Baldurs Gate II, a console tards shocking discovery

[Knight Templar]

I can sum up this all of this argument.

He doesn't like the game because thats just who he is.

We don't understand because we love it so much.

Somebody said someting that was mean. Doesn't matter who, but it was most likey one of us enlightend BG fans(damm, see!).

Then
[/Snowball]

 

[smorgasbord_of_pie]

*sigh* YOU WILL SUFFER, YOU WILL ALL SUFFER!

This mage's power is immense! We must overcome him quickly!

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

then I realised it was based on 2nd Ed D&D, which is pretty much the single most misconcieved and counterintuitive RPG system of all time.

Trust me, there are much worse ones. Look up Hybrid and you'll see what I mean.

Phoenix Command or Rolemaster?

 

[PurpleRain]

*sigh* YOU WILL SUFFER, YOU WILL ALL SUFFER!

This mage's power is immense! We must overcome him quickly!

You will cease your spell casting and come with us! (wait, that was before)

Then
[/Snowball]

Snowball?! I do hope you're not talking about snowballing? Why did I even bring that up.

 

[smorgasbord_of_pie]

"Your pathetic magics are useless. Let this end.?

 

[Anniko]

I'll add some examples of unintiutive:
Lower Armor Class is better (-10 = max).
Stats are 6 to 18?

Really? I guess my fighter with a 19 strength, 19 constitution and 19 agility and a -24 AC doesn't exist.

The tomes in the first game gave me the +1 to strength, constitution and agility to boost you up to 19. 19 agility, Ring of Gaxx (a total prick to get) and one of the full plate armours in the expansion and you've got a -10 to -15 AC already, a couple more items and you're at the -20 mark.

 

[GloatingSwine]

I'll add some examples of unintiutive:
Lower Armor Class is better (-10 = max).
Stats are 6 to 18?

Really? I guess my fighter with a 19 strength, 19 constitution and 19 agility and a -24 AC doesn't exist.

The tomes in the first game gave me the +1 to strength, constitution and agility to boost you up to 19. 19 agility, Ring of Gaxx (a total prick to get) and one of the full plate armours in the expansion and you've got a -10 to -15 AC already, a couple more items and you're at the -20 mark.

Starting stats are 6-18, for everything except Strength, which has that sily 18/XX business that no other stat has. The actual stat cap is 25, and effective capability is logarithmic with strength increase.

 

[Wazzelbe]

Wow. I'm, like, your opposite, sammyfreak. I can see where you're coming from with the "counter-intuitive" argument and all that, but convincing you to like BGII and the Fallout games might be as hard as you telling me that Diablo II is superior.
I bought the game, installed it (still have it- I'm level 20 or something), but didn't really LIKE the game. My friend says I haven't played it enough, yet. Or on the right difficulty.

HERE'S some of the things I liked about Baldur's Gate and Fallout that I don't think you have in Diablo II:

- Alternate Quest Endings: You could TALK your way through a quest! Or SNEAK through it! Hell, there were some enemies you HAD to sneak or talk past, or they'd turn you into adventurer-colored paste! Finally, you could look at the people GIVING the quest, the people OPPOSING your quest, and then decide who you want to work for- or just kill them all and loot their homes. Freedom!

- Character Development: Notice that Minsc and other BG characters are quoted in this thread. That's because the fans like them! They said stuff! They did things! They responded to what YOU did! Yoshimo DIED and he DIDN'T COME BACK!
(... I THINK that's a good thing... I miss Yoshimo, now.)

- Atmosphere: Most places in Diablo II were either caves, ruins, or forests. Or ruins in a forest. Towns were places you went to drop your loot. In BG II, towns had quests, too! It had people who weren't just vendors or quest-givers! It had... inhabitants! Friends both new and old awaited you in Amn, as well as enemies! There were also MUTLTIPLE inns and stores. Yeah, multiple stores and inns isn't a HUGE deal, but there was something about the *option* of staying in an inn of my choice and drinking ale at the bar for gossip that I just LIKED, okay!?

Anyway, there are probably little bits after that like talking swords and puzzles requiring that the player THINK, but I guess those are minor. My Diablo-playing friend would probably look at these reasons and laugh. So there you go. SIDE NOTE: Did you play Icewind Dale II? You might like it more.

Tiax rules all!!!

 

[Talux]

I actually played through the whole lot of it..

I understand what you're saying about the game turning to stone. Baldur's Gate takes some time to get into, and you need a basic understanding of Dungeons and Dragons in order to get the most out of it. And I felt very confused when I first played it, especially when I got swamped by about fifty quests about two minutes after stepping out of the first dungeon. On the normal or higher difficulties the game is also very frustrating at times. Lots of reloading and spacebar pauses :/ And the manual was like a small novel. And the UI wasn't exactly great.

Despite all that, it's a great game. Even if it does tend to reward saintly characters, you still get the option of acting however you want. The dialogue is interesting, and the settings are pretty creative, and you have a good number of playable characters to choose from.

