I'm a lover of modern RPG games and thought I would dip my toe into what came before, I mean, I'm in my 40's and have always been a gamer fan, but D&D and the whole fantasy genre just seemed to pass me by at the time. I've just completed my first run of BG1EE, only one play through so far, then imported my toon in to BG2 which I am currently having immense fun in. I'm only in chapter 2 atm, but so far loving how challenging the game is and how it is making me learn the spells side of combat, which was largely something I just totally ignored in the first game. I've just watched this video through now, having already started BG2 and it has given me a ton of useful tips as to how best setup my spell casters and mages. Keep the great content coming, I'm a big fan, from over here in the UK.
I'm on the same boat, I'm a fan of Laryan I played the Divinity series, when I saw BG3 I started to look into this....i don't know if can start them but man it's tempting
I remember that fight to this day. He time stops you lol that combat is a perfect example of how much you have to understand spells. Cause unlike 3rd edition and on, mages crush everything at high levels. There was no concentration limits, spells lasted a lot longer, etc. They even used to level slower to try and counter this. A rogue took like 2mil xp to lvl 20 where as a mage took 3.5 mil.
Since I started watching your channel, I went back to finish Pathfinder, Divinity, Wasteland 3, etc. and now I've purchased all three BG games. Nice work
One thing about resting... It doesn't heal to full. It burns some healing spells, but otherwise it's effectiveness is limited on health. Potions are really important.
I just finished this game last night. I had Aerie focus on dispelling everything. Made things SOOO much easier. Imouen was a summoner. Jaheira was my tank. Minsc was a striker. Neera was my nuker. The final battle was easy due to Irenicus becoming OBSESSED with using Power Word, Kill on Neera. Had her run around the area while he ignored everyone else chasing him. I literally beat his ass to death. 😂
Being old enough to have played pen & paper D&D with the rule set (at least close enough), I didn't have any trouble understanding most of the game mechanics when it was originally released (4 CD's, I think? Or was it 6? With a color printed manual and map!). I even knew some of the monster abilities/immunities already, such as only blunt weapons can damage clay golems, from my pen & paper play. Just the fact that even today, 20+ years later, this game can compete with modern CRPG games, and surpass some in story and atmosphere, tells you all you need to know. My favorite is the Shadows of Amn - I think levels 8-20 is sort of the sweet spot for most character classes. Once you get above that level, magic tends to become overpowered, especially for the Sorcerer class, although Ranger-Cleric multi-class is right there in over-poweredness. Glad you enjoyed it!
I just bought the first two games for ps4 after I saw the reviews of the 3rd game that just came out don’t have a PS5 yet but this be my first time playing it 😮 Yeah I’m late to the party ‼️
I love BG. It is my favorite epic CRPG, right next to Mass Effect. I am stoked that Larian is doing BG3... and only hope that the companions are done right. Not sure if they will have a main villain, given the story 🤔
@ 4:35 Normal difficulty is hard enough if you play the game like me = No crazy pre-buffing and the whole party has zero hits taken in the entire game.
It's hard to find a complaint about BG2. Best I could come up with is druid spell selection. Not a lot of variety, and spells that require you to be outdoors such as Call Lightening get shafted a bit in 2 because the majority of your quests are indoors. Some of the classes are hot garbage too, but there's always roleplaying for that.
Yeah, Larian is lying about a connection. They are using WotC lore which is based on the shit books. Most characters dead and Minsc asspulled into 5e. So... I dunno, cba to care about that
yeah, the maon character of the books is an idiot compared with the cannon of the games. You know, I don't get how an idiot who is weak to a fear spell can kill the one who defeated Ameylissan in the Throne of Bhaal.
Honest question, im eyeing with the BG franchise for a while now, but im kinda unsure,how much dnd knowledge is neede to actually have fun with the game? Because i have none
Played entire series on core rules till rage forced to beat last part of melissan fight on story mode & had to reload once n story mode. Too many boss battles that r cheating 🗑. Never played a game u have to store items fr final dlc fight.
One thing I don't see mentioned enough in discussions of BG2 is the amazing quality of the background artistry. The cities, temples and even the menus are a really amazing blend of art nouveau and Byzantine design principles - often looking like a mix of the aesthetics of Paris, Constantinople and Renaissance Italy. The atmosphere of Athkatla in particular is really immersive and exotic, and it's a real joy to explore. It's a damned shame it didn't inspire any copycats in this regard.
Tons of stuff to do, great characters, super awesome spell system, terrific story, intimidating creatures and enemies, compelling maps and areas. What more do you want?
Romances underwhelming? It's pretty obvious you haven't properly finished any. Even after Dragon Age or Mass Effect, the romances in BG 2 still remain at the top of the industry. Granted, the options are restricted. 1. Romances feature well into the main story (Dark elf city) and can change dramatically depending how you finish that chapter. 2. There's actually romance rivalry going on. It's organic, and not some "date both, but you have to choose 1 at the very end." 3. Romances continue well into the expansion Throne of Bhaal...and the epilogues change depending on how to dealt with the romances. 4. Romances are not just some extra dialogue and a single "romance" event...there's several events throughout the story. Seriously, I'm still disappointed in how modern games have not been able to improve much or at all, or mostly be worse than BG 2! Besides romances, there's friendships and banter...the writing and voice acting is absolutely top-notch. There's also friendships and rivalries between the NPC...again, very organically written. Not lip service as it is in modern games. F**k, even to this day, BG 2 is the ONLY game, where I actively THINK about the exact party composition...not because of which combo is more powerful, but how these NPCs will interact with each other! Heck, for some really interesting dialogue, try putting totally incompatible NPCs together in your party! This alone makes for so much replayability... Pillar of Eternity has the cleaner game, UI, visuals, sounds....but writing, voice acting, story, char development, BG 2 stomps PoE into the ground.
Having finished playing Pathfinder Kingmaker, romancing Valerie, some events made me remember Jaheira's Romance a little bit, but to this day, no game has had the romances of BG2, I mean, Aerie's child, Jaheira's many subquests, Viconia and the Drow city, and even the romance with the new half- elf
Great review. I fully admit that BG2 is my favourite crpg and a lot of it is nostalgia but it did so much for the games that i really enjoyed after it. I love the strongholds idea and I think it's part of why i liked the kingdom management in Kingmaker. The whole 'meeting ppl in the hall of your fledgling domain' reminded me of the warrior stronghold from BG2 and I liked that Kingmaker went further to build on weaving kingdom management into the main story but I get why ppl didn't like the Kingmaker implementation. I also liked how they made everything stronghold quite thematically different in a way that made sense for each class. I think BG2 also did really well in putting lots of easter eggs for the D&D nerds who liked the associated novels and lore. Putting in Elminster, Drizzt and other references to other heroes was really good nods to the setting. Also BG2 had a great manual too! :D
Hahahaha I started with bg2 as a kid, without knowing 2nd edition D&D nor english... I failed miserably. I tried again years later, and I was more succesful
Absolutely, a masterfully written character with peerless voice acting. Here's to David Warner, may he rest in peace. I don't know if any "behind the scenes" video was ever made of the making of this game, but it would be incredible to watch.
@@DAh-xo8zm Unlike weak writing of BG3 antagonists, except for Kethric Too bad Larian is not even close to original Bioware, not mentioning old Obsidian ...
@@ARCHiGAMEZthe BG3 villains may not reach the Irenicus standard, but nearly nothing does. Let’s not act like Bioware does this consistently. Even Sarevok isn’t even close.
Simply put the best rpg of all time. Regarding reputation, if you're in the low city guards can spawn in when you're travelling between areas in the city and attack you. You can visit temples and donate money to increase your reputation but there is a cap on how high your reputation will increase this way, you'll need to do some unique quests that reward reputation to increase it further. Also, unique to Paladins and Rangers, since they have an alignment requirement of lawful good if you do an evil act they will become fallen (which means stripped of all their unique abilities and reduced to a basic fighter class). The game allows you to redeem yourself and do a quest. If you do that you regain your status back. This is freakin cool. Edit: Don't know about you but 16 base companions is not a low number, tons of replayability just with original characters. EE plus ToB adds 7 more companion characters to the mix.
One of the best atmospheres in a game and the most engaging story i have experienced. A close second is Mass Effect. Remember playing on core rules and having no clue about AD&D, it was hell lol so i don't recommend it either. A good aligned roleplay is the best experience imho and most likely what the devs intended, because there is more internal struggle going on to not to succumb to the taint and to carry on through the Shadows of Amn. Epic stuff.
