26 replies to this topic

[Eleima]

With the impending release of BG:EE, I started reflecting on the Baldur's Gate saga as a whole and waxed nostalgic (you have a tendency to do that as you get older, I'm told).

So, for funsies, I submit a question to you, fellow SHS forumites! Which part of the Baldur's Gate saga is your favorite? Did you start playing the first opus when it was released and got sucked in right away? Or were you late comer and discovered the series little by little? Or did you prefer one of the expansions?
(Yes, I'm also including BG: DA 1 & 2 in the poll, even though they're console games without a PC port)

In my case, I actually had a friend gift me BG2: SoA (the special edition with the eight collectible Character Trading Cards - squee!) when it came out, he was hoping we could play the multiplayer part. Life being what it is, we never got around to playing together, but I did play the single player. A lot. Fast forward a couple of years later, and I started playing BG, BG: TotSC, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape: Torment... I was hooked!

Edited by Eleima, 11 April 2012 - 09:25 PM.

[phordicus]

I had to go with BG. I'm only an itinerant gamer. Though the games I've tried to play are many, only a handful ever got more than one playthrough and BG is among them*. Parties weren't new, but it always felt like the story was about me. NPC interaction wasn't new, but the variety of ways it was implemented was. I also was drawn into the story, which I still think of as well-done. Claims that it's derivative or cliche are themselves cliche'; Hamlet and Citizen Kane were also derivative, but that doesn't take away from their greatness.

Even though, from the perspective of a modder more than a decade removed, the combats were challenging for rigged reasons, I thought it was brave and ballsy to have a game of characters that routinely got killed until you achieved the right combination of technique and luck.

Do I need to state what I think the negatives of the other candidates are? I won't now, but reserve the right to later if needed .



* - My observations need to be tempered with the fact I never played games like Ultima after V, nor Fallout or Wasteland. I think my last cRPG before BG was Bard's Tale 3.

[Western Paladin]

I got into the series when I bought a new computer way back in 2000 which came with the original Baldur's Gate, and things just sort of snowballed from there. In the end, I voted for Shadows of Amn, if only because that's where a lot of what I felt to be the series' most epic moments happened: going toe-to-toe with the Shade Lord, liberating the temple of Amaunator under Athkatla, fleeing Ust Natha, confronting Joneleth at the Tree of Life.

Having said that, my absolute favorite moment in Baldur's Gate gaming came from a combination of Throne of Bhaal content and a mod. Namely, the first time I actually finished Watcher's Keep was with Tashia in my party. She was something like a level 33 sorceress at that point, and she destroyed the guardians of the last seal almsot single-handedly.

[Eleima]

Do I need to state what I think the negatives of the other candidates are? I won't now, but reserve the right to later if needed .

Oh, absolutely, knock yourself out!

I have to agree that BG2:SoA had epic moments of its own. Also, BG1 was big, it had lots of areas, but BG2 felt bigger for some reason. Is that weird?

Edited by Eleima, 13 April 2012 - 05:11 AM.

[quinlan]

BG1 was big, it had lots of areas, but BG2 felt bigger for some reason. Is that weird?

It isn't. BG1 was big, but many areas felt to me empty spaces. Having said that, i must state for the record that i adore all BG PC games, so much so, that it is very difficult to make a choice.

A friend of mine suggested BG. I bought the edition with the TOTSC included. Got hooked completely. I have lost count of how many times i played it, wanting to try every class. Then i bought SoA, then ToB. In the meantime i also found out about IWD, so i played that series as well (IWD, HoW, IWD2). I think the original IWD1 Kuldahar song is one of the best game songs ever. Many times i play it on repeat when i want to relax. I also played Torment and enjoyed that, too. Can't say i was very impressed with Pool Of Radiance. Neverwinter Nights i liked a lot, but still not as much as the BG, IWD series.

Edited by quinlan, 13 April 2012 - 07:10 AM.

[Suslik]

I decided to try some weird-looking game with 5CD's which I found on my father's shelf in early 2000's. It had the most horrible translation I have ever seen in my entire life, because it was almost impossible to understand anything in game texts, though it was translated to my native language. I just fell in love with the voice actings, graphics and atmosphere of the game even though I hardly managed to understand a thing about the plot/dialogs, hehe.

So my BG I experience was bright, colorful, fresh. I upgraded my computer enough to run BG II only like in 2006, and it in comparison it looks like a more mature, complex and maybe even deep game, but I still love the very first version of BG I with messed up translation and resolution of 640x480.

The thing I still like in BG I more than in BG II is overall atmosphere - it's brighter, happier. Birds sing, character avatars are shiny and there's no soul to return yet D :

[Bartimaeus]

Perhaps it's because I played it first, but Shadows of Amn. The characters, plot and general content just felt like it was at its overall best for the series in SoA.

[Choo Choo]

The first part I played on my own and actually understood was SoA, so it has a special place in my heart.

