Baldur's Gate review: Is Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition an RPG that's worth playing in 2021?
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- Опубліковано 22 кві 2021
- Welcome to our Baldur's Gate Review. Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition is the reissue of the 1998 original game that with which it all began for this timeless medieval fantasy franchise.
As part of our Road to Baldur's Gate III series, I took on the challenge to play and review this Dungeons & Dragons classic RPG.
This is a computer RPG review, it's not meant to comment on the D&D ruleset or on how well Baldur's Gate implemented it in its mechanics. This review is for a non RPG specialized gamer who's maybe hyped about Baldur's Gate III because of the trailers and footage of BG3 he or she has seen and who has maybe played Larian Studio's Divinity Original Sin II.
There are many games you could play in preparation for Baldur's Gate III: Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate Siege of Dragonspear, Baldur's Gate II Shadows of Amn, Icewind Dale, Icewind Dale Heart of Winter, Icewind Dare II, Neverwinter Nights 2, NWN 2 Mask of the Betrayer, NWN Storm of Zehir. If you only have time for one or two of these... should Baldur's Gate be one of them?
Hopefully our review will help you decide. - Ігри
Back in high school I had a friend that rode the bus with me. We loved talking video games and he told me about this new game I should try. It was called “Baldur’s Gate” and it had 6 disks. I went home and took the time to install all the disks. As soon as I got it installed, I was hooked. I’ll never forget the “you must gather your party before venturing forth” or the “Please insert disk 2” to proceed to the next area. This game will always be worth a replay for nostalgias sake alone.
@Levi Ulysses Indeed, gathering party before venturing forth is the best way to make friends.
"You have been waylaid by enemies and must defend yourself."
Same here. Same story.
We may come from two completely different parts of the world, but we have very similar memories of talking about playing games at school. Or have you been arguing which is better Fallout or Baldurs Gate?
Dude I didn't give this game a fair shot as a kid cuz I was ignorant to dnd magic, grew up on action oriented games. I tried it again on phone after seeing an offer and gave it a real shot since I was less spoilt for choice on phone games. Holy moly dude did I have a once was lost but now am found moment, sent me straight down the dnd rabbit hole. So glad I didn't let this series slip me by the second time. To anyone wondering these old school rpgs are the holy grail of gaming. modern games with their flashy graphics have nothing on these, nothing.
Its still worth playing in 2023
2024?
@@957543r u serious?
I want it but I can’t justify the $50 that’s being asked for it on the Xbox store
@@jaweel6205yeah it's better gotten on Steam
@@jaweel620510 usd on Apple App Store
I'm a total hardcore Baldur's Gate fan, been playing the game to no end for 20+ years now and not agreeing with all you say I truly can understand and appreciate the perspective of piting this game against modern RPG's, It lacks heavily in UI and some systems are too convoluted and not really intuitive. It's a game that Imo can't be picked up casually, either you know the ins and outs and you love it despite its flaws or it doesn't clicks enough to keep newcomers interested in terms of pasing and story also the frustration combat mechanics may cause, the learning curve is too steep and long hidden behind walls of text in the combat log or the exact description of spells and abilities.
Thumbs up! keep up the great work and I'll be waiting for the Shadows of Amn review.
Yeah, I can agree with that. I have tried to get into Baldurs gate on 3 separate occasions, but for all of the reasons you listed, it's one of those games that I hold enormous respect for, but cannot personally enioy.
You can just play Knights of the Old republic and that actually helped me greatly with Baldur's Gate.
Fernando - This is a great video but some of the complaints I respectfully don't agree with. I think the game is great and always immediately immerses me. My opinion is basically what you said.
There are some things in this game I like better than BG2. One of them is the lower level characters and spells. As he mentions in his Icewind Dale 2 review, it can be annoying to have to remove a million spell protections to damage a creature. Not an issue with BG1. Of course on the same token, you could easily die in 1 or 2 hits. :-) Reloading is still sometimes necessary. Soundtrack is amazing as he stated. and despite what he says, I enjoyed exploring the outdoor locations, and kind of missed that aspect in BG2. But otherwise BG2 blows it away in nearly every other category.
@@jimmym3352 Now that you mention it, yes. I don't recall having to fight any immune-to-all creatures like those annoying lichs in BG2.
I don't care what anyone thinks, I still love the old 2nd Edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons ruleset.
Baldur's Gate is a fucking amazing game that stands up to anything today. Hell, the badass Epic opening theme is awesome all by itself.
Wouldn’t be an dragon age without this game
My 2nd grade teacher showed me BG2 and I became obsessed. I still have the box set to this day. It’s my absolute favorite video game! So immersive.
I could never forget Minsc and Boo!!
As a pen and paper D&D player since 78, YES! I played both PC versions with and without mods. Playing enhance edition on my XBox now. Both BG1 and BG2 concurrently. Plan to transfer my BG1 char to BG2 when I finish and do an all the way through play through with a single char.
Most definitely its an amazing game that with the mods is even more renewed, Been playing it on and off ever since the first demo was released in pc gamer magazine; This game is a masterpiece that along with its sequels has not been equaled.
I must I admit that this game eluded me for a couple of years and I played Arcanum before Baldur's Gate. And when I played Baldur's Gate... I felt like it was just not in the same league as Arcanum (although the combat was light years better). But then I played Baldur's Gate II and I was blown away. I invite you to check my review on Baldur's Gate II and you'll see that I agree that THAT game was truly a masterpiece.
@@YeOldEntertainment Yeah. The problem about baldur's gate 1 is that it is a loooooooooow level campaign. By the time your characters get going it's basically over and it really sucks. You need to do every single quest in order to get something out of it including the tower and the coast missions which are a blast btw. Oh and dark pits is also fun.
@@YeOldEntertainment BG2 is the shit..its the first rpg i played. i did not play BG1 untill much later..and i got to say it did not have the same effect BG2 had.. that game is epic.
Fallout 2 with Restoration mod is best CRPG of ALL TIME!
@@ANGST.ARGENTINA To some of us that's the beauty of the game. The low level exploring in BG1 is a feeling you don't get in many other games. In game nowadays you level up way too fast to my liking - imo you need to earn those level ups.