Yet another outstanding review. Indeed this is an old game, but even with its age, it’s still one of the best of all time. The story, the villain… almost everything about this game is amazing. And yes, I do agree with the negatives. The game does a terrible job explaining AC, THAC0, resistances, immunities. But for me, it was fun to finally figure out what was happening and move forward with that knowledge. I’ve been playing the BG saga since I was 9 and these games have just stood the test of time. Yes, it’s aging, but with new technology, I hope a remake can be possible.
2nd Edition D&D was weird, man. But they were pioneers in the field and after playing 3rd Edition and beyond I can easily forgive the weirdness of THAC0 and stuff. But I still to this day do not understand the old Saving Throw system and am constantly going, "WHY on EARTH is this a Save vs Wand and why is that a thing in the first place???" haha
God, reading the manuals, spell descriptions and rules, was quite literally my bedtime reading between '98 and '00 when delving head first deeply into this fantastic world. I've since read all of the R.A Salvatore books and I miss the world something fierce. Part of the time investment in learning the system was making sure that the time spent here would be so much more.. so much more... invested. I mean I had learned all of this and wanted to explore the world and live it. Just thinking back, I mean, the level 7, 8 and 9 spells are just... not much comes close. A spell such as "Wish". Or "Time Stop".. "Summon Djinn", "Simulacrum". Thats just of the top of my head. I still get nostalgic when thinking about all the possibilities I saw with this system. It felt limitless in many ways but came at the cost of smacking your head against the wall again and again. It was overwhelming in many ways, but reading up beforehand made you that little bit more prepared. At the end, you felt like a .. god. almost; Funny that. Exploring Athkatla and, by chance, finding one of the (for me, at that time) most difficult battles in the game, just going into a random house and exploring upstairs. After which, being rewarded, I think, one of the best weapons in the game. At least I used it forever. A Katana. Don't remember the details. Or the talking sword that you can find in the sewers, which was like another companion entirely. I mean, it just had so much to see. so much to experience.
This comment literally summed up my whole life of 1999 to 2002 😅. The amount of time I read those manuals from cover to cover. I was absolutely obsessed with this series. Also, I believe the Katana you're talking about is Celestial Fury. It was so sweet! Damn I miss this game!
Playing BG3 EA? God, it's good. You sound like me, and let me tell you... WOW. Best Baldur's Gate, hands down - _especially_ if you're a mechanics enthusiast. And, yeah, I know that's saying a lot. How about your ranger throwing a goblin off a cliff into the Fan of Blades your bard just summoned for that very purpose? Or let's say your Barbarian knocks something sideways with a bonus action Pummel Strike, dazing it, so your druid can get less resistance from a wisdom save so she can cast Hold Person on the thing, then come BACK to your Barbarian for a main action attack for a guaranteed crit. Let's just say they decided on the plan beforehand xD. All the numbers are so easily crunched, and it's a lot of fun to come up with all kinds of weird strats for different situations. If you're not playing it, run, don't walk...
@@ObscuredByTime My man! Thank you for the tip and for the bordering on a review comment. It was good reading and your enthusiasm is infectious. I have BG3 on my wishlist in Steam and have been badgering the few friends I know that play it; about it since first I heard of it. The only thing really theoretically bothering me is the full return to turn based combat but then on the other hand I absolutely loved many Jrpgs and fallout 1 and 2 and so on so might not be as much of a hinderance as I imagine. What is your take on the turn based system as opposed to BG1 and 2? How is the leveling set up? More like BG1 or higher levels? Peace!
@@mrbullseye I've been bothered by turn-based done boring many times. I think BG3 is the best turn-based combat I've seen. As far as playing with friends go, I'm sure it would be great. But I would play through it solo the first time. The companion plots and interactions are too good to miss. As far as BG1 & 2 go, I guess I'm in a minority that wished it had better turn-based support, just so I could turn it on for more complex battles. I was always pausing the game so much it may as well have been turn-based anyway. As far as levels in Bg3 goes, Larian hasn't said. Right now, in Early Access with only Act one available, max level is 4. The highest I'd expect is 12. Why? Because you can bet your barnacles they'll be pushing a sequel, and I would expect that sequel to make level 20 possible. 12 to 20 sounds like a sequel to me.
I had the pleasure to play the original version more than 10 years ago. It is fantastic game on it's own, but what really completed and elevated it for me were the modding communities and the mods they created - new classes, armor, weapons, companions, romances, extended banters, new or improved quests, enhanced AI and difficulty, tweaks and altered outcomes, even a very strong rewrite of the events of the Throne of Bhaal. I remember that for my 3rd playthrough the installation and modding took me a whole day, not to mention about a week of online research of the mods - totally worth it. If you finish the vanilla game, I strongly recommend to check out that which mods are available for the EE, how to install them and do a modded 2nd playthrough.
Ditto. I love the Mods for the original games. The Ascension Mod is a must have. Compared to the original games, there are not much Mods for the Enhanced Editions. Hence, my preference is for the originals.
BG2... ah I adore this game. Unlike many I only got into it relatively recently, I did try it when I was younger but it was way over my head and I never got anywhere but now I went through it multiple times and honestly with the mods available I dont think I will ever actually stop playing it. Fantastic game, fantastic characters and adventure. Btw why were the romances underwhelming? The only reason you mentioned because they are gender and race locked... cmon man, dont be like that. It definitely sucked to play female in the older versions but the romances themselfs are actually great for the most part, Viconia's in particular is very impactful, Aerie gets a lot of development through her possbile relationships etc., it personally added a lot into my playthroughs.
The things you call out as negative are what i miss. The newer games just dont hold a candle to these. Bg1, bg2, icewindale, planescape torment. I try all these new games and they just dont do it for me like the much newer titles. I also dont care for the newer dnd rule sets but thats just preference. The newer games have done a skyrim if you could say. Just dumbed down content for the masses to make all the money. Bg1 and 2 were made exclusively for ad@d players . I wish companies would still do this. A game has to be for everyone now and every platform . Its just not the same anymore . Enjoyed your video. I hope people try these older titles out.
I hated 5th edition when it hit the shelves. I get it 100%. I'm an old guy, k. I remember the imagination that flowed like a mighty river with 2nd edition - the confusion about the rules was, for most of us, simply an avenue to freedom of thought. Believe me I understand. But 5e is just... well, it's almost a different game. And it's a GOOD one. Damned good. All you have to do is put your memories in a different box and open up the new one like a surprise on Christmas morn. Baldur's Gate 3 is... it's nirvana, my friend. Pick up Early Access when you have the cash and prepare to be reborn. Play for 5 hours, then come back here and smile with me.
@@ObscuredByTime i will never pickup anything early access. I am not paying money to be a glorified beta tester. I will wait for it to come out and go on sale for a fair price so i am not ripped off. Not sure why people buy into early access games. I believe you that it is a great game btw but its not Baldurs gate without the true real time. Unless i missed something. It is not supposed to be turn based. Been watching videos and it looks like they just remade Divinity Sin with 5e rules. Not sure what all the hype is about. Love Divinity Sin btw. If Baldurs Gate originally came out turn based it wouldnt of been any different then the goldbox games. It wouldnt of made an impact on the genre like it did. Now its come full circle back to turn base which is great but not ground breaking by any means.
"Enemies are immune and you don't even know why". Like an enemy somewhere that can only be hit by normal weapons. I remember it took me a good couple of hours to understand why I could kill a dragon and could not even hit the damn thing. It may be frustrating, but this is one of the reasons why I love this game.
I think it's a shame that more D&D games don't have skill checks that allow you to get full info on creatures and spell effects and areas. investing into the skills a bit can give a bit of general info, while high investment can just flat out say everything possible. Obviously game guides/encyclopedia prevent this investment from being the most useful, but most people would probably rather just play the game then spend a ton of time reading a wiki or guide.
I thought kangaxx was absolutely unbeatable. Couldn’t hit him, couldn’t survive longer than 15 seconds. Then I watched Daveorn on UA-cam, he is an absolute master at the game. Finally learned what is required to defeat him.
