Baldur's Gate: tried to catch up on this classic, didn't age too well :(

[The Madman]

Tried getting past all the little annoyances, but they add up fast so I've just read the rest of the story. When I went in I actually expected the "bad" mechanics, but I thought the companions carry the game themselves even if it turns out to be a stinker. Compare that with almost complete silence(except the occasional "There is strength in numbers ..." ). I don't see myself playing BG again. On the other hand, I already knew BG2 is considered better and gets much praise here, too, there is no missing that one.

On other rpg systems: I'm pretty noob when it comes to pen & paper. My only experience comes from some 15+ years ago, played a bit of Shadowrun and a hungarian rpg called M.A.G.U.S. with some mates. Usually got stupidly drunk 2-3 hours in so counts even less

Baldur's Gate uses the old 2nd edition DnD ruleset which by and large only gets particularly interesting at higher levels. It does however pick up and can be pretty satisfying once you've hit your stride, especially since Baldur's Gate 2 really just throws the entire DnD Bestiary at you. Dragons and Beholders and Mindflayers, oh my! Of course Vampires are probably the ones that annoy me the most; word of warning for you, being level drained is a *****. Keep your clerics out of range of vampires and be sure they've got restoration spells memorized any time you even think you *might* encounter a vampire. Nasty things!

And again you're right about the companions not having much to say in the original game. Keep in mind that BG was literally the first Bioware game to ever have this feature, hell, it was their first rpg period. It's pretty rough. Whether by stroke of luck, pure skill, or the cosmic stars aligning however Baldur's Gate 2 actually strikes a brilliant balance between gameplay and story. Characters have tons of banter not just with you, but between each other as well. Relationships are formed, romances play out, rivalries created. It's a formula they've been copying with every rpg ever since.

So yeah, give BG2 a try. And if you do ever want to try the original again give that mod I link above a try, hopefully it will be out for the enhanced edition by then. It makes the original game much more entertaining by adding a ton of well written dialogue.

 

[Bostur]

I think you are spot on in your post-mortem. Except I think that the dialogue in these old Black Isle games are far better than most newer games. I never really agreed with the modern BioWare style of dialogue.

Most RPG fans loved BG1 because it was such a huge step up in technology and quality from previous RPGs. It's the Half-Life effect all over again, when one game suddenly makes a 5-year step in innovation people will remember it forever. And then it will age poorly because newer generations arrive and wonder what the big deal is.

Another quality of that era of RPGs is the extreme attention to little details and the huge worlds. There are so many things to explore and so many things to miss that I always feel there is more out there. I like the world feel that the BG games provide.

I remember the then renowned RPG critic Scorpia slammed Baldur's Gate when it was released, implying it "wasn't a real RPG", and contrasting it negatively against enshrined classics like Ultima IV. It's part of why I find it tremendously funny that, over a decade later, we have people slamming modern RPGs and holding them up against enshrined classics like Baldur's Gate. There's always someone with their panties in a knot to tell you what a "real RPG" is and why the game you're enjoying sucks.

It's not a real RPG unless you spend 2 hours copying floppies before playing. Part of me still thinks that Wasteland was the only real RPG.

 

[00slash00]

hm, i guess i cant really comment. i mean i re-played it recently and thought it was as good as ever. however, i also played it when it was still pretty new so nostalgia goggles could be getting in the way of forming an unbiased opinion

 

[jjhill001]

I really enjoyed the enhanced edition, I remember playing the first game when I was around 7 and my mom picked up the demo for it on accident. (Stuff like that was new to our family.) So I played it until you got to Xan but could never beat the boss in there because quite frankly this game goes over an 8 year old's head in terms of difficulty.

I would say this is one of the more difficult games out there, I mean starting out you can get killed by Kobolds, I like that when you get to about level 4 the basic monsters don't really cause you any problems which is kind of cool, I like knowing that I've risen up from being a young green adventurer who would get killed by some Gibberlings if he wasn't any good to just mowing down 30 of them because I'm a badass now.

I also like the new Characters, the Neera and the Orc guy's stories are really interesting. I lost my old copy of the game and this is the best way to try and beat a game that I was never allowed to finish. Also, the artwork is awesome. I have noticed that the difficulty of this game can scale up by ALOT sometimes if you try and overdo it with strategy.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I tried playing this game for the first time recently and so far I've run into 2 unwinnable battles. Yeah it's not really selling itself to me.