Thanks for the review! It's very informative, and while I had some slight doubts about getting the game at first, those were put to rest thanks to you. Cheers!
And thank you for watching it!
Baldurs gate is absolutely worth it, but its worth noting how much worse the new content in the enhanced edition is. The voiced lines make me wish they werent and the writing is clearly inferior to the original scripts.
I was kind of hoping someone would mod that out.
Hum, the voice and script is the exact same.
I actually started playing this yesterday for the first time after kingmaker froze on me forth the 100th time lol. Played all day and am really enjoying it.
Play as a Fighter/Mage/Thief multi class Half Elf if you're new. Very powerful and you can do everything but heal yourself. So just bring a Cleric party member.
Levels up very slow though
All I can say is f yes it is worth it
Then by all means!
@@YeOldEntertainment especially when you remember the avg computer back then. I think I played it on a 486 w/o a graphics card because it didn’t have 3D graphics
Is this good for iOS phone?
@@droman3161 im playing on my android tablet. Signing up for the beta makes it run pretty smooth, small bugs here and there but nothing terrible. Im not a perfectionist though. But even on a goodsize tablet screen im already thinking about just getting a ps4 or pc version so its easier on my eyes. It probably be too small on a phone.
Playing it for the first time in 2022 believe it or not, i always avoided this game even when i was a kid due to the extreme dislike of the party management and that type of gameplay where you control a bunch of characters, but holy shit this game is a masterpiece its so entertaining to play, this might be the first game where i dont mind reading every text
have you haver played planescape? XD
Plan escape is the GOAT!
I feel that BG1 is toned down because its a low lvl dnd adventure that was laying down the groundwork for BG2, a high lvl, truly epic adventure. The UI, some missing sounds and graphics are disappointing as you say. However, the atmosphere and deep combat is really second to none.
Just check out the computer requirements of the original game much of his negatives are possibly due to capacity.
If I remember correctly only BD2 used 3/d graphics
No, it was a low level adventure only for modern standards. Back then, when 2e was still a thing, that was actually a high level adventure. BG2 also used 2e rules, yes, but it was basically a 3e adventure already. It was used as a prototype for 3e by WotC, actually.
I had to stop the video at the 5:00 mark cause it would involve spoilers. I made a promise not to spoil it for myself so that I could experience the story as truly and faithfully as possible.
That said, I will let you guys know about my own journey playing this game and we can share the experience together.
When I first got this game for the switch it was mostly due to pride. I thought I would master this game just like I supposedly mastered D&D 5e (surprise, I didn't ;p). But the moment I saw THACO for the first time I realized this wasn't the same game. The rules were vague and I couldn't quite understand what actions were permitted. After 6 months of just fiddling around with the game on and off, it was then I started to realize the kind of system THACO was.
THACO is a system that relies heavily on the premise that your attacks are going to miss more than they will hit. Enemies with any level of significance will have tools to prevent any of your attacks hitting them. That is why, hitting more often is the ideal mentality. It is why parties are encouraged and why the class diversity is so important in this game. It made me realize why many of the folks who grew up with AD&D were so fixated on that system. It was designed to be played with friends and to be a challenge that required a lot of preparation on the player's part. I found myself being a lot more cautious playing through the game then playing 5e, cause in this game a mistake can end the campaign so fast and without warning. 5e is a lot less like that, though there are still some areas where that is applicable. I find though that 5e took away a lot about what made TTRPG's exciting. The chance to fail is so high in THACO that you learn to play on the strengths of others. And that is why party's are formed. That is why dungeon's are taken in slow crawls versus blazes of glory.
So when I went into making my character and attempting this entire game it was something that took me a lot of time to think about. Magic felt like it would be more useful in this game. But I am not a magic guy. I am the kind of person who likes to play a Fighter who thinks he is a Rogue. Someone who is more tactical but still relies on brute strength at the end of the day. Think of Rambo in First Blood. I also made a decision that I needed to use only one character. I thought very hard on using multiple characters but that isn't how I enjoy games. My enjoyment is mostly breaking convention. So when I realized that companions were an essential part of the game I said "I am gonna beat this game without a party."
I looked through all the classes and fighter (obliviously) was my kind of class. Simple to learn. Lots of room for growth. At first I wanted to go into Wizard Slayer cause it seemed like my kind of class. Something that is actively anti-magic has always resonated with me. First attempt went up in smoke. Used a greatsword but even with all the specialization I couldn't ignore how vulnerable I was and how I couldn't close the gap fast enough sometimes. Tried barbarian but wasn't reliable to hit. Buying, weapons and overall trying to maintain equipment didn't leave too much for me early game to buy potions. But then I saw Kensai and something clicked in my head. Kensai hits hard, hits often and the actual requirement for Kensai says I couldn't use missile based weapons. It never said I couldn't use throwing weapons.
That is when I made "Shank".
The Half-Orc Kensai who literally throws knives at people before rushing away into the forest. At first I didn't really have high hopes, but I was willing to test it out. Then I saw him attack, and by golly I think I am gonna fall in love. Cause every attack hits a lot harder than one might think. I think the combination of just so many sources of modifiers, from his 19 strength to his mastery in Shank Warfare (Daggers) and then on top of that his Kensai abilities, make it so every time he throws a dagger he is hitting with an unreasonable level of power. Combining all of this with how fast he is able to dish out each dagger and you have someone capable of killing his enemy before they have a chance to fire back. I am sure this is an early game phenomenon that will slowly lose its luster, but for now I am enjoying the odd yet miraculous level of strength that Shank has produced from hurling kitchen knives.
Right now I just beaten the bandit camp, and now am heading to Cloakwood. Shank was able to kill the entire camp by literally drawing people into the forest and shanking them. Don't know how the game will turn out, but so far I am loving it and I am seriously considering the kind of games I want to run. THACO might not be the one for me, but I have learned to appreciate the challenge it is providing and how this kind of overwhelming odds is what makes TTRPGs fun. Overcoming those odds with wit and guile just makes the eventual fall more bearable. Cause what Baldur's Gate teaches is that persistence is essential in order to learn and grow. Players shouldn't be bared from losing. It should actually be a likely hood and in some cases inevitable. Because if it wasn't, are there any real stakes? Is there any true victory? I don't know about you guys, but I am starting to think that those older folks talking about "Good Ol'Fashioned TTRPGs" had a point. 5e just doesn't present the same kind of crazy adventure this game does. Hopefully this will continue to surprise me.
