Planetscape Torment and Icewind Dale

[ralph]

What do you think of these 2 games compared to BG2?

I've played Planetscape Torment for a while...

it's EXTREMELY linear... however it's got some AMAZING storyline.

[fable]

Linear? P:T isn't that linear until you reach a certain point in the game. For about the first two-thirds, it's very non-linear, and you can go anywhere you want, provided you can survive. Great game, too. A shame it didn't do well for Interplay.

IWD leaves me a bit cold. It's simply a dungeon crawl, albeit a very sophisticated and attractive one. I prefer all the imagination of P:T and BG2.

[Mourn Yauntyyr]

Gotta agree with Fable. PT has at least as many options as BG 2, if not more. Icewind Dale is the linear one. Go here, kill this. Next go here, kill that. Phhhht. I got bored and quit.

[Erydian]

I'm going to have to agree here, I didn't consider Planescape linear at all. I especially liked the attention to alignment that seems to be lacking in every other game that Bioware/Black Isle/Interplay has released so far. I guess I just liked the idea that I didn't have to hack and slash my way through the entire game if I chose to do otherwise - (though granted, some combat is inevitable and required [img]smile.gif[/img] ). In my humble opinion, Torment offered far more options than BG2, and not only were those options present - they were perfectly viable ones too. Outsmarting your enemies rather than beating them into a bloody pulp was worth the same amount of experience (if not more), and the game wasn't geared toward good alignments like BG2 tends to be (the "good" choices in BG2 are generally the best paths, item and exp-wise).

I finished Icewind Dale, but it took me a very looong time. [img]smile.gif[/img] It wasn't all bad, but I certainly would never replay it.

[Hayashi]

quote:

---

Originally posted by fable:
IWD leaves me a bit cold. It's simply a dungeon crawl, albeit a very sophisticated and attractive one. I prefer all the imagination of P:T and BG2.

---

Having completed BG2 (SoA + ToB) and IWD (IWD + HoW + ToLM) and dabbling a bit in PS:T, I agree with Fable completely.

[StarVid]

minor spoilers in the end of this post.

I've played IWD, and I liked it. Granted it was just a dungeon crawl, but it was nice to pass the time while I waited for BG2. I haven't picked up P:T, though, for one big reason. From what I hear, P:T is supposed to be even more "plot" than BG2. Frankly, I didn't like the storyline to BG2 all that much, and I didn't like how they went about the plot. Being the son of a god was way over the top for me. Granted, being the main character, you have to be special in a way, but I don't know if this son of the god of murder was the best way to write an adventure. And most importantly, I can't get past chapter 2 of BG2. I'm a bit of a completionist, not just for plot, but I want to get all the good treasure too. And Chapter 2 is so full of all these side quests with lots of cool stuff. The problem is that they're totally unrelated to the plot and the character's goal (getting Imoen back). Using the rationale that you have to raise money to pay off Gaylen Bayle to get info on Imoen is rather lame. Granted, you need to pick up allies and beef them up with some experience and gear, but Chapter 2 was a boring way to go about it.

Overall, I think that IWD is better than the BG series. Not because it has a better plot (IWD barely has a plot), but because it lived up to my expectations. It was a dungeon crawl. I knew that when I bought it. I had expected BG2 to be more interesting than it was. Then again, maybe it is, if I just had the patience to get past chapter 2, without getting bored of being outside the plot and putting the game aside for IWD or the Fallout series (now the Fallout series was written well)

On a side note, the farthest I got was that quest from the leader of the shadow thieves where I have to protect something or another at the docks from vampires. I don't know what's after that, but I bet I have to do a few quests for him before I have a shot at getting a lead on Imoen, which means more non-plot related side quests...too many distractions for me...

[Mourn Yauntyyr]

This is mainly a response to Starvid:

I agree BG2 as far as plot development goes isn't nearly as good as BG1. I thought the whole theme of "he who battles with monsters must beware that he does not become one" was great in BG1, but it seems to be nonexistant in BG2. Oh well, its still fun.

Planescape:Torment's plot and the associated themes that it deals with are, IMHO absolutely incredible. When I finished the game I was left with the same blown-away feeling I get after reading a monumental work of literature or film. I just sat in my chair for about 10 minutes going, "wow". I highly recommend it to any and every RPer.

Personally, IWD bored the crap outta me. But then I didn't like Diablo, don't like hack-n-slash in general.

Finally, about BG2, Chapter 2. You can complete those quests later, in Chapter 6. In fact, I completed the Umar Hills and D'Arnise quests, then went on to Chapter 3. It worked out fine, and I'm now in Chapter 6, finishing them all up.

[Lifetime]

Personally I loved IWD and HOW more than BG2. Its just a more beautiful game, with traditional adventuring

And PS:T is one of the few games able to bring a tear to my eye every time. Not that I cry a lot , but the ending is powerful enough to get my eye a lil watery..

[Vassili_Zaitsev]

IW bored the shit outta me. After doing the shadow vale quest or whatever it got boring real fast, so i put that on the shelf uninstalled it and went back to BG2. IW is only fun if u like hack and slash. No side quests nothing like the bg series which really dissapointed me.

[ 01-21-2002: Message edited by: Vassili_Zaitsev ]