Baldur's Gate (1&2): Enhanced Edition - REVIEW: Why Get Them?
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- Опубликовано: 15 дек 2013
- Since its initial release in 1998 (And 2000 for Baldur's Gate II), Baldur's Gate has been one of the best RPG experienced available. Recently the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition released... but are they worth it? Is this game, now over a decade old, worth revisiting in this enhanced edition state? Find out in this review!
► Buy BG1's Enhanced Edition on GOG: www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate...
► Buy BG2's Enhanced Edition on GOG: www.gog.com/game/baldurs_gate...
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Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Overhaul Games / Beamdog
► Follow me on Twitter! / haasgaming 
Игры
Here me out I used to read the manuals until they stopped making them
I just finished the saga (TOB included). It was INCREDIBLE, I cant believe how much I ended up loving it. The graphics never annoyed me because they are pretty, you could say they simply make sense and blend nicely together.
Gameplay wise: It was like nothing I had ever played before. A marvelous experience.
And the story... by Boo, what an astonishingly good tale! Specially the second half! The characters are so well written. The amount of talent the writers possessed that made me feel so invested into all my companions (Specially Aerie
LMFAO! What a surprisingly eloquent comment from "The Fartman"
Then bg3 comes out...and sucks elephant cock
Funniest complaint ever:
"The game has a manual, and you have to read it."
New age gamers at their best XD
+gagnashdiak x LOL ikr... when I first baught this game many years ago when it was released I ENJOYED reading the manual.
+spacecoke Back in the day, the manual was essential for most games :)
+gagnashdiak x Yeah 2h forced tutorial is much better then reading something in manual. /s
+gagnashdiak x "Brutal complexity", can't stop laughing at that :) Definitely a young gamer.
And the manual actually was incredibly interesting, giving a lot background information of the world, especially the manual of BG1 which explained different factions, gave descriptions of all the main cities/villages, most coveted items etc.
I am a young gamer and I am very curious about those old rpgs (baldurs gate, planescape torment etc)
This is definitely the best rpg I've ever played in my entire life without any doubt. I know some people prefered Planescape torment, but in my opinion, any rpg fan should have played this game or play it now. Each year I find myself restarting all over again, this game has just a HUGE universe full of different stories and funny npcs, + the possible romance in the 2, many side quest, plus the main one which is really well written, and so many other things that it would take me hours to write ;), anyway sory for my bad English ad buy thi game !
My personal fave is Chrono Trigger :-]. I think i'm going to give Baldur's gate a try though :-]
BG2 and Fallout 2 for me is tied for that
Chrono Trigger is an excellent game (and i love it together with Chrono Cross, Im also a fan of FF7-9 so i love Jrpgs) but i wont considered it as RPGs. as they are more like character development adventure games than RPGs.
RPG as a game should allow you to play as a character that you want (given some constraint of course)... a Handsome Godly Celestial Avatar, a Dumb brute that can only grunt and bash people skulls, a sly thief, a nameless faceless assassin that no one has ever seen, a powerful bumbling lady's man mage. An evil person that kill children for fun.
BG and FO, to some extent, allow you to roleplay such characters in their rich populated, reactive world.
Is there ng+??
I remember feeling so clever when I double-charmed Glacus back to being a good guy.
i can still remember when BG 1 came out. My older brother and I were just enamored by the game. I was a youngester around 14 at the time. It was definitely different from what we were used to playing. that game was all about exploring and figuring it out ,and we played it for hours. We were always discussing different NPCs and what a good player setup would be. literally we played it to death. then tales of the sword coast.
Then bg II came out. that game is amazing. in fact, i was just playing it 20 minutes ago. one of the best games of all time.
The game looks pretty good for being two decades old.
Still better 2 decades later, better than alot of games lately too
Pretty much all 2D games still look pretty good or hold up pretty well. The complet opposite how ever, happened to all 3D games.
But thats what happens when stupid developers think they have to jump on the underdeveloped early 3D bandwagon.
Way too many companies went bankrupt because of sh!tty early 3D. And many games not only looked bad when they were released, today i have to vomit when i look at them! And i was there, when video gaming de/evolved into the 3D era.
So many games and franchises lost to the Ether, because companies went bankrupt. So many 2D/2.5D games not developed and genres not invented because of this stupid early 3D craze.
Look at all N64 games, or FF7 and FF8, how fcking sh!t these games look! And they run like dogsh!t as well. While Chrono Trigger a 2D game, still looks good and tastes like fine wine.
The 3D craze was a mistake. This industry went way too early into it. And the result of this poor judgment was disastrous.
This is the reason why the gaming industry today, is nothing more than a monstrous pile of shining horsesh!t !!