Beat the first game. Gonna move to the Siege of Dragonlance. So far Shank has proven himself in the face of true adversity (mostly by running away and throwing knives). Combining Boots of Speed with an Oil of Speed makes kiting so much easier and practically makes some fights almost a chore. I basically stack my abilities and watch my character go hog wild. So far though, the heavy reliance on potions for big bosses has made me more wary of rushing head long into combat. Will let you know how it turns out.
@@wyxqal9657your description of THAC0 is pretty accurate and the Base Attack Bonus system for D&D 3.5 is basically a more intuitive version of this. You are gonna miss a lot early on, unless you stack everything in your favor. But as you level up, your bonuses become insanely high compared to what you can achieve in 5e.
Playing it again now. Worth it. Love it
The nostalgia is too damn high! XD
That’s right, but I also just enjoy the game. It’s def my kinda thing
@@alan__6453 Oh heck yeah, they are great beyond their nostalgia value, for sure.
This is free this week if you have Amazon Prime.
So happy that there are still people out here who play this game! I'm a part of Gen Z, so... yeah, haven't exactly found teens my age who play this game. Still looking for someone out there to geek out with!
Well. check out this comment section and you'll see that you've come to the right place. Baldur's Gate is a timeless classic loved by many (maybe not too many Ge Zers... but there must be some!). Even devs from much more recent games like Pillars of Eternity admit that their games are mostly tributes to Baldur's Gate (Pillars of Eternity is shameless in this respect!) and there's a reason for that.
@@YeOldEntertainment Thanks, I totally agree with what you say in the video! A bigger issue I've found when trying to get my friends to play is that they don't find it interesting in the beginning, and even when I promise them it'll get interesting later on (I usually introduce them to BG2 just like my dad did to me), they just stop too early. I get where they're coming from, but... oh well.
@@elesira_idv Absolutely! Like I've mentioned to another commenter here, BG and BG2 are kinda "gate keepy" for new comers. But if you have a little patience and let the series enrapture you, you'll fall in love with them. Maybe try to get them to play some of the newer more modern fantasy CRPG's out there and then tell them to play BG?
@@YeOldEntertainment I really hope I can someday convince them! But yeah, you're right, maybe I should introduce them to other, more modern RPG games just so they can get a feel of them first.
yeah your definitely not alone ive been playing the game since i was 9 and im 16
Yes, it IS worth playing. Every minute of it, i can assure you!
I picked up the iOS version of this over the weekend. It's absolutely amazing what they've accomplished here. The port is very well done and true to the original game.
My 16 yo daughter finished Baldur's Gate 1 on Switch. It can seduce the new generations because despite its flaws it was a tremenous game.
Imo this is the best rpg game ever - nostalgia is speaking here but hey, all opinions are somewhat subjective.
Totally. Your story about your daughter liking and finishing Baldur's Gate, restores my faith in younger generations of gamers.
@Cheek Chaser cmon bro
@@YeOldEntertainment why your faith has been lost at the first place? It seems like every new gen is better and better in games than previous
@@Freddis ehhhhh not so much
@@luluna5228 do tell
your videos are awesome, can't wait for you to get big
Thank you! I'll try my best!
Step 1 : Pick a class and look up important stats for that class
Step 2 : learn each step of a fight ( definitions of turn. THAC0, damage modifier, saving throws and casting times for spells )
Step 3 : Get a Cleric or Druid early. The amount of healing spells for flat health is too good not to use all the time.
Step 4 : Save often and be patient. There is an autopause function but i highly recommend tappin that quicksave button on a regular basis. One encounter you arent prepared for can be a game over. Having a companions hp go to 0 is a gameover as well since you dont get revive spells until mid- to lategame for your healer. This means you have to divide the WHOLE inventory plus gear of that fallen companion to your remaining party, go to a priest who can revive him at a very high gold cost. Just reload your quicksave and try again.
Final step : do whatever you like. Explore this game, it takes a long time until it unfolds but so do most pen and paper stories
I highly recommend you play coop with someone already familiar with this game who can aid you
If you enjoyed Baldurs Gate 1, you will love the sequel. It's much more action packed, streamlined and an overall improvement compared to BG1. The enhanced editions of bg1 and 2 add new content like new classes, better ruleset than the vanilla versions, all the addon content and the black pits 1+2 , which are mini campaigns focusing on arena fights ... no shit.
Complete the the whole saga with Siege of Dragonspear and enjoy the finest of Bioware RPGs in their prime. Potentially hundreds of hours of playtime. Get ffs
I was just given a box full of games and the original Baldur's gate and Baldur's gate 2 were in there so I'm playing them now so... yeah.
A very nice thing to receive indeed. Nothing's changed much since the good old days in the enhanced edition. If you play the classic ones, you're still in for a treat.
I just found your channel in the new year and I'm binging a lot of your videos. You have a great selection of games and its great to see CRPGs still getting covered.
Thanks! Hopefully, you'll continue to like it!
BG1 was my first CRPG in 1999, played it again in 2010, loved it, and now again in 2023 on controller no less - better than ever. Don't even hate THAC0 lol
Bit harsh imo, I think the story really hits an amazing stride when you get into the city and (semi spoiler)
The part after you return to candle keep is great too. Probably one of my favorite rpg arcs.
I think that everything after the Duskwood mines is excellent. But I think drags a little in the middle section. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Yeah I mean the first and second game together take you on an adventure where you go from childhood to godhood, in a way that is narratively convincing and consistent the whole way.
Thank you for that final thought. I’ve tried to play through this game a few times and recently thought I would revisit it on the way to BG3. Like many I am time poor and have an embarrassingly large backlog. I’ll stick this back with the rest of them for now.
Honestly, the lack of decisions to make when levelling sounds like a refreshing relief from the indecisive, stat googling hell im placed into every time I level up in a modern game.
But when you have options, you can do things your way. You don't necessarily have to google how someone else did it. In fact, that might send you down a path that might not be the right one for you. I think only one game "forced" me to google a decent build because things were turning out not at all how I had planned (Pathfinder Kingmaker) With the rest, I've pretty much winged it (and I'm no expert at all).
