Icewind Dale 2 Complete

Everytime i kill the Guardian at the yuanti temple , the game instantly crashes 100% of the time , ending my run for good. Up to thispoint i cant even count the amount of crashes in the run. Extremely unstable

Icewind Dale II was the game that really got me into Roleplaying. I've played the most of the other DnD-based games but this one has always stood out as my favorite. I loved being able to create my own party with their own playstyles and backstories. I loved the atmosphere and the dialogue. I loved the real-time (turn-based) combat mechanics. But beware! This game is balls hard and can be intensely frustrating. I can remember many a hard fought battle where I was on the edge of victory only for some poor rolls to leave my party slaughtered. Also, don't feel like you have to play the first Icewind Dale to play this one. I didn't. If I could I'd rate Icewind Dale a 20/20 because it's a critical hit.

When I read that this was a difficult, combat-heavy D&D Dungeon crawler with minimal story and character development, I figured there wouldn't be anything worthy of interest since I'm not particularly interested in D&D, nor dungeon crawlers. But I don't accept ignorance so I'll try it. Fast forward over a dozens hours later and I can't stop thinking about this game. First of all, the story and characters (sidequests and the like) are really well written. They are minimalistic for sure but high-quality and the game has alot of surprises along the way (i.e. a Goblin Chief you can talk to in the middle of a dungeon which might result in one-less fight to go through? That's pretty cool). Furthermore, the weapon/item descriptions are amazing and memorable (a better version of the item descriptions you see in FromSoftware's games imo). Second, the dungeon-crawling itself is phenomenal. This is because of 3 things. 1. The combat encounters are all smartly created and often challenging. You'll faces entire hordes that try to overwhelm you, more tactical battles against overpowered but few enemies, ambushes and everything else you can think of. It's one of few games I can remember where almost every battle feels impactful and meaningful. This is not one of those games where you click on an enemy and wait for them to die. 2. Atmosphere and sound design is superb. The maps themselves look good and give a great, oppressive, lonely atmosphere. 3. Briefly mentioned above but the suprises along the way from secrets to sidequests to spells/weapons. It's all done in a way to make the dungeon crawling be more than just XP grinds. I also must mention the artwork of the game (both games really) which really stands out. They are all really high-quality and look like paintings (far better character portraits than Baldur's Gate imo). All in all, an extraordinary surprise and a far better game than I had expected. Definitely worth your money and your time. Highly recommended!

I have a fairly new computer with windows 10. This version barely works on my system. Have to use windowed mode and due to my high rez widescreen monitor the window is about 10 inches by 10 inches. The game will by default stretch to fit my screen, but it lags so horribly that it is unplayable. I tried to get the widescreen mod and it just crashes over and over. I wish beamdog had been able to find the source code for this. While not my fav title it was worth playing and this version really misses their enhanced edition treatment.

Icewind dale II is an odd case. It cuts down on roleplaying scenarios and instead focuses on the combat elements of DnD 3e. And it does so incredibly well. There is huge depth to the combat, so many different classes, spells, and weapons, that anyone who enjoys the combat elements of DnD will adore this game. It's hardest difficulty, Heart of fury, is a powergamer's dream: it's a mode where powergaming is absolutely essential and only the most well constructed parties survive. That said, people who enjoy roleplaying will have less fun with this game, especially since the multiplayer is LAN only. Overall, this game is 5/5 for people who like DnD combat, and 3/5 for roleplayers. I would still recommend this game to anybody looking for a challenge.