I just beat the game, here's what I saw:

- Best visuals of them all. Backgrounds have more detail and shadowing is better as well.

- Enemy groups are usually larger than they've ever been in BG1 or 2, which makes AoE so much more satisfying.

- Recycling of a lot of music and voice tracks was definitely a letdown. You can hear the difference in quality between music and VA recorded recently vs. the rehashed lines and music from 1998, the EQ is a lot thinner.

- The mage fights felt a lot better to me. BG1 they were way too easy because it's low-level DnD, BG2 they could sometimes be incredibly frustrating RNG fests if you walked into them blind. SoD is in between both and they felt a lot better to me.

- The setup for the game is less of the "dark fantasy" that BG2 had and more like the "real world oil crisis scenario in a fantasy world" setting of BG1 which means the abundance of dialogue when doing FedEx quests can be pretty dry.

- In regards to the writing, overall I didn't think it was *bad* - BG1 and BG2 certainly had a lot of missteps - it's just that, again, the story isn't as interesting as BG2, though at the same time I think it's paced better than BG1 (which didn't really get good until you return to Candlekeep). The big payoff for all your actions is something BG1 didn't have either and for me at least the major sequence I don't want to ruin by naming it made the story have a far greater impact.

- My biggest woe is something that's present in the other BGs and that's lawnmowing every time you enter a new area.

- I didn't encounter any glitches or crashes. I did play mutiplayer for a bit but only a bit (30ish minutes) so I don't know how long it would've lasted, but I've read a lot of complaints about it being completely broken and at least in my case that wasn't true.

- The UI feature improvements and new party AI makes the game play a lot smoother than it ever has, though there are definitely modenizations that could still be made (ie. have acquired gems instantly go into the gem bag)

Overall I feel like I got the exact SoD experience that was intended, and I'd give my experience a 7/10. For comparison sake I'd give BG1 a 6 or 6.5 and BG2 an 8.

Steam version, don't knoe if that matters though.

You *have* to be kidding! Apart from the UI, the visuals are a blurry mess, and edging option for characters makes the whole game look comical.

The character outline applies to every game now, and you can turn it off.

As for it being a "blurry mess"... it isn't HD textures but it's better than the other two. I'll get a screenshot comparison of each game here.

- Other games are not in question
- Posts screenshot of another game for comparison

cya then

If anyone else is interested in seeing comparison shots or having a proper discussion, I'll engage.

"Applies to every game now." Wake up or explain yourself better. I have no time for fools.

We're discussing Baldur's Gate, aren't we?

Precisely why I gave a comparison shot of the 'real' Baldur's Gate. The 'enhanced' editions are inferior graphically -- they lack the original assets. End of tale.

I'm discussing SoD mainly, I bring up how the (optional) sprite outlines affect *all* the games not just SoD, you say other games don't matter, then you post a screenshot of BG1 and refute your own argument...

Was pointless to try and re-engage with you. Going to enjoy BG2EE now.

Are you just playing at being an idiot, or what? You stated in your very first post:
" - Best visuals of them all. Backgrounds have more detail and shadowing is better as well."

I refuted that, and still refute it. Best visuals of them all? Bullshit. I have already proven that's not the case. Refute my own argument? You're nuts.

I stand by what I stated before that SoD is a bad expansion. It is inferior to both BG 1&2. If you want a good BG series experience skip the EEs, mod the original and then give it a try.

Considering the EEs come with the Originals now *and* they have the improved UI and party AI in addition to everything else, there's really no reason to do this.

I started playing BG back when it was new. SoD is great.

Thanks for your thoughts! I'm having a hard time filtering through all the worst expansions ever/best expansion ever opinions. And then the arguing between the two sides. I feel there is too much exaggeration on both sides which makes it hard for someone like me to find actual facts.

It's nice to get an opinion somewhere in the middle. I'm playing through BGEE for the first time (played the original more than a few times and BG2 many more) and I'm really enjoying it. I'm planning on buying SoD after I beat BGEE and your thoughts along with a handful of others give me confidence that I will enjoy it around the same level I enjoy the originals.

I wouldn't mind seeing a comparison screenshot.

Thanks again.

I, too, have been playing BG 1&2 since they first came out and nothing about BDs versions impressed me. There were a few changes that were okay but, overall, I didn't find them impressive.

Personally i'm playing through BG 1 EE and i love the new UI changes in 2.0. I bought SoD spear cause i do want to give money to the company to help improve the engine.

The only bug i encountered was the difficulty changing on the new patch but once i changed it back i had no issues.