Icewind Dale 2 Complete

After 33h of playtime, in the Fell wood you have to kill 4 Treants at some point, after which there is a "cinematic", in which my game stays stuck forever (I tried three times, also tried after repairing/cheking game files). I don't know why. So of course I'm VERY disapointed. The game was alright until then, even if I didn't enjoy it as much as the first one or BG. AI still not good (sometimes ennemies standing there waiting to get beat up, same thing happens with my characters even with group AI on), pathfinding somehow worse than ID1. That Fell wood part is super annoying... even without taking the game-ending bug intop account. I also prefer ID1 UI. On the good side leveling up feels better than ID1, I really liked how you can manage your characters ability points. Too bad :( But I can't give a good grade to a game I couldn't finish because of a bug.

This game has lots of fights. So much that I'll get tired and take a break from the tedium. There's also an inventory problem of too much (cheap) loop and too little vendors to dump them on. Lastly, the technical issues: 1. cannot run from GOG Galaxy, had to run from File Explorer 2. game crashes occasionally

I generally am a fan of this type of game, and I have love for Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and the first Icewind Dale. In regard to Icewind Dale 2, I found the character building to be highly satisfying (and liked being able to have Drow, Tiefling, and Aasimir party members), and I greatly enjoyed the mechanics and challenge of combat. If that's what this game was all about, I would consider it to be a great game and one of my favorites. As some others have already mentioned, the story is not as thematic or cohesive as the first Icewind Dale, but even with a less interesting story, I still would have considered this game to be one of my favorites. The problem is the ultra annoying puzzles that do nothing for me but interrupt or interfere with the otherwise enjoyable aspects of the game. In particular, I quit playing this game toward the end, in Chapter 5 on the third floor of Dragon's Eye Peak. Though there were some annoying puzzles before this that required consulting a walkthrough (such as the prism machine on the second floor of the Ice Castle in Chapter 2 and in finding my way through the Fell Wood in Chapter 3), these prior puzzles did not detract from my enjoyment enough to not want to continue playing the game. However, when I'm having to run repeatedly back and forth between floors and then must brew or obtain a potion for the purpose of turning one of my party members into a creature in order to gain entrance through a gate, I simply have had enough of the ridiculousnesss. It was at that point I had to admit to myself that the game's annoying aspects had overshadowed its enjoyable ones, and rather than put myself through the chore of finishing the game, I decided that it was time to quit and play another game. In fact, right now I am replaying the Baldur's Gate series (specifically the enhanced versions for the first time) before I move on to other games I have not played yet, to recenter myself after enduring the frustrating experience of Icewind Dale 2.

It's like those new Pathfinder games, but good. There's no annoying romance DLC getting in the way of me hitting things with my sword. Also, I can make all my imaginary friends and use any portrait I like.

One of my favorite games from the early 2000s.