The magic golems in Watcher's keep? The game has an in-game book that explains how all the weird enemies in Watcher's keep work. Clay golems on the other hand... Can only be killed with blunt weapons and to my knowledge there's nothing in the game that tells you that
With SCS (Swordcoast Stratagems) mod cranked to maximum ('Insane' settings), it's one of the most fun games I have ever played. Some fights can take more than 30 minutes, everything, including your guys, is buffed up like people at Mister Olimpia, screen is filled with all kinds of shit, nothing affects anyone until they eat a Breach or Dispel/Remove Magic and they promptly explode because they're not immune to everything anymore. Race with other mages on who gets to cast Time Stop first, liches spawning Planetars on top of your guys (celestial being with a silver sword that cuts your head if you fail vs death roll). Love it. I am still laughing about that triple Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting (white cloud that removes all moisture in an area, hits absurdly hard) that lich had in Chain contingency set to "upon seeing enemy" one-shotting my whole squad, because I forgot to buff with Protection from Magical Energy. I know now what enemies felt when I did the same to them XD.
My problem is finishing games, for some reason when I get close to the end I’m not interested anymore. I don’t know how you can 100% all these games, that’s dedication right there!
Really good synopsis of the series. I just got these games on iPad and am going through them…again. Went through them looong ago on my old pentium 2 . Still experimenting with different builds and after all these years There are still companions I haven’t spent time with . So, I find your thoroughness impressive . Wish you the best and thank you.
Yes , surprisingly well , sometimes it’s hard to tap on a correct spot but usually it becomes easier when you zoom in (reverse pinch) . All the touch controls are very intuitive. And Baldur’s gate makes any wait in a doctor’s office go quickly so, worth it.
One thing BG2 did really well was the "just one more..." I always wanted to see what was in the next building down the road, what monstrosity was going to attack when I opened a door in a dungeon, what sweet lewt awaited me in that next locked chest. How the story was going to unfold next, what the NPC's would say to my sassy reply. "just one more" has led me to many playthroughs of this wonderful game.
29:00 & 29:47 Ha, Ha! I am one of those people you get "up and arms" in defending BG1 & BG2. However, I did play these games when they were first coming out.
Watching this review is so nostalgic to me. I played BG2 in 2002 I think and it was my first big CRPG. I had no idea what I was doing and I actually created a fighter with 12 STR. The companions had to do all the fighting because I assumed I just need more levels to get really good, which of course never happened. I beat the main story, a lot of sidequests and Throne of Baal expansion, but now I think I should maybe return and do things better. I have the EE version on Steam, so who knows. Thanks for the review!
In BG1 you most certainly can finish the game with a reputation of 1. At the moment I'm playing co-op with two friends who opted to become mass murderers and just murder everybody in the streets xD. We have become too powerful for the Flaming Fist mercenaries so we're basically above the law. I normally always play a good playthrough so I noticed a major flaw in this evil playthrough: When you kill someone innocent, other than a reputation loss there are *no* consequences. Even that reputation loss is no real consequence since you earn so much gold by the end that paying off temples is no big deal. Its a little immersion-breaking because when you get caught stealing, a few guards are immediately summoned, but when you murder a group of children in the middle of the street everyone just goes about their day like its a regular occurrence... In BG2 they've fixed this flaw by making the whole town become hostile when you murder someone innocent, making many quests incompletable hence no exp rewards...
I liked the day and night effects on cities and other areas. Different people and creatures come out in the night. In BG3 its always daytime. Also, the characters in BG3 never get tired and rarely actually need to sleep. Characters in BG2 get weaker, complain, and even threaten to leave if you push them too hard. If you have higher charisma you can of course push them a bit harder to keep going.
BTW the romances can be started for any character by console commands at no drawback. It's not much, mostly extra dialogue and problems (Jaheira) but it adds more flavor. This franchise is one of the best power fantasies ever. You start as a useless juvenile and end up... Holds a special place in my heart for this really.
I really appreciate your CRPG reviews and I enjoyed watching your BG1+2 reviews. But I don't see how you can criticize the game's rules system. I mean, which rules system should they have used instead in a Forgotten Realms CRPG? When BG 1+2 came out AD&D 2nd edition was the latest edition (when BG2 came out 3rd edition was about to be released - Icewind Dale 2 uses 3rd edition rules btw). When I compare AD&D 2nd edition with the rules of e.g. Pillars of Eternity the former is much easier to comprehend. You should play Pools of Radiance from 1988 which also uses AD&D 2nd edition rules with a turn-based combat system. It's also a great game but even more dated of course. I'd like to know what you think about it or the other gold box games.
Just here to leave my obligatory, "I love this channel so much," comment. I was looking forward to this one. Also, I FINALLY just finished Pillars of Eternity 1 and I thought the entire game was absolutely brilliant. The story was so fascinating to me. I just started PoE 2. I loved your lore videos on the Gods and PoE lore in general. Good stuff.
2022 and although some have come close, no game has captured the perfection of this game. I'm playing Pathfinder Kingmaker after getting it for 8 bucks on Steam and it's really close but I'm finding it more grindy than adventurous.
I first stumbled over BG2. Late, in 2010. Only took it cause I needed something to run on my weak ass netbook. But, damn....was I blown away. BG2 is awesome. Best rpg I ever played. Then I tried BG1 bud didnt like it at all. Definitely try BG2 though. That is a very different game.
Its one of my favorites. Like most of these games, I stumble through the first time figuring out controls etc, then grow to enjoy it much more the 2nd (or more) is a lot better. Playing it right now and honestly, I prefer these to most of the newer ones. Dragon Age was pretty good. SKYRIM Elder Scrolls is legendary and I cant believe they are waiting so long to do another. Neeria is nothing short of annoying as fuck. And of course, cheap. Have a good day everyone. I have not played Throne of Bhaal yet. Maybe just because I am older, but I like it very much
@@gurufabbes1 I finished BG2 only once. Though I’ve had more playthrough’s than I care to remember. Most of them I get fed up with the character I created normally around the end of chapter two. I managed to settle on an Archer class when I finished it.
@@gurufabbes1 For some, BG2 "feels" better because the protagonist and party have more immediate options and power at their disposal. Some prefer low level game play, some high. The initial stages of BG1 are a slog. It seems to take forever to finally reach level 2, which is realistically no more powerful than level 1. Level 5 comes well into the story, and that's about when characters feel a bump in their abilities.
I completed BG1 back in the days. Have another session running since 2016 or so. I want to import the character (an Archer) in BG2. I only played it in 3 bursts every 2 years or so. I finally reached Baldur's Gate (the city) some days ago. Baldur's Gate 2 I completed once without the Add-On and twice with Throne of Bhaal. But I started it countless of times with new characters. That one time I completed it with 6 created characters in the multiplayer mode. That was totally op. Played a Shape Shifter Druid and reached the armor rating cap by exploiting the system. Because it was possible to carry the curing staff after resting in werewolf form and wearing the White Dragon Scales armor because they forgot to exclude it in the not usable list.
"YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE COME TO THIS PLACE!" "HELM'S BEARD!! I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS! ALL MY LIFE I have worked for the Order! CURSE THEM ALL!" "AHHHH! We are all friends now. You, Boo, and I. Hamsters and Rangers everywhere REJOICE! *hamster squeak*" I remember back in the day I rented like 10 Arnold movies just so I could crop out sound bites to use my own customized sound set. It was awesome. Predator roar for starting combat. Steal stuff, "Money, that's what I need money."
I was about to say, thank god for this clunky UI :D Modern RPGs all look the same when it comes to that. The interface always looks like some sort of luxurious airplane lifestyle magazine. Giant squares with a minimal, decidedly un-medieval font. And the icons for spells and abilities always look the same, made to be sprawlingly colourful and that's that. Give me any day the crude-looking squares and fonts of old, and spell/ability icons with some rusticness to them. I want to feel like I am about to use not just an arcane, but an archaic, old incantation devised by a withered wizard thousands of years ago, not by a Pokemon playing gif maker in the 2020s.
Refreshing to hear someone say it's okay to use story mode. Yes the combat can be fun if you get into it, but really the system is old as fuck and super hard to get your head around. it takes a lot of practice to get good enough at it to beat the game and that's not something that everyone has time for or even the inclination to do. The story is REALLY where Baldur's gate shines, its where 95% of the good stuff is, you really aren't missing much by playing story mode.
How is it different now then when it was released? I didn't know anything about D&D when I first played BG and I fell in love with the "system" as you call. I didn't find it "super hard to get your head around", neither did my friends who fell in love with the series as well.
