Baldur's Gate II

[Puritan]

So, anyone else ever played this game? For character and story depth, gameplay, massive length, and just sheer fun, I have found few RPGs to compare. This ranks as one of my favorite games of all time. Minsk and Boo (a crazy ranger and his one and only miniature giant space hamster) make the game worth playing by themselves, let alone the amazing number of side-quests and amusing events. Ahhh, the good old days...

[CDLviking]

I played the first and was kind of let down by the ending, so I didn't pay much attention when the second one came out.

[Puritan]

That's a shame. I thought Baldur's Gate I was only OK, but B.G. II was a much better game, it had a much better plot and more interesting characters, plus it looked better. I have no idea about the ending, I still havn't finished the game, although I do periodically replay it.

[Tommy]

RPG...that`s one of my favorte genres.

Can you found a good site that explains this game?

[Mr. SmartyPants]

It's not your traditional turn based RPG Tom, its more like you control a guy or a group of guys in real time and fight stuff (like Dialo)

[Tommy]

I actually like that style better but I believe it would fall into Action or Action RPG.

[Puritan]

This site: http://www.bioware.com/games/shadows_amn/, is the official explination of what the game is. Basically, take Diablo II, add a much longer game, better storyline, characters with depth and backstory, tons of side-quests and locations, and the color added by the D&D ruleset and gameworld, and you have Baldur's Gate II. The game is older, so you have to enjoy 2-d graphics, but the game overall is superb.

[Tommy]

What systems?

[Puritan]

PC. It spans five CDs with the expansion, no way it would have been on the console back in 2001 when it came out.

[Tommy]

Whewww...

5 CDs?

PS1 could handle that but with um...PS1 graphics.

Alot of games on PS1 had 4 discs.

[Yojimbo]

Whewww...

5 CDs?

PS1 could handle that but with um...PS1 graphics.

Alot of games on PS1 had 4 discs.

Yes it probably could have but this is not exactly the kind of game that would have been very feasible with a controller. Not to mention that this game wouldn't have really appealed to the majority of the console audience.

Anyway I love Baldur's Gate II it's one of my favorite RPG's of all time. The Bioware, Interplay, Black Isle people are deffinetly my favorite as far as characters and story goes in games. Not to mention the humor in their RPG's are the only ones that can get me to really laugh.

You can't really compare it to Diablo though it's an entirely different ball game. The only similarities is the general look of the two games. Baldur's Gate II is very much a turn based RPG though you do have the option to do faux realtime combat. But the gameplay is on a completely different level it's much more involved and strategical than Diablo is.

[Tommy]

So console fans wouldn`t like it.

I could have sworn i saw a copy of Baludur`s Gate 2 for the PS2...eh, must have been another Baldur`s Gate. *shrugs*

[Puritan]

The comparison was there only to give him a basic idea of the game. Not much to compare BGII to but itself or Neverwinter.

[CDLviking]

Which is another D&D game. Most of them are pretty similar. Torment was another similar D&D game.

[Yojimbo]

The comparison was there only to give him a basic idea of the game. Not much to compare BGII to but itself or Neverwinter.

Oh alright well yeah the visual style is somewhat similar. Though the Baldur's Gate series deffinetly has more detail across the board. But pretty much every Bioware/Black Isle game can be compared pretty easily.

Fallout
Baldur's Gate
Icewind Dale
Neverwinter Nights
Planescape Torment
etc.

[Sammy Boy]

[1] The other Baldur's Gate title on the PS is probably the "Dark Alliance" title. That's more like an action hack 'n' slash.

I have both BG1 and BG2, but never installed them. I think this is my problem. I buy games but don't play them for some reason.

[2] Those of you who have finished BG2 and wish to download a new and free challenge using the BG2 engine can check out "The Darkest Day" at:

http://lion.phpwebhosting.com/~teambg/tdd/

Cheers.