Compelling storyline, memorable characters and great depth to building a character build. A classic for a reason!

The controls have been updated well for the Nintendo switch. The graphics and sound do show their age, but don't really detract from the experience as they are well designed and the voice acting is good.

Save regularly though as I encountered a fair few crashes, more so than BG1 on the switch. Keep autosave on, as there is one particularly annoying albeit rare crash that can wipe your save game. Fortunately autosave should come to the rescue with minimal loss.

A solid and engaging sequel, deep story and lore, awesome dialogue, and an expansive world make this another true CRPG classic.

This is my first playthrough of Baldur's Gate II and I have to say it was a blast. Tedious, but a blast. I played this entirely on Steam Deck and it ran flawlessly. Could have gotten about 8 hours off a single charge. I played it on "story" mode as I was more interested in seeing the story unfold than the complex combat mechanics. I played up to Chapter 8 (start of Throne of Bhaal), but did not complete the expansion. The base game took me about 26.5 hours to complete which could be considered a "rushed" playthrough.

The story is a bit more directed this time around with less time to "free roam". I did not mind that as much, but if you hadn't looked it up then you could miss out on side content after a certain point. I had imported my save from BG1 and was able to continue with my character which was an awesome feature of this game back in the day. The game takes place some time after the events of the first game, and you have been kidnapped by a powerful mage who is doing experiments on you. Imoen (mage from prior game) is taken from your part early on by another faction along with this powerful mage. The main goal of the game is to get Imoen back. The main questline has a lot of twists and turns and takes you to some really cool, and unexpected, locations. The side quests felt impactful and it was really cool to experience things from D&D lore that I am familiar with. I overall preferred this more directed approach, and I didn't feel "surprised" by the outcomes of any of my decisions.

The world building in this game was spot on you. You felt the tension in the lands of Amn stemming from various events. The main hub in the game is quite large and each zone feels unique. The surrounding locations all have their own unique flare, and felt distinct. I think my favorite piece of side content came from a trading post that worships Waukeen (a lesser deity of wealth and trade). One of my D&D party member's character worships her and it was fun to experience that in a different context. Thought it didn't fee like there were as many locations as the first game, they all felt unique, had engaging side content, and kept me engaged with the game.

The gameplay in this game hasn't changed too much from BG1. The UI is still kind of clunky, and the combat mechanics can be tedious. I am still not a fan of the AD&D ruleset, but my main goal in playing was to experience the story. Playing on story mode helped to alleviate some of the more frustrating elements, especially playing on Steam Deck where the control scheme is not as ideal as mouse and keyboard. The game does a better, and sometimes comedic, job of making sure you understand the consequences of a lot of your choices. I became a fallen ranger in BG1 because some things were not as clear what would happen. It did make it a little harder to roleplay though as I wanted to be a more neutral (and sometime evil) character but certain content would have been cut off from me. The game was an overall refinements on BG1's mechanics and I felt it was a decent step up. Nothing really new, but it works.

I enjoyed my time in Amn and can highly recommend this game to anyone that is into classic CRPGs or D&D. It takes some getting used and is a bit clunk but is worth it for those interested in some classic PC gaming.

Weird feeling. Despite this being genuinely one of the best games I've ever played, I was worn out in the final 2 chapters. Perhaps because I'd absolutely binged through BG1 before this, or perhaps the string of dire charms and late-game punishing nonsense...I cannot say.

I wouldn't mind playing through again in a few years, but the main thing stopping me would be the lack of transparency on some things. Not being able to mouseover a wizard to see what he's casting/is buffed with was always a pain. Similarly, being able to cleanse debuffs "sometimes", but not others just felt, blegh, frustrating.

Despite that, I LOVE how much STUFF there is here. The whole world is designed like an actual living world that doesn't hold you by the hand. It's full of danger and amazing things to discover. I'd estimate that I've missed about half of the game's content which just blows my mind. It's huge and varied and filled with so much greatness.

I can truly see why people consider BG2 the peak of CRPGs. Bring on BG3!

Finished BG2 for the first time in a VERY long while! Evil Cleric/Ranger Sunrider continues her journey! Fresh off defeating the Shining Crusader and her evil Half-Brother Sarevok, incidentally saving Baldur's Gate twice, she has been captured by the evil mage Irenicus - tortured and experimented on, the mad mage keeps talking about her "heritage" and "power", trying to unlock it. But what use does he really have for the Bhaalspawn? You find yourself in a strange land and in short order both this mage and your best friend/sister Imoen is carted off by the local mages guild. Do you follow for revenge, curiosity, or to rescue someone you care for?