@@eiszapfenderwutendenwinde3233 i agree with almost everything you said but they are some games (like 3-5 games) on n64 games that have aged well (not graphically) like super mario 64 , ocarina of time and banjoo kazooie
I actually prefer the older games. At least those days they expected you to not be an illiterate imbecile.
@@eiszapfenderwutendenwinde3233 If it wasn’t for all the failed attempts with ugly looking games such as Doom 3 or early Tomb Raider. We would never have chad Doom Slayer or gorgeous Lara Croft and the worlds built around them.
BG was a great game, BG II for me is THE best RPG ever made until today (Planescape Torment is up there as well, but so special, that I think it should be in an own category for storytelling awesomeness).
Anybody who hasn't played it: I envy you, you still have an incredible experience to make. Play it, be it with the original version (+mods maybe) or the shown enhanced editions.
with you on all fronts, LimboJimbo. Planescape: Torment is AMAZING. It, Baldur's Gate sereies and Icewindale each stand on their own as amazing games. If you haven't already heard, the original creators of Torment are creating a spiritual sequal based on Tides of Numenera called Torment: Tides of Numenera. It looks rad!
do not worry Haas... I have the same addiction even after 20+ years. Now I am 38 and when I played BG first time, I almost failed my high school exams because of that. Now I have wife and kids and I am still playing this butt-kicking awesome game... Of course I am playing other games as well (Starcraft, Witcher, Mass Effect, Assassin Creed, Civilization, Gothic, Divinity Original Sin and many other great series), but Baldur's Gate is my heart game.
That is why I anxiously wait for pathfinder - which should be done in similar tradition and respect to old-school RPGs...
statistics and spells are poorly explained?? what are you talking about,?? those abilities ARE very well described
exactly lol. I'd say the problem is that it's so MUCH text so I got bored reading :D
Yes they are... not to mention it was all simply well known at the time to the target audience. It was literally the most recent D&D ruleset.
Encounter first dragon for very first time with my monk
Use quivering palm on dragon and he instantly dies.
Next few dragons it never ever worked again.
I loved this fucking game.
when i was 10, i started this game and completed it over 5 times, since I was hooked quite hard to Baldur's gate II: SoA and ToB after that.
Ooooooh that nostalgia!
Minsc and Boo are ready to go!
Best role playing game to date. 22th December 2019, goodbye.
Agree.. Just got me bg1 ee in Säle (al ready have 2)
The Baldur’s Gate series is honestly one of the best games I’ve ever played. The fact that we’re getting BG3 really excites me!
Somehow I missed these games when they first came out in my teenage years. I picked up both of the Enhanced Editions and played through them. It was an amazing gaming experience. After hundreds of hours through both games and their DLCs, I was blown away. Impressively, I did not experience any bugs in all that time. Beamdog did a great job on these editions. Siege at Dragonspear (essentially BG 1.5) is also an excellent addition to the Baldur's Gate story. Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition is well worth it too.
Glad to hear you're enjoying them, Baldur's Gate is absolutely lovely to have played.
I honestly don't find the games all to difficult. The diary helps a lot and it's important to pay attention to conversations in the game.
The hand drawn and rendered backgrounds along with the soundtrack more than make up for the graphics.. BG1 and 2 are masterpieces ... nuff said.
BTW: use all your quick slots bro... I really hope I'm not the only one who noticed that. I understand the pause system but dude...
For those interested, you can now play Pillars of eternity. It's basically a homage to these types of games. And a very very good one at that. I urge you all to give it a try.
In fact, I also reviewed that one! ruclips.net/video/lpmP2YedC54/видео.html And made a quick basics overview/guide: ruclips.net/video/VZEbrJlPcn0/видео.html - So yes, go get that!
***** Ah, did not know you did a review of it ;) It has sucked me in completely. That engine has never looked as good. Good feeling of atmosphere. Adult writing, thou the occasional breaking of the fourth wall. In fact, PoE has pushed me to install Fallout 2 again with the restoration project patch and unofficial patch. So glad that the genre has been brought back.
mesothorium Something tells me that everyone who was interested in this review to begin with has already played and Beat Pillars of Eternity and didn't have enough.
+mesothorium I actually hated Pillars of Eternity, BECAUSE I played it right after playing this one. Everything from the lore, the fighting/spell mechanics, companions, were two or more step backwards.
Acesahn
Oh yeah, do not get me wrong BG still holds the number 1 spot in my humble opinion. But I feel Pillars is a great step to awaken this genre ;) Is it perfect? Nope, but it does give a good vibe.
Love this game. Still remember trying to figure out how to kill Drizzt to steal his stuff and getting my ass handed to me countless times
Does he have good stuff
@@ishmelwalker one of his schimirtar is actually nice and the armor for early games
Screw handholding. Figuring shit out in these games is half of the magic.
