Well, I feel a little out of place in the forum since the only game here listed that I have is Morrowind. So I;m thinking of buying either Baldur's Gate or BGII. Is either one really better? I don't know much about the stories (Not much translates to none) but I hear realy good things. Is the BG series like Elder Scrolls in the way that the seperate games don't have a connected story? Or should I buy BG1 so I can understand BG2 later? I can assume that BG2 is larger and/or has better graphics, and I know it's a large open-ended game, but which is the better buy?

I'd suggest you get both and play BG1 with tutu..

But that's just me, BG2 is better grafics, though you miss out a lot of gameplay by jumping into BG2 off the bat..

Don't read the walkthroughs the first time you play, they will totaly spoil your game if you do.

If I absolutely *had* to buy one of the games, I'd get BG1 and Tales of the Sword Coast expansion.

That way, if you decide that you do like the game you can at least carry on your adventures once you've saved up enough for BG2.

You should be able to get both for at most $60 Canadian, including expansions. You don't need BG2 to play it (I certainly managed), it's just a few of the dialouge options you have seem sorta odd to the new player. (Like you meet somebody, that you yourself obviously don't know, but one of the options is "Hey, didn't I kill you back at blahblahblha?" and you're like whaaaa? ;) )

While Baldur's Gate 1 has (in my eyes) a steeper lurning curve than Baldur's Gate 2, I sincerely advise you to buy the former before attempting to try the latter. Not only will this work out better storywise, you'll also be playing with the knowledge that you have a follow-up available, which is - debatably - better (if possible!) than Baldur's Gate 1. You'll never know until you try though.

IMHO, Baldur’s Gate II is (IMHO) better then Baldur’s Game I (I’ve played both, but I have only BG1 at the moment), as BG2 has (IMHO) a longer and more interesting storyline and some VERY interesting interactions between NPCs and between the main character and NPCs (BG1 has more recruitable NPCs, though).

However, just like many others before me, I’d advice you to start playing with BG1; if you start playing BG2, you will miss much of a storyline, and if you move to BG1 later, some important events will be spoiled for you by BG2. Moreover, when you finish with BG1 you can go ahead and import your BG1 character into BG2, as it is meant to be.

Start with BG1, then, when you despire the engine, get BG2.

So the story is continued form the first to the next? That's plenty of reason to get BG1 first then. Although I'm still not entirely sure if I'm gonna buy either one of 'em. Oh, and will it cause a problem later if I buy this game used? Cause I know some games (like AvP 2) you can't play online if it's used because someone else already registered that game. Anything like that in BG or BG2?

I bought BG 1 about a month and a half ago and about halfway through knew I would have to get BG 2 (and will soon get ToB). I bought the games on e-bay and have had no problems (one I downloaded the patch that is). [img]smile.gif[/img] The games are HIGHLY addictive IMO...at least until you finish it the first time....I haven't tried going through BG 1 again yet.

Well, it's not like you have to have played BGI to play BGII and understand it. Sure, you meet many of the characters from BGI, and have interactions that BGI would (maybe) help you understand, but for the completely new player BGII is still excellent. I myself have never played BGI, and I understand the game completely.

BG2 is much better IMO, the fights are funner (prettier too!), the characters more interesting and this board is WAAAAAAY better then the BG1 board J/K.

i prefer BG 1 because of the way you progress up in levels from a 6 hp person to a fighting machine. i reckon fighting sarvock at the end is better than irenicus, it seems more ?linked? I reckon its better in BG 1 with talking because you can be ruder to people, like if somebody is pissing you off, you can abuse them more. i didnt romance anything in my party in BG 2 because i didnt find and chars i liked. i may try again with a female pc. i also liked the bounty hunters in BG 1. another + for BG 1 is that you dont have that many magical wepons and you need to ration them out to chars, but in BG 2 they are common as rocks. the engine is probs better for BG 2 however. yet again another thing for BG 1 is the landscape is far better, how there is more places to go, how you need to walk thru areas to get places ie you need to walk through 2(?) places to get from beregost to nashkel and can go 2 or so places either side, with plces that differnt enimes frequent. i may sound a bit repititive but i like how in BG 1 you cant goto the main city and trade places untill late in the game, and gives you something to look forward to. so to wrap it up, BG 1 all the way. - i think thats the longest bit of writing i have ever done!

Advice on the Baldur's Gate-series from my side: always, always install the patch and the Baldurdash fixpack (I don't know if BG1 has one, though). It saves from a lot of irritating little pbugs, it tweaks the game to make it run more smoothly, and no harm is done by downloading it anyhow. First thing: download the patch, then play the game!

[ 02-10-2005, 04:18 AM: Message edited by: Link ]

I prefer BG2 because of higher resolution support, and thus I cannot enjoy playing BG1 at the low-resolution any more. The only way I would play BG1 again is with BG Tutu 3rd party mod installed.

You *can* start with just BG2 and enjoy it without BG1. I would either do that, or start with BG1+Tutu.

BG1 has the charm of starting as a 1st level character, cherishing every piece of loot that you find, building your skills, and finding your way (quite literally) through the "wilderness" to find out what is going on.

The graphics are less exquisite (but still awesome for their day, remember the game is quite a few years old) and the game play is a little more cumbersome. Also, clearing some of the wilderness maps can get tedious. But I always seem to go back to BG1 after playing BG2 for a while, either to start a new character to "play all the way through" or just to get back to the wilderness and squash some mutated gibberlings.

BG2 is by far more extensive in terms of joinable NPCs, dialog between party members and other NPCs, romances, side quests, etc. The graphics are more impressive, and the game play is improved. What do you expect? The developers started with an awesome game in BG1 and made it even better!

However, as mentioned above, there are almost too many magical weapons and other items available that it cheapens what used to be a prized +2 war hammer or wand of fireballs. Character building is still fun (especially as dual-class or multiclass characters begin to attain higher levels) but there's so much temptation for cheesy powergaming. The side quests become distracting and almost as tedious as clearing the wilderness boards in BG2 as you wander across Amn trying to finish up all the loose ends.

My advice after this very long-winded post: Get BG1. You'll love it. Then take your character into BG2. You'll be stunned and you'll love it even more. Then take your character into TOB. You'll become enraptured with your new godlike power. And finally, bloated with as many high level abilities you can attain and as many +5 weapons of mass destruction as you can cram into your bag of holding, you will return to BG1 to start the whole cycle over again.

BG1 first then BG2 - will be a lovely time in your life.