I am finishing Baldur's Gate 2 + expantion, and I saw a sort of trailer of Icewind dale... and it seems identical to Baldur's!!!! so I'd like to try it... any comments please???

IWD is far simpler than BG2, in almost every way. No kits, fewer spells/monsters/items, a uni-directional plotline (as opposed to the multitude of things you can do in almost whatever order you want in BG2, not excepting events that move you from one chapter to the next); IWD is a much shorter game. BG2 is far more difficult in terms of the level of magic-using enemies and psychic attacks. In other ways however, IWD is more challenging; for example, you have to choose every member of your party, rather than acquiring them as you move through the plot as in BG2. This is a profound difference. Gold is a little harder to come by in IWD. And both IWD and especially its expansion are more difficult in their beginnings than BG2 (you start as level 1 characters rather than level 7 or so). All in all, you will breeze through IWD so you should put it on hard setting, perhaps, but either way it is a unique adventure and you will really enjoy it!

Cheers,

perlninja

i didnt think it was that hard to find gold although i think most of ur good weapons are ones that u have found, not bought. Although i suppose its the same in bg2 although id say to a lesser degree.

There are some good items to buy in Kuldahar but they are expensive.

Most enemies in they early and mid game tend attack in melee rather than using complex things like magic so if you're used to use alot of spellcasters then you might have some difficulties in the beginning. Especially since you start at level 1. A level one mage gets to choose two spells to put in his spellbook at character creation but can only memorize one. Not exactly a powerhouse.

As for the rest of the game, it has some really good music in some parts and has more "atmosphere" than BG2. Personally I have always thought it looked more beatiful than BG2 but that's my opinion. BG2 is still better.

I like IWD because it is more of a great story than an rpg. It has many twists, and the landscapes look much better. I would say the overall plot (although small) was better constructed. I had to keep loking back to my journal in Bg2 but in this it is like a story, it sticks in your head

IWD was the FIRST FR game I have ever played, it took me awhile to figure it out, but after I did I had a good time with it. Definatley worth the 20$ i spent [img]smile.gif[/img]

Note: the only reason it took me awhile to figure it out was; had to figure out rules (also had ALOT of help from this forum!), strategies, etc. I'm not telling you that it's incredibly difficult, you shouldn't have trouble at all with it after BG2 [img]smile.gif[/img]

I think u guys are givin IWD quite a negative image when it really is a decent game!Its totally worth the money and although its not as long as bg the game is (just about) as good as bg. Thats just my opinion though.

I'm not giving it a bad image at all. I failed to mention that I loved the almost constant battles, it was a great challenge and forced you to use tactics instead of run up, wave a sword and just go through a corridor killing one by one if you know what i mean.

I really didn't enjoy playing Icewind Dale very much at all, and had to force myself to stick with it - my motivation really flagged many times throughout.

To begin with, I don't like the fact that you create your own party; it's so tempting to give your party members all the best stats, but once you do, you feel like you've cheated, and if you give them realistic scores, you think 'god, if only I'd put another point in constitution.' I much prefer it when this is out of your control, such as in the Baldur's Gate series.

As far as quests go, it's very obvious, even right from the start, that you have very little choice in what you do. It's very much a case of 'one quest after the other' - and these quests are usually very basic, ie. 'retrieve the artifact' or 'kill the evil monster terrorizing our village,' so you don't really get a sense of achievement after completing an errand.

Also, there are just too many monsters in this game. Often you're just flooded by them - ten, twenty red circles surrounding your party all the time. You feel overwhelmed, and because there are few very good rewards and little gold to be had, there doesn't seem to be any point in dealing with them. I found myself avoiding monsters rather than fighting them, something I wouldn't do in the Baldur's Gate series.

Icewind Dale does have some good points to it though; the scenery is beautiful, really atmospheric, you feel very much sucked into the game. There's also nice music, it adds to the cosy setting of it all. This wasn't enough to make up for the bad points of this game though.

I'd say all in all, it isn't a bad game as such, it's just a bit of a let down after BG II - I think if you'd have played Icewind Dale first, then moved on to the Baldur's Gate series, you would've seen a natural progression in general kickassosity [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 07-05-2003, 10:41 AM: Message edited by: Arledrian ]

Couldn`t tell it better. You nailed this one without even trying.