Get yourself an AD&D 2nd Edition Player Handbook. Everything you need to know about this game is in that book. I still use mine from high school.
very nice review! i am going through some of your other videos and you definetily deserve more views!
*AIM FOR THE EYES BOO!*
dude wtf, its GO FOR THE EYES, not AIM
know your classics
:P
Good review. I´m definitely interested now, and will pick this up next time there´s a drought of game releases. Got way too much on my plate right now.
I remember back in middle school. Me and my best friend would build his monk class together. I've never owned the game myself. But I want to buy both on Steam for nostalgia's sake.
Excellent review. Thank you.
Good review! I never got to finish BG1 or ToTSC because my computer was so bad at the time and I want to relive BG2 as well. I hope they'll do an Icewind Dale enhanced too!
Too much crying. When I was a kid and played Baldur's Gate, I didn't even know english and I loved and finished it many times anyway. Most of today games are an insult to player's inteligence.
Pillars of Eternity and Tyranny (even better) are very good new games. It is great that at least Obsidian do these games. IWD is cool also, if you didn't play it before, get EE for sure today.
Adam Kubík Have you played Wasteland 2? I practicly worship that game! I have the complete Baldur's Gate collection but still have to play them. Played a good chunk of Planescape Torment though and absolutely love it!!
It is so weird to me when I hear people say they liked Tyranny better than Pillars. The combat is way worse.
yeah making half the classes useless sure makes newer games feel smarter...
Adam Kubík man Skyrim puzzles and dungeons suck ass makes me salty. I have been playing elder scrolls dagger fall and yeah it's buggy but got damn them dungeons feel like once you go in there is no coming out and none of the quest are permanent. If you start them you have to find them in a time frame or they are gone for good even the main quest. Dumbing down sucks ass, evil within 2 did it got rid of the whole match system and claustrophobic horror aspect then tekken did it by adding hyper armor and ultimates making mind games gone cause someone could just armor through your shit. Everything sucks now
Define old mechanics? that is why i love Baldur's gate because of the 2nd edition rule set and that you have to explore and find out almost everything for your self not like today's RPG games where you have arrows almost everywhere.
Old mechanics use dice rolls (1d8, 2d4, etc.). Sometimes you can one shot a hobgoblin with a shortbow, other times you'll spend 8 shots before you land a single hit.
+Harry Forman Yeah, I was guessing there was some luck/chance involved. Does it affect the game that much? And does it affect all types of attacks?
Dunkey's Long Lost Son Yes it affects the game profoundly and it affects all attacks and spells unless the spell description says otherwise. For example, there are a couple of spells that specifically say "will not miss" and have a "minimum damage roll" of like 4.
I'll tell you what happened on my last playthrough when I was stuck at one point during a hard boss engage. I set all my people to attack and all my melees missed their first hit, 2/3 of my mages rolled minimum damage. Of course my party wiped since it took forever for my melees to land a hit for some reason and 2 mobs bypassed my front line and destroyed my archer so I reloaded to a previous save. This time when I attacked my melees hit on the first attack with crits! One of my mages rolled the highest damage on the spell and my archer crit. The boss died within 3 seconds...
The dice roll mechanic plays a huge factor which begs the question "are you lucky?" That luck factor is also the reason why this mechanic is very outdated. Fun though.
Harry Forman
And can you save as you wish or can you only save at certain times? Because if you could just save as you like, couldn't you just cheese the bosses?
Dunkey's Long Lost Son Yes you can save anytime and try to cheese? It's easier said than done in this game. The only thing you can do is be prepared and even if you are you're still at the mercy of the dice rolls.
A friend gave me a copy of BG2:ED, I came here to get hyped and well, GOT HYPED! Great review Haas.
Great review. You summed it up into words that perfectly capture what these games are, and why you should get them.
Having said that, I own both of the original CD copies of BG1+TOTSC, and BG2+TOB.
I may be separated from the original physical copies for right now, but I heard of the immense improvements to the games through their Enhanced Editions.
I needed to pick these up. Currently I bought the first game BG1:EE and I don't doubt that it was great buy. Looking forward to the 2nd installment.
Thank you for this very informative review. I've played Neverwinter Nights and enjoyed it and the recently released Siege Of Dragonspear got me curious about Baldur's Gate. I'll definitely check these games out.
I completed the whole Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series many years ago. I just started playing Baldur's Gate 1 the original saga for a repeat. I have had the most success playing Fighter/Mage/Thief using a bow without ever dying. I always had one character run and have enemies give chase while the rest of the group drops arrows on them.
this was the only good review i found on these games thanks for making the vid
I beat BG1 when I was 10. This game isn't THAT complex, it's just not oversimplified like many games these days.
