Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

I really can*t understand the critics who say that the EE is a bad port. It is certainly not. I consider myself a BG-Veteran, since I played the game about 12-15 times in the last 20 years. Beamdog made some nice graphical imrovements, ifex various bugs and added some nice content to the game. I really enjoyed it. Most people say say that BG II ist superior to the first game in every way. I'm probably one of the few guys who think that BG 1 was just as much fun. Personally, it was even more fun to play for me. For over 20 years now, BG is (next to Fallout II & II) my favourite game. This was one of the first free-choice games with a relatively open word setting (in an isometric perspective). The scenerie is beautiful, the gameplay is well balanced and the replay-value is superb, since there are so many quest options und various companions to choose from, which all bring their side quests. The best part, of course, is that there is a huge active modding-community that has developed some great mods that increas the depth of the hame even more. Overall, I highly recommend this game.

I have autism and am very particular about the games I play. The original Baldur's Gate came out when I was 13 and I have loved it ever since. I've beaten the game dozens of times. For years, I have refused to play the enhanced edition because it had qualities that I was convinced I wouldn’t like. But with some convincing from my wife, I have finally tried it out. After playing it for a few hours, I have to say that it's okay. I don't like the GUI's look (would have preferred the old stone and gold look of the original) and I really don't like the new companions (they stick out like a red shirt in a group of green shirts). But the quality-of-life improvements are very, very good. The game runs way more smoothly and is easier for new and younger gamers to play this classic. Would I recommend this game? The answer is yes, I would. However, I would recommend that any new players to try a full play through of the Original Saga at least once just for the experience of what it was like back twenty years ago.

Baldur's Gate is through and through the pinnacle of AD&D based cRPGs of the 90s. It got realtime combat with pausing available, a solid story with multiple options of how to approach it and tons of extra content with little relation to the main plot. The Enhanced addition brings some nice updates and modern conveniences to Baldur's Gate, but unfortunately also brings in several new characters that don't really fit in with some very hamfisted writing. The story follows your own crafted character as they have to come to terms with their heritage and figure out why are they are being hunting by a shadowy organization. You could try to play the stereotypical hero that always does whats right, a greedy sellsword, or a vicious murder hobo out for blood at every turn and still complete the game! While your choices don't always impact other events, your reputation often will and NPCs will sometime attack based purely on a strong Good or Bad reputation and certain quests can be sealed off forever based on your reputation as well. There are two major things that will possibly turn off modern audiences from Baldur's Gate; 1) The game's pathfinding and AI is pretty awful even in the enhanced edition. Characters often decide to pick awful targets take long routes. Your characters will also often decide to B-Line hostile enemies, even if there are traps in the way or a dangerous AOE spell area lingering around. You have to micro manage your characters in combat and it's not easy even if you know all the tricks. 2) The game strongly follows Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition(AD&D 2e) rules and lore. AD&D was crafted in the 80s as a more advanced and complex version of the original Dungeons and Dragons(D&D). It was made before Video Game RPGs were a thing with Paper and Pen gameplay at it's heart. AD&D 2e rules may seem obtuse and non-intuitive to people who never played 80s paper and pen RPGs. There will be a rough learning curve for these type of people.

An amazing journey that started with tough times. With a lot of games restarted and a bit of frustration in time to time, but, my friends... This is an absolute gem that should never be forgotten. Worth to give it a try.

I own both the Classic edition and the Enhanced editions and I have to say, one you get used to the EE it's difficult to go back to the originals. You can get close to the EE experience in the classic versions if you are OK with taking the time to research the various mods and install them, but if you want to play right out of the gate I'd recommend the EE over the original. The Enhanced Edition isn't flawless however, I've noticed a strange bug in the interface with US Scaling turnd on in which there is a small section of the screen you can't click on. It's only really a problem with the level up screen preventing you from clicking the plus sign next to skills to add points to it. However, this can be worked around by turning off UI scaling when leveling up or just not using it at all. It's a minor thing since leveling only happens so often. Unless you are a die hard purist for the originals I'd say this is the way to go.