I found this game to be among the best I played in recent years. The graphics/art style is pleasant to look at. The gameplay is very fun and addictive, given you like turn based. Sound and music is also very decent. The Warriors of the North DLC music is simply amazing. As this game is RNG based, it is highly advised not to do your first playthrough in ironman mode. Make your first a normal playthrough, save often, and you'll come to enjoy the game before you get to hate it for its RNG like some ppl. Once you know everyting there is to know, you can go ironman if you want. I feel like some knowlegde of the game is required before you try ironman. Like the fact that most enemy factions basically come in 3 strength variants (tiers). For brigands for example, it's thugs, raiders, and then captains. For undead, it's ancient auxilliaries, ancient legionnaires and honor guards. At the start of the game, it's important to know which enemies you can take on and which ones to avoid. Facing a band of raiders (tier 2) on day 3 or 4 is not going to end well, most likely. That said, once you get to mid and late game, things get even more fun. The real enjoyment for me comes from looking for the mercenaries with the perfect starting statistics, and then building them into true killing machines. This, together with the hunt for named items. Like a hint of diablo-like loot hunt you could say. Then using these characters and that gear in the big noble house battles (like 35 vs 35 units), to absolutely devastating effect, is some of the biggest satisfaction a game can give. Leveling up your mercenaries goes via a talent tree you can choose abilities from. This way you can build toons with different specialties and tactics. I also find this to be a very satisfying system. The warriors of the North DLC is excellent, and a new DLC Blazing Deserts is in the making as of this writing. Can't wait for it... But other than that; a 5/5 and highly recommendable.
Very fond memories of this game :) Another classic from Bullfrog. Good old times on Good Old Games.
It was one of the first, if not the first, rpg's to implement the 3.5 edition d&d rules. The fact that the combat was turn-based also meant that the d&d system felt generic like in almost no other games. The graphics were beautiful then and still are very enjoyable today. Another thing that also stayed with me from the game is the great music. It is realy atmospheric and perfectly catches the ambiance in every scene. the game's main focus lies clearly on the combat aspect, much like the icewind dale series, maybe even more so. Dialog's are realy thin compared to games like Baldur's gate. I had a very good time with this game and played it several times. If you like d&d games or isometric rpg's like Baldur's gate, you can't go wrong with this game.
Reviews for this game are a plenty. The guys over at gamebanshee also have a pretty good review about this game. So I will only tell you how good it is. The announcement of GOG themselves pretty much sums up how good this game realy is. Baldur's gate 1 practically re-invented the computer rpg game genre and BG 2 brought it to the pinnacle, plain and simple. Ever since, to jump on the wagon of success that rpg's meant, developers and publishers have branded their games as being rpg's, although they are often little more than action-adventures with some slight rpg parameters. Most rpg's nowadays are so bleak compared to this game, that you almost feel sorry for them (and for yourself; that you have to settle with such 'quality' when you know what lies in the past, what the possibilities are) If you want to play a real rpg, then this is the best there is. A finer rpg has never been made, and in the direction the market is evolving these days, probably never will be again. This should be the sole game allowed to have 6 stars in here :) There is no other game that I have replayed so many times without getting bored of it. I already own the game, and will even buy it again here, just to show my support for true passion, true art in the gaming industry. A masterpiece to be cherished!