I have the BG1 both in my Mac and I-Phone! Having it on your mobile phone is already good enough!
Here after baldur's gate 3 e3 trailer?
I had the immense luck of have my first RPG experience with this game, leaving a very low tolerance to most mediocre works, so I don't know if that was a bliss or a curse, hehe.
Same here, all other rpg's pale in comparison. Fortunately the game is so immense I must have played it through over a dozen times and every time is new, every time there are new discoveries
Baldurs Gate 1-2's difficulty could be described as sadistic XD. Take that beholder at the end of your video, he has all those eye stocks that do magical spells without actually casting magic, that do fun stuff like completely erase magic buffs and debuffs, turn party members to stone which is worse then death, and of course death, just flat out killing someone. Towards the end, as if at a lack of ideas on how to stop you, they throw an army of Rassad Mages... magic proof magic users, a conundrum wrapped in frustration, wrapped in pain... and then accompany them with Adamantium Golems. Sadists! XD
baldurs gate is life
Just got to the final boss of Throne of Bhaal today. I have this review to thank for introducing me to my new favorite game series!
Try the final battle with a mod called "Ascention" for a real challenge and how the original writer wanted the battle to be.
excellent review!
Played these games as a kid and i got so hammered constantly, keen to give it a go again now.
I once created a custom party, all half-Orcs it was a blast. 3 of the members, were Berserkers with large shields, full plate armor, long swords. I called them “The Brick Wall” was so fun watching them block a doorway and just make hamburger. Behind them a cleric healed and 2 people shot arrows.
The way the game looks makes me want to go back to playing my original Baldur's Gate games just for nostalgia's sake.
The only side quest I hated was Jan Jensen returns home. No fighting at all, just walking back and fourth and he is a great Allie so I wanted to keep him. Besides that all quests in BG2 are pretty cool. As for the games themselves, confusion, panic, charm, domination, chaos and hold are really annoying. If your party all fail their saving throws, you’re dead.
In the first game dying is a real hassle. Some party members come with just a few points of HP, and Basilisks are sure to screw you over at least once. I did like needing to be careful, though.
Ugh, this could be a drinking game. Every time he says baldur's gate wrong, take a sip.
+John Benson I don't get where he is getting the short E sound. It's baldur as in "bald"+"ur"
he is saying bal + dur
I always pronounced it Ball-dur's Gate. He's saying it like Baeldur's lol
Bellend's Gate
will be the name of my bar/inn... if i would open one :D
was like 15 when bg1 was released in 1998
always loved the game and trust me the enhanced is a lot better , particularly when it comes to bug and how smooth the game run , very easy to alt tab to gameguide without any crash.
But imo I prefer the magic in 3rd edition(icewind dale) less restrictive than good old 2nd edition rules , when in other hand thaco and armor class rules are better in 2nd editions hahahah
This is one of my favorite games of all time, I played all of these games.
Uhhh... Around 4:00 you start talking about the lack of hand-holding... Geez, what exactly are you wanting from this game? The originals have an entire opening sequence that teaches you how to play the game, and I'm not sure exactly what you think was lacking from that. You don't need to look up manuals, you need to take some time and think. Every quest sets you up with enough to know a general idea of what you should be doing, and the game is open enough that you have more than enough ability to hit the open road and start exploring, looking for what you need. None of it was back-breakingly difficult, and considering the type of game, some thinking and self-discovery should have been a given. The game isn't handing you everything on a silver platter, and you shouldn't go into it expecting it to.
Scott N Take, for instance, the recently released Pillars of Eternity. It is miles, leagues ahead in terms of user friendliness and convenience. Logical, the game isn't over a decade old so that is to be expected. Baldur's Gate didn't age well when it comes to user convenience. From the outset, you can severely cripple yourself by taking class kits/attributes/races that don't fit together well. None of this is explained thoroughly and for a new player can very well lead to severe issues (Hell, I consider myself a very experienced cRPG / Baldur's Gate player and when I recently got back into BG2:EE I had to open a number of guides because I didn't want to screw up my human dual-class swashbuckler/mage). Spells, abilities, they look fancy but there is virtually no indication of what they do or what effects enemies have stacked on themselves. Again, someone with experience has a decent grasp here but for newcomers this is very inconvenient. In comparison, PoE (Still doesn't handle this perfectly) shows visuals in a much more clear way, has AoE indicators when you cast, has lists of buffs/debuffs that you can easily hover over, explains more properly how turns or durations work or how fast a spell is cast. It is not properly explained what most attributes do, at least not their subtle advantages and bonuses. Mechanics such as THAC0 and AC are far more obtuse than they needed to be (hence both being completely gone in newer D&D versions), especially when you start running into items that you can't equip because other magical items are blocking it. Quests, as amazing as they are in BG, don't share many of the now common, modern traits which make them relatively easy to follow and complete. For someone not used to these games, that can be a real hurdle. Hell, I've spent 120 hours on BG2:EE and I still have to look up stuff. I can go on for a while with examples such as these, but I don't think I need to. PoE made me want to replay BG2 again (which I actually currently am, for the like.. 5th time or some silly nature). BG/BG2 is fantastic. But, playing it now, after recently having completed a modern cRPG, I realize how much more contrived and poorly explained so many of these mechanics are. Again, they're old games so I accept that, but someone without knowing much about these games will find this very daunting to get into causing them to possibly miss out on one of the best RPGs of all time.
