BG I/BGII

[Nerull]

Originally posted by pcgiant: quote: Originally posted by Azaghal: I basically agree with pcgiant. BG 1 was really a tremendous experience to play through for the first time. So BG 2 just added another dimension to this, but - boy - what a big one! I always feel like playing BG 2 again with a new character cause it grants so many possibilities BG 1 did not offer. But I did give BG 1 another try not long ago - and it was worth it. So think about it pcgiant.

I did give it a try not so long ago, but I felt too frustrated with the overall slowness of the system. I know I'll eventually get back into it, and still remember with fondness the way I felt the first time I played it, exploring every single area. However, I doubt this will be repeated, because BG2 is far more superior, in many many ways. I still hope to be able to enjoy it when I play it, though. [/QUOTE]What will be great is if that much-rumored mod comes out that puts the areas from BG1 into BG2 (have all of the character options and spells from BG2, but play from 1st level in BG1). That I would like to see. Have things sped up, the new formations (so you can protect your wizard PC better; I always hated walking into a building and straight into an encounter with my wizard right in the front line), a minimum of two weapon quickslots (none of this one only for a wizard), do not have to change inventory on the fly, etc. All of the improvements in game play but be able to hit the older areas.

As far as my vote, I'm actually tied. I liked BG1 for it wide open, innocent feel, and for the sheer variety of NPCs to add to the party. However, I liked BG2 better for the better developed NPCs, the improvements to the game engine, and the character options. I guess I would have to lean towards BG2, just due to the improvements/options.

[Raistlin Majere]

It would be really sweet(though hardly possible) to have BG1 sorta converted into bg2. the graphics would be made as they are in bg2, though the wilderness areas would remain the same. also the different kits of bg2 would be cool in bg1. that would, however, take alot of time(not to mention skill) to do.

[Jatelka]

BG2 definitely. BG1 was the first time I played a CRPG, and I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I just played a big dumb fighter type, (ranger actually) and had never had any experience with AD+D (or, to be fair, read the manual) so I never actually realised that things like dexterity made a difference (Whoops)!
As a result I trudged through the first time with a character I thought was rubbish, out of sheer bloody mindedness: Then I put a particularly important item on the ground during an inventory reshuffle AND WALKED OFF AND LEFT IT!!!
After searching fruitlessly for hours (no handy TAB function in BG1: No Sirree) I gave up in disgust and started BG2 and have thought about it in far more detail: I've tried to roleplay a character from start to finish (Albeit starting again a couple of times.) I've thought about solutions other than wading in with a big stick and hitting things (although I still wish that Malinde my F/M could get that Berserker rage sometimes).
I've since tried to go back and roleplay BG1, but the slowness and clunkiness of it drives me absolutely potty: Besides I've wasted too much of my life on this series already!

LOL: But I'd still be first in line for BG3

Perhaps I have a short attention span or something: But I'm already thinking about TOTEE [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 05-19-2003, 05:39 PM: Message edited by: Jatelka ]

[robertthebard]

I'm leaning hard to BG1. As has been mentioned, it was my first CRPG. I played it through about 40 times, trying different character classes, and different npc's in the party. I even played just my pc, and Imoen. The first thing that I did not like about BG2 was that they dual classed Imoen. Stupid. Needed for the plot, but not what I would have done. Also, Irenicus' dungeon takes me about 3 hours, because I can't stand to play it straight through any more. Of all the areas and quests in BG1 and 2, that is the definition of linear. Not to mention all the running around to get the cool sword that I always let Minsc use. You could drop whole plot elements out of BG1. Has any one gone to Nashkell without getting Khalid and Jaheira? I have, and sometimes it's cooler that way, especially if you want to travel at night. I have all four parts to the series, and I play them often, but my heart will always belong to BG1. Just an aside about the linear thing in BG2, you can do most of the quests in any order you want, which adds some spice, in fact, you can do all but the getting the way to Imoen quests, no matter which way you do it, after you get Imoen back! Been there, done that. It does make it interesting though. They are both great games, but BG1 started them all. I also prefer IWD to IWD2, but that is another poll.