@@Radwar99 i don't know how it's different, I'm not a game designer. But I've played lots of newer games and I've played lots of older games, they are different. The "system" as I call it... because that's what it is, is not as streamlined and easy to understand as modern games and so when faced with "learn to play this 80+ hour, 20 year-old game with backwards Thac0 mechanics" or "hey forget about that just enjoy exploring and playing the story" I can't blame people for choosing the option that will provide them with fun more quickly. It is a video game after all. If I had known someone was going to get instantly aggro and defensive about my relatively mundane opinions I would have made my own UA-cam chanel.
Ironically Throne of Bhaal was itself "easy-mode" due to the rule system used, i.e. reduced powers for the named enemies. There was a mod (Ascension) that added all of that back in, plus some other changes. Took me best part of two weeks to find a strategy and then implement it against Demogorgon... as you could no longer do the trick with dialogue (amongst other things). Plus he had a bad habit of hitting party members with one-shot / no-resurrection spells, if you didn't have protection up at all times.
Small correction on the edition number: Back in 80s there was Basic d&d and Advanced d&d. In 1989 2nd edition of Advanced D&D was released and that's the ruleset Baldur's Gate 1&2, Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale uses. 3rd edition of D&D was released in 2000 dropping the Advanced name. Basic D&D was abondoned at this point. Icewind Dale 2, Neverwinter Nights 1&2 and Temple of Elemental Evil uses 3rd edition ruleset. Upcoming Baldur's Gate 3 is using 5th edition rules.
IWD 2 is 3.5 iirc and never played NWN2 sadly/unfortunately but it might be 3.5 too isn't it? I wish they'd make an EE of TOEE which would make lots of "E"'s there haha
@@vinkorfhaxson1008 IWD 2 and Neverwinter Nights 1 are 3rd edition, Neverwinter Nights 2 and TOEE are 3.5 edition. 3.5 is the revised edition of 3rd. I remember them being similar but it's been more than a decade. I just remember that rangers sucked in 3rd but they were ok in 3.5.
THIS GAME! this game was something of the uttermost art the art of video games can be. So much context created by people playing tabletop rpgs, stories, rules, characters, classes. I mean the complexity of the immersion is huge, and each part of that is human made with some artistic vocation. Overexploitation of workers, programmers, writers etc has ruined so much of that.
One question my friend, do enemies respawn in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 enhanced edition or not? Because I want to know if they respawn so I can enjoy the game.
Thanks for the review. I played BG1 then went straight into BG2 in about 2003. I thought I'd mention I could transfer my BG1 character to BG2. Not sure if this is till possible with the Beam-dog upgrade but having that continuity was immersive.
I loved discovering how to assemble the BMU. With no guide it really blew my mind back in the day. Wondering WTF are these gold pants for and exporting them from game to game to game.
I think the main theme of improvement with BG2 over the first game is less is more, with fewer NPCs, fewer quests, and a smaller world, but a denser, more accessible world with more interesting locations, quests, and companions.
Only old crusty gamers like me can remember the impact that this game had on release. ‘Blowing away expectations’ doesn’t even come close. The reception was phenomenal. Of course it’s aged, in places pretty badly but well deserves it’s place among the pantheon of TRUE classics.
Well damn... Your videos are so well done I honestly just feel so lucky to have found your channel... Got me going back to experience CRPGs for the first time and it's such a lovely time :)
Another Masterpiece, I know you have a BG3 playlist, but do you think there could be an overall introductory video to BG3 for those that haven't played a modern CRPG like the Divinity series. Especially now that there's an official release date?
Thought about trying this, after BG3 (my first bg game), but those graphics are too old, and not being able to zoom in to make the game look like a standard third person action game is a dealbreaker.
Played every edition of D&D and the originals of BG. The stats before 3E were awful but l if they let you just re-roll infinitely they may as well give you a better method e.g. 4d6 drop the lowest die
I applaud your deep dive into Baldur's Gate! One of my most favorite series and a huge influence over my interests/hobbies as I've gotten older! I saw you included your Steam profile and was expecting to see you with several hundred hours in each game, but saw you had under 100 for each. How did you do it? Especially BG2 with the companion, stronghold, and level 30+ achievements. Anyway, great review! And as another completionist, I love the concept of your channel. You've earned a sub!
Glad you enjoyed it! You can spam the enhanced edition arena for the level achievements, companion ones took a while, strongholds are available immediately after leaving the starting dungeon so you just have to do a couple quests.
@@MortismalGaming Well done! I am a very slow and methodical player in any kind of game so it was impressive to see! Also just saw you uploaded a review of Icewind Dale: EE. Another classic! So glad I subbed, going to have to go watch a lot of your earlier reviews too.
I'm a lover of modern RPG games and thought I would dip my toe into what came before, I mean, I'm in my 40's and have always been a gamer fan, but D&D and the whole fantasy genre just seemed to pass me by at the time.
I've just completed my first run of BG1EE, only one play through so far, then imported my toon in to BG2 which I am currently having immense fun in. I'm only in chapter 2 atm, but so far loving how challenging the game is and how it is making me learn the spells side of combat, which was largely something I just totally ignored in the first game.
I've just watched this video through now, having already started BG2 and it has given me a ton of useful tips as to how best setup my spell casters and mages.
Keep the great content coming, I'm a big fan, from over here in the UK.
I'm on the same boat, I'm a fan of Laryan I played the Divinity series, when I saw BG3 I started to look into this....i don't know if can start them but man it's tempting
Back then, fighting the lich inside a secret catacomb is a Dark Souls like feeling when you finally get to damage and kill it slowly lol.
I remember that fight to this day. He time stops you lol that combat is a perfect example of how much you have to understand spells. Cause unlike 3rd edition and on, mages crush everything at high levels. There was no concentration limits, spells lasted a lot longer, etc. They even used to level slower to try and counter this. A rogue took like 2mil xp to lvl 20 where as a mage took 3.5 mil.
Kangaxx was rough!! Staff of magi fight was a bitch too
"Lich casts Time Stop."
Here we go.... lol
Since I started watching your channel, I went back to finish Pathfinder, Divinity, Wasteland 3, etc. and now I've purchased all three BG games. Nice work
How do you have that much free time?! Pathfinder takes forever!
I've just started Wasteland Remastered today and really enjoying it so far. Figured I'd try to give that and 2 a shot before 3.
Both Pathfinder games are a bit buggy, but if you like making munchkin characters, it's one of the best implementations.
One thing about resting... It doesn't heal to full. It burns some healing spells, but otherwise it's effectiveness is limited on health. Potions are really important.
Just rest twice.... Sell the potions... Theyre not important at all
I just finished this game last night.
I had Aerie focus on dispelling everything. Made things SOOO much easier. Imouen was a summoner. Jaheira was my tank. Minsc was a striker. Neera was my nuker.
The final battle was easy due to Irenicus becoming OBSESSED with using Power Word, Kill on Neera. Had her run around the area while he ignored everyone else chasing him. I literally beat his ass to death. 😂
Being old enough to have played pen & paper D&D with the rule set (at least close enough), I didn't have any trouble understanding most of the game mechanics when it was originally released (4 CD's, I think? Or was it 6? With a color printed manual and map!). I even knew some of the monster abilities/immunities already, such as only blunt weapons can damage clay golems, from my pen & paper play. Just the fact that even today, 20+ years later, this game can compete with modern CRPG games, and surpass some in story and atmosphere, tells you all you need to know. My favorite is the Shadows of Amn - I think levels 8-20 is sort of the sweet spot for most character classes. Once you get above that level, magic tends to become overpowered, especially for the Sorcerer class, although Ranger-Cleric multi-class is right there in over-poweredness. Glad you enjoyed it!
Gather party: venture forth.
Impatiently waiting.....
I just bought the first two games for ps4 after I saw the reviews of the 3rd game that just came out don’t have a PS5 yet but this be my first time playing it 😮 Yeah I’m late to the party ‼️
You are right, finishing the game really sets you apart 👍
I love BG. It is my favorite epic CRPG, right next to Mass Effect. I am stoked that Larian is doing BG3... and only hope that the companions are done right. Not sure if they will have a main villain, given the story 🤔
@ 4:35 Normal difficulty is hard enough if you play the game like me = No crazy pre-buffing and the whole party has zero hits taken in the entire game.
