MadyNora: I asked the very same question about BG2 a few months ago, and I was told to play the original first. And I did^^
To explain a little: for first time players the biggest differences are that the EE has better resolution, the new characters, different skills, and a new intrface (wich is ugly as hell IMO).
Also, in the original the game does NOT pause on the inventory screen, but it does pause in the EE.
Basically to understad what the EE adds, you shoud try the original first. (And it will aslo help you understand why "original" players were displeased with the EE, since it doesn't give that much as we expected. (I liked the EE tho, except the ugly interface)
(multiply edits for spelling >_<)
Wotan.Viking: I own Fallout 1 here on GOG. I was playing it, but the graphics looks terrible in my screen. And there is no option to run it on window mode. So I found a high resolution mod and installed it, but so the strings become very dificult to read. Everything become so small at 1080p. Does it happens with BG original too?
I tried BG with the widescreen mod, UI mods and whatnot, and it was not satisfactory graphical-wise on my rig. Without the widescreen mod, I could read everything just fine and the game played well.
So my recommendation is:
- if you care about playing the historical game, choose original
- if you want the easiest experience, including easy-to-read text, no need to mod, and some other improvements, but the addition of some added sections and NPCs that don't seem to fit very well, then choose EE.
- If you want to have the cheapest, worst experience, just play what you have. :D
- If you want all of your NPCs to carry over from BG1 to BG2 in the way that you have leveled them, then go with GOG versions and install Baldur's Gate Trilogy (someone correct me if I'm wrong here -- I mess up which mods do what sometimes)
I think most GOG users would say use the GOG versions.
I think most users overall would say go with EE versions.