will it ever be topped? the story, side quests, followers, loot, builds you can make etc. there's nothing that comes close. nowadays everything is sterile and "balanced"
>>4031460I have no nostalgia for the bhaalspawn triolgy It's a game I think about years later. I'm only 29, I played it when I was like 23-24 on a whim as prep for bg3 on core rules, but it's the last time I felt truly immersed in a video game like I had to get up multiple times to walk around to to mull over a decision. The gameplay is far far far far more interesting and actually worth discussing than most 3d RPGs like gothic or elder scrolls. Music/art was instantly iconic.Boomers were eating good.It's ironic that I played it in anticipation for bg3 but it kinda ruined bg3 for me.I ended up being mixed on that game and I think I would have liked it more if I haven't played the previous games
>>4031460The main story of BG2 is extremely weak and underwhelming, not helped by the ocean of cut content and last minute rewrites. It's carried entirely by Irenicus's VA.The side content is where all the good stuff is kept.
>>4031469Main quest is pretty good until the fish and elf city bits Those are awful and dull
>>4031471The problem is the actual "main quest" is extremely short and amounts to a chase.>front-loaded information in Irenicus's Dungeon>literally nothing for 50+ hours>Spellhold, which amounts to a cutscene and a few conversations,>nothing for the next 20 hours,>Suldanesselar + Hell which wrap up the main storyThat's it. Those "Irenicus" dreams? They were made up at the end of development when BioWare realized Irencus is a tertiary character that barely appears.
BG1 is superior to BG2 in every aspect.
>>4031498no it's not. also, they're basically one game
>>4031460Bioware topped it with Dragon Age Origins, if we're talking about similar RPGs. BG2 is flawed but still one of the greats. Very impressive leap forward from BG1.
>>4031535DAO was above average I guess, but nowhere near BG2.
>>4031535>Bioware topped it with Dragon Age OriginsDisagree.>BG2 is flawed but still one of the greatsAgree.>Very impressive leap forward from BG1.Disagree. It was a refinement and an expansion but not revolutionary. Nowadays I’d consider it more of a sidegrade to BG1, not better in every way, just different. Back in the day I liked it more than 1, but nowadays I’ve came around to preferring 1 over it. The epic bloat and tighter focus necessarily lost some of the “comfy low level adventuring party tromping through the woods” feel of the more open first game. And DnD always works better at low levels.
>>4031578>>very impressive leap forward>Disagree.>not revolutionary>not better in every wayTough crowd.
>>4031590It’s a good game, a classic, and I like it.
>>4031461Same goes for me. I played BG 1 and 2 both for the first time in 2019 and I was blown away. Never experienced such a good RPG.
Persona 4 Golden was better.
>>4031460>buildslol c'mon
>>4031817I'm not a person who likes "builds" in general, but I still find what you can really do in BG pretty boring in that respect. There's really no thought that goes into a character other than the initial class choice and your willingness to suffer through X levels of dual classing. I guess weapon proficiency too to some extentI really consider it just a game that works as more than the sum of its parts, because there's not a lot of things about it I really like individually
>that cringey faggot companion with the pet hamsterBlech.
>>4032201Also the fact its really easy to spam reroll for 20 minutes to have god stats
>>4032316I have a love-hate relationship with that. Due to the limitations of what ability scores can do in that edition it's not that bad, and it does feel nice to be the character that rolled good stats in a very primitive sense, but I do feel like the rat that's been tricked to just keep pressing the "sometimes get cheese" button over and over.
>>4032316>I deliberately broke the game so the game is badPowergamers never learn.
>>4032366>game is badly designedYes.
>>4032366The difference between rolling for absurdly high stats and just putting your relevant stats high with a decent roll is probably just a few lore points at the end of the day anyway. Of all the mechanics to complain about, I'd put it pretty low priority
>>4032382>The difference between rolling for absurdly high stats and just putting your relevant stats high with a decent roll is probably just a few lore points at the end of the day anyway. Not the point.
>>4032316That's the dumbest thing in the game>you want max stats or no?Well damn mister I think I'll take them max stats, considering how lower stats only means more annoying game!
>>4032411I'm tempted to just press ctrl+8 whenever I see that screen just to spite it.
>>4032382That, and you can use items to fix/override a bunch of stats anyway>19str belt from Ribald>18 dex gloves from the ghouls in the sewers>18 cha ring from Aerie's introductionAll that really matters are CON, INT and WIS, and the latter two are only useful for casters and not dying to mind flayers (where 18 is functionally identical to 16)
>>4032656Con also improves 3 of your saves as a dwarf/halfling and 2 as a gnome, and I think you need 18 to get the full 5 bonus (but it also can't take your save below 0 before bonuses, so there might be some class related reasons you don't actually need 18), but I might be wrong. Also if you start at 18 and collect the tomes/tears of bhaal/lum the mad shit you could get to a point where you get regeneration from high con (I think that starts at 20) which is pretty convenient. Dex on the other hand barely does anything after 18. I think you need to get to like 21 or 22 to get another AC pointAs for charisma, I think it's just a handful of dialogue choices and slightly better quest rewards. I don't even remember any significant cases outside of some early game bg1 stuff.
TWELVE, FUCKING, YEARS!https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/12-years-of-baldurs-gate-trilogy-modding.156787/
>>4031460Neverwinter Nights 2 is the greatest of all time.
Half-orc assassin or Half-orc fighter/thief for my next playthrough?
>>4033122Having to live with thief saves and thaco forever is just something I prefer to avoid. If I'm playing one I generally would prefer to have it be part of a dual class or multiclass. Fighter levels also makes use any item more fun
Custom party with three paladins and three clerics.
>>4032857it's great, but what way is it better than bg2 come on
>>4031461same here. i played it when i was 20, 8 years ago and there's nothing that compares imo. only three rpgs that immersed me as much were morrowind, vtm:b and ultima 7. but bg 1 and 2 are the ultimate crpg experience.
>>4033303>it's great, but what way is it better than bg2 come onBetter multiplayer, all I can think of. Or maybe he hates 2nd ed and loves 3rd ed.
>>4031460It was mediocre and hamstrung by the infinity engine being hacks of hacks of hacks of hacks to the point it makes the Fallout 3 engine look like assembly code.
>>4034571buzzword buzzword buzzword buzzword buzzword buzzword buzzword buzzword