It's hard to find a complaint about BG2. Best I could come up with is druid spell selection. Not a lot of variety, and spells that require you to be outdoors such as Call Lightening get shafted a bit in 2 because the majority of your quests are indoors. Some of the classes are hot garbage too, but there's always roleplaying for that.
If anyone is looking for a good guide on spells check Daveaorn's guide on Arcane and Divine spells. He also realeased a guide on weapons lately.
Yeah, Larian is lying about a connection. They are using WotC lore which is based on the shit books. Most characters dead and Minsc asspulled into 5e. So... I dunno, cba to care about that
yeah, the maon character of the books is an idiot compared with the cannon of the games. You know, I don't get how an idiot who is weak to a fear spell can kill the one who defeated Ameylissan in the Throne of Bhaal.
I see you have some of the divinities but you need to have their best one Divine Divinity
ua-cam.com/video/IBqUvGoXyHU/v-deo.html video is a bit old, but I've played all of them
Honest question, im eyeing with the BG franchise for a while now, but im kinda unsure,how much dnd knowledge is neede to actually have fun with the game? Because i have none
They both use a very old version of DnD, so most 5e knowledge wouldn't do you any good anyways. I've made some guides for these two older ones
Played entire series on core rules till rage forced to beat last part of melissan fight on story mode & had to reload once n story mode.
Too many boss battles that r cheating 🗑. Never played a game u have to store items fr final dlc fight.
Haven't finished it. Probably never will. It's a good game but I'm just to lazy ig
One thing I don't see mentioned enough in discussions of BG2 is the amazing quality of the background artistry. The cities, temples and even the menus are a really amazing blend of art nouveau and Byzantine design principles - often looking like a mix of the aesthetics of Paris, Constantinople and Renaissance Italy. The atmosphere of Athkatla in particular is really immersive and exotic, and it's a real joy to explore. It's a damned shame it didn't inspire any copycats in this regard.
...morrowind perhaps a little?...
Don't forget the Egyptian undertones as well. It definitely feels a lot more Oriental than the first game...
@@zbnmth r.i.p. morrowind.
@@damedrops8197 I play it on Xbox one and play it fine with a controller.
The ambient sound in the towns is some of the best I have ever heard
Tons of stuff to do, great characters, super awesome spell system, terrific story, intimidating creatures and enemies, compelling maps and areas. What more do you want?
Graphics
@@destroyermakerdownvote
@@destroyermaker Found the graphics slave
@@ViNncentSmith "People who don't like the thing I like have bad taste" Grow up.
BG3
Romances underwhelming? It's pretty obvious you haven't properly finished any. Even after Dragon Age or Mass Effect, the romances in BG 2 still remain at the top of the industry. Granted, the options are restricted.
1. Romances feature well into the main story (Dark elf city) and can change dramatically depending how you finish that chapter.
2. There's actually romance rivalry going on. It's organic, and not some "date both, but you have to choose 1 at the very end."
3. Romances continue well into the expansion Throne of Bhaal...and the epilogues change depending on how to dealt with the romances.
4. Romances are not just some extra dialogue and a single "romance" event...there's several events throughout the story.
Seriously, I'm still disappointed in how modern games have not been able to improve much or at all, or mostly be worse than BG 2!
Besides romances, there's friendships and banter...the writing and voice acting is absolutely top-notch. There's also friendships and rivalries between the NPC...again, very organically written. Not lip service as it is in modern games.
F**k, even to this day, BG 2 is the ONLY game, where I actively THINK about the exact party composition...not because of which combo is more powerful, but how these NPCs will interact with each other!
Heck, for some really interesting dialogue, try putting totally incompatible NPCs together in your party!
This alone makes for so much replayability...
Pillar of Eternity has the cleaner game, UI, visuals, sounds....but writing, voice acting, story, char development, BG 2 stomps PoE into the ground.
Having finished playing Pathfinder Kingmaker, romancing Valerie, some events made me remember Jaheira's Romance a little bit, but to this day, no game has had the romances of BG2, I mean, Aerie's child, Jaheira's many subquests, Viconia and the Drow city, and even the romance with the new half- elf
Great review. I fully admit that BG2 is my favourite crpg and a lot of it is nostalgia but it did so much for the games that i really enjoyed after it. I love the strongholds idea and I think it's part of why i liked the kingdom management in Kingmaker. The whole 'meeting ppl in the hall of your fledgling domain' reminded me of the warrior stronghold from BG2 and I liked that Kingmaker went further to build on weaving kingdom management into the main story but I get why ppl didn't like the Kingmaker implementation. I also liked how they made everything stronghold quite thematically different in a way that made sense for each class.
I think BG2 also did really well in putting lots of easter eggs for the D&D nerds who liked the associated novels and lore. Putting in Elminster, Drizzt and other references to other heroes was really good nods to the setting.
Also BG2 had a great manual too! :D
You even got Solamnic Knights and the cannibal Halflings of Dark Sun
Hahahaha I started with bg2 as a kid, without knowing 2nd edition D&D nor english... I failed miserably.
I tried again years later, and I was more succesful
Irenicus is my all time favourite villain in game history. He is one of the many reasons why BG2 is a masterpiece.
I'm with you.
Absolutely, a masterfully written character with peerless voice acting. Here's to David Warner, may he rest in peace. I don't know if any "behind the scenes" video was ever made of the making of this game, but it would be incredible to watch.
@@DAh-xo8zm Unlike weak writing of BG3 antagonists, except for Kethric
Too bad Larian is not even close to original Bioware, not mentioning old Obsidian ...
@@ARCHiGAMEZthe BG3 villains may not reach the Irenicus standard, but nearly nothing does. Let’s not act like Bioware does this consistently. Even Sarevok isn’t even close.
Also, every BG3 villain outclasses Melissan.
Bought this when it first came out, this has been and always will be my favorite game. I wish BG3 was actually like this, instead of original sin 3.
Simply put the best rpg of all time.
Regarding reputation, if you're in the low city guards can spawn in when you're travelling between areas in the city and attack you. You can visit temples and donate money to increase your reputation but there is a cap on how high your reputation will increase this way, you'll need to do some unique quests that reward reputation to increase it further.
Also, unique to Paladins and Rangers, since they have an alignment requirement of lawful good if you do an evil act they will become fallen (which means stripped of all their unique abilities and reduced to a basic fighter class). The game allows you to redeem yourself and do a quest. If you do that you regain your status back. This is freakin cool.
Edit: Don't know about you but 16 base companions is not a low number, tons of replayability just with original characters. EE plus ToB adds 7 more companion characters to the mix.
One of the best atmospheres in a game and the most engaging story i have experienced. A close second is Mass Effect. Remember playing on core rules and having no clue about AD&D, it was hell lol so i don't recommend it either. A good aligned roleplay is the best experience imho and most likely what the devs intended, because there is more internal struggle going on to not to succumb to the taint and to carry on through the Shadows of Amn. Epic stuff.
but your heritage is certainly driving you to seek personal power, above all else... thus evil alignment. :)
Interesting comment, I was intending to play on core rules, but has no clue about DnD
One thing I did find useful when playing BG2 was to have a copy of The Monster Manual to hand (Ed of course) it helped with some of the monsters .
Yep, that is how I "cheated" as well. :-P
Yet another outstanding review. Indeed this is an old game, but even with its age, it’s still one of the best of all time. The story, the villain… almost everything about this game is amazing. And yes, I do agree with the negatives. The game does a terrible job explaining AC, THAC0, resistances, immunities. But for me, it was fun to finally figure out what was happening and move forward with that knowledge. I’ve been playing the BG saga since I was 9 and these games have just stood the test of time. Yes, it’s aging, but with new technology, I hope a remake can be possible.
2nd Edition D&D was weird, man. But they were pioneers in the field and after playing 3rd Edition and beyond I can easily forgive the weirdness of THAC0 and stuff. But I still to this day do not understand the old Saving Throw system and am constantly going, "WHY on EARTH is this a Save vs Wand and why is that a thing in the first place???" haha
God, reading the manuals, spell descriptions and rules, was quite literally my bedtime reading between '98 and '00 when delving head first deeply into this fantastic world. I've since read all of the R.A Salvatore books and I miss the world something fierce.
Part of the time investment in learning the system was making sure that the time spent here would be so much more.. so much more... invested. I mean I had learned all of this and wanted to explore the world and live it. Just thinking back, I mean, the level 7, 8 and 9 spells are just... not much comes close. A spell such as "Wish". Or "Time Stop".. "Summon Djinn", "Simulacrum". Thats just of the top of my head.