There are a ton of choices you can make in the game but D&D 2e is a game where it's more about your ideas and clever solutions you implement through personal ingenuity rather than relying on a long list of class features on a character sheet. Your advancement in power is more about the loot you get, which is what gives more incentive to actually adventure and explore rather than simply grinding through waves of monsters and turning in repetitive quests.
To think, I chanced upon the original game in a random corner of a departmental store when I was 8, years ago. Asked my parents to get it out of curiosity and having no idea what an 'rpg' was. Sure, the graphics are dated to the point I think im high or drunk when I see the sprites. But the game had character. When you let your party just stand idly by at a random bar so you can hear the music and every npc walking by you with random quips, that's a gem right there.
My 'otels as clean as an elven arse!
Just bought 1 + 2 ps4. Never played back in the day
Awesome video
If you are into RPGs... wait til you play Bg2... and you'll see where EVERY medieval fantasy RPG comes from. ¡Gather your party and venture forth!
Yea I'm about 2 hours into the first game so super early and I don't mind the primative graphics. Story Is more in your head. Interesting how the progression is split across both games.
Yea looking forward to it
You got urself a subscriber
Keep it up
Wait a minute.... They changed the PERFECTION that was Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 and everything in-between? I've never played a more awesome game than BG 1 & 2 !
Mostly it's more compatible with modern machines (fully integrated widescreen and 3d acceleration.) It also adds some content and transfers upgrades from BG2 to BG1 including race and class/kit options.
Unfortunately they do change some things, thankfully there's mods to pretty much undo most of those.
It didnt click in my head until I have heard someone else say it, but Baldurs Gate 1&2 are probably the only games where I was so NOT excited for a new level up, I frequently didnt even bother clicking the level-up button. If I understand correctly, only mages, clerics and sorcerers have some "interactivity" with leveling up, but other classes are so underwhelming.
I also felt very lost and, dare I say, bored, when I reached Baldurs Gate for the first time. There is some beauty in small towns and not-many NPCs to get a quest from, but Baldurs Gate had so many things so densely packed into so many locations, it was very discouraging to explore. Every new corner had a new "super-important" task to complete, and it was simply too overwhelming.
It really does feel that BG1 was a sort of experiment in quantity over quality, just to create a larger world for a player to be a part of and to explore. I am certain if I were to play this game 20 years ago, Id consider it to be the most fun and enjoyable games ever. While I still had fun playing and beating it, it was frustrating at more times than Id like, and overall, very challenging to enjoy; it is very dated. In that sense, BG2 was a lot better, but I cant finish it yet, as the gameplay itself is very un-engaging and boring still (unless your PC is a mage, it seems). It does improve more on the quality aspect, and the story is a lot better, but personally I feel like it simply is too dated. It may be fun as a window to look into RPG gaming 20 years ago, and try to imagine yourself at that time, but I have been too spoiled by the newer games, sadly.
Great review either way!
I like it when there's tons of things to do in a town and I do like a challenge. But yes... I can see why the original BG might feel dated and uninteresting today (not for me, I like it well enough) but I think BG2 is still a masterpiece even by today's standards. It may lack some of the quality of life UX improvements of some newer games, but the amount of things to do and the way in which your decisions impact the gameplay is still remarkable for me. Thanks for your comment though! You might want to check the review on BG2 here on the channel.
@@YeOldEntertainment I dont mean BG1 wasnt interesting, it was quite enjoyable, and I did have some fun while finishing it, but at times it did require "effort" to launch the game the next day and play it. I think the general gameplay loop suffered the most with age. Whereas with Divinity 2, I couldnt stop myself from playing it day after day, rolling new characters all the time and replaying first couple of acts again and again! I mean, hell, DOS2 is probably the only and will be the only game where I attempted and completed an Iron Man run, because it was THAT fun.
I also quite enjoy a challenge, but the challenge of BG games is more in not helpling a player understand what even is going on (I only found out what exactly are turns and rounds 60 hours AFTER playing BG1 and 2). It is nice not to have so much hand-holding, but the unimpactful gameplay and TOTAl lack of hand-holding are detrimental to the enjoyment, I think. I think, I can say to some extent that a big part of BG challenge comes from artificial difficulty.
I did find out later that you have a vid for BG2, but I am still formatting a proper comment for it in my head at the moment :)
The answer is yes. Playing it for the first time in 2021 and it is awesome.
I just finished this game, and I doubt I found even half of the potential party members. There was a section of the city I never got to, maybe two, but otherwise I got everywhere. Now that I needed more people asking to join my party, but I'm mystified as to where they were. I have to admit I preferred the Mass Effect/Dragon Age approach of tucking the characters away somewhere and picking them for the individual mission/quest.
Great video, Subscribed!
Thanks man!
I just finished this game yesterday. It was awesome.
It's cool to see people still enjoying this one. Just you wait till you play the second one. No THAT's where the real good stuff kicks in!
Not having Minsc is a fucking crime
Earlier today I found an old CD of Baldur's Gate. TBH I don't remember if I ever played it. The System Reqs say its for Win 95. I know Win 10 has a 'Compatability' feature, but does that go back as far as Win 95? Just curious. Thanks!
The portraits are great, but not a single one even slightly resembles the character I want
Thanks for tha comment! You can add your own! I added my good ol' dwarf that I use in every RPG XD
I'm watching out of curiosity for the video, but any question starting with "Is Baldur's Gate worth playing..." is an automatic, fully resounding "Yes!"
Its a must play game for people who love RPG,i think if you want to play the second and the third you have to play the first one,agree on your review about clicking problems and some empty places little bit boring,but hey dude it was a huge game,and it was back at the 90s we have to understand that.And someone can say yes Zelda was before,its a different gerne.Great channel dude by the way, Greetings from Greece
hey awesome review. I am loving this series of videos, these games are my favorite games ever made. Really hard to top them in the genre for me.
...but there is just a little something i have been wanting to talk about in almost ever BG review i have seen on youtube....people ocmplain about the "empty" forest areas before the city, but you must understand that back in the day, those "empty" levels were a graphical tour-de-force. All the little animations like birds flying, squirrels dashing through, time of day changing the atmosphere and palette, and then suddenly you bump into a mercenary band searching for you.....that was all incredible tech at the time. The empty spaces simply felt like a real open world and its wilderness....
