Icewind Dale 2 Complete

I'm not very good at these Infinity Engine D & D games but I do like them a lot. I think I prefer the more straightforward, hack 'n' slash direction that the Icewind Dale games offer as opposed to the story driven Baldur's Gate games. Sometimes a good story just means too much tiny text for my lazy modern gamer eyes to handle. Just let me click on monsters and make them die. Despite my many hours playing IWD and BG, I still haven't got a clue as to how best to utilize my magic classes. So many spells and options, there needs to be a tutorial in-game to help us dummies learn all the intricacies of each class. If, like me, you can't be bothered with learning what the heck "THAC0" means or dislike reading in-game tomes filled with lore, you might prefer the excellent arcade-style RPG Nox to this. That said, there still nothing more satisfying than finally getting through each one of the many tough battles that Icewind Dale will throw at you.

After playing this game for 16 years on and off, I finally just finished it now. Icewind Dale 2 is the last of the Infinity Engine era and a masterpiece in its own right. For its time it was the pinnacle of polish and a welcome sendoff. Luckily, I now know that I wasn't alone in wanting more of these and isometric crpgs have made a comeback with Pillars of Eternity etc... So the game: create your own party and save the 10 towns in an adventure that took me way over 50 hours altogether. In terms of content, without having to buy DLC etc, this game is chock full. Great story, wonderfully written dialogue and very fun combat. At the end you look back at all you've seen and really think you've been through an epic adventure which you created yourself with your personal band of adventurers. Tip: If you want a richer experience with a talking party that banter back and forth with each other, check out the IWD2 NPC project, which mods in a party like in Baldur's Gate. In short, an unreserved recommendation for crpg lovers, both on and off sale. A classic that I will never forget.

Everytime i kill the Guardian at the yuanti temple , the game instantly crashes 100% of the time , ending my run for good. Up to thispoint i cant even count the amount of crashes in the run. Extremely unstable

Icewind Dale II was the game that really got me into Roleplaying. I've played the most of the other DnD-based games but this one has always stood out as my favorite. I loved being able to create my own party with their own playstyles and backstories. I loved the atmosphere and the dialogue. I loved the real-time (turn-based) combat mechanics. But beware! This game is balls hard and can be intensely frustrating. I can remember many a hard fought battle where I was on the edge of victory only for some poor rolls to leave my party slaughtered. Also, don't feel like you have to play the first Icewind Dale to play this one. I didn't. If I could I'd rate Icewind Dale a 20/20 because it's a critical hit.

When I read that this was a difficult, combat-heavy D&D Dungeon crawler with minimal story and character development, I figured there wouldn't be anything worthy of interest since I'm not particularly interested in D&D, nor dungeon crawlers. But I don't accept ignorance so I'll try it. Fast forward over a dozens hours later and I can't stop thinking about this game. First of all, the story and characters (sidequests and the like) are really well written. They are minimalistic for sure but high-quality and the game has alot of surprises along the way (i.e. a Goblin Chief you can talk to in the middle of a dungeon which might result in one-less fight to go through? That's pretty cool). Furthermore, the weapon/item descriptions are amazing and memorable (a better version of the item descriptions you see in FromSoftware's games imo). Second, the dungeon-crawling itself is phenomenal. This is because of 3 things. 1. The combat encounters are all smartly created and often challenging. You'll faces entire hordes that try to overwhelm you, more tactical battles against overpowered but few enemies, ambushes and everything else you can think of. It's one of few games I can remember where almost every battle feels impactful and meaningful. This is not one of those games where you click on an enemy and wait for them to die. 2. Atmosphere and sound design is superb. The maps themselves look good and give a great, oppressive, lonely atmosphere. 3. Briefly mentioned above but the suprises along the way from secrets to sidequests to spells/weapons. It's all done in a way to make the dungeon crawling be more than just XP grinds. I also must mention the artwork of the game (both games really) which really stands out. They are all really high-quality and look like paintings (far better character portraits than Baldur's Gate imo). All in all, an extraordinary surprise and a far better game than I had expected. Definitely worth your money and your time. Highly recommended!