Perfectly stated, Merulus.
*BG SERIES SPOILER ALERT*
That's why I've never finished Throne of Bhaal.
I played through Baldur's Gate (wound up having to cheat and summon Drizzt to defeat those two nasty skeletal warriors in the Thieves' maze though), Tales of the Sword Coast, and Shadows of Amn (several nasty battles in that one nearly drove me to insanity).
Don't get me wrong; I absolutely love the Baldur's Gate games, from the stories to the music to the range of interesting NPC's. For what the games set out to do, they do it well and I enjoy them (and the Icewind Dale and associated ilk, as well).
However, when the combat grows to high levels, I spend more time fighting the Infinity Engine than the enemies! There's so much going on at different initiatives that it's near impossible to pause and issue orders when necessary! In Throne of Bhaal, I made it to that monastery town in the desert after defeating Yaga-Shura and finally just quit from frustration. I'm sure I'll go back someday, but geez...
Again, I love the Infinity Engine games and what they accomplished for the genre commercially, but I still yearn for the games like Wizardry 8 which use modern technology but still keep some of the best elements of the older games (like highly tactical turn-based party combat). I'm having a blast getting my ass handed to me in this game.
However, much like Merulus, I love the real-time single character games too (Ah, good old Daggerfall...). I'm practically drooling in anticipation of Morrowind, even though my GeForce 2 MX probably won't handle it as well as the screenshots look, because I'm eager to experience the immersion, action, and intricate single-character development that the game promises.
Ah, anyway... I think I'm growing too long-winded here.
Probably time for me to stop. Point is, much like the others have expressed here, I really hope that more RPGs that take a turn-based party-oriented tactical approach wait in my gaming future. In the meantime, I'm going to wring every ounce of enjoyment out of this game that I can.
Ah, back to getting slaughtered in the Trynton region (I never said I was very far into the game!).
Farscry (long-time reader, newbie writer)