I still get nostalgic when thinking about all the possibilities I saw with this system. It felt limitless in many ways but came at the cost of smacking your head against the wall again and again. It was overwhelming in many ways, but reading up beforehand made you that little bit more prepared. At the end, you felt like a .. god. almost; Funny that.
Exploring Athkatla and, by chance, finding one of the (for me, at that time) most difficult battles in the game, just going into a random house and exploring upstairs. After which, being rewarded, I think, one of the best weapons in the game. At least I used it forever. A Katana. Don't remember the details. Or the talking sword that you can find in the sewers, which was like another companion entirely. I mean, it just had so much to see. so much to experience.
I want your patience
This comment literally summed up my whole life of 1999 to 2002 😅. The amount of time I read those manuals from cover to cover. I was absolutely obsessed with this series. Also, I believe the Katana you're talking about is Celestial Fury. It was so sweet! Damn I miss this game!
Playing BG3 EA? God, it's good. You sound like me, and let me tell you... WOW. Best Baldur's Gate, hands down - _especially_ if you're a mechanics enthusiast. And, yeah, I know that's saying a lot. How about your ranger throwing a goblin off a cliff into the Fan of Blades your bard just summoned for that very purpose? Or let's say your Barbarian knocks something sideways with a bonus action Pummel Strike, dazing it, so your druid can get less resistance from a wisdom save so she can cast Hold Person on the thing, then come BACK to your Barbarian for a main action attack for a guaranteed crit. Let's just say they decided on the plan beforehand xD. All the numbers are so easily crunched, and it's a lot of fun to come up with all kinds of weird strats for different situations. If you're not playing it, run, don't walk...
@@ObscuredByTime My man! Thank you for the tip and for the bordering on a review comment. It was good reading and your enthusiasm is infectious.
I have BG3 on my wishlist in Steam and have been badgering the few friends I know that play it; about it since first I heard of it.
The only thing really theoretically bothering me is the full return to turn based combat but then on the other hand I absolutely loved many Jrpgs and fallout 1 and 2 and so on so might not be as much of a hinderance as I imagine.
What is your take on the turn based system as opposed to BG1 and 2? How is the leveling set up? More like BG1 or higher levels?
Peace!
@@mrbullseye I've been bothered by turn-based done boring many times. I think BG3 is the best turn-based combat I've seen. As far as playing with friends go, I'm sure it would be great. But I would play through it solo the first time. The companion plots and interactions are too good to miss.
As far as BG1 & 2 go, I guess I'm in a minority that wished it had better turn-based support, just so I could turn it on for more complex battles. I was always pausing the game so much it may as well have been turn-based anyway. As far as levels in Bg3 goes, Larian hasn't said. Right now, in Early Access with only Act one available, max level is 4. The highest I'd expect is 12. Why? Because you can bet your barnacles they'll be pushing a sequel, and I would expect that sequel to make level 20 possible. 12 to 20 sounds like a sequel to me.
I had the pleasure to play the original version more than 10 years ago. It is fantastic game on it's own, but what really completed and elevated it for me were the modding communities and the mods they created - new classes, armor, weapons, companions, romances, extended banters, new or improved quests, enhanced AI and difficulty, tweaks and altered outcomes, even a very strong rewrite of the events of the Throne of Bhaal. I remember that for my 3rd playthrough the installation and modding took me a whole day, not to mention about a week of online research of the mods - totally worth it. If you finish the vanilla game, I strongly recommend to check out that which mods are available for the EE, how to install them and do a modded 2nd playthrough.
Ditto. I love the Mods for the original games. The Ascension Mod is a must have.
Compared to the original games, there are not much Mods for the Enhanced Editions. Hence, my preference is for the originals.
I still have my org. CDs^^ Might try them out another weekend.
The original games are works of art, but to the newcomers please stay away from woke versions. They're a blight upon the landscape.
I loved modding BG1 especially, glad to see there are still people out there who remember
@@Caspenar thumbs up to your user name ok...
BG2... ah I adore this game. Unlike many I only got into it relatively recently, I did try it when I was younger but it was way over my head and I never got anywhere but now I went through it multiple times and honestly with the mods available I dont think I will ever actually stop playing it. Fantastic game, fantastic characters and adventure.
Btw why were the romances underwhelming? The only reason you mentioned because they are gender and race locked... cmon man, dont be like that. It definitely sucked to play female in the older versions but the romances themselfs are actually great for the most part, Viconia's in particular is very impactful, Aerie gets a lot of development through her possbile relationships etc., it personally added a lot into my playthroughs.
I own this game and am just afraid to start it due to how over whelming it seems
The things you call out as negative are what i miss. The newer games just dont hold a candle to these. Bg1, bg2, icewindale, planescape torment. I try all these new games and they just dont do it for me like the much newer titles. I also dont care for the newer dnd rule sets but thats just preference. The newer games have done a skyrim if you could say. Just dumbed down content for the masses to make all the money. Bg1 and 2 were made exclusively for ad@d players . I wish companies would still do this. A game has to be for everyone now and every platform . Its just not the same anymore . Enjoyed your video. I hope people try these older titles out.
I hated 5th edition when it hit the shelves. I get it 100%. I'm an old guy, k. I remember the imagination that flowed like a mighty river with 2nd edition - the confusion about the rules was, for most of us, simply an avenue to freedom of thought. Believe me I understand.
But 5e is just... well, it's almost a different game. And it's a GOOD one. Damned good. All you have to do is put your memories in a different box and open up the new one like a surprise on Christmas morn. Baldur's Gate 3 is... it's nirvana, my friend. Pick up Early Access when you have the cash and prepare to be reborn. Play for 5 hours, then come back here and smile with me.
@@ObscuredByTime i will never pickup anything early access. I am not paying money to be a glorified beta tester. I will wait for it to come out and go on sale for a fair price so i am not ripped off. Not sure why people buy into early access games.
I believe you that it is a great game btw but its not Baldurs gate without the true real time. Unless i missed something. It is not supposed to be turn based. Been watching videos and it looks like they just remade Divinity Sin with 5e rules. Not sure what all the hype is about. Love Divinity Sin btw. If Baldurs Gate originally came out turn based it wouldnt of been any different then the goldbox games. It wouldnt of made an impact on the genre like it did. Now its come full circle back to turn base which is great but not ground breaking by any means.
@@javvyjavvy You get more in EA for 60 bucks right now than you do with most games that cost as much.
Great video! Any chance for a Planescape Torment story recap?
Keep up the good work!
"Enemies are immune and you don't even know why". Like an enemy somewhere that can only be hit by normal weapons. I remember it took me a good couple of hours to understand why I could kill a dragon and could not even hit the damn thing. It may be frustrating, but this is one of the reasons why I love this game.
I think it's a shame that more D&D games don't have skill checks that allow you to get full info on creatures and spell effects and areas. investing into the skills a bit can give a bit of general info, while high investment can just flat out say everything possible.
Obviously game guides/encyclopedia prevent this investment from being the most useful, but most people would probably rather just play the game then spend a ton of time reading a wiki or guide.
I thought kangaxx was absolutely unbeatable. Couldn’t hit him, couldn’t survive longer than 15 seconds. Then I watched Daveorn on UA-cam, he is an absolute master at the game. Finally learned what is required to defeat him.
The magic golems in Watcher's keep? The game has an in-game book that explains how all the weird enemies in Watcher's keep work.
Clay golems on the other hand... Can only be killed with blunt weapons and to my knowledge there's nothing in the game that tells you that
With SCS (Swordcoast Stratagems) mod cranked to maximum ('Insane' settings), it's one of the most fun games I have ever played. Some fights can take more than 30 minutes, everything, including your guys, is buffed up like people at Mister Olimpia, screen is filled with all kinds of shit, nothing affects anyone until they eat a Breach or Dispel/Remove Magic and they promptly explode because they're not immune to everything anymore.
Race with other mages on who gets to cast Time Stop first, liches spawning Planetars on top of your guys (celestial being with a silver sword that cuts your head if you fail vs death roll). Love it. I am still laughing about that triple Abi Dalzim's Horrid Wilting (white cloud that removes all moisture in an area, hits absurdly hard) that lich had in Chain contingency set to "upon seeing enemy" one-shotting my whole squad, because I forgot to buff with Protection from Magical Energy. I know now what enemies felt when I did the same to them XD.
