Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition Review

[gardian06]

my Question is why is Andy doing this review? is Skyler being punished for maybe saying that 'a PC gamer has a MasterRace card' on the podcast?

OT: yes this does sound a lot like the original BG. now the question is do I really want the ulcer from the aggravation of playing it, and dying often.

 

[Kekkonen1]

God I wish this was released on its original release date in September. I had plenty of time then, now I am so freakishly busy that I simply cant find the time to play it at all. I want to play Baldurs Gate noooooooow!! =(((

I did manage to squeeze in a few hours at launch though, man its good!

 

[Kekkonen1]

What was the omitted line of dialogue, out of curiosity?

I think they meant the famous Nietzsche-quote "when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you" that they used to open the game with. I was expecting it to pop-up when pushing new game and was surprised at its exclusion.

 

[Terrible Opinions]

Gameplay has not been left "virtually untouched". Enemy spawns have been significantly reduced, making for easier wilderness encounters and, because of the worse EXP gains, harder bosses. The game also has seriously bugged-out scripting (audio cues looping endlessly, characters refusing to talk ever, and the multiplayer is busted for any group of three or more. As far as the fit of the new content goes, one of the new companions is a monk who is pretty much the worst character around due to his poor stats the low-level nature of the campaign (monks are terrible until about level nine, and only become good around thirteen or so, which is Baldur's Gate 2 territory).

It's no so much that BGEE is bad, and they are putting patches out at a rapid pace it's that it's $20, and you can buy both Baldur's Gate and its sequel for that price on GOG, and with a bit of pretty painless modding, get an experience that is equal at worst and superior at best.

 

[Yojoo]

What was the omitted line of dialogue, out of curiosity?

I think they meant the famous Nietzsche-quote "when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you" that they used to open the game with. I was expecting it to pop-up when pushing new game and was surprised at its exclusion.

There's also the "There are others!" line from the opening cinematic that the doomed knight says before getting thrown off the balcony. I hardly cared that it was omitted.

Regarding the review itself, as much as I'm enjoying BGEE, I have to say they really dropped the ball in making the game more accessible to a modern audience. I mean, it looks better than the original, but with the length of development and delays in the release, I was expecting something that doesn't feel fourteen years old. By far the main selling point to me is the supposedly improved multiplayer support, but I'm hearing even that is spotty.

 

[Slycne]

What was the omitted line of dialogue, out of curiosity?

Also, there's a mod going on to port BG2 to Icewind Dale II's engine, which uses 3.0 rules.

It's the line about being able to lead Sarevok to the others.

 

[Formica Archonis]

I never could beat this game. Perhaps now is the time for me to give it another go.

That's okay, I played it for half an hour before it compelled me to pitch it out the window. Minority opinion I know, but I really did not like it.

 

[Kekkonen1]

What was the omitted line of dialogue, out of curiosity?

I think they meant the famous Nietzsche-quote "when you gaze long into the abyss the abyss also gazes into you" that they used to open the game with. I was expecting it to pop-up when pushing new game and was surprised at its exclusion.

There's also the "There are others!" line from the opening cinematic that the doomed knight says before getting thrown off the balcony. I hardly cared that it was omitted.

Regarding the review itself, as much as I'm enjoying BGEE, I have to say they really dropped the ball in making the game more accessible to a modern audience. I mean, it looks better than the original, but with the length of development and delays in the release, I was expecting something that doesn't feel fourteen years old. By far the main selling point to me is the supposedly improved multiplayer support, but I'm hearing even that is spotty.

Yeah thats true, had completely forgotten that line =)

You think they dropped the ball? Just curious, not trying to be confrontational, but what would you have liked them to do? I myself was just happy to get Baldurs Gate in all its glory with some tweaks for playability and HD-resolution without having to mess with mods and stuff. Otherwise I'm quite happy with the way the game is, I'm having MUCH more fun with this (in the little time I have to play) than I ever had with "accessible" games such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and I can't wait for BG2:EE.

I never could beat this game. Perhaps now is the time for me to give it another go.

That's okay, I played it for half an hour before it compelled me to pitch it out the window. Minority opinion I know, but I really did not like it.

I'm not sure it will be a minority opinion though, maybe on these kinds of forums, but the game is HARD and somewhat clunky. I was kind of shocked at first, being used to the easier games of the last 10 years, but since I grew up with these kinds of games I just had to reset my expectations and start playing in a different, more careful and strategic way. It's really NOT a just-select-whole-party-and-click-enemy kind of game. But hey, to each his own, atleast you gave it a try =)

 

[Rzepik]

BG:EE is a disgrace. It's more buggy and unbalanced than the original unpatched release.
If you really can't stand archaic BG1 engine:

1. Buy BG1 & BG2 on GoG (20$)
2. Spend 20 minutes installing mods. Modding tips are also on GoG.
2. Get a far superior version of the game.
No crashes, better compatibility, no useless monks with magical boots worth gamebreaking 17k gold. Oh, and it has ending cinematic (duh!).

 

[Andy Chalk]

There's also the "There are others!" line from the opening cinematic that the doomed knight says before getting thrown off the balcony. I hardly cared that it was omitted.

