Baldur's Gate

[ladyofastolat]

I've just started playing Baldur's Gate 2 again, for the first time in about four years. It's my all-time favourite computer game, and I must have played it through to the end at least 3 or 4 times. I'm playing as a mage this time, and want to try a party that's almost entirely casters. This will be an interesting change, since I usually play a paladin (though I did once play through as a monk - pathetic in the early stages of the game; ridiculously overpowered in the latter half of it. I soloed him through whole battles.)

Everything is coming flooding back - though I do sometimes default to Guild Wars controls, and get surprised when they don't work. The main surprise is how hard parts of the game are. In Guild Wars, you regenerate health all the time, so one minute after a hard fight, you're entirely well again. In BG, which uses D&D rules, I'm having to eke out every healing spell and potion. In GW, there is no limit on how many times you can use the same spell, but in BG I have an altogether too finite supply. In Neverwinter Nights, you can "sleep" in an instant, and heal completely. In BG, you can get interrupted in your sleep, and, besides, 8 hours pass. I like to role-play it enough that I only sleep at night, rather than sleeping every five minutes of game time, just to get my spells back. I'm limping through dungeons with no spells left, and hardly any health.... and I love it!

And the music...! And the words...! It's like revisiting old friends to hear that opening music, to hear the sound effects of levelling up, of clicking on buttons. And all those old, familiar phrases: "Get me out of this hell hole!"... "No-one crosses the shadow thieves and lives." And, of course, the squeak of Boo, the miniature giant space hamster...

Comments

<b>Go For The Eyes, Boo!</b>

[chelemby.livejournal.com]

I love rpgs. I am not fond of most crpgs. Why? No decent story!

Then there is BG2 -- I mean, if you can't get behind getting part of your soul back, what can motivate you? Irenicus is such a marvelous villain, Minsc & Boo are so adorabely weird, and Jan is ... well ... turninp-crazed.

Yep, best crpg I ever ran across. Have fun, again! :-)

Re: <b>Go For The Eyes, Boo!</b>

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

Have you played Planescape: Torment? That is almost entirely story. Whole hours go by without you fighting a single battle.

Actually, I have to admit that it's so story-focused that I found it rather daunting and hard to warm to. Your alignment, skills and abilities are entirely based on the things you say and do, so every word you say can have far-reaching consequences for the game - closing the door to certain NPCs joining you, stopping you learning key facts etc. It's hard work!

Re: <b>Go For The Eyes, Boo!</b>

[chelemby.livejournal.com]

I'll have to give this one a look-see -- certainly I have heard good things about it. Thanks for the suggestion! :-)

I was very disappointed with Neverwinter Nights, simply because the "game" was all about the play engine. The story was pretty much yawn-worthy, sadly.

Re: <b>Go For The Eyes, Boo!</b>

[greenwoodside.livejournal.com]

Yep. They put so much energy into the multiplayer that the singleplayer suffered terribly. People have assured me that the expansion packs are better, but I was so disappointed in NWN that I couldn't face buying them.

Re: <b>Go For The Eyes, Boo!</b>

[ladyofastolat.livejournal.com]

king_pellinor played through NWN and all its expansions enthusiastically, but I found it rather boring. I did get half way through the first expansion, and it was indeed better than the original game, but then it crashed horribly. By the time I managed to fix it, I'd already moved onto Fable on the Xbox, so didn't bother carrying on.

I have played some very good mods multiplayer, though. Still, I greatly prefer BG, since I love the tactical side of the battles - micro-managing 6 people, etc.