I played BG1 first, sure - my dad used to play it and let me watch, and then try it - but I was just six, seven years old. I didn't understand much. I remember spending all my initial gold (110 gp) on nothing but clubs.

[Eleima]

I played BG1 first, sure - my dad used to play it and let me watch, and then try it - but I was just six, seven years old. I didn't understand much. I remember spending all my initial gold (110 gp) on nothing but clubs.

For some reason, I find that absolutely adorable!

Quinlan, you have a point about the big wild spaces of BG1, I guess I should say BG2 felt more "alive" to me for that reason. The city if Baldur's Gate itself was really well-done, though.

[Vicen]

It's close but...BG2 SOA wins it for me...The higher lvls and the ability to romance and have way more interactions with your party members was the best part. However I do miss the tons of wilderness areas that BG1 had where you could venture all sorts of places...

[quinlan]

Quinlan, you have a point about the big wild spaces of BG1, I guess I should say BG2 felt more "alive" to me for that reason. The city if Baldur's Gate itself was really well-done, though.

I couldn't agree more. I also agree about Baldur's Gate, the city. If I may use an analogy for my reluctance to even slightly favor one part of the series over an other, I would use the human body. For me it would be like saying that i prefer hands more than feet, eyes more than ears and so on. It can't be done. Every part has its own value and every part contributes something different to the saga, something without which the experience of playing the series would be lessened immensely.

[Bartimaeus]

I played BG1 first, sure - my dad used to play it and let me watch, and then try it - but I was just six, seven years old. I didn't understand much. I remember spending all my initial gold (110 gp) on nothing but clubs.

Haha, that's hilarious! I didn't even play BG1 first; only watched my older brother and sister play it. Only when BG2 was released did I have a basic understanding of how the game worked, though I had already started to play Age of Empires and Diablo as well.

Edited by Bartimaeus, 16 April 2012 - 08:41 PM.

[Almateria]

Dark Alliance 2 It looked nice, wasn't a chore to play (this is an important thing, game shouldn't be huge walls of text) and had fun multiplayer. And I liked the upgrade system ^^"
Also there was an actual story in it, unlike the regular BGs.

[quinlan]

Dark Alliance 2 It looked nice, wasn't a chore to play (this is an important thing, game shouldn't be huge walls of text) and had fun multiplayer. And I liked the upgrade system ^^"
Also there was an actual story in it, unlike the regular BGs.

Before everyone (I would estimate at least a 99,9%) starts unsheathing their weapons and reading their most destructive spells and potent summonings, all for the obliteration of such a blasphemous member of this community, i will remind you of a book (The Friends of Voltaire, 1906) and the famous phrase: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".

[Daulmakan]

Dark Alliance 2 It looked nice, wasn't a chore to play (this is an important thing, game shouldn't be huge walls of text) and had fun multiplayer. And I liked the upgrade system ^^"
Also there was an actual story in it, unlike the regular BGs.

[Kaeloree]

Come on peeps, I'm sure we can express our opinions better than that

[Cal Jones]

Whilst BG2 is definitely my favourite, BG does have a special place in my heart. I was working as reviews editor on PC Gaming World (the UK CGW) when I first saw it during a visit to Interplay. Bear in mind this was the era of the FPS. Doom had been hugely successful and then Quake arrived and every games company was cranking out Quake-clones. There were very few RPGs around save for stat-heavy German games and after having BG demo'd to me I was all "OMG OMG - this is the game I've been waiting for!" At the time I didn't have a PC at home (I figured that as I sat on one all day, I really needed a break from games when I got home, which was usually late in the evening) so I used to go into the office on a Saturday just to play it.

BG2 really just improved upon the formula. The increased party interaction really came about following PS:T and made a huge difference to the immersiveness of the experience. The strongholds were great as well.

I am more ambivalent about ToB. I feel I must play it each game to finish the story, so to speak, but it does feel like more of a chore on repeated playthroughs. Mods help a lot, mind you.

I think I've played BG around 5 or 6 times, but I've lost count of my BG2 runthroughs. It must be in the 30s. There isn't a single game I've sunk more hours into.

[Eleima]

Daulmakan, just a friendly warning, low-content posts are a no-no here.

I haven't played the BG:DAs myself, having no consoles, but I did manage to get my hands on the soundtrack, and they certainly have that in their favor, that's for certain.

Cal, it must've really been something to have been on the frontlines to see the rise of the BG saga... Wow.

[Cal Jones]

Yeah, I first saw a video demo of BG at Interplay's offices in California as I said but Greg and Ray actually came to my office in London to demo the game in person a bit later. At the time I was pretty surprised that a couple of doctors would start a games company but I was very happy that they did! (I guess they don't go out and demo to journalists these days, mind you!) Ah, good times!

[Solaufein]

Having the mindset of an explorer I find BG and TotSC to be great. Lots of areas to explore, quests to take and loot to find. If it was using the technology of the ToB engine it would have been perfection. Never heard of the last two options.