[Pirengle]

The main thing I don't like about the BG series is the obvious character-building time. There's a stretch in BG1's chapter 3 and in BG2's chapter 2, 3, and/or 6 where the game pretty much says "hey stupid! Time to earn experience and gold so you can proceed!" In my opinion, IWD and IWD2 don't have this downtime--death is always two steps away from a bad decision and experience and cash are always hard-won.

That being said, nothing can compare to the sheer awe I felt when emerging from Chateau Irenicus. A new world to explore, eye candy to goggle over at the Adventure Mart, and only a few wrong turns in a city nearly twice the size of Baldur's Gate. Reminds me of my first PnP D&D game where the half-dead party straggled into a Beregost-sized town, the first civilization they'd seen since leaving the game starting point, and so filled with joy that they started hugging random townsfolk.