 

[kickyourass]

Personally I think that if they'd just changed the combat gameplay so that it was more like a turn based strategy game (You know like Dungeons and Dragons), it would be infinity better. That and pausing when you're in your inventory, those were really the only things about BG that got on my tits.

 

[The Madman]

I tried playing this game for the first time recently and so far I've run into 2 unwinnable battles. Yeah it's not really selling itself to me.

I daresay I know the Baldur's Gate games pretty damned well, what fights are those and what level is your group? I ask because perhaps I can give you a few tips, although if you're a level 2 trying to take on a Death Knight there's not much advice I can give beyond 'go somewhere else and come back when you're a higher level'. Them bastards are tough!

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I tried playing this game for the first time recently and so far I've run into 2 unwinnable battles. Yeah it's not really selling itself to me.

I daresay I know the Baldur's Gate games pretty damned well, what fights are those and what level is your group? I ask because perhaps I can give you a few tips, although if you're a level 2 trying to take on a Death Knight there's not much advice I can give beyond 'go somewhere else and come back when you're a higher level'. Them bastards are tough!

Well there was that one wizard that you run into when you arrive at that one Inn you're supposed to go to right at the start of the game. I had to cleverly lure him out of the entrance to the tavern so I could get in and meet up with those guys I was supposed to meet up with. It was only after having them join me and then going back outside was I able to beat that SOB. Then I tried heading directly south from that one town that's south of the inn place and ran into these big brute like things that slaughtered me. Meh.

 

[The Madman]

Well there was that one wizard that you run into when you arrive at that one Inn you're supposed to go to right at the start of the game. I had to cleverly lure him out of the entrance to the tavern so I could get in and meet up with those guys I was supposed to meet up with. It was only after having them join me and then going back outside was I able to beat that SOB. Then I tried heading directly south from that one town that's south of the inn place and ran into these big brute like things that slaughtered me. Meh.

Friendly Arm Inn Wizard Assassin Guy has three real spells as I recall; fear, mirror image, and magic missile. When he attacks you he also becomes hostile towards the Friendly Arm Inn guards. Easiest way to kill him even with a level 1 character is to split up your group, keep your most deadly to one side and have your most durable confront him when there are guards around. His first action after the whole 'bwah me kill' assassin speech will be to cast fear, which to be fair is a damned good way to open a low level fight. However if only one character is within his spell range at absolute worst only one character can be effected.

He will also try to can mirror image. If you can disrupt him here is saves a 'ton' of effort. When you start the game Imoen will have a wand of magic missiles, if your character off to the side has that and casts it at the right time you'll interrupt his spell. This guy is only a low level mage after all, sneezing at him hard enough will disrupt his spells. And from there it's just a matter of beating him into a pulp. Without his spells he's just a wimp in a dress wielding a stick, and if you've got the guards helping you he goes down within seconds. He'll try to cast magic missile once or twice, maybe melfs acid arrow as well? Can't remember. But again if you can use the wand to interrupt and he's helpless. Even if you can't time it right none of those spells do terribly much damage so you 'should' be alright as long as you're not unlucky.

If you're level 2 when you encounter him, which is pretty easy to achieve if you do all the stuff in candlekeep and explore a little in the wilds (quicksave often, there are some moderately dangerous enemies in the area south of Friendly Arm Inn though the area east of candlekeep is safe save for a few wolves and a couple bears) he's even easier. You might also have Xzar and Montaron with you as well, which makes the fight supremely easy presuming you kept three of your four group members from being potentially feared.

As for the the thing that killed you south of Beregost, that's probably an Ogrillon bandit, a half-orc mongrel. Shoot em with arrows before they can get close and if you must, let Khalid take any hits. He's a tough guy despite the stutter. They hit pretty hard for early levels but that's about it really. No fancy tricks to beating em, just kill em before they can thwack you too hard. They're thugs with big sticks!

Hope that helps.

 

[BeeGeenie]

I tried playing this game for the first time recently and so far I've run into 2 unwinnable battles. Yeah it's not really selling itself to me.

I daresay I know the Baldur's Gate games pretty damned well, what fights are those and what level is your group? I ask because perhaps I can give you a few tips, although if you're a level 2 trying to take on a Death Knight there's not much advice I can give beyond 'go somewhere else and come back when you're a higher level'. Them bastards are tough!

