Weekly Game Review: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

[MockBot]

Automatically generated comment thread for Weekly Game Review: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

[Gilgongo]

Great game. I just recently dug it out and am just about to start ToB. Importing your character from the first game into this one, then into Neverwinter Nights is a real treat.

[Nick]

I love the Baldur Gate series. They're probably the best top down video games.

[saturnknight]

I'd suggest looking for the older Knights of Honor games, or even Return to Zork or Zork Nemesis, but this one looks like my kind ofgame

[Dr. Boogie]

Fucking second edition rules.

My favorite part was turning the difficulty down a little, removing the level cap, and going through the game with one character.

[RaNkeri]

One of the best PC games I've played.

I've been planning of getting myself Baldur's Gate compilation as soon as I've finished with my entrance exam studies.

[Fat_Hippo]

Yep, this game is pretty damn amazing, and in my opinion, worthy of more than 3-and-a-half pickles. Tons of original quests, npcs, items and places. Practically none of that "Go to dark cave Nr. 3115 and kill ogre for magic longsword" stuff you see elsewhere. Best combat I've ever seen in an RPG, along with a great story and most badass villain ever. If you like RPG's, play it.

[paulunga]

This one is alright but it has one major flaw: 2nd edition AD&D. That makes most of those games unbearable for me. The only one I really love is P:T, followed by Icewind Dale 2, the only Infinity Engine game using 3rd edition rules.

[JoeyJoJoJr]

Nothing beats Plane Scape Torment.

[Copper]

First reaction to thumbnail: "Baldur's Gate! *shriek of delight*"
*skims through article* "Torment! *glee*"

your characters will often decide to cast off the yoke of your control and declare independence in the middle of a crucial fight, whereupon they immediately die for having foolishly charged at a dragon by their lonesome.

Unless, of course, its Minsc, with a vorpal blade...(Gotta love 20's on fallen divas...)

I love the Baldur's Gate series. I picked up the first (and expansion) together and then, of course, picked up 2 and Throne of Bhaal. Personally, I had a harder time deciding between NPCs in the first game but the interactions in the second were, as you said, much better. And yes, the AI is something to be desired and the fights were *insane* sometimes, but it gave you one heckuva sense of accomplishment once you out-thought that lich...(I micromanage my fights *anyway* so AI wasn't always an issue for me.)

Torment, too, is a fantastic game and I played Neverwinter Nights so much I thought my mother was going to start an intervention...

As for the 2nd edition rules, I played the game back before 3.0 had come out, so it wasn't that difficult to wrap your head around. I'd imagine now it would be difficult, but back then, it wasn't that much of a stretch.

Four pickles, I say. Four!

[alittlebirdytoldmeso]

I still totally love this game. But seriously, the only guy macking on my heroine is ANOMEN? Bleah

[Asila]

Bleah, I shouldn't admit to so many people that I've played this game numerous times. Lowering the difficulty and removing the caps is a serious must though, fucking dragons.

I still totally love this game. But seriously, the only guy macking on my heroine is ANOMEN? Bleah

Hehe, Anomen. That's why mods exist, ya know.

[Copper]

Originally Posted by alittlebirdytoldmeso

I still totally love this game. But seriously, the only guy macking on my heroine is ANOMEN? Bleah

Hael'delis (the tiefling) was supposed to be a love interest, too, with a triangle between you, Aerie, and him. Stupid time constraints. I'd take the hot bard over the paladin any day!

Originally Posted by Asila

Hehe, Anomen. That's why mods exist, ya know.

Always been a little too chicken to try mods *laughs* Don't know why. NWN sort of changed that a little, but installing them still confuses me.

[Grossenschwamm]

This game saved my marriage.

Just kidding, she's dead.

[RaNkeri]

Originally Posted by Asila

Lowering the difficulty and removing the caps is a serious must though, fucking dragons.

Aww c'mon, those dragons weren't even hard

[Asila]

Aww c'mon, those dragons weren't even hard

You know, when I'm on my 20th playthrough and I've listened to some massive scaly thing expostulate for 10 minutes yet again, I think I can be forgiven for wanting to kind of get the battle over with.

Always been a little too chicken to try mods *laughs* Don't know why. NWN sort of changed that a little, but installing them still confuses me.

Almost anything that's been scripted in WeiDu is fairly self-explanatory, and about 90% of them are. Umm... http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_mods_npc_m.php if you want a male romance. Edwin's my favourite but apparently I like sarcasm a little too much.

[Gilgongo]

You must gather your party before venturing forth.

[Copper]

Originally Posted by Asila

Almost anything that's been scripted in WeiDu is fairly self-explanatory, and about 90% of them are. Umm... http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index_mods_npc_m.php if you want a male romance. Edwin's my favourite but apparently I like sarcasm a little too much.

Don't you mean Edwina? (If I remember that little side quest correctly...) And I'd actually have to reinstall the thing, but I'll keep the link in mind, thanks!

Originally Posted by Gilgongo

You must gather your party before venturing forth.

Gah! The memory. It burns! I was so glad Torment let you get around that (especially when one of my characters managed to somehow get *stuck* and I had to leave the screen to fix it.)

[RaNkeri]

Originally Posted by Asila

You know, when I'm on my 20th playthrough and I've listened to some massive scaly thing expostulate for 10 minutes yet again, I think I can be forgiven for wanting to kind of get the battle over with.

Bah! The longer the battle takes the better. All this because of that kick ass battle music.

I don't remember whether that tune played in the fight against Thaxll'ssillyia, but the music which plays while fighting against Firkraag was one of the highlights of the game for me.

[Asila]

Don't you mean Edwina? (If I remember that little side quest correctly...) And I'd actually have to reinstall the thing, but I'll keep the link in mind, thanks!

No no, I did mean Edwin. It's a mod that allows a female protagonist to romance him.

the music which plays while fighting against Firkraag was one of the highlights of the game for me.

...
...
...Actually yeah, that was pretty awesome.

[Furry_Fan]

I love baldurs gate I have playd the game since I was around 13 loved it so much got every expansion and sequal and have beaten it many times and every so often I go back to play a new romance or mod that comes out..

[Copper]

Originally Posted by Asila

No no, I did mean Edwin. It's a mod that allows a female protagonist to romance him.

Sorry, poor joke at the red wizard's expense...as I recall, there's a side quest that turns him into a girl at one point...

[Marthaeus Autolykos]

I loved the first one, but when i bought the second one, the damn thing was missing a cd, but I didn't find that out until after I'd replayed the first in order to import my character, and at that point EB refused to exchange it. Never went back.