I've had them on my wishlist for some time but the negative reviews keep making me question whether I should buy them or not. I've heard the DLC for the first game might not be something I like.

depends I guess

I've been looking to refresh memories and the EE's are the best and most Quality-of-Life wise adequate way to do it.
I don't care for the negative hype tbh.
also the EEs are cross-platform which is the killer feature for me
as for the DLCs if you mean Siege of Dragonspear and black pits then I can't say nothing neither pro nor contra. I didn't bother with them

I agree with osm. Disregard the negative reviews of the EE versions and just buy one of them when it's on sale and make up your own mind..

The EE versions play well, are cross-platform and fix a lot of bugs from the originals plus enhance the visuals quite a bit. Not to be forgotten, they fix compatibility and performance issues with modern systems.

I've played the original Saga including IWD in the 90's and 2000's multiple times. SInce the EE versions came out, I've played them too and I found them much improved. Every few years I am starting a new play through and I always go for the EE versions. Sure, they had bugs at the beginning but they have ironed them out in between. The game is still being patched and improved to this day.

As for the Siege of Dragonspear DLC, it's a nice side story. One can look at it as a separate module / mod. I had fun playing it, but I can see how some would not. Each to it's own.

The Black Pits DLC's (additions to both BG:EE and BG2:EE) are your classical arena combat DLC. Create a party and fight in an arena against stronger and stronger opponents.

cheers.

Thanks for the feedback. I decided to pick the first Baldur's Gate EE up, installed in and will try it. I figured I can buy the sequel down the line and/or get the DLC.

As a minor point, Black Pits comes with BG1EE. You don't buy or install it separately. Black Pits 2: Gladiators of Thay comes with BG2EE. Again, it's part of the base purchase.

Siege of Dragonspear does not come with BG1EE, and must be purchased separately if you want it. I have not bought it, and have no opinion about its suitability.

Thanks for the clarification. I'll see what I think of the "base" game before deciding on DLC.

Definitely not.
Get it at an 50% bundle, and just pley the OE (original edition).
EE is inferior in every way. the changes are not good, don't make any sense, the parts of the saga (at least 1 and 2 with their expansions) obviously were created by different teams who were not aware what the others were doing.

You have been warned.

There are 2 new companions iirc and they were very good.