As a ,atter of fact, I hope the next pillars of eternity resurrects that style of open exploration where there are huge areas and not everything is battle, but also the chance to get immersed in the world
Thanks for the comment man. It's much appreciated. I did play Bg originally back in the day... well not really, it was around 2001. But more than "empty" they felt like they didn't add much. That got sort of "fixed" in BGII even the devs mention it in the foreword.
i played it for the first time a year ago, over 100 hrs my 1st playthrough (good party w/ neera), completed all good align outcomes. worth playing for lovers of old school games, but to new gen gamers it is a slow meticulous endeavor not for the faint of heart. be prepared for mental adjustment to the mechanics because wrong spell choices for instance are permanent.
I actually love the old system for leveling, not only the background stat increases, though they could give you a button to roll your HP die. But I also love the speed of leveling. It means more to play a few hours and hit that level 2, than to be handed a level every few minutes. Modern games often have a race to level cap feel, when I grew up on these old games with a slow ride through character progression, and it takes 3 full sized games BG, BG2 and Throne of Bhaal to really reach your full potential. It's more about the journey than the destination.
I actually like the more garbage loot. A magic item is a real find in these games, it makes them worth a lot more, most modern games you are finding +5 weapons with extra elemental damage or status effects around every corner. It is rare you have to chose a new weapon type you are not as good at, because you found a magical version of something else. Like your go to War Hammer dwarf, will always find a great magical hammer soon in a modern RPG, but in BG or most older games, you might have to use a sword or flail. And when you find a good magical hammer you will be excited to use it and not bogged down trying to see if it is better than the other 5 magical hammers you found.
I do think enhanced is a rip off, it looks better but most the changes I did not like. I am too lazy to reload the CD's and make it work on a new system so I use mods to take out most of what Beamdog added. I do like the extra kits that were included in the original BG2, so you can import any character from 1 to 2, and the journal system was better...the old game I had to keep my own notes in a notepad. Those are really the only change I like. In general if I see an enhanced version of a game I missed out on back in the day, I'd try to find the original to play if I can. GoG does often include the original games, which that is nice if you can get an enhanced version for a deep sale. :)
Pass on this, to get BG3 instead? :o I'll probably try BG 3 if it ever releases. I expect it to have a lot of modern ideas and concepts that might be out of date in a few years. Medieval fantasy should never have modern ideas, they should be an escape from the modern world, a lot of what I mod out of BG enhanced is the new stuff for this reason. I doubt people will be playing BG3 in 2042, but I played BG last a few months ago, an escape into a medieval fantasy world will always hold up but modern concepts made to appeal to 20 year old players will be out of date in a few years.
I was about to say the exact same thing about garbage loot ! I like it that way, it's more immersive to me.
Someone rides a nostalgia horse... The good old 'in my days...' and 'it used to be better' and all those meme texts.
In reality... not, it wasn't better then and now we have garbage, it's different, you look at your beloved game through nostalgia glasses and that's it. Just because you used to love it and modern kids will prefer BG3 over BG1, it doesn't mean they're dumb, or take 'worse' product or whatever else you might say.
And speaking of 'ideas and concepts that might be out of date in a few years'... like BG doesn't have that? Like the comparison system or lock picking mechanic? I mean... Our memories are always better than reality, when it comes to stuff we like. Of course, it's your choice to keep on the nostalgia glasses, but still 'in my days...' argument is pretty poor.
Well said
The comment about leveling kinda fails to mention on how much leaps in power it feels between levels. While you don't get to do much when leveling, you will feel the power afterwards, and frankly that is much more powerful than fiddling with some arbitrary numbers between every level.
For me feeling more powerful because the game decides which stats to boost between levels and how much, will always be less fun than letting me choose how I want to be more powerful. I want to be able to choose new skills or boost some of the ones I have, to choose whih atributes to enhance etc. It's just a matter of personal taste, but this is mine.
I agree 100%.
You reallllly feel the level jumps in this.
Dude, you deserve many more subscribers
Thanks man! I hope more come, but I'm happy with the ones that are already here. Cool people!
I had started playing bg1 for the first time a couple of months ago but ultimately couldn’t get into it but I decided to try it out on the steam deck last night as I don’t have a whole lot of time to sit at my desk and man I was having fun and it works surprisingly well with the decks controls
2nd edition is what I got started in, I still have all the books and compendiums dice character sheets, lol
I think the live experience is phenomenal, but I think it doesn't translate as well in video games, even in the best of them. Thanks for the comment!
I also started with AD&D2, but damn i was glad for3E to get rid of Thac0
Baldur's Gate certainly has nostalgia glasses for me as it was so unique for the time to have a grand adventure with realtime combat. Being a first experience of D&D helped too. It's a fun game, but certainly the sequel upped the stakes
I played BG when it was already 10 years old. Anytime I fire up the game I'm immediately immersed. I think it's great and at least a must try for any fan of rpg's and or video games. Old yes. Great yes. I have a different opinion than this video but the video is great and well done.
I dont need to watch the video to say this: I first played BG 3-4 years ago and didnt finish BG2 until summer last year (still pending to complete siege of dragonspear expansion) AND it is one if the games i have enjoyed the most. so the answer is YES, it was, is and will always be worth playing it.
Tried but don't think it's for me, aside from ai feeling unresponsive and not responding to commands at times.
I just find constantly micromanaging characters to be bit tiring to do all the time.
Only game similar to it that i played was Da Origins, and that one took me a while to get into, combat needed different approach, but still demanded less managing and certainly felt more responsive.
Then again i did hear ppl saying steam version is bit broken, i dunno anymore.
I tried playing this when I was about 8 years old and didn't have a clue what was going on. But I loved it
Of course I new of Baldur's Gate - but I never played it. Now I''ve seen some BG3 videos, I looked up a little more about that game and purchased BG1 and 2 and that in-between one. I'm intrigued and will work up my way to BG3 - which hopefully will be sold with less bugs and significant discounts by then.
You throw obscure early Genesis albums into a Baldur’s Gate review? Well, subscribed.
