I'd like to try Ice wind...

[Reeka]

I personally have enjoyed the Icewind Dale series very much. I don't look at it as BG v. IWD, but that they are similar but different games. Each has its plusses and minusses. Also, some classes are similar but different. Surprisingly, bards really rock in IWD. They have different songs they acquire as they go up in levels, etc. I also, like the "create your own party" type of thing rather than having NCPs. Not better or worse, just "different."

Variety is the spice of gaming, no?

[Xen]

Yes,but personally i don`t like IWD becuase it is too much hack`n`slash for my taste. But you are right. This is not BG VS IWD. But i played BG so much that i wasn`t "sucked" into IWD like in BG2.

I tryed to played IWD but i just couldn`t. There was no motivation in it.

[Malavon's Rage]

As for a minus for the game, I'd say that one would be the very minimum dialog, none to be found within your party. I suppose all the PCs had their voice boxes taken out or some such...

[pritchke]

In IWD many of the fights have several approaches to dealing with the situation. I also enjoy trying it with different party members. I have never been board with IWD. After going through the underdark so many times in BGII it becomes boring, I would prefer to jump right to the eleven city (good atmosphere).

Another thing about IWD is druids, and bards are worth playing.

Here are the things I like about IWD over BGII:
1. Atmosphere
2. Graphics (Yes Graphics, the trolls in BG2 are way to cartoony for my taste)
3. Tactics
4. Challenge (starting out at level 1 with only the shirt on your back and a stick)
5. Main Story flow and Background Stories
6. Equipment

I am not saying BGII is a worse game than IWD but I feel the need to pick up for this game to maintain the balance against the critics, I prefer IWD or BG to BGII.

[Curt]

I've finished the whole BG series through ToB and have just started IWD. They are pretty different in style, everyone's already mentioned that you create your own party (don't know if you can pick up others should you lose a party member...). There are indeed a lot of monsters in IWD, the mass of red circles is no exaggeration in some battles and it will stress your CPU (at least it stresses my 600 MHz Celeron anyway).

Some pro's and con's from my perspective:

1. IWD it seems lets you see when enemies make or fail their save (at least I think that's whats going on). When I cast a fireball some of the enemies that are hit catch on fire for a sec! Very cool! Others just kind of glow red for a second. The BG games didn't do this.

2. IWD has a fair amount of dialog but *nothing* like BG2. IMO there was way too much dialog in BG2, I know it added to the game but man it got annoying after a while.

3. IWD is a linear game, this is good and bad. BG1 was pretty much totally non linear and you could get in way over your head in a hurry if you went the wrong way. BG2 was a little more linear but IWD is much more linear than that.

4. IWD has a good mystery-like story so far, I like it! I also have to say I really liked the storyline of BG2, very rich story there I thought.

5. Others have said this but I wanted to bring it up again... IWD seems short on the good treasure/gold that the BG series gave you. I've gone through some pretty monstrous battles (no pun intended!) with virtually no treasure to show for it. This gets annoying.

6. Seems like scrolls are hard to come by. My mage can cast 4th level spells now and I've found one scroll! I'm stuck in the Dragon's Eye dungeon though so when I get out I'll buy some, but I'm not picking up a lot of gold as I go so that may be an issue... Again, see #5 above.

7. Seems like its tougher to rest in IWD too. That's a bummer since after some of the big battles your party is spent. In BG2 ToB you could rest at any time by going to your pocket plane so I think they realized that making it difficult to rest was more annoying than providing a fun aspect of the game. Of course ToB came out after IWD.

In conclusion I like IWD a lot. I think I liked the BG series better but if you like BG you'll like IWD. A few differences exist, some better some worse, but for 20 bucks for IWD and HoW at your local Target store, can't complain!

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

[img]graemlins/offtopic.gif[/img] welcome to Ironworks curt [img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img]

[Xen]

[img]graemlins/offtopic.gif[/img] welcome to Ironworks curt [img]graemlins/firedevil.gif[/img]

[Curt]

Thanks guys! My first posting is far and away my longest first posting of any I've ever done on a forum!

[NobleNick]

Curt,

And a mighty good post it was. Yer English or Lit teacher learned ya good: nice to have someone around who is a bit more eloquent and structured then, "That sucks, compared to this."

You'll probably progress through IWD much faster than I, since I only do it on a time available basis, am running several parties simultaneously, and am only up to Wyrm's tooth after having had the game over a year. However, I hope to help you out; and, likely, eventually get help from you. Hope to see you around.

What's a party,
without a song?
Bards ROCK!
Party on!!

[Curt]

Thanks Nick!

Hey I was an English major for a semester, guess it shows! Although I hesitate to say how long ago that was... (gulp!)

So who says you can't enjoy computer games in your 40's! Heh-heh. But like you I don't get a lot of time to play, usually at night after the wife and daugher go to bed or when I'm on travel. Took me a year to finish BG2... woudln't play for months at a time and then had to remember where I was!

But anyway, I welcome any help you can give when I get stuck. If I finish it up before you I'm more than happy to help out you or anyone else on the board.

Curt