My problem is finishing games, for some reason when I get close to the end I’m not interested anymore. I don’t know how you can 100% all these games, that’s dedication right there!
Same thing happens to me! Idk why either, but there are only a handful that I finished amongst a hundred that I played.
bg 2 is my fav game of all time. borrowed it from a friend maybe a year after release. 4 cd's man 4 ;D!
May I recommend Temple of elemental evil.There are some amazing fan made mods for this.
like what mods?
@@bigjoncash4297 Circle of Eight?
@@TucoBenedicto is that a mod? ill check it out.
@@bigjoncash4297 Circle of 8 is the best. The team also did a complete recreation of Keep on the Borderlands.
Really good synopsis of the series. I just got these games on iPad and am going through them…again. Went through them looong ago on my old pentium 2 . Still experimenting with different builds and after all these years There are still companions I haven’t spent time with . So, I find your thoroughness impressive . Wish you the best and thank you.
Does it play well on iPad?
Yes , surprisingly well , sometimes it’s hard to tap on a correct spot but usually it becomes easier when you zoom in (reverse pinch) . All the touch controls are very intuitive. And Baldur’s gate makes any wait in a doctor’s office go quickly so, worth it.
One thing BG2 did really well was the "just one more..." I always wanted to see what was in the next building down the road, what monstrosity was going to attack when I opened a door in a dungeon, what sweet lewt awaited me in that next locked chest. How the story was going to unfold next, what the NPC's would say to my sassy reply. "just one more" has led me to many playthroughs of this wonderful game.
WHAT? where is my free comment? i haven't posted it? UNACCEPTABLE!
29:00 & 29:47 Ha, Ha! I am one of those people you get "up and arms" in defending BG1 & BG2.
However, I did play these games when they were first coming out.
This game was so addicting and engaging when I played it in the early 00s when I was an undergrad in college. It is probably why I had bad grades.
Watching this review is so nostalgic to me. I played BG2 in 2002 I think and it was my first big CRPG. I had no idea what I was doing and I actually created a fighter with 12 STR. The companions had to do all the fighting because I assumed I just need more levels to get really good, which of course never happened.
I beat the main story, a lot of sidequests and Throne of Baal expansion, but now I think I should maybe return and do things better. I have the EE version on Steam, so who knows. Thanks for the review!
I still go back to this game. Along with Mass Effect this is the best RPG ever made.
RIP BioWare. We hardly knew ye.
In BG1 you most certainly can finish the game with a reputation of 1. At the moment I'm playing co-op with two friends who opted to become mass murderers and just murder everybody in the streets xD. We have become too powerful for the Flaming Fist mercenaries so we're basically above the law. I normally always play a good playthrough so I noticed a major flaw in this evil playthrough: When you kill someone innocent, other than a reputation loss there are *no* consequences. Even that reputation loss is no real consequence since you earn so much gold by the end that paying off temples is no big deal. Its a little immersion-breaking because when you get caught stealing, a few guards are immediately summoned, but when you murder a group of children in the middle of the street everyone just goes about their day like its a regular occurrence... In BG2 they've fixed this flaw by making the whole town become hostile when you murder someone innocent, making many quests incompletable hence no exp rewards...
Still my favorite CRPG to this day. I still load up and replay BG1&2 every 2 or 3 years.
What's the opening music bit in all you videos? I like it, spooky vibes.
A viewer composed it actually, credit and link to their work in the description
@@MortismalGaming thats nice
I liked the day and night effects on cities and other areas. Different people and creatures come out in the night. In BG3 its always daytime. Also, the characters in BG3 never get tired and rarely actually need to sleep. Characters in BG2 get weaker, complain, and even threaten to leave if you push them too hard. If you have higher charisma you can of course push them a bit harder to keep going.
BTW the romances can be started for any character by console commands at no drawback. It's not much, mostly extra dialogue and problems (Jaheira) but it adds more flavor.
This franchise is one of the best power fantasies ever. You start as a useless juvenile and end up... Holds a special place in my heart for this really.
I really appreciate your CRPG reviews and I enjoyed watching your BG1+2 reviews. But I don't see how you can criticize the game's rules system. I mean, which rules system should they have used instead in a Forgotten Realms CRPG? When BG 1+2 came out AD&D 2nd edition was the latest edition (when BG2 came out 3rd edition was about to be released - Icewind Dale 2 uses 3rd edition rules btw). When I compare AD&D 2nd edition with the rules of e.g. Pillars of Eternity the former is much easier to comprehend. You should play Pools of Radiance from 1988 which also uses AD&D 2nd edition rules with a turn-based combat system. It's also a great game but even more dated of course. I'd like to know what you think about it or the other gold box games.
As much as I like your content, you can't say it's 100% when you haven't completed the Imoen Romance mod.
I'm calling my kids my "ball spawn" from now on.
I'm enjoying bladur's gate 3 way more than I thought I would. Checking out pervious ones and did not expect it to be this old. What an big difference.
Just here to leave my obligatory, "I love this channel so much," comment. I was looking forward to this one.
Also, I FINALLY just finished Pillars of Eternity 1 and I thought the entire game was absolutely brilliant. The story was so fascinating to me. I just started PoE 2.
I loved your lore videos on the Gods and PoE lore in general. Good stuff.
@@aloneaflame9343 I actually only played it up until the first town. Not as hooked. Went back to PoE 1 to do another play through heh
2022 and although some have come close, no game has captured the perfection of this game. I'm playing Pathfinder Kingmaker after getting it for 8 bucks on Steam and it's really close but I'm finding it more grindy than adventurous.
100% gives you about 80% more credibility more than most reviews bro. Ty for the review. I’m gunna play on iOS
I was pretty turned off of BG1 and never touched BG2, but this sounds pretty different. Might add this to my backlog and give it a shot.
I first stumbled over BG2. Late, in 2010. Only took it cause I needed something to run on my weak ass netbook. But, damn....was I blown away. BG2 is awesome. Best rpg I ever played. Then I tried BG1 bud didnt like it at all. Definitely try BG2 though. That is a very different game.
@@robertosheldon9061 I’m not getting on with BG1, so I might skip to the second! Cheers for your recommendation
Yeah, I played BG1 after I played BG2, and I'm glad, because otherwise, I just don't know.
Its one of my favorites. Like most of these games, I stumble through the first time figuring out controls etc, then grow to enjoy it much more the 2nd (or more) is a lot better. Playing it right now and honestly, I prefer these to most of the newer ones. Dragon Age was pretty good. SKYRIM Elder Scrolls is legendary and I cant believe they are waiting so long to do another. Neeria is nothing short of annoying as fuck. And of course, cheap. Have a good day everyone. I have not played Throne of Bhaal yet. Maybe just because I am older, but I like it very much
I got bg2 wayyyyyyy back in the day at sams club, came with an extra disc to install got access to extra weapons and stuff
You complete these games quick! I haven’t finished BG2 at all. But I finished the first one like 3 times.
how is that possible? I finished baldurs gate 2 twice, but never touched the first one...
and most people say the second one is better.
@@gurufabbes1 I finished BG2 only once. Though I’ve had more playthrough’s than I care to remember. Most of them I get fed up with the character I created normally around the end of chapter two. I managed to settle on an Archer class when I finished it.
@@gurufabbes1 For some, BG2 "feels" better because the protagonist and party have more immediate options and power at their disposal. Some prefer low level game play, some high. The initial stages of BG1 are a slog. It seems to take forever to finally reach level 2, which is realistically no more powerful than level 1. Level 5 comes well into the story, and that's about when characters feel a bump in their abilities.
I completed BG1 back in the days. Have another session running since 2016 or so. I want to import the character (an Archer) in BG2. I only played it in 3 bursts every 2 years or so. I finally reached Baldur's Gate (the city) some days ago.
Baldur's Gate 2 I completed once without the Add-On and twice with Throne of Bhaal. But I started it countless of times with new characters.
That one time I completed it with 6 created characters in the multiplayer mode. That was totally op. Played a Shape Shifter Druid and reached the armor rating cap by exploiting the system. Because it was possible to carry the curing staff after resting in werewolf form and wearing the White Dragon Scales armor because they forgot to exclude it in the not usable list.
@@michaeltuffin8147 a trip to the garden gets u beyond the slag, near 35k XP, without being actually cheese..maybe a bit of cheese.