Ding. I was really surprised that they cut this line, as I always thought it was a very important piece of foreshadowing. Things were admittedly a lot different the first time I heard it, but even so, I don't get the rationale for cutting it.

 

[Slycne]

There's also the "There are others!" line from the opening cinematic that the doomed knight says before getting thrown off the balcony. I hardly cared that it was omitted.

Ding. I was really surprised that they cut this line, as I always thought it was a very important piece of foreshadowing. Things were admittedly a lot different the first time I heard it, but even so, I don't get the rationale for cutting it.

Well it's not like the game doesn't wallop you over the head with it every where else, like that group in Candlekeep. I guess they wanted to try and make it more subtle.

 

[Rakor]

Minsc and Boo

stand ready once more.

 

[Terrible Opinions]

You think they dropped the ball? Just curious, not trying to be confrontational, but what would you have liked them to do? I myself was just happy to get Baldurs Gate in all its glory with some tweaks for playability and HD-resolution without having to mess with mods and stuff. Otherwise I'm quite happy with the way the game is, I'm having MUCH more fun with this (in the little time I have to play) than I ever had with "accessible" games such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and I can't wait for BG2:EE.

Can't speak for the other dude, but a more intuitive, hotkey-friendly interface would have been cool. And multiplayer that doesn't shit itself with groups of three or more.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Well it's not like the game doesn't wallop you over the head with it every where else, like that group in Candlekeep. I guess they wanted to try and make it more subtle.

That doesn't seem like much of a reason to pull it. It's not really a problem, it has no actual impact on anything, it's just a very odd thing to do away with since it's so central to the story. Didn't "There are others" give you a chill the first time you heard it?

 

[disgruntledgamer]

A lot of reviews are saying its bugger than ^%&^ and looks worse than the original. So unless you feel some sort of need to play a kit through BG 1 I guess it can be skipped.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

You think they dropped the ball? Just curious, not trying to be confrontational, but what would you have liked them to do? I myself was just happy to get Baldurs Gate in all its glory with some tweaks for playability and HD-resolution without having to mess with mods and stuff. Otherwise I'm quite happy with the way the game is, I'm having MUCH more fun with this (in the little time I have to play) than I ever had with "accessible" games such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and I can't wait for BG2:EE.

I never could beat this game. Perhaps now is the time for me to give it another go.

That's okay, I played it for half an hour before it compelled me to pitch it out the window. Minority opinion I know, but I really did not like it.

I'm not sure it will be a minority opinion though, maybe on these kinds of forums, but the game is HARD and somewhat clunky. I was kind of shocked at first, being used to the easier games of the last 10 years, but since I grew up with these kinds of games I just had to reset my expectations and start playing in a different, more careful and strategic way. It's really NOT a just-select-whole-party-and-click-enemy kind of game. But hey, to each his own, atleast you gave it a try =)

I find it more annoying than legitimately hard. I mean when most of the early combat is based on entirely random number rolls how can you have strategy? All the planning and targeting in the world won't save you when your enemies keep rolling well, you keep rolling shit and you don't have the levels (and thus options) to compensate.

Thus... I cheat. Also it's quite immersion breaking when you realize you've spent 7 Days in a dungeon because you need to keep resting to get your healing back...

Stupid Vancian Magic...

(goes off into a corner to rant some more about how annoying old DnD is)

 

[Yojoo]

You think they dropped the ball? Just curious, not trying to be confrontational, but what would you have liked them to do? I myself was just happy to get Baldurs Gate in all its glory with some tweaks for playability and HD-resolution without having to mess with mods and stuff. Otherwise I'm quite happy with the way the game is, I'm having MUCH more fun with this (in the little time I have to play) than I ever had with "accessible" games such as Dragon Age and Mass Effect, and I can't wait for BG2:EE.

Can't speak for the other dude, but a more intuitive, hotkey-friendly interface would have been cool. And multiplayer that doesn't shit itself with groups of three or more.

This, among other things. When I first heard about BGEE, I expected more of an overhaul than what I got.

Regarding the difficulty of the game, this is something I thought they'd address. It's just silly that a wolf can get a random lucky shot in during the prologue and end your game, and people playing BG1 for the first time are going to be pissed when that sort of thing starts happening. I'm fine with relentlessly difficult games, but in something modern like Dark Souls the game just demands that you get better. There's nothing you can do to make early combat any easier; it all boils down to hoping your single attack per round lands faster than your opponent's.

A simple fix would have been to give enough quest experience from the early Candlekeep stuff to get to level 2, or at least closer to a level up. This practice in the IWD series made those games much more approachable. In BG1, someone like Tarnesh (the first mage assassin at the Friendly Arm) is terrible design, in my book, and something that should have been fixed.

I'm still enjoying the new content, and I'm happy that I'll finally get to play some multiplayer with my younger brother. I'm just a little annoyed that I paid twenty bucks for the equivalent of a few good mods.

 

[AldUK]

Huge fan of Baldur's Gate. I'm so happy it's having new life breathed into it, even if I agree that they could of done more and broken less. Still, it's Baldur's Gate. Best single player RPG experience you can have, to this day.