Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

Original Baldur's Gate was one of the best cRPGs ever released, deserving five stars. But this is just a ripoff. Mods are available free(!) for both graphic enhancements and cut content (and extra user content as well). Considering this, such a small addition to the original game shouldn't cost more than a few bucks. The same goes for BG2 EE as well.

I can't believe THIS was sold for money. I also can't believe the praise that gets lavished on it. So I snapped this up because it was on sale (like I said, for $3), installed it and took it for a 20-minute test drive. Let me tell you, after having played and thoroughly enjoyed the classic version of the game (might I add, WITHOUT the graphics mods everyone seems to want... seriously, what's with the cry for high resolution support? How tiny do your little men on the screen need to be?)... after my previous experience with the REAL Baldur's Gate, this Enhanced version came as a slap in the face. The blur filter that actually makes the game look *worse* (unless you're zoomed ALL the way out) was just the start. Sure, some bits *are* improved; for example, the Friendly Arm Inn at nighttime has torches in the gates, on the towers, and light inside the windows, and so *that* looks nicer. But for everything they did that I *liked*, there were *two* things that made me say "Why did they DO that!?" Excuse me while I rant... Little weapon icons popping up on character portraits, so that I KNOW they're attacking, as if I WOULDN'T know otherwise... menus that are bogged down with a TON of extra crap I never needed before... launch menu screens that fade to black between choosing "Single-Player" and "Load Game"... big, fat windows that drop into the top of the screen to alert me of new Journal entries AS WELL AS said Journal entries popping up in full in the text window below (did they make this for slow children? "HEY STUPID, you have a new JOURNAL ENTRY. Did'ya know you have a new JOURNAL ENTRY, here's a JOURNAL ENTRY!! TIME to READ your JOURNAL ENTRY!!")... I can now scroll way, way off the edges of the map, for some reason... "cinematics" with music you can probably tell were chopped even *without* having heard the original... Long story short: I can't recommend the *original* Baldur's Gate enough. But I guess they're getting packaged together now, so... <sigh>

That one star? That's for this EE edition. I only have and only want the classic edition, but there's no store page to rate or review it anymore. The price is WAY too high (twice the price) for the classic and I'm not giving a game I don't want a good rating, especially when it's practically hiding the real classic, it's proper price and it's reviews and ratings, now. I'm not really all that interested in writing a review (what can I say about the classic that hasn't been said - it's GREAT), but since I can't even RATE the classic anymore, this is the only thing I can do. Suffice it to say that I loved, played and still own boxed editions (or would if I could ever get them back - long story that I won't go into) from when they were new. Anyway, what I'm really interested in is for the classic to be sold separately, have it's own store page, it's own reviews, ratings and proper price back. The classics sold far better than the EEs and what I've seen of the devs' attitude makes me want to avoid them (the EEs AND their devs). Now, people who only want the classics are going to have to buy the EE versions to get them. This looks like nothing more than a way for Beamdog to make extra sales from people who don't even want their editions, not to mention boosting their ratings and position in the Best Seller list artificially. I want GOG to know this, I want Hasbro to know this, I want everyone to know this. Anyone who feels the same should contact Hasbro and vote up the wishlist for unbundling this. Hasbro - corporate.hasbro.com/en-us/consumer-care Wishlist entry for unbundling - www.gog.com/wishlist/games/baldurs_gate_the_original_saga Archive of Bestselling list - web.archive.org/web/20160416185118/https://www.gog.com/games?sort=bestselling&page=1 The classics were easily found near the top of the bestseller list. The EEs? I don't know where they are in the list, but they've had enough time to get the positions they deserve.

With its out of the box widescreen and UI, it works GREAT, i personally haven't had any bugs and i have well over 100 hours in the game. The out of the box ui can be scaled and works better than the mod, and the game has been a lot more stable than my modded versions of the original on windows 7 for me. if you're new to BG this should be the version to pick up, unless you plan on modding the heck out of the old version like a lot of veteran players will do. you still can mod this version, but some mods arn't comparable with this version as of now. i think the fixed resolution and ui make it a lot easier to get into for new players, as I've seen that happen with my friends.

Beamdog has shown clear intent to butcher this beloved intellectual property with the updates related to the Siege of Dragonspear expansion, and of course with the expansion itself. I recommend sticking with the original, but at the very least, do due diligence with researching Beamdog's "creative direction" for the series, lest you end up regretting your purchase as I now do.