[TordenkalveN]

BG2 SoA has always been my favorite. Even though the story in bg 1 is the best, I just think that it lags in gameplay compared to bg2. After the first 100 hours I just got tired of running around in the woods killing spiders... but I also think SoA is much better than ToB. ToB has a very cheap story I think ("Say, howbout we gather almost all the bhaalspawn in one city, have them slaughtered, and then move around to the few remaining, and kill them..."), and then it annoys me how everyone runs around with +3 weapons. Besides I have always been an opponent of the resurection of Sarevok, I spent enough hours killing him in BG1...

[Nerull]

Originally posted by TordenkalveN: BG2 SoA has always been my favorite. Even though the story in bg 1 is the best, I just think that it lags in gameplay compared to bg2. After the first 100 hours I just got tired of running around in the woods killing spiders... but I also think SoA is much better than ToB. ToB has a very cheap story I think ("Say, howbout we gather almost all the bhaalspawn in one city, have them slaughtered, and then move around to the few remaining, and kill them..."), and then it annoys me how everyone runs around with +3 weapons. Besides I have always been an opponent of the resurection of Sarevok, I spent enough hours killing him in BG1...

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WELCOME TO IRONWORKS

Back on topic:

I agree about ToB. The big part I like about that is WK (can you say "overpowered Durlag's Tower?" ). However, the main quest part is a little lame, and far too linear. It also sucks that you end up being so superpowerful that they need to throw even more superpowerful, gamebreaking opponents at you to challenge you. Netherese high mages would have a bear of a time taking you out by the end of ToB. I just think it is too much power, too gamebreaking (you take Nalia to level 31, and she goes back to be a councilwoman in Amn? She could RULE Amn at level 31!), and would cause such an incredible change in Faerun that I think it is ridiculous.

[Dreamer128]

I agree with Nerull here. I mean, you can take certain characters all the way to level 40 (!!!). I mean, plenty of Deity's have Avatars that are less powerful then that...

Back op topic: I actually liked BGI a bit better back then, due to the large amount of freedom you had. Not to mention the fact that it was much more challenging (until you found those arrows of detonation).

[Rataxes]

BG2 outdoes BG1 in

• NPC interaction
• Lasting appeal/replayability
• Monster variety
• General gameplay

BG1 outdoes BG2 in

• Story
• Atmosphere
• Narrator voice (actually a very important aspect)
• Graphics (yes you read right)
• Music

BG2 is easily more fun and lasts a hell of a lot longer than BG1, both because it's a lot longer game, but also because the appeal of BG2 lies more in the battle sequences than in anything else, which is vastly augmented by it's large modding community.

The original on the other hand, makes for a far better gaming experience the first time through. It has a superior story, superior atmosphere and feel, the atmospheric and mystic dream sequences, music and the superb narrator only adds to this. BG2's shockingly poor and uninvolving narrator and bizarre dream sequences with it's equally surrealistic music achieves the opposite, there's really no atmosphere at all to speak of in BG2. BG1 puts you in the position of a clueless young fellow who's about to embark on the greatest adventure of his life, I loved the feeling the game gave you from the beginning that something a lot greater than yourself was out to get you, I loved how you encountered assassins and bounty hunters at almost every turn. I loved how small the game made you feel, and how big the outside world in contrast seemed. BG2 doesn't have any of that, the story is pretty much that you're now a demi-god, looking to save your demi-god sister.

BG1 also gave you a lot more freedom, you weren't pushed around like a hapless kid just to move forward in the story, the progress felt more natural and you were free to make your own choices. You're given a subtle tilt in the right direction in the beginning, but that's it, it's not even something you have to do instantly, or at all! Nothing like the forced encounter with Gaelan Bayle the instant you leave the Promenade, and after that it's one "go to him and do that" direction after another till you're finally standing there in Hell.

The Wilderness areas in BG1 were great I think, they really gave you the feeling that you really could go anywhere you wanted. Not to mention the fact that the outdoor areas were, both in terms of sounds and visuals, far more well-done and interesting in BG1 than in BG2. In BG2, the only places you can go to are those of special interest, makes the game feel very limited I feel. No option to take a quiet stroll in the forest if you want to.