Hahaha. Favorite band (1970-1977) so yes. I'm going to try and find every excuse to do that XD
Playing it in switch but your resolution seems (much) higher. Are you using mods? Like an enhanced version of the enhanced edition?
Thanks for leaving a comment, mate. Nop. I'm using a GTX 1070 and I'm playing the 2.3.67 version.
So I've decided to play this again with the enhanced edition to import the save later on to bg2.
I was finding that I didn't care at all for the characters while playing bg2...I just wasn't immersed and it's been so long since playing the first game that seeing what happened in the first dungeon didn't effect me at all.
Interesting to hear a modern perspective on BG1. As an old school BG/D&D player, leveling is one of my favorite parts of this game. If you want more customization, then you can play a thief or mage. Fighters don't get as much customization.
The combat and leveling systems are clunky, but ultimately satisfying. Characters feel much more powerful after gaining a few levels.
It's nuts if you play a mage all the way through BG1 to ToB. You start off with 4 hp and the ability to cast one or two mostly useless spells and then end up with the ability to stop time and land a comet on your enemies. It really sells the transition from low level nobody to godhood.
Great video!
Thanks!
I just saw this and baldurs gate dark alliance on the Xbox store. Which one is the most recent or would you recommend getting?
I saw you posted the same question in the Baldur's Gate II video. Check out that response. But for me there is a BIG difference between this one and its sequel. Baldur's Gate II is way better and, if you are at least somewhat familiar with CRPGS, I don't think you NEED to get the play the first one first. But again, as I said in that other response, it largely depends on the kind of game you want to play. Cheers and thanks for leaving a comment.
@@YeOldEntertainment lol yeah I’m impatient, these where old post and wasn’t sure it would be seen. Thanks for the reply bro
It shows it's age a lot, but they're both incredible, even on Playstation I had a grand time with these games.
Awesome video, instant sub.
Thanks man!! People are hating it lately it seems. This comment made my day. :) Thanks for the sub.
@@YeOldEntertainment having an opinion always rubs one side the wrong way. Doesn't mean you are wrong tho. I love BG, played it on release. The first release. Even tho I love it, it didn't age well. It is nice that it runs on modern hardware, but it isn't enhanced enough for an enhanced edition.
Your video was awesome to listen to and to watch it. Really looking forward to dive into your content. Thank you for your work and effort.
You are entitled to your opinion, but consider this - why should every location contain hundreds of monsters? And encounters, which just so happen to take place when you are walking by? Yes the natural surroundings are somewhat empty, because that is what our actual world ultimately is. Ultimately your review was good and relevant, as the fact remains, that when a player is going to consider "will I spend my money on this or that" they should go for something newer (and that's from a guy who finished this game over 70 times). However they did try to give the impression of a "world" with the more-or-less empty maps, which I honestly believe was a nice touch - what would all those monsters eat after all if there were like 50/map just to arbitrarily give the player something to do? I never quite understood the "we have to have an epidemy of monsters in our game" mentality.
Thanks for leaving a comment. I'll ask you this. How do you feel about Baldur's Gate II and its locations?
@@YeOldEntertainment worse than BG1 to be honest. Yes BG2 is more epic with all the combat, but exactly because of that it feels kind of ..... like a slog? If that makes sence. It just strikes me like kind of a stretch that there were all those monsters and dangers to people and YOU are the first one who actually does anything about it in all that time the land you are in existed.
@@Eckister I resonate with this Jan. Spot on.
We will not tolerate bad mouthing Minsk!
GO FOR THE EYES BOO, GO FOR THE EYES, RRRRAAAAWW!
Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Go for the eyes, Boo!
Its an almost perfect game if you can suffer through the archaic D&D rules, which I have no patience for.
After playing Baldur's Gate 3, I decided to revisit Baldur's Gate 1-2 Enhanced Editions.
While they are very good - don't get me wrong, despite my long-winded criticism, I still love them -, there are a few glaring issues that prevent me from enjoying them to their fullest. Or rather, one issue that turns some other non-problems into problems: the lack of a camp mechanic.
In Baldur's Gate 3, the number of companions the player can take with themselves is 3, making the maximum party size 4. Many players complained about this, but it's not so bad, because Baldur's Gate 3 has a camp mechanic, where the player has a "camp" that they sleep at, where all the companions gather, where companions can be swapped in and out of the active party, etc. Even when one's party is full, one can just ask recruitable companions to "wait at my camp".
In contrast, Baldur's Gate 1-2 has a maximum party limit of 6, but it's a rare instance of 6 being less than 4, because there is no camp mechanic. The player only has two options: recruit a recruitable companion, or rudely turn them away, which causes them to return to where they came from (usually some place very far away from the player). Same goes for dismissing existing companions from the party - they return to some place very far away. Dismissing a romanced companion breaks the romance altogether, making it de facto verboten to dismiss a romanced companion. To add insult to injury, most companions will go out of their way to insult, shame or guilt the main protagonist for dismissing them or refusing to recruit them, putting a strong emotional pressure on the player to recruit them even when the party is full.
The icing on the cake is, that in Baldur's Gate 1 (but thankfully not 2), some companions are "paired": the player either recruits both or none, dismissing one also dismisses the other.
All of this guarantees, that no matter the party composition, the player is always guaranteed to miss out on a lot of content (companion-specific quests of any companion they didn't recruit because their party was already full).
And this sucks especially if you intend to play as a goody-two-shoes heroic character who wants to help everyone... at least, everyone who isn't evil. For example, I want to help out Minsc to recruit Dynaheir, I want to impress Jaheira & Khaleed, but I also want to help Neera and Rasaad. But I can't do that all under one playthrough, due to the party limit.
It's less of a problem for an evil playthrough, because there are less evil companions.
Except Baldur's Gate 3 straight out copies this from Dragon Age: Origins which was made by Bioware (the ones who made the original Baldur's Gate). Baldur's Gate 3 cannot be credited for this feature, the creators Baldur's Gate should. It's part of the genres evolution and it's only normal that new quality of life features get added over time.
@@YeOldEntertainmentIt's even older than Dragon Age: Origins - even Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (also made by BioWare, 3 years after BG2 came out) had that feature... sorta. And in that game's case, the mechanic was even more well-integrated into and justified by the story (while you explore the planet with your active party, your other companions wait for you at your spaceship).
