I ended up liking this expansion way more than I thought I would. I thought that Beamdog did a fantastic job making the game feel much more like a modern RPG than the original Baldur's Gate while still keeping the overall feel & spirit. I really liked what they did with the Enhanced Edition and Dragonspear was a fantastic continuation. Something about the way that the game played felt a lot more modern even though the mechanics were mostly the same. I did like though how they kept a lot of the updates for the expansion itself instead of trying to fit some of it into the main game because some of them, like way more NPCs in the populated areas would have felt off in the primary game. Dragonspear felt like a proper sequel of sorts to me instead of just an expansion. I got some Dragon Age Origins vibes from the way that the game sent you to different areas, had a main camp, kept all the possible party members close together (instead of spread out all over the game world like in the main game), and had a more directed flow. Granted it was a big change from the very open exploration of the original BG to the extremely linear progression of the expansion's story (with the exception of a few smaller optional areas) but it felt comfortable and easy to stick with. Also, some of the backgrounds really looked like a step up from the main game with way more detail. The storytelling was really good, I greatly enjoyed the overall story with the exception of a few bad voice actors (Belt sounded like he was just reading lines). The immediate progression from BG1 to EE was handled well and the characters had way more interactions and discussions. It took me almost 20 years to finally play though and finish BG (with the Enhanced Edition and Dragonspear) and I think the EE really helped. I might actually want to try again with a different character/party. It was nice to see a good story made to fit between BG1 and BG2 to fill in some of the gaps. Now on to BG2 EE!
This game was an absolute blast! I've tried playing it multiple times, both the original not long after it first came out as well as the Enhanced Edition, and for some reason I always fell off, having trouble stick with it. This time around I actually kept going and found myself really enjoying the game. I've played through the first 1/4-1/3 multiple times over the years, so finally making it past that point was incredibly rewarding. I definitely enjoyed some of the small touches of the Enhanced Edition, making an older game at least slightly more playable than it's original form. The modern widescreen resolutions, the touchup to the overall UI, seeing the background walkable area on maps, colored character circles, and containers for different types of items were just some of the things that helped make the game feel a little more modern and playable. The story got really good as I made my way further and further actually getting into the city itself and falling into a good bit of political intrigue. It was refreshing seeing something different that just the typical fantasy RPG tropes, which while definitely present were enhanced by some different ideas that I know were new in the late 90s. It is a bit hard to go back to a game that was created in a time where things were kept a little too open on where to go or what to do next, but I finally just let myself play the game without worrying about what I might be missing, trying to play with guides, and just enjoying the experience. Maybe I'll actually go back and play a different type of character with a different party and see some of the things I missed, I enjoyed the final product enough to actually think about doing that someday. Now though it's time to move on to BG2 which is a game that again I played a little back when it came out, but never got very far into, and from what I know about it it's considered one of the greatest RPGs of all time. i'm excited to see what they improved on from the first game!
