Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition Coming in November

[Andy Chalk]

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition Coming in November

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Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition is now available for preorder.

The Baldur's Gate bounce-back is now complete: Just two weeks after the return [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126890-Baldurs-Gate-Enhanced-Edition-Returns] of Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Overhaul Games has announced that Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition will launch on November 15. Beginning in the dungeon of Irenicus, the Enhanced Edition of BioWare's magnum opus will take you through the entirety of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and the Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal expansion, plus new quests, more than 30 new locations and four additional party members: Dorn Il-Khan, Neera and Rasaad yn Bashir from the first Enhanced Edition, and a mysterious thief who seeks powerful artifacts from across Abeir-Toril.

BG2EE will also include The Black Pits 2: Gladiators of Thay, which sounds much like The Black Pits combat arena of the first game but with higher-level opponents including Demi-Liches, Mind Flayers and Githyanki. Art has been remastered, widescreen is properly supported, multiplayer options have been simplified and "a host of other interface and gameplay improvements" have been implemented.

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Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition comes out on November 15 for Windows and Mac. To find out more or place a preorder, go to baldursgateii.com [http://baldursgateii.com/].


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[TWEWYFan]

Color me excited for this. Not only was Baldur's Gate II one of my first games, it's still one of my favorites. It'll be nice to play this polished version.

 

[RikuoAmero]

*Has to change trousers due to excitement*

Well, there goes any possibility of me getting a PS4/Xbone in November. BGII will suck up all my possible gaming time.

 

[Talvrae]

Only one thing to say really
Oura
i'm pumped, that game was awesome and waited for the EE since the first one was annonced

 

[Jadak]

Oura

What does this mean? Google is not clarifying.

OP: Sounds great and all, but frankly it's been too long and while I enjoyed them at the time, I just can't find the motivation to go back and replay Baldur's Gate. enhanced or not.

 

[james.sponge]

I don't see much point in getting this version. BG trilogy and all great mods made by the community over the years is more than enough for me.

But then again it's great for people who never had the chance to play this magnificent game awwww! Just make another D&D game set in Faerun please! Don't force me to replay BG2, IWD, P:T and NWN2MoTB again

 

[LordMonty]

Souds good and cannot wait. Cheers Atari for getting out of the way of this.

 

[Talvrae]

Oura

What does this mean? Google is not clarifying.

Basically same thing as saying Youpi, or screaming YEAH!!

 

[Scars Unseen]

I don't see much point in getting this version. BG trilogy and all great mods made by the community over the years is more than enough for me.

But then again it's great for people who never had the chance to play this magnificent game awwww! Just make another D&D game set in Faerun please! Don't force me to replay BG2, IWD, P:T and NWN2MoTB again

Well that didn't take long.

If the new features, content or optimized code and resultant elimination of load time don't do it for you, then take into consideration that many previously hard coded features are being externalized to expand what will be possible for modders to accomplish. Beamdog hired some of the more prominent members of the modding community to help make the Enhanced Edition the definitive edition.

Basically, if you like the mods that are available for BG, then BGEE is going to have that and then some. Not saying that this should make you run off and pre-order or anything, but the game deserves more consideration than outright dismissal by the fanbase.

 

[cidbahamut]

*Has to change trousers due to excitement*

[insert obvious pantaloons joke here]

I'm still not on board with the whole adding of content thing all these remake games have going on. "Baldur's Gate II: Widescreen and Modern System Compatibility edition" seems like it would have been perfectly serviceable.
The whole cutscene remake thing they did with the first game didn't sit well with me, so I'm wary of what this will bring to the table.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I found the enhanced edition of Baldurs Gate to be inferior to regular Baldurs Gate with mods so I am not that excited for this. I have a feeling it is going to be a bit halfassed like the original was.

 

[McShizzle]

Not too sure how I feel about this. Wasn't the first attempt at Baldur's Gate pretty ham handed, and still has lots of issues? Most of what I saw written about BG Enhanced Edition seemed pretty underwhelming. Guess I'll just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best (and thank the gods I still have the original discs and have no trouble with modding things).

 

[masticina]

Mmmm kinda showing I really really need to play this game to its end at least once. One of those games to own but do you really play it till the end? Eh.. RPG's are rich ground let we say.

 

[elvor0]

So I take it we all kept the golden pantaloons yes?

 

[DaxStrife]

I'm sold, as long as the Flirt/Expanded Relationship mods still work for it.

 

[Andy Chalk]

The Enhanced Editions are fantastic pick-ups for people who haven't played the BG games and don't want to horse around with mods, patches, wonky widescreen support and other such nonsense. Old-timers who just get a nostalgic itch now and then would probably be just as well served by the cheaper GOG versions, especially if the new content feels sacrilegious somehow - which I don't think is an entirely invalid position to take. And of course the hardcore fanbase will probably want to stick with the originals and all the external mods and updates as a matter of principle.

Bottom line, the EEs aren't the be-all-and-end-all of the Baldur's Gate games, but they do have a lot of value. They're well-done (well, BGEE at least, high hopes for BG2EE), inexpensive and offer an unparalleled D&D experience. I'm glad they've been made.

 

[Morten Skiftesvik]

As one who "grew up", gaming wise, with the Baldur's Gate games as one of the major things I played(even mods from time to time), I do like these enhanced editions.

First of all, I never liked all the mods you could get for the originals. Some were nice, others... not so much.
In particular, the mod that allowed you to do all the strongholds on a single character felt like a greedy one.

Secondly, while not bug-free, the first EE had less issues with running than the originals I still have in disk form in my collection(which does include 4 individual disk-sets of BG2, two of which are on DVD instead of all those CDs).
And with the exceptions of the cut-scenes in the first EE, I didn't find much to complain about that wasn't already more or less present in the base game.

TL;DR.
I'll be getting this EE, too. And I suspect I will enjoy it.

 

[Andy Chalk]

That's one thing I do wish the EE offered: The ability to choose original or updated cutscenes. The new ones just don't do it for me.