Scott N Yeah I Agree, I started Baldurs Gate, first time I ever played an isometric rpg and I didn't find it difficult though took two long to find dynaheir and minsc attacked me just before I found her.RIP Minsc and Boo PS, though I had an east time with it, I can see why some people can't.
***** You don't hear people listening to The Beatle's "Sgt Peppers..." record complain that it was only recorded on a 4 track recorder or critique it based on low fidelity. They appreciate because it was a seminole record recorded during an era when there was nothing else like it. Saying things like Thac0 or the UX for BG are obtuse is like saying listening to music on vinyl records is too labor intensive .
***** Sorry for such a late reply.
Pillars of Eternity was released in 2015.
Baldur's Gate 1 was originally released in 1998, with the sequel coming out I believe the following year. The enhanced editions came out in 2012, but that's just it though; they were enhanced. My understanding was that it was largely to improve a few things here and there, and add more to it, not to mention make the games tablet friendly. But they were still working with something created nearly 18 years ago. They didn't walk into it expecting to remake the entire game from the ground up, and the graphical presentation of the game pretty clearly shows that, because if they had wanted to just straight-up remake the game, they could have redone it with graphics similar to Pillars, or, I don't know, even some of the followup games that were clearly more advanced. They didn't do that, though; they didn't go into this trying to perfect the wheel, they simply took an already pretty fun and yes, deeply flawed, system, work out any remaining bugs, tweak it to a new setting (tablet), and add some new content. People have been playing this game for an incredibly long time, even before the enhanced editions came out. They are cornerstone games to the cRPG genre.
My big issue with your statement is that it just makes me think of the enormous amount of hand-holding that you get in a lot of more recent games. Sometimes that is a good thing, but other times I think it is out of place. Baldur's Gate wasn't designed to be easy; neither was Pillars of Eternity for that matter. It was supposed to be tough, it was supposed to at times be frustrating, and it was supposed to make you think. I still stand by it giving you more than enough information to make informed decisions, and I never ran into a situation where I couldn't continue the game based on my own characters stats and the decisions I made as to where to take them. I may have to replay the game and see if I can somehow make it unbeatable in that way, but I honestly can't recall a time when that happened.
Scott N I agree... all the info is there, the spells tells you with detail what they do! Of course you have to READ and figure when is better to use them.
The only problem with the ee is the massive bug list. The ones that mess up your stats are the worst. Luck and Otiluke globe spells come to mind.
The main reason it's so difficult, is due to it using Advanced D&D 2nd Edition rules (anyone else my age or so remember when before 3E, the game had a standard and advanced version?). 2E, and moreso Advanced 2E were extremely brutal in some mechanics. Such as poison instant-killing on a failed saving roll, or doing enough damage on success to instant kill most low-level characters.
I STRONGLY suggest anyone getting this bundle or the Planescape/Icewind one to study up on AD&D 2E before playing.
Also the fact that you're instantly dead on zero hit points.....no unconsciousness, just......dead. That's really harsh compared to most RPGs nowadays.
@@MR67UToob Much agreed on that one. 3E and beyond (including Pathfinder) just seriously made it a lot easier and more enjoyable for both the Dungeon Master and players.
3:09 - Holy fucking crap! I didnt know that is possible! :O
man I personally find the infinity engine games gorgeous. And not in the way I would admire 2d pixel art. Genuinely Gorgeous. The complexity and detail of the level design and artwork is some of the best in any video game. I just finished playing through PS:T again and while it has been a while since I played the original Baldurs Gate but I don't remember the pre rendered environments being dramatically different in BG1.
on the topic of your complaint about user friendliness, This game was made using the ruleset from AD&D 2nd edition, and good lord that game had more rules than any other iteration, not to mention some of the most unforgiving roll requirements in the early game. the spell slot issue was rebalanced in D&D 3rd edition with the inclusion of cantrip spells being nigh infinite use. also most spells in AD&D 2nd required materials which not only limited the usage of spells if you didnt have them, but also if you didn't rest often your magic user PCs would die off rather quickly.
for instance on the roll requirements, a group would never build their characters at the table before a game, they would reroll a character until they got preferable stats and then record those rolls to allow for a semi balanced character which could survive longer than a week in game.
