Zaxares: 2. Out of curiosity, have you/would you play games that have romance as a central theme of the gameplay (i.e. visual novels) or do you just prefer not to have romances in your games at all?
I can't think of any game that I've played of that kind, but I have one of those on GOG. So, yes I will give it a try. I rather have the issue with the implementation of that aspect in cRPGs.
Zaxares: 3. Ironically, you might actually like the SoD's depiction of Irenicus more than the SoA version. In that game, Irenicus is more of a "mysterious stranger" who seems almost beneficent towards you. (Outside of one particular travel encounter, that is.) He provides you with small hints and information that assist you in your quest, and while he may chide or berate you for certain decisions, he seems to want you to succeed for some inscrutable purpose. This is a bit strange considering his goals and motivations in SoA, as if he'd taken a sudden turn for the worst towards Evil. SoD Irenicus seems more "callously Neutral" than outright Evil.
Sounds interesting, but I'm not supporting EEs and Beamdog for what they've done. I'm one of the people that contacted them about removing the originals from GOG and they lied to me.
Zaxares: 4. This I would say is one of the biggest weaknesses (although some might call it a strength and a selling point) of the 2nd Ed AD&D system; different classes peak at different points in their levels. Rogues and archer types tend to be crazily dangerous at lower levels, while Mages tend to be nigh-indestructible at high levels if given sufficient preparation. While I think that this affords AD&D a unique experience between classes ("Yeah, my mage sucks now, but just wait till I hit level 20!"), I think that from a gameplay and design perspective, it is not an ideal system for constructing a well-balanced RPG, because it means that, at different stages in their play experience, there will be players who are going, "Ugh, why am I struggling so much? This game isn't fun anymore!"
It is a flaw of the system and I don't have the inside knowledge about Bioware's deal with WotC at that time, but I wish they would've re-balanced things a bit more, or design the encounters so that you can finish the game with even a wild party composition, like only thieves.
Sarafan: FR is a standard fantasy setting. That's why we see standard dragons during gameplay. It's hardly a flaw. It resembles a situation where you accuse a table of not being a chair. I agree dragons are fantasy cliches, but it's the same for elves, dwarfs and so on.
They had a wide variety of enemies to choose from, yet the went for the most obvious choice. Besides, elves and dwarves don't fly and breathe fire, which makes fighting againt them question the logic of their behaviour.
Sarafan: Are you talking about mages controlled by player or hostile ones encountered during playthrough? Mages are overpowered in AD&D. That's a fact I'm not going to discuss. It's possible to solo the game with a Sorcerer. But I wouldn't say that other classes become useless. Duel with a high-level hostile mage can get nasty, if you don't have someone to deliver physical blow right after you take down the enemy's protection spells. Of course you can win the duel simply by reloading the game until you kill the mage, but we're not talking here about this particular tactic.
Both and you prove my point by adding that you can solo the game as a sorcerer, but what about other classes? Furthermore I said that "makes most other classes than a mage/sorcerer
almost useless" and that was deliberate choice of words. Yes, other classes are useful, but even Bioware didn't provide a good thief as an NPC, further proving that you don't need one. Mages outpacing other classes on higher levels may be due to AD&D, but it doesn't excuse Bioware from designing the game in the direction they did.
Sarafan: I prefer quality over quantity in this case. BG1 companions had only a few dialogue lines. Those in BG2 are more developed as you pointed and the storytelling profits from it greatly.
If BG2 was focusing on the dialogues as PS:T did then yes, totally. However, there's quite a lot of combat in BG2, so I need also companions that can fulfill certain roles. On the flipside I prefer when less is more and I mean those few dialogue lines that can really provide attitude of an NPC.