Baldur's Gate 2 is generally considered one of the best RPGs of all time and is one of my favorite games that I've beaten several times. It has however been several years since I managed to get all of the way through so I am delighted to report I still love it dearly. The game now has a much greater focus on your companions and each has a solid questline for you to follow and they're mostly very good? A Paladin who has trouble balancing his family life with his (very important) work, Jaheira's harper days catching up with her, Jan having a Very Serious moment actually with a former fling... characters had bits of personality in 1 (helped out by mods of course) but they really shine in BG2. The quests in general are all quite good - this is a proto Bioware "4 side/main plot points then follow the story to the end" though it is much more freeform here. You only need 20k gold to go after Irenicus/Imoen which is what gets the main plot back on track... taking hardly any time at all, really. This gives the game a great sense of freedom - you know you what your goal is, can get to it fairly quickly if you want but.. will you be ready for what awaits you if you move too quickly? It also helps a lot with replays because you can do things in whatever order strikes your fancy, or makes most sense for your character.

Date Beaten: July 15, 2021
Time to beat: ~30 Hours
Platform: Switch

This is probably the best game Bioware's ever made. It's got most of the open-ended exploration and crunchiness of the first Baldur's Gate, but with a hearty injection of what would become Bioware's signature style for the next 15 years.
The first half of this game is the closest they've ever come to matching what Obsidian/Black Isle has managed to do with their engines lmao, in that it's novelistic and asks interesting, truly interesting questions. Chapter 2, if you take the opportunity to deal with as many sidequests as you can (you should), is as close to perfect as a Bioware game has ever been, in pacing, in writing, in combat, even in dungeon design. It's so much fun, and when I replay this game I'll be spending most of my time here, doing as much as I can. The rest of the game falls a little flat comparatively, especially chapter 5 for me.
Chapter 5 throws hordes of the scariest DND monsters (Mind Flayers, Beholders, etc) at you and just expects you to deal with it in stride. I... couldn't deal with them at all in those numbers, and ended up switching to story mode (your party cannot die or be affected by statuses) for the rest of my playthrough, and it kinda soured me on the end of the game. I'd really been enjoying the crunchiness and the dungeon-crawly-ness, and then it just felt like I'd hit a brick wall. Despite this, I still liked the end of the game, just not quite as much as the beginning? Plus I bet spending more time in those early game sidequests would make dealing with mind flayers and beholders MUCH easier.
One other thing I'll say is that the last bit of chapter 7 (aka the end of the game) finally brings the story writing up to the level of the best sidequests in the game, and maybe even on par with some of the best scenes in planescape and KOTOR 2!!
Also, the companions have been monstrously fleshed out this time. This is another area where I can see the beginnings of what Mass Effect would be known for with it's companions, but... the writing is so much better here. And Mass Effect (1) has Great writing!! But damn, what's on display here really is Bioware's best work.
Anyways, I don't really have much else to say. I wish easy mode was actually easier and not just "the enemies take slightly longer to kill you", I wish the game was a little easier in general, and I wish ch5 felt a little more connected to the rest of the game plot-wise, but that first half is straight perfection.
For the record, my fav sidequest was Valygar's, and the more I think about it the more I think it might be because it reminded me of the general vibe of Tides of Numenera? Weird comparison, I know.
Anyways yeah it's good and if you like crunchy well-written rpgs it's amazing, just don't be afraid to play with that difficulty slider when things get frustrating for hours on end :)

Oh also the art? fucking DOPE AS HELL

also also it seems like the switch version of bg2 is not the most stable game, mine crashed a couple times (including right as it was loading the ending cutscene so i'm not gonna do throne of bhaal rn hahahahaha)

One of the best sequels ever made. Perfectly expands the world with new lore, and the characters have never been better. Most likely due to the increased banter between party members, but the side characters, especially Irenicus, are all incredibly written as well.

Quests are also incredibly engaging. These small scale stories are so much fun to go through. Mainline story is no slouch as well. The plot never wastes your time with unnecessary moments, and the drive to best Jon Irenicus motivates you to push through no matter how unfair the combat might get. Not to insult the combat. It just sometimes makes you want to throw your computer out a window.

Don't really know how to close off this review, so i'll just say good night everybody!

Please play this game. It is one of the best RPGs ever made for sure. Yes AD&D as a ruleset for a crpg is weird, and yeah it's not as refined as later games, but outside of the first game in the series, rpgs have never gotten back to the level Baldur's gate 2 has. The characters are all great(yes, even the new ones Beamdog made.) The enemies are unique and interesting to fight and the world feels so alive, especially the starting city.
Please buy this game it's like $10 if you have even a slight inclination to play an RPG consider this game.