Well there was that one wizard that you run into when you arrive at that one Inn you're supposed to go to right at the start of the game. I had to cleverly lure him out of the entrance to the tavern so I could get in and meet up with those guys I was supposed to meet up with. It was only after having them join me and then going back outside was I able to beat that SOB. Then I tried heading directly south from that one town that's south of the inn place and ran into these big brute like things that slaughtered me. Meh.

BG can be very unforgiving at first, it took me a long time to get past the steep difficulty curve. As The Madman pointed out, missile weapons are really the key to victory before you get enough hp to survive a melee.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Well there was that one wizard that you run into when you arrive at that one Inn you're supposed to go to right at the start of the game. I had to cleverly lure him out of the entrance to the tavern so I could get in and meet up with those guys I was supposed to meet up with. It was only after having them join me and then going back outside was I able to beat that SOB. Then I tried heading directly south from that one town that's south of the inn place and ran into these big brute like things that slaughtered me. Meh.

Friendly Arm Inn Wizard Assassin Guy has three real spells as I recall; fear, mirror image, and magic missile. When he attacks you he also becomes hostile towards the Friendly Arm Inn guards. Easiest way to kill him even with a level 1 character is to split up your group, keep your most deadly to one side and have your most durable confront him when there are guards around. His first action after the whole 'bwah me kill' assassin speech will be to cast fear, which to be fair is a damned good way to open a low level fight. However if only one character is within his spell range at absolute worst only one character can be effected.

He will also try to can mirror image. If you can disrupt him here is saves a 'ton' of effort. When you start the game Imoen will have a wand of magic missiles, if your character off to the side has that and casts it at the right time you'll interrupt his spell. This guy is only a low level mage after all, sneezing at him hard enough will disrupt his spells. And from there it's just a matter of beating him into a pulp. Without his spells he's just a wimp in a dress wielding a stick, and if you've got the guards helping you he goes down within seconds. He'll try to cast magic missile once or twice, maybe melfs acid arrow as well? Can't remember. But again if you can use the wand to interrupt and he's helpless. Even if you can't time it right none of those spells do terribly much damage so you 'should' be alright as long as you're not unlucky.

If you're level 2 when you encounter him, which is pretty easy to achieve if you do all the stuff in candlekeep and explore a little in the wilds (quicksave often, there are some moderately dangerous enemies in the area south of Friendly Arm Inn though the area east of candlekeep is safe save for a few wolves and a couple bears) he's even easier. You might also have Xzar and Montaron with you as well, which makes the fight supremely easy presuming you kept three of your four group members from being potentially feared.

As for the the thing that killed you south of Beregost, that's probably an Ogrillon bandit, a half-orc mongrel. Shoot em with arrows before they can get close and if you must, let Khalid take any hits. He's a tough guy despite the stutter. They hit pretty hard for early levels but that's about it really. No fancy tricks to beating em, just kill em before they can thwack you too hard. They're thugs with big sticks!

Hope that helps.

I tried playing this game for the first time recently and so far I've run into 2 unwinnable battles. Yeah it's not really selling itself to me.

I daresay I know the Baldur's Gate games pretty damned well, what fights are those and what level is your group? I ask because perhaps I can give you a few tips, although if you're a level 2 trying to take on a Death Knight there's not much advice I can give beyond 'go somewhere else and come back when you're a higher level'. Them bastards are tough!

Well there was that one wizard that you run into when you arrive at that one Inn you're supposed to go to right at the start of the game. I had to cleverly lure him out of the entrance to the tavern so I could get in and meet up with those guys I was supposed to meet up with. It was only after having them join me and then going back outside was I able to beat that SOB. Then I tried heading directly south from that one town that's south of the inn place and ran into these big brute like things that slaughtered me. Meh.

BG can be very unforgiving at first, it took me a long time to get past the steep difficulty curve. As The Madman pointed out, missile weapons are really the key to victory before you get enough hp to survive a melee.

Noted. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Yeah never got into Baldurs gate I have tried a few times and it just irritated the hell out of me especially the first time when I had absolutely no idea about anything and so had a wizard with atrocious stats across the board. I got further eventually but my save got wiped not far in and I never picked it back up, I havent played the enhanced edition and to be honest probably never will.

BG2 is much better imo it still didnt grab me much but it was leagues above BG 1. I think these games are either ones that resonate with you or dont most people I have spoke to either like it a lot or dislike it a lot.

Actually thats not true most people I have spoken to are unaware of its existence and will think of the hack and slash dungeon crawler game on PS2 if you say Baldurs gate thats if they think of anything at all.