I've played this on PC twice but because I prefer gamepad to keyboard for most games, decided to try the Switch port. The control scheme is actually pretty well done, with selecting abilities being predictably a little clunky but really not that bad. It's preferable to any of the Steam input mappings I've tried, with the ability to move the party via analog stick being the key feature.
There are two Switch-specific caveats I need to call out though (aside from not having access to mods or console commands, obviously):
One, the port is somewhat unstable. I had crashes every day or two, and if the game crashes mid-save that save slot is erased. I got in the habit of switching save files with every save, as a result, so it ended up only a minor inconvenience, but this is still obviously really bad.
Two, while I can't verify whether this bug is still in effect because I found out about it before I triggered it, but in the deepest level of the optional super-dungeon, Durlag's Tower, an NPC offers to teleport you back to the surface (so that you can rest and resupply before attempting the dungeon's final boss). In the PC version, you can get back to the 4th basement floor by retracing your steps. However (apparently) in the console versions there's a bug that prevents you from reaching the 4th basement floor a second time, meaning that both the dungeon boss and related quest rewards and objectives are also unreachable. The workaround is just to make sure you can complete the deepest dungeon level on your first visit.
I'm not prepared to really talk about BG1/BGEE at length yet because I'm working my way through a replay of the whole Bhaalspawn saga, but this was my first "evil" playthrough and I really enjoyed the arcane dominance of Edwin + Baeloth, and I really love the wide open world design of the first BG. I remember it being my favorite of the saga (even though I prefer Icewind Dale if I'm being honest). Guess I'll see if that remains true.
There are two Switch-specific caveats I need to call out though (aside from not having access to mods or console commands, obviously):
One, the port is somewhat unstable. I had crashes every day or two, and if the game crashes mid-save that save slot is erased. I got in the habit of switching save files with every save, as a result, so it ended up only a minor inconvenience, but this is still obviously really bad.
Two, while I can't verify whether this bug is still in effect because I found out about it before I triggered it, but in the deepest level of the optional super-dungeon, Durlag's Tower, an NPC offers to teleport you back to the surface (so that you can rest and resupply before attempting the dungeon's final boss). In the PC version, you can get back to the 4th basement floor by retracing your steps. However (apparently) in the console versions there's a bug that prevents you from reaching the 4th basement floor a second time, meaning that both the dungeon boss and related quest rewards and objectives are also unreachable. The workaround is just to make sure you can complete the deepest dungeon level on your first visit.
I'm not prepared to really talk about BG1/BGEE at length yet because I'm working my way through a replay of the whole Bhaalspawn saga, but this was my first "evil" playthrough and I really enjoyed the arcane dominance of Edwin + Baeloth, and I really love the wide open world design of the first BG. I remember it being my favorite of the saga (even though I prefer Icewind Dale if I'm being honest). Guess I'll see if that remains true.
MadDogofShimano
2 months ago