3:30 " Baldur's Gate is not remotely user friendly"
Game comes with Tutorial mission, thick manual and cloth map (For those that remember what I'm talking about...)
I disagree with the comment that it is not user friendly. It is pretty straight forward.
+Presha82 I agree, when I got this game many years ago on release I just read through the manual which I enjoyed doing and then it was simple to get into.. gotta be some special kind of idiotic spastic to not know how to read a journal... annoys me when people complain when a game is challenging or you need to think or the game doesn't play for you.. Modern gamers seem to be pretty moronic and have come to expect games to play themselves or just have a massive arrow saying "GO THIS WAY"
Daaaaaaamn now I have to play them... AGAIN!
I've played 1st, 2nd and 4th editions. Bar none 2nd was my favorite, and knowing the BG series is one of the beloved RPGs of all time. I can't recommend this enough.
One thing I didn't hear mentioned in this review is whether or not you can connect with your friends in the same party. This would be a major plus. Regarding combat, I liked it being turn-based. You get the chance to experience the full detail of the battle. In a lot of games these days fighting is so quick it is a struggle to fully appreciate what's going on. I suppose I'm saying I much prefer strategy. One thing I learned when playing BG is that if I'm playing a party on my own then don't make it too large as it became a bit much. Also, even though I love the game I must admit I got a bit tired of doing the same thing. The game is very linear. Connecting with friends online and playing it that way really would add that much needed third dimension. Can't wait for BG 3!
You mean Pillars of Eternity :) ?
Cant wait for that either.
You can play with your friends in multiplayer.
@@superbaka1On Xbox?
As an old BG player from the very start, im looking to dust off this newer Enhanced versions.
Great review btw.
Wish i could import my Characters though. Much blood sweat and tears went into them.
Best part of BG1&2 in my opinion is the open ended nature of the d&d system. In any modern rpg, when you create a character you can count on being relatively balanced no batter what class you pick. in BG you can go the entire game being weak or if you know the system in and out, you can solo the content (no party) in op build cross class powerhouse demolishing content like a demigod. Knowing that you spend more time and In my opinion have more fun tweaking and tunning your character which can take hours. (at least that is what i enjoy about it the most)
+Red Harp first thing I noticed in BG was the amount of sub classes and stuff. I played pillars first and then picked up BGEE today, was amazed at the choice. Can only hope PoE picks up the pace in the next game. Cane really see the similarities between the two games to point where I can see that pillars is actually meant to be BG3.
+Black Iron G Pillars have less classes to pick that is true but almost every class have unique resource to cast abilities from or a pet to make them feel different during play.
Thats terrible tho. Why should I be offered dozens of classes just for over half of them being awful? It kills the joy that I cant play as Shaman or druids since its pretty clear that these classes are pretty weak especially later on.
By the same logic you could have a party full of mages by BG2's late game and just blow everything to oblivion with a single AoE.
It's a single player game man, balance isn't necessary (since there's no competition), just try what you like most.
I recently started playing Baldurs gate 1&2 on ps4 and my God how have I never heard of this series before I love it it's so much fun
how did you nfind it on PS4? i played this as a kid on pc and i wanna get it on PC or PS4! i dunno tho how can it be played with a game pad?
@@ballourd456 I got it at walmart I think it's on psn also it cost I think 29.99
@@kevinmoore3258 thank you but what i mrant with my question is how did you find the gameplay with a gamepad! I remember the game have a lot of menues and clicks and hover system with mouse. How did u find it gameplay wise
@@ballourd456 Honestly it's a little frustrating at first, the right directional swaps between using the cursor and analog stick. Also the game pausing everytime combat starts is annoying too, never played the original so idk if it's meant to be that way but over all I love it. Currently trying to play a thief solo on normal.
@@ballourd456 also correction its 49.99 just so you know
well nice find because I was thinking of buying it to get a similar experience to dragon age/divinity and I'm seriously considering it now
Not being user friendly is what makes this game fun it's hard and when you learn something and figure out a new way to act or use ... the feeling of accomplishment is ecstatic
I don't feel like you stressed the multiplayer aspect enough. There are so few games out there that my wife and I can play co-op together, and the Baldurs Gate games are perfect!
Best RPG ever imo. Very in depth and thoroughly enjoyable again and again. Wish they would make more!
They did, sorta. While bioware hasn't made a Baldurs gate/infinity engine style game again Obsidian did with Pillars of eternity 1&2 and Torment Tides of Numera which were done in the style of Baldurs gate and and Planescape Torment.
Now now Boo is not just a space hamster...
He's a miniature giant space hamster!