But I'm fairly sure, that there was probably a game even older than KOTOR (but younger than the OG BG1-2) that did that, I just don't know about it.
Of for sure. I'm sure one some the Wizardry or Bards Tale had it long before (though it was not as sophisticated as mid/late 2000's Bioware games)
@@YeOldEntertainmentAnd there is a mod for BG1 that sorta tries adding BG3's camp mechanic to it (even before BG3 came out), allowing the player to send companions to the Friendly Arm Inn. I think it's the BG NPC Project?
Tho, still not sure about BG2 and its romances breaking upon dismissing party members.
Honestly, I wish there was a way to increase party size. (or conveniently rotate party members without breaking romances and personal quests) - I just want to have Imoen, Jaheira, Khalid, Minsc, Dynaheir, Neera and Rasaad with me in BG1.... and Aerie, Jaheira, Minsc, Keldorn, Anomen, Neera and Rasaad in BG2.
I played the original when i was a kid. I was so noob back then so when i get attacked by the flaming fist my characters' body parts would fly all over the place lol
Short answer? Absolutely
I still have my original BG and BG2 multi CD packs and I feel the EE edition of BG is worthy of play except it really is not a standalone game any longer. So many prestige kits have abilities you barely are able to enjoy unless you mod off the XP cap or something similar. No question if you intend to play this game then Siege of Dragonspear and BG2EE are essential to get full character development. I am also playing IWDEE now as well, maybe fodder for another video as it handles the 'enhancement' much better than BG.
If you play the same character throughout all the games and you eventually get to the arse whipping part in Baldur's gate II Throne of Bhaal. XD. After I post my upcoming review for Baldur's Gate II and Throne of Bhaal, I'll definitely be tackling Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition Next. Hopefully casual players will have more info to decide which of these to get into while they wait for Baldur's Gate III full release.
I watched this video because of Balder's Gate 3 😁
Well, there will be one for Baldur's Gate 3 for sure!
Dropped by because I was told this game is like Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage on the N64 by THQ / H20 back in 2001
they this was a damn good quick rundown of the game. Thanks for making this man!
It’s nice to see so many other people who feel the full Baldur’s Gate game is second to none, I agree. Baldur’s Gate and Advanced Dungeons and Dragons is unequalled. Still my daily driver.
Ok please HELP ME here: what is the game at 3:22 ? I cannot remember the title and it's driving me crazy
Arcanum!!!! Just remembered :) I'll leave the comment in case someone else wonders the same
hehehe
BG is always worth. No matter when you read it.
I like some of the companions a lot - Kivan for example. Really wished, he would have been back in BG2. He is my Charnames best buddy and always in the group. And Xan, the depressive elven mage - love that character. I'm not a fan of everyones darling Minsc though. I find him highly annoying and I only bother with him, when I want to get Dynaheir in my party (after that, I send him on a suicide mission, so that I can keep Dynaheir),
There's a mod for Kivan (and Deheriana) in BG2. Xan as well btw (you can make him either Enchanter or F/M).
Yes they are worth playing in 2021, BG1 and BG2 are definitely in my top ten games of all time. And i actually quite like the story in BG1, but I understand it’s not a game for everyone.
Does it have french subtitles as option on Xbox
I'm pretty sure voices are localized in french. As for the subtitles... je ne sais pas
@@YeOldEntertainment ya I think you are right. Can you boot it up and look though hahaha
When i discovered Dragon Age Origins in 2010, there were no other games like it at the time, so discovering the BG games were the only other adventures left for me. But despite the years, those 2 games really blew me away, and CRPGs have become my favorite genre since.
But today, I guess you have many more great CRPGs available, so you dont have to deal with dated mechanics and bad graphics if you love these types of games.
I only got it working recently due to the new patch, so it won't crash on startup.
I have to say, I got drawn in immediately even though its such an old and outdated game.
Its a shame Baldur Gate 3 has not taken some of the most important aspects out of this first game storywise.
First off that none of the companion's quests (mostly) don't really tie in too deeply in the main quest. (unlike Larian's way of doing things, where every companion's story will end up being very deeply interwoven with the main plot, and unfolds as the story progresses)
Like no, those guys should have their own story separate from the main plot, and be there afterwards to just help me out with my mission after I helped them with theirs.
And of course, the main plot itself, being ALL about my own created character (unlike Divinity and BG3, where clearly the side characters will end up having more of a connection to the main plot then my custom created character.)
Only thing I did not really like is the automatic combat, turnbased is way more fun in that regard, as it really feels more like D&D.
I also think that turn based combat feels more "adequate" for D&D based games. But real time with pausing is also fun.
@@YeOldEntertainment Meh, I was not very into that combat style, so I restarted on the lowest difficulty so I could enjoy the story and lore at ease.
Got a fun surprise after I discovered Super Auto combat though.
(Blackguard player character + cursed boots of phasing + cursed greatsword of berserking +3)
Basically when combat starts, my Blackguard goes into a berserk state, (with a very high strength stat) while constantly being teleported behind enemies.
He basically just pops up from behind an enemy, takes a swing to explode them in tiny chunks, then teleports to the next one and keeps doing that until everything is paste.
Likely won't work very well on a high difficulty setting, but I like skipping combat in this very styling and godlike looking manner.
The Google algorithm is quite good. I totally dropped this one and I'm playing BG2 right now for the very first time. I'm love. And I totally agree with the disappointments about character development. Besides, I'm finding the characters in 2 quite deep.
It's obvious that I agreed about giving a pass to this one, But the 2nd... it's being a must-play for me.
Anyway,
Great work man. Subscribed.
Well! The review for BG2 is coming aaaaand... if you love BG2... I think you're going to like that review XD. Thank you for subscribing by the way.
I playing it today and loving it
Good to hear!
Playing it now..
I'm playing it on Switch now so it's a big YES.
All I get is a black screen. And the video is choppy when loading the opening intro.
Putting your watermark at the bottom of the video is too much. Overall great review and video. You have much promise. The background music is nice but turn it down a bit or raise your voice some.
