Posted March 06, 2011
Third time beating SoA. Second time through ToB.
General impressions:
Played through the first time roughly when it came out. Did so again...although only through SoA...about five years ago. And now the GOG version I finished all of it yesterday.
BG2 holds up well. It's still a very playable, modern-feeling game. I also purchased BG1 from GOG and started it (without TuTu) and oddly enough it doesn't feel modern. Maybe that's just a comparison to BG2. BG1's story, while excellent, is hidden in a world, perhaps, a little too open. Like the Elder Scrolls games, I find it impossible not to wander the countryside exploring, losing the thread of the story, and eventually I get bored and quit.
My party was Minsc, Mazzy, Imoen, Viconia, Edwin and myself, a kensai/mage dual. I'd always heard about the awesome-ness of this dual but never tried it. Meh, it's alright. The ability to swing a sword comes in handy now and then, but with two fighters and a tough cleric, most of the time I could do more casting spells. There was no need to draw my blade anyway. I dropped Jahiera in the ruins of Amuanator (ms?) for Mazzy. I was doing the Viconia romance anyway and wanted to have a different character in my party. I don't think Mazzy is a good choice for a second fighter, to be honest. She might have more use if one could acquire her earlier. Her bow ability is excellent, but in the late game and through ToB, ranged weapons just don't cause the mass destruction necessary to win battles. In some ways, fighters become irrelevant late in SoA and through ToB. If you have several mages, high-level animate dead, mordikain's sword, elemental, or planar summoning fill the roll of the figher. I recall for a long stretch through ToB, Minsc and Mazzy just kicked back while I sent wave after wave of undead and mordikain swords into the fray. They are far more resistant to the killer attacks made by late game monsters anyway.
IIRC, that was why I never finished ToB the second time through. My character was a specialist in bows or some such. About the only special use I can think of for a traditional ranged fighter in ToB is to disrupt mage spells. But very often, they cast protections of some kind before your first arrow can strike.
This time I skipped Saughin City after Spellhold. I found that place boring the first time through. I'm also no fan of the Underdark, but I do like the Drow City, and it was even better with Viconia in the party.
I did most of the quests in SoA. I got about half way through Watcher's Keep in ToB before getting bored with the dungeon crawling. I didn't start it until I was practically done with the game. By then I had such a high level the battles weren't that hard. I did finish it last time playing through at a lower level and it was butt-kickingly hard, to quote Minsc.
It seems I always do the Amn city sections out of order because I wind up coasting through the slums well into it. This time I actually went back to the the D'arniss(ms?) Hold and retrieved my taxes and did the quests. I find that place boring, too, and never return after finishing it.
One thing I really wish they hadn't done was make, what's-his-name, thief master...Bloodscalp, or something...so far back in his own lair. You have to go see him a millions times and each time you have to walk your party down that long hall. Crap that sucks.
Irenicus, in the elven city, I found by accident the previous playthrough, to be quite easy. I had three mages in my party. Each of those fired a sequencer of magic missles, while the other three characters fired hasted ranged weapons. In two seconds, he's toast. One volley, pretty much, and he's begging for mercy. In hell, he's a different beast altogether...and much harder. That one's like a boxing match. Let him wear himself out and once he stops casting spells rush him with all six of your characters swinging their weapon of choice.
I'm still not a fan of ToB. The romance continuation is probably the highlight of the whole thing, no matter which one you're involved in. One of the few games that has meaningful continuation of the story in the sequel. I'm not a fan of ToB because it's just masses of high-level combat, which I find boring, wrapped around an unexciting endgame. Lower-level D&D is just so much better where one arrow, one spell, one pulled-straight-from-the-ass tactic can win a battle. I've never liked the fact that so many spells (priest/druid/mage) become useless. Some are useless as soon as you jump to the next level. I wish the spells themselves progressed and became stronger, much like classes do. I should note that some of them certainly do...but not enough. Magic missle is viable through the whole game. But then why do I need two haste spells. Why can't haste become improved haste? Maybe that's a programming issue. Dunno.
If I ever do play this again, it won't be as a mage, or mage hybrid. That was the second time. I haven't played as a rogue or druid. I started the game once as a bard but quit early...not because of the bard class though. I'll probably go through as a female to see the last romance I haven't seen.
But it's going to be a while. Right now I have no desire to return to the sword coast.
The long and the short: this is still near the pinnacle of game experiences one can have. This hinges on two things: story and character. Both are so strong throughout this series. When I think of how bland and dry a game like Oblivion is compared to this. In BG, you want to know more about every character, because they are all so fucking odd/interesting/convoluted/worried/persecuted/tormented/etc; whereas in games like Obilvion, that excel in creating a domestic fantasy simulation, no one talks to highly intelligent space hamsters. Turns out, I don't want to live in a world like that.