The music is great.
"YOU SHOULD NOT HAVE COME TO THIS PLACE!"
"HELM'S BEARD!! I DO NOT BELIEVE THIS! ALL MY LIFE I have worked for the Order! CURSE THEM ALL!"
"AHHHH! We are all friends now. You, Boo, and I. Hamsters and Rangers everywhere REJOICE! *hamster squeak*"
I remember back in the day I rented like 10 Arnold movies just so I could crop out sound bites to use my own customized sound set. It was awesome.
Predator roar for starting combat. Steal stuff, "Money, that's what I need money."
Long before he voiced Jon Irenicus, David Warner was a great Jack The Ripper in "Time After Time".
I was about to say, thank god for this clunky UI :D Modern RPGs all look the same when it comes to that. The interface always looks like some sort of luxurious airplane lifestyle magazine. Giant squares with a minimal, decidedly un-medieval font. And the icons for spells and abilities always look the same, made to be sprawlingly colourful and that's that. Give me any day the crude-looking squares and fonts of old, and spell/ability icons with some rusticness to them. I want to feel like I am about to use not just an arcane, but an archaic, old incantation devised by a withered wizard thousands of years ago, not by a Pokemon playing gif maker in the 2020s.
Great game. Currently 70% discount on Steam until 23rd of August ;)
Refreshing to hear someone say it's okay to use story mode. Yes the combat can be fun if you get into it, but really the system is old as fuck and super hard to get your head around. it takes a lot of practice to get good enough at it to beat the game and that's not something that everyone has time for or even the inclination to do. The story is REALLY where Baldur's gate shines, its where 95% of the good stuff is, you really aren't missing much by playing story mode.
How is it different now then when it was released? I didn't know anything about D&D when I first played BG and I fell in love with the "system" as you call. I didn't find it "super hard to get your head around", neither did my friends who fell in love with the series as well.
@@Radwar99 i don't know how it's different, I'm not a game designer. But I've played lots of newer games and I've played lots of older games, they are different. The "system" as I call it... because that's what it is, is not as streamlined and easy to understand as modern games and so when faced with "learn to play this 80+ hour, 20 year-old game with backwards Thac0 mechanics" or "hey forget about that just enjoy exploring and playing the story" I can't blame people for choosing the option that will provide them with fun more quickly. It is a video game after all.
If I had known someone was going to get instantly aggro and defensive about my relatively mundane opinions I would have made my own UA-cam chanel.
@@1993JoshG So as soon as someone disagrees with you they are automatically "aggro and defensive", got it.
@@Radwar99 yeah its totally cause you disagreed.
Ironically Throne of Bhaal was itself "easy-mode" due to the rule system used, i.e. reduced powers for the named enemies. There was a mod (Ascension) that added all of that back in, plus some other changes. Took me best part of two weeks to find a strategy and then implement it against Demogorgon... as you could no longer do the trick with dialogue (amongst other things). Plus he had a bad habit of hitting party members with one-shot / no-resurrection spells, if you didn't have protection up at all times.
Small correction on the edition number: Back in 80s there was Basic d&d and Advanced d&d. In 1989 2nd edition of Advanced D&D was released and that's the ruleset Baldur's Gate 1&2, Planescape Torment and Icewind Dale uses. 3rd edition of D&D was released in 2000 dropping the Advanced name. Basic D&D was abondoned at this point. Icewind Dale 2, Neverwinter Nights 1&2 and Temple of Elemental Evil uses 3rd edition ruleset. Upcoming Baldur's Gate 3 is using 5th edition rules.
And I wish they could use advanced 2nd, or 3rd edition for BG3 :(
IWD 2 is 3.5 iirc and never played NWN2 sadly/unfortunately but it might be 3.5 too isn't it? I wish they'd make an EE of TOEE which would make lots of "E"'s there haha
@@vinkorfhaxson1008 IWD 2 and Neverwinter Nights 1 are 3rd edition, Neverwinter Nights 2 and TOEE are 3.5 edition. 3.5 is the revised edition of 3rd. I remember them being similar but it's been more than a decade. I just remember that rangers sucked in 3rd but they were ok in 3.5.
I can remember reloading a bunch of fights when I first played this, they were so tough and I was probably playing on normal difficulty.
THIS GAME! this game was something of the uttermost art the art of video games can be. So much context created by people playing tabletop rpgs, stories, rules, characters, classes. I mean the complexity of the immersion is huge, and each part of that is human made with some artistic vocation. Overexploitation of workers, programmers, writers etc has ruined so much of that.
My most loved game back in the years. Just awesome. Gonna buy bg3 next week play shit out of it.
You're quite prolific.. i hope i can finish the main story of some the CRPGs that i own let alone 100%ing them.. cheers mate get it up
GOTY bulders gate 3
Relationship with Viconia is by far the best one and gets you some quests and different endings.
As a good aligned protagonist, the options are pretty cool.
One question my friend, do enemies respawn in Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 enhanced edition or not? Because I want to know if they respawn so I can enjoy the game.
BG2 is my favourite game of all time - by far.
Thanks for the review. I played BG1 then went straight into BG2 in about 2003. I thought I'd mention I could transfer my BG1 character to BG2. Not sure if this is till possible with the Beam-dog upgrade but having that continuity was immersive.
You still can
Ugh, fine take my $5!
I loved discovering how to assemble the BMU. With no guide it really blew my mind back in the day. Wondering WTF are these gold pants for and exporting them from game to game to game.
Lol @the ruleset explanation at roughly 5:15. :)
I think the main theme of improvement with BG2 over the first game is less is more, with fewer NPCs, fewer quests, and a smaller world, but a denser, more accessible world with more interesting locations, quests, and companions.
Only old crusty gamers like me can remember the impact that this game had on release. ‘Blowing away expectations’ doesn’t even come close. The reception was phenomenal. Of course it’s aged, in places pretty badly but well deserves it’s place among the pantheon of TRUE classics.
Well damn... Your videos are so well done I honestly just feel so lucky to have found your channel...
Got me going back to experience CRPGs for the first time and it's such a lovely time :)
Doing my research as an avid DOS2 fan. So fuckin pumped for Baldur's Gate 3
Another Masterpiece, I know you have a BG3 playlist, but do you think there could be an overall introductory video to BG3 for those that haven't played a modern CRPG like the Divinity series. Especially now that there's an official release date?
Closer to release or right after probably, I'll definitely be making videos on it
Thought about trying this, after BG3 (my first bg game), but those graphics are too old, and not being able to zoom in to make the game look like a standard third person action game is a dealbreaker.
Is it? Gameplay is more important than looks, trust me.
Well, one thing I can say since I've been playing for a week, and I'm still only in chapter 2, This game lasts forever.
amo este juego, gran video!! y si irenicus is the best villain in game history!
Is it worth picking up? I wont be gettibg bg3 i refuse to buy digital. Cant get it till its physical so bg1 & 2 my only option
It’s peak gaming
I ended up buying it digital lol it's a great Game
Kensai /Mage and Thief/Mage are such very very fun classes to play! Also Sorcerer owns bones.
Greatest game of all time for me. I only play this game now with mods to make it much harder.
Played every edition of D&D and the originals of BG. The stats before 3E were awful but l if they let you just re-roll infinitely they may as well give you a better method e.g. 4d6 drop the lowest die
which is ur fav crpg
I'm one of those: This is the best game ever made!
RIP David Warner. Made the game so much more immersive.
I'll likely never get around to playing this game, but it's always nice to just listen to him talk about a game, lol.
God I need these two games to be remade by the Larian Studios... So badly!
I applaud your deep dive into Baldur's Gate! One of my most favorite series and a huge influence over my interests/hobbies as I've gotten older! I saw you included your Steam profile and was expecting to see you with several hundred hours in each game, but saw you had under 100 for each. How did you do it? Especially BG2 with the companion, stronghold, and level 30+ achievements. Anyway, great review! And as another completionist, I love the concept of your channel. You've earned a sub!
Glad you enjoyed it! You can spam the enhanced edition arena for the level achievements, companion ones took a while, strongholds are available immediately after leaving the starting dungeon so you just have to do a couple quests.
@@MortismalGaming Well done! I am a very slow and methodical player in any kind of game so it was impressive to see! Also just saw you uploaded a review of Icewind Dale: EE. Another classic! So glad I subbed, going to have to go watch a lot of your earlier reviews too.