Review doesn't emphasize enough how fun the combat is. Every fight is different and requires you to plan different strategies, making it extremely gratifying when you win. A feeling that today hand holding games with their infinite achievements simply can't give you.
Sunsun* Dark Souls, my friend... Dark Souls... you get more gratification out of beating something like the Capra Demon than you ever can outta Baldur's Gate combat...
...but then they are not hand holding games, so maybe my point is moot.
Hot Dogs dark souls is more like a skill based games similar to monster hunter.
When to dodge, when to hit, when to block, chaining and timing the attacks, reading enemy movement patterns... its fun but it can get repeatitive at times, specially if youre grinding
BG is more tactical since it is squad based (though it can be played using solo characters) and offers a lot of ways on how to deal a single engagement.
EG: you can butcher your enemies into chunks using brute force melee, quitely assassinate them using backstabs, overwhelm them with summons and crowd control magic, have them fight each other using charms and enchantments, turn them into statues, mindless idiots or squirrels or lock them up for eternity with BFR magic.
gelyn miranda I know, I play both games a lot. I was simply pointing out that there are games today which have a high level of challenge, don't hold your hand, and have very satisfying combat. I did not mean to imply they were of the same genre, more they offer the same satisfaction.
Also, I have never grinded in either DS1 or 2. You really don't need to. But perhaps that's because I've played them so often, and was lucky the first time. Who knows.
Hot Dogs well im the type of gamer who wants to develop my character early and achieve the playing style that i want my character to have as soon as possible. (for example i want to develop and sword and shield asuna-type fencer or a dual wielding Kirito-type swordsman with good pair of swords)
So i usually grind until i get a good weapon and/or develop enough skills that they play consistently throughout the game
not all gamers play "RPG" games the same way
gelyn miranda Ah yeah, I hear that.I personally prefer to set goals, and am uncaring how long they take. If I know I want t use the Blacksmith's Great Hammer, I will make sure I have the stats for it when I can get it through natural play, and if I get it before I have the stats, I'll let it sit in my inventory until I have those stats. But everyone is different - that's what makes games so good; they can tailor to everyones' wants.
This game is quite complex with the party mechanics it seems really cool and you wouldn’t really see this amount of effort put into npcs in a modern RPG unless it’s made by obsidian. Like if you have a party made up of good alignments and evil alignments, there’s in fighting which is great.
can i upgrede the original baldurs's gate 1 and 2 to enhaced edition? or i need to buy they again? thanks!
I was totally on the fence... glad to experience this game.
Baldurs gate was the first computer game I ever played so picking up these two was pretty easy while my friends struggle to play
No hand holding is never a bad thing (not nostalgia because I’m only 16 and haven’t played Balders 1 or 2 gate before).
If you want to experience BG 1 and 2 and Planescape torment fully, you have to read. A lot. Most of the game happens through narration and dialogue, though exploring is definitely there. There is a massive amount of lore in in-game books, not for quests, but just for reading.
Just for example how much of text were talking about, the words/lines amount in script. Average movie script being 10 000 words:
Baldur's Gate 1: 434 000 words / 23 000 lines
Baldur's Gate 2: 1 060 000 words / 57 000 lines
Planescape Torment: 950 000 words / 75 000 lines
Whole Harry Potter book series (7 books) is about one million words.
which is superior: the enhanced editions or the old versions modded for resolution and cut content?
the same could be asked of planescape: torment.
Let me know when you review dragonspear expansion for 1 the enhancements for bg1 make it worth the 20 bucks
Man, I have tried to play BGEE three times and I always felt like it was way too outdated for me, but after watching your video I kinda want to give it another shot...specially since eeeeverybody seems to agree that the second one is the best crpg ever
important question. im playing original BG 2 right now, and patched it to avoid some usual (in)famous bugs: can i keep the current game save if I update to the enhanced somehow?
blob1024 i dont think so, if you want to play them you will have restart a new game from scratch. after pondering a lot i decided to let the BG:EE 1 and 2 go without playing them because i already have BG1 (playing on TUTU) and BG2 heavily modded as they are and full of improvements, regardless of not having dorn, hexxat, neera, baeloth rasaad and.. the bear, i don't think there's much of a reason to switch to the EE version, although now the modding community is focusing on making their mods EE compatible.
Haas is right in some points, speacially on the original BG1, the game has not aged well, and its full of bugs, thats why people play on TUTU or EasyTUTU so they can have the perks of BG2. But if you're going to compare a heavily modded and improved BG installation stands up quite nicely against a vanilla BG:EE
so the call is yours.
Icewind Dale: EE though is strongly recommended!
The only thing that i would like to check it out is the Black Pits!