General impressions:
Played through the first time roughly when it came out. Did so again...although only through SoA...about five years ago. And now the GOG version I finished all of it yesterday.
BG2 holds up well. It's still a very playable, modern-feeling game. I also purchased BG1 from GOG and started it (without TuTu) and oddly enough it doesn't feel modern. Maybe that's just a comparison to BG2. BG1's story, while excellent, is hidden in a world, perhaps, a little too open. Like the Elder Scrolls games, I find it impossible not to wander the countryside exploring, losing the thread of the story, and eventually I get bored and quit.
My party was Minsc, Mazzy, Imoen, Viconia, Edwin and myself, a kensai/mage dual. I'd always heard about the awesome-ness of this dual but never tried it. Meh, it's alright. The ability to swing a sword comes in handy now and then, but with two fighters and a tough cleric, most of the time I could do more casting spells. There was no need to draw my blade anyway. I dropped Jahiera in the ruins of Amuanator (ms?) for Mazzy. I was doing the Viconia romance anyway and wanted to have a different character in my party. I don't think Mazzy is a good choice for a second fighter, to be honest. She might have more use if one could acquire her earlier. Her bow ability is excellent, but in the late game and through ToB, ranged weapons just don't cause the mass destruction necessary to win battles. In some ways, fighters become irrelevant late in SoA and through ToB. If you have several mages, high-level animate dead, mordikain's sword, elemental, or planar summoning fill the roll of the figher. I recall for a long stretch through ToB, Minsc and Mazzy just kicked back while I sent wave after wave of undead and mordikain swords into the fray. They are far more resistant to the killer attacks made by late game monsters anyway.
IIRC, that was why I never finished ToB the second time through. My character was a specialist in bows or some such. About the only special use I can think of for a traditional ranged fighter in ToB is to disrupt mage spells. But very often, they cast protections of some kind before your first arrow can strike.
This time I skipped Saughin City after Spellhold. I found that place boring the first time through. I'm also no fan of the Underdark, but I do like the Drow City, and it was even better with Viconia in the party.
I did most of the quests in SoA. I got about half way through Watcher's Keep in ToB before getting bored with the dungeon crawling. I didn't start it until I was practically done with the game. By then I had such a high level the battles weren't that hard. I did finish it last time playing through at a lower level and it was butt-kickingly hard, to quote Minsc.
It seems I always do the Amn city sections out of order because I wind up coasting through the slums well into it. This time I actually went back to the the D'arniss(ms?) Hold and retrieved my taxes and did the quests. I find that place boring, too, and never return after finishing it.
One thing I really wish they hadn't done was make, what's-his-name, thief master...Bloodscalp, or something...so far back in his own lair. You have to go see him a millions times and each time you have to walk your party down that long hall. Crap that sucks.
Irenicus, in the elven city, I found by accident the previous playthrough, to be quite easy. I had three mages in my party. Each of those fired a sequencer of magic missles, while the other three characters fired hasted ranged weapons. In two seconds, he's toast. One volley, pretty much, and he's begging for mercy. In hell, he's a different beast altogether...and much harder. That one's like a boxing match. Let him wear himself out and once he stops casting spells rush him with all six of your characters swinging their weapon of choice.
I'm still not a fan of ToB. The romance continuation is probably the highlight of the whole thing, no matter which one you're involved in. One of the few games that has meaningful continuation of the story in the sequel. I'm not a fan of ToB because it's just masses of high-level combat, which I find boring, wrapped around an unexciting endgame. Lower-level D&D is just so much better where one arrow, one spell, one pulled-straight-from-the-ass tactic can win a battle. I've never liked the fact that so many spells (priest/druid/mage) become useless. Some are useless as soon as you jump to the next level. I wish the spells themselves progressed and became stronger, much like classes do. I should note that some of them certainly do...but not enough. Magic missle is viable through the whole game. But then why do I need two haste spells. Why can't haste become improved haste? Maybe that's a programming issue. Dunno.
If I ever do play this again, it won't be as a mage, or mage hybrid. That was the second time. I haven't played as a rogue or druid. I started the game once as a bard but quit early...not because of the bard class though. I'll probably go through as a female to see the last romance I haven't seen.
But it's going to be a while. Right now I have no desire to return to the sword coast.
The long and the short: this is still near the pinnacle of game experiences one can have. This hinges on two things: story and character. Both are so strong throughout this series. When I think of how bland and dry a game like Oblivion is compared to this. In BG, you want to know more about every character, because they are all so fucking odd/interesting/convoluted/worried/persecuted/tormented/etc; whereas in games like Obilvion, that excel in creating a domestic fantasy simulation, no one talks to highly intelligent space hamsters. Turns out, I don't want to live in a world like that.
