Should I Get this game

[Xtrea]

I am woundering if i should get this game. Can you tell me whats good about this game and whats bad. Also tell me your favorite character and why and tell me what characters are good.

[pritchke]

I enjoyed it and I have played BG, and BGII. Here are some links to former post of a similar question without any spoliers.

http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...c;f=3;t=002543

I recommend trying to get it with the expansion as the expansion can be hard to get:
http://www.ironworksforum.com/ubb/cg...c;f=3;t=002466

My favorite characters are the Druid or Bard this is one of the only FR games that they actually become very powerful. Bards have some very powerful songs, and druids eventually can turn into powerful elementals along with their very offensive priest spells.

[ 11-20-2002, 03:18 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]

[Lord Brass]

pritchke's summed it up really. Check out the previous links, and you'll get a reasonable taste of what the game is like. It's good though, and with the expansion Druids and Bards come into their own (at last).

[NobleNick]

Xtrea,

IWD is good; but I would ensure you get it packaged with HoW.

As I understand the story: When IWD came out, it was sort of a diversion to keep fans of BG busy until BG2 came out. IWD was barred from having BG2-like features (e.g., high resolution graphics) to keep from stealing BG2's thunder. After BG2 was released, HoW was also released, fixing many of the known shortcomings of IWD, adding some extra adventuring area, adding some features to enhance replayability (e.g., HoF mode and greatly increasing the experience cap), plus rebalancing the game (i.e., bards and druids became MUCH more capable and fun to play).

My biggest beef about IWD was that it seemed so claustrophobic: rarely did a battle entirely fit on the screen; and as a battle progressed or you selected different characters/enemies, the screen would jerk around to center the selection on screen. Characters usually saw enemies which were beyond the borders of your screen. This made for really disorienting game play. The HoW expansion fixes this, allowing you to pick a resolution that gets sufficient adventuring area on screen.

I know this doesn't sound like much; but HoW changed, literally, over a hundred things (I finally posted a list, a month or so back); yet without altering the storyline, NPCs you meet, nor battles you must fight: It is still exactly the same game (well, almost), just much more enjoyable to play (and replay).

I have not played BG nor BG2; but gather from conversation that the most significant differences are:

1.) BG/BG2 have NPCs that join your party, and your party characters start out at a modest level of experience. In IWD, you create (roll) every party member from scratch; and all start at level 1. Thus you have total control of the numbers and types of characters in your party; including dual and multi-classed characters.

2.) BG and BG2 are adventuring RPGs, with lots of latitude as to where you go and when, and lots of choices as to what quests you will do, puzzles you'll solve, and in what order. IWD is a dungeon crawl with lots of fighting and only a few "puzzles" to figure out. It is a linear dungeon crawl, at that: You must complete certain quests in each area before another area is opened up for you to explore. (There are a number of side quests that you can decide to not do, and still be able to proceed onward.)

3.) IWD/HoW/TotLM allow your characters to attain much higher levels then BG/BG2. Level 13 is about standard for a single class character to finish IWD (no HoW). HoW and TotLM expansions allow for even higher levels. (TotLM is free download, if you have HoW.) And Heart of Fury (HoF) mode, a feature of HoW, adds LOTS of dificulty and allows your characters to achieve almost insane levels. The expo cap is 30 levels PER CLASS, and I read of people on this forum who have characters which have achieved level 30 in each of several classes!

For my part, I have no desire to play BG, BG2, nor even IWD2. I like group tactics, character development, and strategy; which IWD provides in spades. IWD is encounter after encounter after encounter... each encounter with a different twist. If I ever finish, I'll probably just play IWD again!

Party On!


[ 11-20-2002, 03:30 PM: Message edited by: NobleNick ]

[Xtrea]

Thanks guys that helps my dissesion alot.

[Lord Lothar]

I was thinking about getting this game as well. A quick question: Is IWD based on 2nd edition rules or 3rd?

[Cyril Darkcloud]

IWD and its expansions HOW and TOL are based on 2nd edition AD&D rules.

The recently released sequel, IWD 2, is based on 3rd edition rules.

Given the relatively cheap prices you can pick up the original IWD game for these days, buying it is almost a no-brainer -- it is a very fine game with good replayability. If at all possible, however, see about picking up the official exoansion HOW as well -- it really enahnces all aspects of the game. TOL, the second expansion, is available as a free download for IWD players that have HOW installed.