Basically, it's a game made for hardcore RPG players who grew up with even more complex RPG's and a basic knowledge of the popular nerd activities of the day. I started to enjoy it... eventually. These days I don't know if I'd be patient enough to spend several hours learning a new game. No reason to feel like you're mindless for not liking it.

 

[Knight1172]

I can understand you not understanding complex, strategical spell-casting in DnD, especially if you've been playing WoW alot.

Honestly, The Story rocks my socks. Minsc is kick ass. And I love the gameplay to peaces. Many apologies, but I loved this game so much, I tried to sell it to my friend for £600.

He bought it.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

I had the same problem as you the first time I played BG2. It's the same with most Bioware games, they just throw you in at the deep end with no explanation of how things work and expect you to be able to cope. This Penny Arcade strip sums it up quite well: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/11/19/

They're talking about Mass Effect there, which is a total picnic compared to BG2. What I recommend is that you pick a simple class for your main character (a fighter's probably best) and just take it slow with the game. The loading screen hints do help and there is often explanations to be found in the games menus. I couldn't understand why everyone else raved about this game either, having also been raised on Diablo 2 and Final Fantasy.

BG2 is immeasurably superior to both, but it is very very hard work to get into at first. I adore the game now and can't recommend enough that you stick with it until you can beat the system. It's a lot of effort, but like all the best things, a little work makes it all the better when things start making sense

The writing was pretty good, you got your points across well but you need to work on your grammar.

 

[goodguy]

1. You should play this game by yourself the first time through. You need to play at your own pace and take your time reading the dialogue and descriptions (BG2 had a pretty big manual btw) to get into it. It's hard to get immersed when you're casually chatting with a friend while playing.

2. The combat is not action oriented like in Diablo (or even WoW) but round based and tactical. Use pause often and try to learn the basic d&d combat mechanics (it's not too complex). Once you get the hang of it it can be quite fun.

 

[AsbestosKidney]

My appreciation came when I started playing AD&D 2nd edition in its pen and paper version. Then I really started loving the game. It does take a lot of time to get into and is generally very different from modern RPGs, which are (sometimes) more intuitive and easier to play.
It isn't a game I can just pick up and play again, however, because I know it takes such a great investment of time.

If you didn't like BG II you might find Planescape: Torment a complete nightmare... I did pick up the latter again recently against my better judgment.

 

[Zoroastres]

The first time I played BG2, I hated it. I bought it because a friend told me it was the BEST GAME EVER but I didn't get it and I hated it. I came to it not from an action-RPG perspective, but from an RTS perspective. Fresh from playing Age of Kings, I wasn't really open to the complexity of the game.

Now, it's my favorite game of ALL time. It took me a while to give it a second chance, but when I did, I was blown away.

Really, though, it's rather stupid to START with Baldur's Gate 2. It is, after all, something of an epic saga. You need to start at the begining--Baldur's Gate. Pure and simple. The game where, you know, you get lots of auto-tutorial stuff, and the game holds your hand while you learn the basics. Where you only have TWO spells at the start, and can only memorize one.

 

[Blayze]

Actually, I think it'd be easier to start with Planescape: Torment. There's no Dual-Classing or Multi-Classing or Races or Classes or Kits to confuse you if you're trying to learn the rules. There's just you, your party and the ability to change your class at will between Fighter, Thief and Mage.

 

[Kaewt]

shadows of amn was the game that made me give baldurs gate another try... The spells are awesome, the graphics and sound were awesome.. all that I could find lacking was dialogue and not being able to do pvp battles.

The dialogue seemed to have taken a steep decline, since baldurs gate 1.. I felt a bit stupid when I read the dialoge after playing baldurs gate 1. also the voice actors of baldurs gate 1 were much better directed, im sure they have used lots of bg1's voice props for this expansion.

not being able to play against other players limited this game to a great extent, in comparrison, diablo 2 was better in terms of being a customising game. None of the players will have the same gear since the engine randomises everything, that is what a role playing game is as well, having your character shaped by your own will.

both really fantastic games.

 

[Jack Spencer Jr]

I wonder, is there a career to be made out of being mean to D&D fans?

Nah, no money, but it's fun anyway. Dungeons and Dragons hasn't been the basis for a decent video games since the Mattel Intellivision cartridge. And even then, they just slapped "AD&D" on a generic fantasy game.

I haven't played any of the PC Baldur's Gate games, but if they're anything like the PS2 ones, I'll stay clear. I had posted a review of Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance not too long ago and recently gave the second game in the series a try and was dead in less time than it takes for the game to boot up. Why? Because I stood in a fire? Why? Because everything was so brown I could not tell I was standing in fire until it was too late. Christ, I haven't see that much brown since Jeff Easley was an official TSR artist. What a crappy game.

 

[Kaewt]

cant remember any fire spells in baldurs gate 2 man... maby you're referring to something else..