Baldur's Gate 2 - Still One Of The Greatest RPGs

Couchpotato

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Kotaku's Jason Schreier has wrote a new opinion piece were he writes, "Baldur's Gate II Is Still One Of The Greatest RPGs Ever Made." I have to agree with him, and no I'm not wearing nostalgia goggles.

Thirteen years after release, Baldur's Gate II is still one of the best role-playing games of all time. No joke. If you consider yourself an RPG fan, this is a game you have to play.

"But wait," you are most likely thinking, ready to type out a comment about how lame I am. "This game is old! Surely it is unplayable today."

Aha. That is where you are wrong, my persnickety friend. With a couple of mods and a functioning graphics card, Baldur's Gate II is just as stellar now as it was back in 2000.

On Friday, inspired by our compilation of the best classic PC games, I fired up Baldur's Gate II for the first time in many years. I planned to spend a few minutes playing just to see if the game has aged well. Now it's Monday. The past two days are a blur of space hamsters and shadow dragons and +3 swords with extra THAC0 against orcs. I've barely slept. I can't look at a screen without twitching. I can barely even work without thinking about how I'm gonna get Minsc a better sword and go try to slay that demi-lich when I get home tonight.

The lesson of this story is, you can't just spend "a few minutes" playing Baldur's Gate II.
More information.
 
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That reminds me, I need to get back to my BG2 game some time soon...

Beware the wide screen mod. If you crank the game up to 1920x1080 then you better have a BIG monitor or use the large fonts mod mentioned in the article. I just knocked the resolution down a bit, myself. It's not like there are any more pixels to see at high resolution.

I can't say I'm *that* impressed with the writing but it's certainly not bad writing, either, and there's a whole ton of it. How many hours does a typical BG2+Throne game take, anyway?
 
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This would more accurately be written as "one of my favorite RPGs of all time," as it lacks any quantifiable metrics or critical analysis that would make an opinion article anything more than baseless hyperbole. "It has a lot of content and you will die if you don't prepare to fight in boss battles." Who's that supposed to convince?

I'm surprised when Kotaku is linked as though it is more meaningful than anyone's own personal opinion. The author is a fodder-like freelancer journalist with seemingly no relevance, experience, or credibility that would make him special.

It wouldn't surprise me if this article was sponsored by Atari in anticipation for the release of BGII:EE, which isn't worth buying if at all similar to the "enhancement" featured in prequel. Modders did better work for free.
 
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This would more accurately be written as "one of my favorite RPGs of all time," as it lacks any quantifiable metrics or critical analysis that would make an opinion article anything more than baseless hyperbole. "It has a lot of content and you will die if you don't prepare to fight in boss battles." Who's that supposed to convince?

I'm surprised when Kotaku is linked as though it is more meaningful than anyone's own personal opinion. The author is a fodder-like freelancer journalist with seemingly no relevance, experience, or credibility that would make him special.

It wouldn't surprise me if this article was sponsored by Atari in anticipation for the release of BGII:EE, which isn't worth buying if at all similar to the "enhancement" featured in prequel. Modders did better work for free.

Fist the Stardock article now this. When did you become so jaded? :rolleyes: Just remember your opinion matters just as much as Kotaku. As the article is an opinion piece.
 
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How many hours does a typical BG2+Throne game take, anyway?

I think BGII was advertised as a 300 hours or more. Not sure if that included the expansion or if my memory is even accurate.
 
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Perhaps not. Googled some. Opinions vary, of course, and I'm a slooooooowww gamer. Wouldn't be surprised if it took me 300. :p

Some say 100-200 hours. Others shout that down, saying 40-50 for the main game. Read around 20-30 for the Throne of Bhaal.
 
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Iirc it have been about 120 hours for me.
 
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Fist the Stardock article now this. When did you become so jaded? :rolleyes: Just remember your opinion matters just as much as Kotaku. As the article is an opinion piece.

You're acting like a criticism of Stardock's lack of stable releases and seemingly irreparable AI is a matter of opinion when in fact both issues are well-documented and admitted by Stardock's own lead developer.

Yes, I consider Kotaku a source not unlike opinions of anonymous people like myself or a public forum where anyone can post. Which is why I'm disappointed that instead of writing interesting and original content RPGWatch reprints a bland blurb from another site's filler journalist.
 
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BGII is meaty, but it's not that long. It took me around 60 hours to complete without ToB.

Sounds about right. I've read a lot of stuff about how BG2 is enormous, which is simply not true. The difference between BG2 and other RPGs isn't really the amount of content, but the fact that the content is of very high quality through the entire game. It never feels slow or grindy, despite being a 50+ hour game, and that is a rare thing indeed.
 
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Sounds about right. I've read a lot of stuff about how BG2 is enormous, which is simply not true.

It has an enormous amount of quests if that's your thing. Not every quest is a drawn out grind fest though; speaking of which, it's a very big game with almost no boring grinding. Very rare.
 
Jason Schreier's second name means "cryer" or something similar in English language. The German word "Schrei" means "cry", mainly. (The German word "Schrei" can also sometimes interpreted as "shout". Both contain the same meaning : A very lout voice which is transporting some kind of information.)
 
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That reminds me, I need to get back to my BG2 game some time soon…

Beware the wide screen mod. If you crank the game up to 1920x1080 then you better have a BIG monitor or use the large fonts mod mentioned in the article. I just knocked the resolution down a bit, myself. It's not like there are any more pixels to see at high resolution.

I can't say I'm *that* impressed with the writing but it's certainly not bad writing, either, and there's a whole ton of it. How many hours does a typical BG2+Throne game take, anyway?

The newest mods of BGT and the font I found in Ghostdogs_PST_UI_mod_v2.2 are absolutely amazing! Playing BG1 in the BGT / BG2 engine is a totally new experience.
 
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I have to replay BG2 one of these days, if only to clarify things for myself; it's always been my impression that, while a great game, BG2 really doesn't fit the bill for one of the greatest games EVAR!

Interestingly enough, the guy references the Kangaxx fight in his gushing and it's probably one of the lamest fights in -any- rpg. "Let me just stand here, incapable of doing anything but to try imprisoning my foes, again, and again, and again... "
 
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Yes BG2 is a fine, enjoyable game, but I wouldn't mind seeing it get a reboot some day. A high quality reboot with improved graphics and character development. AD&D just seems so archaic now.
 
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Yes BG2 is a fine, enjoyable game, but I wouldn't mind seeing it get a reboot some day. A high quality reboot with improved graphics and character development. AD&D just seems so archaic now.

I agree - much as I love BG1/2...I can't believe I ever liked the AD&D rules. Things like dual/multi-classing were overly complex, classes were quite unbalanced etc etc. But I was young and impressionable ;) These days I'm a happy convert to Pathfinder. I'd love to see a new party-based RPG on DnD 3.5 / Pathfinder actually.
 
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