at Jaheira's starting SoA level, and will eventually scale higher, I think to about 12 points per berry IIRC. I'm really enjoying Jaheira's having a second level healing spell that I'm actually finding rather useful.
  • SchneidendSchneidend Member Posts: 3,190

    "Forward march!"
    *Everybody in the party gets hit by poisoned arrows.*
    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU- *reloads*

    OMG this so much! I can't believe the times I got poisoned and had to super rage-reload because of it (for me poison was insta-death at a younger age, in my brains at least. Little did I know that huge spider poison, Hobgoblin elite and bandit poison does just 6 points of damage XD )

    This also kind of reminds me of those days where a Raider in Fallout 1 did a 450 damage critical hit with an SMG >.<</p>
    *Fire Gecko crits you for 210 despite your awesome power armor*
    *I have 80 HP*

    Me: ... uuuuuuuuuuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH! *immediately uninstalls Fallout II and never plays again*
  • LemernisLemernis Member, Moderator Posts: 4,318
    Yep, I have to agree with the OP. Lower level play is comparatively more fun for me as well. But fortunately I have the entire saga to play, so I can enjoy both playstyles.
  • RedGuardRedGuard Member Posts: 672
    Always preferred BG2 to BG1. BG1 felt too limited. Though there are other things where I think BG2 outclasses BG1.
  • AkuroAkuro Member Posts: 93
    What do you mean with limitations? The game mechanisms or the world itself? When talking about game mechanics I'd agree with you. The world itself is another story though.
  • kiroskiros Member Posts: 119
    Always enjoyed the level of strategy involved in Baldur's Gate as opposed to other game genre's.
  • BjjorickBjjorick Member Posts: 1,208
    @Akuro As far as the healing goes, i agree with the potions, but not with the spells. High level cleric healing spells, you have heal (full heal, one char) and party heal (lvl 7 restoration, fully heals all hp to all party members). Although, mass cure does scale somewhat to levels, but i wish that restoration and mass cure hit all your summons.

    As far as making potions harder to come by, that will be alot of work. that will take a few days if you know where they all are, and a week if you don't.

    As far as the economy, that doesn't sound bad, just would be nice if bronze, silver, gold and plat coins were implemented. That would be required to balance it out, otherwise prices are going to be unbalanced. Right now, a stack of arrows costs 1 gp, where as it should cost 1 bronze, imho. I think that's why you get thousands of gold, because that was teh best way they could keep it balanced. But i still agree with your economy, as it would take recoding alot of the game to implement brozne/silver/plat. :)
  • RedGuardRedGuard Member Posts: 672
    Akuro said:

    What do you mean with limitations? The game mechanisms or the world itself? When talking about game mechanics I'd agree with you. The world itself is another story though.

    @Akuro I just didn't find playing a low level character that captivating. I felt like BG2 started off in a better place. You had more options in terms of how you leveled your character (range of spells, magic items/weapons etc), you weren't fighting a bunch of dread wolves half the time and so on.

    I also think the world of BG2 outclasses BG1. I loved the feel of the adventure and story more than I did with BG1. BG1 feels like a downgrade in so many ways. It's not that I didn't find it enjoyable and I love Sarevok as a villain (just not as much as I love Irenicus), but I enjoyed BG2 a lot more.

    Though I should point out that I did pick up BG2 first and went back to BG1, so many things were bound to seem like a downgrade from my point of view.
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