Regarding sounds: remember this game was built in the 90s before we even had gigahertz processors. I don't know if you around at the time but the Pentium 2 processor came out in 1998 we didn't even have dual core until the early 2000s and we didn't have gigahertz technology for another 2 years until like 2,000 or 2001. I say all that because space was very limited back then and if a game took a half a gigabyte of space that was huge that was unheard of I mean Baldur's Gate took six discs after all. There's only so much room you could put in there and sound files are large which is why early video games used MIDI files and not full files
Thank your for leaving a comment. A few things about both of your comments on this video.
1st. This video was more than a year ago. If you check out any of the new videos you'll notice sound is better mixed and in the last two videos, the logo I'm using is the shortened version.
2nd. I was around WAY before house computers were even a thing. I used a typwriter (and an old one with the little hammers) for many years before home computers became a thing.
3rd. My problem with the sound in Baldur's Gate has more to do with what they did in the ENHANCED edition, not the regular one from back in the day. 1st, they actually removed a coupled of sounds that were in the original and second, if there is ONE thing for which the had the "sentimental license" from old school fans tp change things was the sound... they could've and should've completely overhauled it for this title. They didn't.
And that's it.
The "enhanced" edition is definitely a let down (mods from a decade before fulfilled a similar end result), but if you played the original you would definitely think that this version is much more user friendly. On one hand it is nicer to play the game in the newer (BG2) engine, the original engine made the game much more difficult and time consuming. There were no class kits, you could only carry 20 arrows in a stack, pathfinding was terrible, the companions would match your character level with the thief and weapon stats randomly assigned... Just to name a few things. I think the enhanced edition is great for people who just want to pick up and play, but for fans who wanted an upgrade the old mods were much better.
I think that did a good job to bring Baldur's Gate to this day and age without ruining the experience too much. But I agree with you that this is a watered D&D experience made digestible for newcomers.
Beam Dog totally butchered all the Black Isle Studios titles. Just comparing opening credits of BG and the "enhanced edition" tells you how mishandeled the property is. Dont fix what aint broken.
@@juubatuuba8354 And charge $20 plus for it!
GoodOldGames had the old moddable versions in their store but they were forcible removed. The enhanced editions could not handle the competition from originals. :D
@@juubatuuba8354 Oddly enough if you bought the originals before you can still download them from GOG... but for some reason ($$$$) I didn't automatically get a copy of the enhanced editions because I owned the originals. Beamdog. Did they ever end up shipping that physical collectors edition to everyone??
2.3k subs? HOW!? You've earned another sub, I'm sure many many more will come.
Thanks!!
So I had no idea it was a game till after I read the book
Oh the rerolling for 18/00 ...
I must say I do not agree with everything you said especially regarding characters. It's good thing that you compare Baldur's Gate to Pillars of Eternity since Pillars is also a fantastic RPG and true spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate. Obsidian really hit (almost) all boxes to make Pillars such a great game and to resemble of Baldur's Gate. But one thing that Pillars is missing is strong characters , not just NPCs but also world characters and villains. Ok, I am expanding this to BG 1&2 but compare Thaos to Sarevok or Irenicus. Thaos just lacks that character and epic voiced quotes that Sarevok and Irenicus has. Also, many other world character in BG are much more life like and epic. This is not just for Pillars but also many other modern RPG games and something that should be improved in my opinion. I still remember all the quotes of Sarevok in hell in BG2 even after 20 years :)
This laid the ground for everything that came after it in the RPG ballpark, no doubt. I was head over heals back in the day to be sure. But for some who's never gotten into BG.. grabbing it now for the first time may be a bit a rough experience. I do encourage you to check out our review on Baldur's Gate II. I think you'll find it more to your liking. And thanks for the comment!
@@YeOldEntertainment I sure will, thank you.
@@YeOldEntertainment I just watched your BG II and I can say that I agree for most of the things you said if not all. BG II is very different game from BG II. Main difference is that BG I has large number of huge areas to explore where only in some of them you will find something useful where BG II does not have this but has big side quests which are basically stories of their own and are much more interesting. City of Amn is so exciting and full of mysteries..
@@aleksandardimitrijevic187 The amount of effort put into the branching paths of the story is just incredible. I don't think we'll ever come back to this.
It's ok if you have a lot of patience and be 100% thorough in every situation.
Baldur's Gate 2 was my first PC RPG and absolutely blew my mind. I have started BG1 several times and while it is a good game, I never played it to its conclusion. I still kind of want to but it is a huge time investment.
Playing this right now. Great game.
Bruh, same o:
I am playing as a Necro/Cleric for my main char.
Human Necromancer dual classed to a cleric at level 7.
Holy Smite is an amazing cleric spell and it belongs to the school of necromancy.
Being a Necromancer gives you a +2 bonus against the enemy saving throw making it much more likely Holy Smite will deal full damage and blind all enemies.
Funny I have a really hard time getting into modern rpgs. Pillars bored me to tears and Disco Elysiums writing was morbid cringe (mostly), albeit it did try something really novel. The spell system in BG1+2 is still the best ever which is oddly enough not muchdiscussed . Especially when playing mods (SCS, ascension etc) on hardest difficulty, the spell system becomes S+ tier strategy, otherwise the criticism here is quite spot on.
Thanks for the comment. I think I get into a little bit more depth with the issues I personally have with the spell system in my review of BG2 (Which is coming out tomorrow).
I agree. I tried Divinity 1 and 2 and didn't like it much. Also bored by Pillars. I wondered if I had just gotten old, but my son bought me Icewind Dale Enhanced version, and I'm loving it. I don't like many of the modern rules, sure, like any race can be Paladins, and Tieflings and Dragonkin are allowed to roam the streets in modern D&D without being killed on sight by good aligned humans (yes, good humans, because dragons and demons are EVIL, dammit, and should be killed). But I think the old games are better, just lacking in modern graphics.
POE also bored me. I loved Disco Elysiums ( but I think I loved it for the cringe lol) and I love, love BG. I definately seem to like older RPG's alot more than current. Haven't played too much of DOS2, didn't like part 1, and never played ID yet. So I guess I agree with everyone in this comment thread.
@@davidfinch7407 David Finch - Is Icewind Dale Baldur's Gate with less of a emphasis on story?
@@kummakummakummakummakummac8606 Yes, that's a really good way to describe it. Since you make all six of your characters, they can't include all the side-quests related to the back story of your characters like you get in Baldur's Gate.