Baldur's Gate 2 makes Baldur's Gate 1 feel like a tutorial for itself. The tantalizing story that BG1 only truly bothered to touch in its final act at last comes to fruition in an adventure that keeps the audience compelled for their entire run, even if they pursue every sidequest.
BG1 isn't just a low-level campaign, it's a FIRST campaign, run by a junior DM who is so excited about the bare traditional essentials of Dungeons and Dragons that they reproduce every cliché without a shred of creativity, and bore experienced players to tears.
BG2 feels like it was produced a good ten years down that DM's personal timeline, after they've grown up, read some books, and gotten that newbie cringe all the way out of their system. In its writing and scenario design, it feels strikingly modern, or at least as modern as something like Pillars of Eternity can be. It's enough to make me wish that the actual game systems has received a similar overhaul.
It's not that the DM hasn't learned some lessons since BG1. There are far, far fewer enemies who instantly throw out interminable entangle and web spells, and thus at least the player's ears are spared their constant, deafening noise in most situations. That said, the late-game DOES suffer a cornucopia of wizards whipping out Time Stops and guzzling potions that essentially render them invincible. While I'd certainly give heavier consideration to playing Baldur's Gate 2 without Story Mode enabled, it still would not be what I would call a pleasant experience.
Even with the actual combat experience brushed aside, there are simply too many annoyances with the interfacial experience of BG1 and 2 for the topic to go unraised. Innumerable are the times that I have been unable to recognize that I can interact with an object, and after pixel hunting, when I do have this realization and make my clicks, I'm met only with "You're too far away." I sigh, select my individual character, and move him out of formation. Similarly numerous are the times I simply could not see a staircase or could not find a key for a lock that my thief should be able to pick anyway. Even when bypassing the combat and RPG systems, I encountered plenty of irritations.
Be that as it may, after opting out of about 90% of BG1's side content, I did virtually every sidequest in Baldur's Gate 2, and had fun doing it. It makes me long for a big-budget, honest-to-god remake of both of these games, but as things stand, Baldur's Gate 2 is a great experience hamstrung mostly by age and circumstance. I'm glad I cruised through BG1 to get to it, but I don't expect to be revisiting either any time soon.
BG1 isn't just a low-level campaign, it's a FIRST campaign, run by a junior DM who is so excited about the bare traditional essentials of Dungeons and Dragons that they reproduce every cliché without a shred of creativity, and bore experienced players to tears.
BG2 feels like it was produced a good ten years down that DM's personal timeline, after they've grown up, read some books, and gotten that newbie cringe all the way out of their system. In its writing and scenario design, it feels strikingly modern, or at least as modern as something like Pillars of Eternity can be. It's enough to make me wish that the actual game systems has received a similar overhaul.
It's not that the DM hasn't learned some lessons since BG1. There are far, far fewer enemies who instantly throw out interminable entangle and web spells, and thus at least the player's ears are spared their constant, deafening noise in most situations. That said, the late-game DOES suffer a cornucopia of wizards whipping out Time Stops and guzzling potions that essentially render them invincible. While I'd certainly give heavier consideration to playing Baldur's Gate 2 without Story Mode enabled, it still would not be what I would call a pleasant experience.
Even with the actual combat experience brushed aside, there are simply too many annoyances with the interfacial experience of BG1 and 2 for the topic to go unraised. Innumerable are the times that I have been unable to recognize that I can interact with an object, and after pixel hunting, when I do have this realization and make my clicks, I'm met only with "You're too far away." I sigh, select my individual character, and move him out of formation. Similarly numerous are the times I simply could not see a staircase or could not find a key for a lock that my thief should be able to pick anyway. Even when bypassing the combat and RPG systems, I encountered plenty of irritations.
Be that as it may, after opting out of about 90% of BG1's side content, I did virtually every sidequest in Baldur's Gate 2, and had fun doing it. It makes me long for a big-budget, honest-to-god remake of both of these games, but as things stand, Baldur's Gate 2 is a great experience hamstrung mostly by age and circumstance. I'm glad I cruised through BG1 to get to it, but I don't expect to be revisiting either any time soon.