Waiting for BG3 tomorrow. I missed these 2 back in 98 . I thought I played them but that was the Diablo series.
Lol no handholding, yep, this came from my generation, back before there was a warning label on EVERYTHING and signs and how to's telling you how to get through every little step in life so there is no challenge. Its not that bad. The more complicated and difficult something is, the bigger the payoff when you figure it out and succeed.
So I can adjust the camera so the characters are larger than a grain of sand?
Im a 2002 kid. Never heard of baldur's gate before the reveal of the third. Now im respecting the series like a god and am super hyped. I missed out on SO MUCH
The game is still fantastic. Still play it. With all of scs, ascension, tweaks for extra fun. Still the best rpg bg2.
Never got to play theses back in the day, even though it was part of my generation of gaming, i have in recent years done the Neverwinter series so i have since bought theses two Enhanced editions to play at some point. Having to keep pausing seems off putting, one if the main reasons i haven't stated them yet is finding time to commit and learn a new game... the older i get the harder it is to get my head around theses things.. I'm hoping to have a proper go at theses very soon.
I loved Kotor, Mass Effect, Dragon age but I'm much more used to Old School RTS games like C&C, Red Alert, Dune, StarCraft, Warcraft but never played RPGs back then. How will I enjoy Baldur's gate if I loved games like Kotor, Wastelands 2 and Witcher II?
I haven't played wasteland two, but the other two I very much enjoyed, and I love the Baldur's Gate series. One thing to know about them is that the first has more exploration and freedom to a certain degree, while the second has more developed characters and story.
I have these on Steam and GOG... when I saw the PS4 version (as well as Planescape Torment) I bought them IMMEDIATELY!! LOL Will probably get the digital versions as well one day, just so I don't have to use a disc! Best computer RPG's ever made. Bar none. Dragon Age comes close, Skyrim is miles down the road.
The only gripe I have is the same one that's been there since the beginning. City traversal can be a pain in the ass. Everything else is solid.
magic is so flawed
2021 and playing on my phone it so awesome
Get them, because the character interactions are great.
If I buy a digital copy will I get the manual with it
dorn and hexxat got a lot of hate but i think they're fun. dorn rounds out an evil party really well, and i like that it takes minsc all of 5 minutes traveling together to make an attempt on his life
Will they be doing a Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance & BGDA2 be enhanced?
As an old time fan of the original, I have been trying out the new ee version this Christmas season. Graphics & expanded class options for #1 are good, but the 3 new npcs are meh. One playthrough with no mods complete, but having issues getting any mod to function for number 2. Odd. Anyone have mod issues?
It was brutal by today's standards, but I wouldn't say it mind breaking difficult. spent 6 years on these two games, even with a ps2 and xbox.
I should really try this 'Belders Gate'.
We need a great, KICKASS Dungeons & Dragons for the PS4 & soon released PS5.. Champions of Norath, Dark Realms, man those were great way bak when,.. it would be nice to play a new version of those..
THIS
just finished KOTOR. I'm already planning on buying this because I feel that if i liked DA series and ME i should try and play these classic games as well.
Just be prepared. BG games are old school rpgs and far harder than any of the later Bioware games. Spacebar pause is your friend.
Loved this review, Your voice is very clear and soothing to listen to. You got a sub and a thumbs up I just would like to see more classic games that you recommend. Just a personal request.
great games. bioware claimed dragon age would be the next gen version of BG but fell short if you ask me. i think an mmorpg based on the world of the sword coast and BG would be awsome because the story and places and characters are already there. just need to execute it correctly. is BG3 ever gonna happen?
Pillars of Eternity had a Kickster in 2012 and earned 4 million dollars when the goal was only 1.1 million. They received far more than expected and even surpassed the levels they set. When the money level was high enough, they would add more to the game such as more sidequests and being fully voice acted. The game comes out around April 2014 and the Beta is released for backers. It was designed to reflect the old Baldur Gate games and the play style is very similar. I highly recommend checking it out. There is also the Baldur's Gate 3 that Beamdog just announced is making. It is set between BG 1 and 2 in terms of story line and may have something to do with the Bhaal spawn in some way. I think the project name is Project Y. Beamdog has done and continue to remake the classics as Enhanced editions with new quests, better graphics, and new party members that blend in with the game world. They may make a great BG3. Meanwhile, look into Pillars of Eternity, it looks lovely; You are guaranteed to love it.
michael lolo cool, i will indeed check it out.
For me Dragon Age: *Origins* is on par with BG series (hides in a bush).
The problem with Dragon Age series is that many key writers left Bioware after DA:O and this had a dire effect on the series' quality ...as DA2 was meh.
DA3 had some improvements but also several drawbacks.
And lastly, DA4 probably won't even be released considering that Bioware is on the verge of shutdown by EA.