My first play of Baldur's Gate II

[Anachronism]

I completely agree that BGII is pretty much the least user-friendly game there is; it's a nightmare to get into, but once you've fought your way through the interface, it's one of the best games ever made. You need to get a hang of the AD&D rules as well; personally, I love them, but a lot of people don't, and I can sympathise, because they are extremely complicated. And yes, it definitely helps to have played the original, because you're familiar with the interface and (possibly more importantly) the characters.

Don't give up on it: take your time to figure out the rules and the interface. Trust me, it'll be worth the effort. I've been playing BGII since February and have completed six chapters out of ten. It's an absurdly long game: the effort you put into learning how to play it well will be rewarded in ridiculous amounts of game time. Plus, as I said, it's one of the best RPGs, and one of the best games, ever made. There's a reason it's No. 6 on Metacritic's list of highest-rated PC games.

I'm being overly harsh, but the thing is, I was giving you a way out -> it *is* the best RPG for everyone. It's pretty overwhelming in terms of size, scale, complexity (it's AD&D rules -> 'advanced' D&D) and un-user-friendly-ness (oh dear). A lot of people (*a lot*) love it for that -> personally I prefer a deep and inaccessible game to a shallow and easy to swallow one, but if you found it a bit much first time (and I don't blame you), then that's fine too. The fact that you're not all that into RPGs or D&D really just makes it more likely for you not to like it -> BG2 has more fans than D&D does, so it can't possibly be true to say that it only appeals to D&D fans.

I love how you talk like this, despite not having actually played the game.

 

[HyenaThePirate]

Give me a Baldur's Gate MMO with the all the same D&D rules, and even the top down 3/4 view and I would never touch World of Warcraft, or any RPG ever again..

 

[DrunkenKitty]

Give it a second chance.

The game is geared toward people familiar with 2nd Ed. ADnD, so it might not seem intuitive to you at first.

The game also starts kind of in the middle of a story rather than easing you into the plotline. It starts out fairly linear, but once you exit the city, you can go where ever you want and explore and kill stuff and get phat lewts. The game really wasn't very gratifying to me until I had this freedom. Don't get hung up on plotlines or whatnot, just roam for a while and come back to that stuff later.

If having a powerful character would make it more enjoyable for you, make a Kensai.

 

[Andy_Panthro]

I read a couple of "forgotten realms" books when I was young, and noticed they were based on D&D, but had no real idea of what that was until I played Baldur's Gate, which thankfully for me mentioned things from the books I'd read! This helped massively in getting me more attached to the story.

I agree its tough to understand the mechanics, THAC0 used to drive me up the wall. However, the vast, rich and open world to explore is quite amazing.

I noticed someone mentioned the beginning of BG2 being "boring"? I thought it was one of the best introductions to a game I've ever seen. It puts you right into the action, leaves an air of mystery, and makes you fight your way out. Very atmospheric, and Jon Irenicus is one of my all time favourite bad guys (and voiced by a British actor to boot!)

 

[Xaositect]

does help alot starting with BG1 and continuing over to BG2 with the same character

Exactly what I was going to say. Although BGII creates your character at about level 10ish, that doesnt mean you can bypass everything you learn from getting there in BG1 and still play comfortably.

Plus, I hate to sound arrogant, but if youre just entering Baldurs Gate now, not to mention RPGs in general, you may be too late to ever "accept it". If its only now you have started playing RPGs, you might want to stick to the more modern ones. Particularly the "psuedo" types that blend other types of gameplay. Again, not to sound elitist, but its my opinion that certain older games tended to be a lot less forgiving to make playing all the more rewarding.

 

[Artemis923]

It helps if you know the AD&D system before you delve into BGII.