The dungeon crawls in BG1 were also much more involving than in BG2. Neither The Unseeing Eye Cult, Windspear Hills, Temple Ruins or Watcher's Keep (that one comes close though) gave you the same feeling of "You're about to be away from all civilization for a long time and there's no turning back!" that the Cloakwood trip or Nashkel Mines in BG1 did, the sort of dungeon crawls where you make a big sigh of relief and get a great feeling of accomplishment when you finally get out.

The music in BG1 is, as I've already mentioned, much better and perfectly suits the story and atmosphere the game is trying to build. Who else but me loves the haunting music played at night in the towns, or the lovely dreamy piece played in the dream sequences? Incidently, the best music in BG2 are the pieces directly pinched from BG1.

Graphics, ok sure, BG2 has Dragons and tons of cool spell effects, but somehow they managed to majorly screw up many of the item pictures in BG2. The Plate Mail looked great in BG1, cool and shining metal, I don't know what the fudge the BG2 Plate is supposed to look like, a bunch of glued-together stones? Since when are Full Plates constructed from hundreds of square-inch-sized metal plates? Cause that's what they look like, like someone took a perfectly good armor, smashed it to fragments and then tried to put it back together. There are a lot more examples, thank God they decided to keep most of the item avatars from BG1, cause they ruined most of what they changed. Same thing with the player avatars, any kind of plate mail, shield or armor looks ridiculous on your avatars now, when in BG1 they looked cool. The colors are dull, whereas in BG1 they were shiny and rich in contrast. I can't really see what BG2 improved in this department, sure the bigger monster models look awesome, so do some of the spell effects, but most of the graphics are the same, and they managed to make as many things worse, as they managed to improve.

Then there's the whole thing about BG2 being all about grossly overpowered +6 Weapons and Devices of Ultimate Death. BG1 was appealing in that there was none of that, you'd actually look more than once at a +1 Weapon, you'd cheer in joy if you managed to kill Drizzt and get a hold of his "awesome +3 Scimtars". That scary great mountain bear on the other end of the bridge really was a challenge worthy of your full attention, instead of something you'd sneeze to death, when you were not busy slaying Dragons and Liches in less than a round.

All in all, BG2 is still the one I prefer, though the modding community is probably the sole reason for that. BG1 is a truly magic gaming experience, but BG2 is just sheer fun.

[ 05-30-2003, 09:16 AM: Message edited by: Rataxes ]

[RoSs_bg2_rox]

I think bg 2 is better but the thing i love about bg1 is that the quests are much more realistic and they cood b real

[Mellagar]

Well as I saw it ToB was a way for the character, whether yours or the NPC's brought along, to become extraordinarily powerful like a god, or a powerful...whatever. For those who played BG I and remember running away from a gibberling or, at the beginning, a xvart, or wolf, this was a breather. To finally work your way up to an almost godhood was a great idea and one that, if you attempt to play without dying, is VERY difficult. I played from BG I all the way up to ToB without restarting, loosing an NPC or having my character die even once....until I met Draconis....and then we all died. So I think to try and go all the way through, and NOT die, or restart is the ultimate challange. Playing your character as if he or she had no second chance or restart option....much more challanging and makes you a bit more wary about marching headlong into an "easy battle." I can't count the number of times I died attempting this...I ran out of fingers toes, and up until last year, I was using hash marks to keep score. Playing it in that manner makes you send out your thief to scout ahead, makes you summon monsters to move into unknown dark corners to see if its safe. You rarely go storming into a room and start casting spells or swinging a sword because once you die, if you stay glued to the premise of 1 life that's all, you start pulling your hair out. But that's just my take on it, and when I reached a level of strength that I veered more to role playing and not this 'beef me up Scotty,' power playing or whatever you call it, then I began to enjoy the game more than when I first started. So BG I, II, and Throne of Bhaal were all great games, and since each were made to be different then they're all A+'s in my book. However, I judged it as a series, not one game in particular, so IMHO the Baldur's Gate saga ranks at the top for RPG's alongside Morrowind, Daggerfall, and Red Baron II. Okay, the last one isn't really RPG, or dragons and swords, but it still holds a golden scepter in my mind.