My thoughts on SOD so far (predominantly positive)!

Like many people here, I was both very excited, and a bit skeptical, when SOD was first announced. It seemed too good to be true, and I was uncertain how, quality and content-wise, it would set itself apart from large BG series mods that are already on the books.

I can safely say that, with a couple of exceptions, SOD has exceeded my expectations and dispelled most of my doubts about Beamdog's handling of the franchise. This expansion is a labor of love, and it shows.

Disclaimer: I have not beaten the expansion yet, but have put roughly 6-7 hours in trying different paths in the prologue and exploring the first few areas. I have completed all of the quests offered after the player initially leaves the city of Baldur's Gate.

I also do not play multiplayer in infinity engine games (I feel playing a heavily story-driven game multiplayer kind of defeats the purpose), so I won't be commenting on that either.

GRAPHICS

The engine appears to have received some noticeable tweaks and optimizations, and I was impressed how much more smoothly the game could run with a greater number of characters on the battlefield. Some of the environmental effects, such as fog and moonlight, are beautiful, and the backgrounds are far more animated than they were previously (i.e., moving lava).

There were a couple of things that I didn't like, though they are minor. First, I disliked the "outlining" that was added around the characters. I never felt the characters were particularly difficult to see, especially after Beamdog added the "zoom in" feature, so I was confused why they felt this was necessary. However, this outlining effect can be turned off, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

Second, the maps now have a black outlining past their borders, whereas originally the end of the map was where scrolling ended. I realize that this was probably done to more clearly display the boundaries of each map, but I feel it's unnecessary and somewhat immersion breaking.

Suggestion-wise, although I have not completed the expansion yet, I was hoping for some original art in terms of new creatures and sprites. I spotted a couple monsters that were new to the BG series, but they appear to be art imported from Icewind Dale 1 and 2. They still look great though (especially the worgs).

SOUND

The music I have listened to so far is superb, and changes in tone and timing are beautifully executed. I remember when I was leaving Baldur's Gate, it seemed epic and then triumphant, but then changed its tone to sound uneasy once a nobleman approached the player to question his lineage. It's the little things

I also loved the new voice work. I'm both ecstatic and impressed that Beamdog was able to recruit so many of the original voice actors. Safana, Caelar, Minsc, and Viconia's new material is particularly good, as is the Scottish-sounding actor who plays several of the dwarf NPCs.

There were some occasions where I heard some glitchy beeping..typically when I scrolled across large portions of the map. Not quite sure what the cause was. It happened rarely though, and wasn't too noticeable.

GAMEPLAY/STORY

I have been very pleased with what I've played thus far. The initial quest to hunt down Sarevok's remaining supporters seemed believable and felt like an actual "hunt," with members of the flaming fist aiding the player. I also enjoyed the initial segment in Baldur's Gate, and being able to discuss the politics of Caelar Argent's invasion with the various Dukes. Although I'm early in the game, Caelar Argent is an intriguing figure, and I really enjoyed navigating through CHARNAME's first conversation with her.

Many new NPCS in the game are given character and dialog, including many of the older companions who rejoin or otherwise encounter the player later in the game. For the most part, I have enjoyed much of the dialog so far and feel it matches the tone of the original game, with some very minor exceptions.

I realize that some people have taken issue with some of the dialog in the game and, although I can see what they're talking about, it has been a very minor part of the expansion. I didn't even notice the one very minor character had dialog revealing that they were transgender until I read about it on the site, and while its inclusion seemed a little pointless, it was extremely minor and didn't affect the tone or overall feel of the game. Similarly, I had no problems with Corwin's daughter defending her (we probably all thought our parents were invincible when we were kids), or with Safana's new dialog (Safana still comes across as a seductive, manipulative tease to me).

Really, the only "SJW" stuff that bothered me a bit was Minsc's allusion to Gamergate (though I probably would not have noticed this had I not been alerted to it), and the large number of times a female NPC would interject to tell the CHARNAME something along the lines of "[insert other female character here] is her own person and doesn't have to be spoken for/treated that way." I would have no problem with these lines appearing occasionally throughout the game, but they appeared concentrated just in the bit of SOD that I've played so far. This did make it sound like the enforcement of a message, rather than believable dialog. However, although I found these lines "annoying," I don't see why they warrant the campaign to downvote this expansion into Oblivion. The lines are a very minor part of the game's campaign, and definitely haven't affected my overall enjoyment of it.

Anyway, I also noticed that the AI of both enemies and party members has been improved. Enemies now use spells more intelligently, and will try to target squishier party members or react to party members casting spells or heals. While it doesn't match up with SCS-levels of AI tweaking, the improvements are definitely noticeable and appreciated.

BUGS

I've encountered some bugs during my playthrough so far, though they have been minor (an activator not deactivating after a particular quest is complete; one NPC acting like the player has accepted a quest when the player has not in fact talked to the NPC who gives the quest yet, etc.). None of these have been gamebreaking. However, I did begin my game by importing a final save. I understand many bugs have occurred due to mods, importing a character (rather than a save), or playing in multiplayer, so I probably avoided many of these bugs through the nature of my playthrough.

CONCLUSION

It is clear that this expansion, despite some minor faults, was a labor of love, and I've definitely enjoyed it so far (and likely will continue to enjoy it). I want to commend Beamdog for the time, effort, and creativity that went into this expansion, and hope that the uproar going on in the background won't dissuade them from exploring other entries in the series. I would recommend the expansion to any fan of CRPGS, and definitely feel it's much better than TOTSC.

SUGGESTIONS
* The initial enemies in the introduction seemed a little too easy...I expected assassins able to sneak into the Ducal Palace, as well as a follower of Sarevok who has managed to survive for so long, to put up a bit more of a fight.
* I was hoping for some more "off the beaten path" areas like the original Baldur's Gate had, though I realize this expansion is more story-driven than the original Baldur's Gate and that it was hard to balance the amount of content with the XP the player was able to get before BGII
* Please add more cleric kits!!

My Score: 8.8/10