Baldur's Gate 2- a forgotten classic

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 7:54 pm

I just broke out this gigantic 4 disk game for the PC again. I used to play it a lot way back in the day but only with variations of the warrior class. Nowadays I'm taking it easy and exploring the support classes like the bard, cleric, and archer.

It's a great example of what makes the RPG genre great. It's an open ended game but also has a strong story. The combat is great too. It's like a real time version of final fantasy: tactics. It even allows you to romance some of the female NPC's which I think was an idea incorporated from the subgenre of JRPGS. The whole thing comes off really smoothly too. Of course I can't stop romancing Viconia-the npc who seems especially built for those of us who can't get enough of bad girls.

Anyway the game is 5 bucks right now if anyone wants to check it out which I highly recommend.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 8:01 pm

I never finished it because of it's sheer length. But I did tons of the quests and killed most of the dragons. The game is one of the best RPGs out there. Great music, great voice acting.

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Tue Oct 11, 2005 11:56 pm

ditto

Its been ages since I played it, and I cant quite remember why I played it... although I do remember it bein fuckin fantastic.

Ganelon · Post by **Ganelon** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 12:37 am

Definitely an awesome RPG. But is it already a classic? Throne of Bhaal ends the series so be sure to play it if you haven't already.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:34 pm

Any of you ever kill that bastard of a lich that was in the basement of one of the buildings in the port town (sorry I can't be more specific).

It summoned amongst other things, a demon during the fight. Never did kill it.

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:41 pm

landshark wrote:Any of you ever kill that bastard of a lich that was in the basement of one of the buildings in the port town (sorry I can't be more specific).

It summoned amongst other things, a demon during the fight. Never did kill it.

That would be Kangaxx. I've never even faced him because I am too scared that he would just wipe out my party in 2 rounds. Of course some Baldur's Gate 2 fanatics have beaten him while soloing the game with just a wizard/socerer.

Ramus · Post by **Ramus** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:44 pm

Never played any of these games. Which do you suggest I try first?

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:55 pm

Ramus wrote:Never played any of these games. Which do you suggest I try first?

Well I would suggest Planescape: Torment if you can find it. It's the best RPG I've ever played. Baldur's Gate 2 is also great but keep in mind it's a huge HUGEASS game.

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 11:29 pm

Baldurs gate I I love too, it took me a while to get into baldurs gate II because it was simply a bit over whelming although it was worth holding out. Baldurs gate I on the other hand seems a more focused game, it has more character. I love it to bits, I recommend going for baldurs gate I first, play it to death, explore everywhere. Then baldurs gate II and throne of bhaal.

And the ps2 versions if your drunk.

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:53 am

landshark wrote:Any of you ever kill that bastard of a lich that was in the basement of one of the buildings in the port town (sorry I can't be more specific).

It summoned amongst other things, a demon during the fight. Never did kill it.

I did kill it. It's been a while I think I used that one sword whose special power is summoning a sunray that kills all undead. Of course the first thing the lich does is making himself immune to such a thing, but if you time the triggering of the sunray just right, it will hit the undead and only a split second later his protection spells kick in. I killed all the lichs in the game that way. Kinda lame, I know.

And I have to agree with Moving target. I found Baldur's Gate I much better than its successor. I'm still a bit angry that Throne of Baal never got ported to the Mac. Or got it?

supaT · Post by **supaT** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:17 am

Herr Schatten wrote:I'm still a bit angry that Throne of Baal never got ported to the Mac. Or got it?

Yup.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BALDURS-GATE-II-THR ... dZViewItem

Herr Schatten · Post by **Herr Schatten** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:49 am

supaT wrote:
Herr Schatten wrote:I'm still a bit angry that Throne of Baal never got ported to the Mac. Or got it?
Yup.

http://cgi.ebay.com/BALDURS-GATE-II-THR ... dZViewItem

That totally evaded me somehow. I've got to look if I still got my old save files somewhere.

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 3:09 pm

I don't know, I tend to put both Baldur's Gates on the same level. Baldur's Gate 1 did have more party npcs but Baldur's Gate 2 gave more personality to its party npcs. BG2 also had party romances which were pretty cool.

