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Mahlennacht · 03-13-2003, 03:26 AM

well said WSBoaBoa - you will hear numerous complaints about bugs and quirks in BG2 (and there are quirks), but even then these are very minor problems considering the great things about the game. I've played this game all the way thru 6 times during the last 2 years and I'm still finding new things I've never seen before... the music is so good I've extracted some of it and play it in the background while I do something else.

One of my favorite things about BG2 that you hadn't yet mentioned was how damn FUNNY the writing is... there are moments here that are among the funniest things I've seen in any form of entertainment.

I HOPE that game developers finally realize that driving toward a "realistic experience" simply won't guarantee the game will be good. Memorable moments are one of the hallmarks of a classic game - Half-Life had tons of them, for instance, and so does BG2. Entertainment, gameplay, and interface are also more important than spiffy graphics, which is why I bailed on Morrowind, and also sadly NWN, though the Aurora engine is beautiful and interfaces fairly well.

Unfortunately I don't see any future CRPG that will ever match BG2. There is too much focus on graphics, "realism" and "total open-endedness" and less focus on FUN. In fact for me the only way forward from BG2 would seem to be PnP AD&D, which I have never tried, but I may want to now, seeing that there seems to be no future for CRPGs now that everyone is afraid of NOT pushing graphics - they're compromising gameplay for new engine development.

03-13-2003, 03:26 AM	#6
Mahlennacht Drow Warrior Join Date: September 10, 2001 Location: CA, USA Age: 62 Posts: 298	well said WSBoaBoa - you will hear numerous complaints about bugs and quirks in BG2 (and there are quirks), but even then these are very minor problems considering the great things about the game. I've played this game all the way thru 6 times during the last 2 years and I'm still finding new things I've never seen before... the music is so good I've extracted some of it and play it in the background while I do something else. One of my favorite things about BG2 that you hadn't yet mentioned was how damn FUNNY the writing is... there are moments here that are among the funniest things I've seen in any form of entertainment. I HOPE that game developers finally realize that driving toward a "realistic experience" simply won't guarantee the game will be good. Memorable moments are one of the hallmarks of a classic game - Half-Life had tons of them, for instance, and so does BG2. Entertainment, gameplay, and interface are also more important than spiffy graphics, which is why I bailed on Morrowind, and also sadly NWN, though the Aurora engine is beautiful and interfaces fairly well. Unfortunately I don't see any future CRPG that will ever match BG2. There is too much focus on graphics, "realism" and "total open-endedness" and less focus on FUN. In fact for me the only way forward from BG2 would seem to be PnP AD&D, which I have never tried, but I may want to now, seeing that there seems to be no future for CRPGs now that everyone is afraid of NOT pushing graphics - they're compromising gameplay for new engine development.