Icewind Dale 2 Complete

Windows 11 fully updated. Game freezes on first loading screen 9/10 times. All created characters are lost. After A LOT of efforts managed to recreate party and load into game successfuly, it remains stable for max 5 minutes and freezes completly (reboot required, as task manager is not able to display) Working toward installing mods to allow gameplay, but thats NOT what I paid for.

Targos is burning. Kuldahar has been out of contact for weeks. There are rumors that some unknown force is uniting and organizing the monsters of Icewind Dale in ways that have't been seen in nearly 20 years since Easthaven was destroyed. Some are even whispering that the aftermath of that battle has something to do with current events. Story: You are one of the mercenary groups that have arrived to help hold Targos. Whether you are there to help end the suffering or just collect a pay check, you soon find yourself leading the charge against the invasion force that threatens to bring the Ten Towns to their knees. Gameplay: Normal for this type of game. You control a group of six characters that you move around and interact with the world. IWD2 does have what was a newer rule set at the time. So the dice rolls behind the screen are changed a little bit and there are more customization options if you chose to create your own characters. There are also pre-made groups. Graphics/Sound: Normal for this type of game / time period. The graphics are a bit better than IWD. Overall: This game is an overall improvement over IWD. There is more story this time around and it does help with the feeling that the game is nothing more that one big never ending battle. It also helps that the player does occasionally have the option to talk their way out of a battle or influence the story in some way. Don't get confused though the focus of this game is the fighting and for the most part it does work well. All I can say is remember to save often, the game does like to play gotcha and you can end up getting wiped easily if you don't happen to be prepared for a massive battle at every turn or RNG doesn't go your way. Also this game does have bugs and other issues, thankfully with a quick search there are fan patches that fix most of the problems and even add QOL improvements. In summary if you like the first one and you like these types of games then pick this one up.

I love all of the Forgotten Realms Infinity Engine games and IWD2 is no exception. In fact this is the first of those games where I actually almost want to side with the antagonists. I also love that I could canonically finally make a drow without mod intervention :)

I returned to the game after years of not completing it and I finally finished it. Game does run on Windows 10, but you have to do some tweaks. First of all I recommend to run the game in window and with compatibility layer(Windows XP SP3). It shouldn't lag that much with those settings. If you got high resolution monitor I also recommend wide screen mod, but don't set it too high. 1920x1080 should be enough. Bigger fonts mod is optional if you got bad eye sight. I DO NOT recommend installing fixed GUI mod because it broke the game for me after few hours. UI just disappeared. I had to reinstall the game to make it appear. Luckly saves worked. (tip: if you run it windowed you can still scroll the map with mouse. You just have to move the mouse further than the screen ends.) The game itself starts off great. I love Icewind Dale setting and Targos section is one of the best parts of the game that I remember fondly. However after few hours you start to realize that this game is going to be a grind. A literal grind through horde of enemies. Pure hack and slash. There's not much to the story and what's there is rather silly. I have to say if you're not accustomed to infinity engine games this game is going to kick your ass even on normal. I am not kidding with the horde of enemies and there's usually a priest or wizard with the horde to mess up your day. I think ICWD2 is the hardest out of all old BioWare games. It gets really tiring at some points. Where game drops the ball is the middle. Some of the puzzles are trial and error nonsense to waste your time. I just used guides if I couldn't figure it out after 15 minutes I recommend you do that too if you get stuck. Last chapter is really good. Probably the most developed section of the game and puzzles are acceptable. I give it three stars but I only recommend it to people who love infinity engine games and simply want more.

Back then, genres were easier to distinguish. A game was what it was meant to be, without the need for genre cross-pollination just for the sake of mass appeal. These days, Dark Souls, The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk or the modern Assassin's Creeds all pretend to be role-playing games. Back in the good old days, a player had to build up a party, with each member having their own strengths and weaknesses. Success or failure on the battlefield was not a matter of the agility of the player. There was no gunpoint like in shooters. The statistics of the party and the strategy of the player were the only things that mattered. Nice that thanks to GOG you can return to the Forgotten Realms and relive a good old game.