18/00 or nothing!
Curiously Larian’s ‘no miss’ approach to Dungeons and Dragons 5E shares the same moniker as one of the more popular Kama Sutra positions: The Reverse Stormtrooper.
So I --and this is a bit rare --disagree. I think there WILL be a character import. In fact the whole game doesn’t make sense without.
And I plan on leveling my old character … not to date myself.
Don’t feel ashamed about dating yourself. Some people just have a hard time finding a partner.
LOL you actually really made me laugh out loud …! Ty. lol…
Yw!
345
Rolled that ONCE. I was so excited, so proud.
Died at first level.
In the old Gold box games, you could manually alter your attribute scores. Was that not something you could do in Baldur’s Gate?
In baldur’s gate you can reallocate points between different attributes.
OK, so rolling gave you a sort of pool of attribute points that you could allocate as you wished? Which would be different from the Gold Box games (I played the hell out of most of those, which I guess is why they stand out more in my memory).
Yes, it rolls a set of attributes and then you can move points between them. At least enhanced edition does. I don’t remember if that was in the original.
Have you played the first BG any time recently? I tried to and an wondering if 2 is worth a try even if I bailed on 1.
I really like the first game, it’s really just like the first chapter in a huge story, if you play it right next to BG 2 - it’s just a much lower level tale, and D&D 2nd edition is not kind to low level adventurers. It still has many fantastic stories to tell though. Once you hit level 4 or 5 the game starts to really cook and then it leads into the finale, which then leads into the excellent expansion, and then BG 2 proper. That’s how I remember it from many years ago when I played it again (for about the third time total, iirc). I doubt I would change my mind if I played it again, I never quite understood the dislike for BG 1 honestly.
Not that you need to experience it to enjoy BG 2 - far from it. I guess it all depends on why you bailed on the first game if you’ll find BG 2 worth your time? The mechanics (2nd edition) are archaic for sure, but they serve their purpose okay and there is a lot of great moments and quests (and spells and loot - some of the best in the business) to be had in BG 2. If you’re looking to scratch that D&D itch, you can’t really do much better. And you can always play on a lower difficulty to offset the crazyness of old-school RTwP and focus on the adventure itself. Plus, the quality of life stuff in the enhanced edition (like zooming in and waaay out, area loot, a much better AI system for your party members, stuff like that) has been a lot of fun.
Dan --only a Cleveland brown would that happen to… and only a Brown would admit it!
(Btw my Vikes look pretty good …)
I have recently played both BG1EE and BG2EE. A few times, in fact.
BG1EE is a bit rough by modern standards. There are a lot of empty areas to explore. A lot of empty houses. The best weapon in the game is a +2 longsword. When they made the city of Baldur’s Gate, they first created it, then just laid a grid over it to create the zone boundaries. Which means you can zone over from one district to another and be stuck in a corner with nowhere to go except back. The main plot is decent, but I can’t remember any side quests there were good. I stopped playing two games in the same spot during a certain side quest because I couldn’t get it to trigger.
BG2EE is vastly better in every imaginable way. It still holds up, despite its crude magic system. What I mean by that is your level 30 cleric will still have level 1 Cure Light Wounds spells memorized, which are beyond useless. BioWare created many of the spells used by powerful wizards for defenses, and the spells used to defeat those defenses. For example, “Breach” is not an original D&D spell. As a result, enemy wizards and liches can be frustrating to figure out which combination of spells you need to use to defeat their defenses. And then use them again once their Contingency triggers and they re-cast them all again.
But the magic system is the only knock against BG2EE. Otherwise it’s utterly fantastic, with a fantastic plot and great side quests. I mean traipsing through the underdark slaughtering drow, mindflayers and beholders? That shit never gets old. It’s a great game and you should play it.
Thanks for the post. As someone who didn’t care for BG1 at all, this really makes me want to give BG2 a chance.
In addition to the hundred year time jump, there’s the issue that a character that’s finished Throne of Baal is well into epic levels (30+) so there’s really nowhere for them to go.
Now it is possible you’ll be able to import a save game, I suppose, if they wanted to make a few minor callbacks to your choices in the previous games.
I mean, you’re literally a god.
Another minor issue with BG2 is that the monsters, particularly dragons, don’t scale up as your party does, which can be kind of disappointing late in the game. There’s a dragon fight early one that is one of the best, epic battles I can remember in any game – very satisfying when you win it. OTOH, you encounter a dragon late in the game that you swat aside like a fly, and that really shouldn’t happen.
BG2 for me is still the greatest PC RPG of all time. There was just something magical about that one. It just feels like a true epic with a ton of story/quests, unique characters, long, engaging battles. It’s a very long game without feeling padded. I still like the first game, but it was practice for BG2.
It’s a shame Bioware/Black Isle didn’t make a 3rd game, but I have my hopes up high for this one. Would have been great if Obsidian had a crack at it, but Larian has a good track record thus far.
That being said, I bought the Throne of Bhaal expansion a million years ago and never played it. Have the new EE versions so will get to it eventually.