BG1 may have been more linear but nonlinearity isn't so bad. There were so many optional quests in BG2, places to explore, significant npcs that not everyone met, and cool weapons that I think BG2 never suffered for its nonlinearity. I don't think Bioware was aiming for a JRPG here. They were going for a full fledged RPG.

Better villain would probably be a threeway tie between Melisandre?, Jon Irenicus, and Sarevok. Melisandre looked just freakin cool while Sarevok and Irenicus both had great backstories. I really have to play BG1 again sometime.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 3:46 pm

Herr Schatten wrote:I killed all the lichs in the game that way. Kinda lame, I know.

That's ok. I killed one of the early dragons by polymorphing it into a chicken

I'd say play Baldur's Gate II first. The first is good, but I enjoyed the 2nd alot better.

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:42 pm

landshark wrote:
Herr Schatten wrote:I killed all the lichs in the game that way. Kinda lame, I know.
That's ok. I killed one of the early dragons by polymorphing it into a chicken

I'd say play Baldur's Gate II first. The first is good, but I enjoyed the 2nd alot better.

haha I would usually whore out traps using yoshimo. I would then rest my party and then set more traps. By the time I woke up the dragon, it wouldn't last even one round.

I killed the last dragon in the game by casting Greater Malison? and a bunch of other saving throw lowering spells and then hitting it with my monk's stunning palm. It takes a lot of planning but it's a good sure fire way to kill a dragon.

landshark · Post by **landshark** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:49 pm

The n00b wrote:
landshark wrote:
Herr Schatten wrote:I killed all the lichs in the game that way. Kinda lame, I know.
That's ok. I killed one of the early dragons by polymorphing it into a chicken

I'd say play Baldur's Gate II first. The first is good, but I enjoyed the 2nd alot better.
haha I would usually whore out traps using yoshimo. I would then rest my party and then set more traps. By the time I woke up the dragon, it wouldn't last even one round.

I killed the last dragon in the game by casting Greater Malison? and a bunch of other saving throw lowering spells and then hitting it with my monk's stunning palm. It takes a lot of planning but it's a good sure fire way to kill a dragon.

I knew about the trap trick, but was never able to successfully get it to work. I definitely didn't kill all the dragons as I didn't go far enough in the game. But I did kill the red dragon that had that +5 sword. Took me a long time to figure out a way to do it. I think I used tons of stinking cloud spells.

Klatrymadon · Post by **Klatrymadon** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 5:14 pm

Forgotten? I know plenty of people who still play it regularly.

I love the Fallout games more, though.

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 6:05 pm

Bal-Sagoth wrote:Forgotten? I know plenty of people who still play it regularly.

I love the Fallout games more, though.

Fallout is awesome. You make me want to install and play it now!

Long live 2D Isometric PC RPGs.

incognoscente · Post by **incognoscente** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 9:58 pm

landshark wrote:I'd say play Baldur's Gate II first.

Second.

I slightly prefer the first Baldur's Gate, but I think the sequel is put together better and overall has better direction. "In Umar Hills" (BG2) is more useful than "somewhere southwest of Beregost" (BG1). :)

MovingTarget · Post by **MovingTarget** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:13 pm

I loved finding the good weapons in BGII, but so many areas in BGI gave me a warm fuzzy feeling inside

Marc · Post by **Marc** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 7:44 am

Well I would suggest Planescape: Torment if you can find it. It's the best RPG I've ever played. Baldur's Gate 2 is also great but keep in mind it's a huge HUGEASS game.

I heard good things about this and it's the one PC game I've always wanted to check out. Care to provide a little more info and opinion for me?

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 1:35 pm

Marc wrote:
Well I would suggest Planescape: Torment if you can find it. It's the best RPG I've ever played. Baldur's Gate 2 is also great but keep in mind it's a huge HUGEASS game.
I heard good things about this and it's the one PC game I've always wanted to check out. Care to provide a little more info and opinion for me?

It's an rpg ,by the makers of the Baldur's Gate series, where you play an immortal who has forgotten who he is. Through the course of the game you find out the details of who he is and what he did in the past. The game at times gets really philisophical but it does it the right way. You won't find any JRPG brow beating morality lessons here. The player is left to form his own opinions and define how this immortal will live his life from this point onward.