Baldurs Gate 2: Was it really that great? Or is it our nostalgia talking? Worth Playing in 2023?
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- čas přidán 19. 03. 2023
- Quick Baldur's Gate 2, Shadows of Amn Review. Baldur's Gate 2 is the quintessential medieval fantasy game. Every other CRPG in the medieval fantasy ballpark, whether it's a D&D title or not, has a lot of Baldur's Gate 2 built into it: Pillars of Eternity 2, Divinity Original Sin 2, Pathfinder Kingmaker, Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, Black Geyser, they have all had Bioware's timeless classic their main source of inspiration.
Newer generations of RPG enthusiasts don't see that way though. Many of those who have played BG2 have done so after getting their first taste o the genre from newer games, so they tend to make a retro-active comparison. But... might they missing the things that were great about this title?
This is not a part of our Road to Baldur's Gate 3 series. But you might want to checkout those videos: I took on the challenge to play and review most Dungeons & Dragons classic RPGs to prepare for Larian Studio's upcoming BG take.
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This is a video discussing the nostalgia value in Baldur's Gate 2 vs the things it actually brought to the table, it's not meant to comment on the D&D ruleset or on how well the game implemented it in its mechanics. This review is for a non RPG specialized gamer who's maybe hyped about Baldur's Gate III because of the trailers and footage of BG3 he or she has seen and who has maybe played Larian Studio's Divinity Original Sin II.
If you want a thorough walk-through or a guide on any of the games viable builds, We still encourage to watch videos on Baldur's gate 2 gameplay.
This video is also not meant to be the ultimate truth about the game. Classic Role Playing Games are my favorite video game genre And made this video just to have a little fun. - Hry
People who never played the BG series (the OGs) will never understand the epic journey you undertake from BG1 to the end of BG2 Expansion. Best RPG I've ever played.
What made BG so great is when I took on a side quest then snowballed into the abyss and barely made it back alive in one heck of a long adventure with my rag tag low level party.
Do i have to play 1 to understand 2 and 3?
@@TheOdinCrusade 2 is a direct sequel, so you need to play 1 if you want the full experience. 3 is a new story, there are references to the other games, but you can get the story without playing the others.
Yeah I've never played the non-EE versions of the game back in the day, I played them for the first time a couple years ago so I can honestly say BG1&2 are two of my favorite games with out any nostalgia
I like BG1, will never play BG2 again, never even finished it.
one of the greatest games of all time, still remember switching disc between zones.
Please insert disc 3.
@@hansolowe19 I broke my disc 3 and it took forever to find software that could make a copy that would patch the broken segments on the disc
I loved the giant disk sleeve/holder it came with.
😂 yepp
Yeah you nailed it, huge, long beefy character quests with tons of non-essential, unique characters, voiced dialogue, really well thought out stories, and meaningful progression.
Play Baldur's Gate 2 EE last year for the first time in my life, no nostalgia. About 3 years ago started getting interested in genre beggining with DOS2, Pillars games and then the Baldur's gates(I slow cause I play other genres in between). Without the nostalgia, I still really appreciate and understand why it gets its praise
Imagine playing BG2 in 2000 when it was new and the graphics were pretty good - esp for an rpg
finished BG2 7 times, starting the 8th today
I didn't get to play BG1/BG2 back in the days, i only played them a few years ago, so i can say with certainty: its not nostalgia, these games are truly special.
Yes they are!
Agree currently playing on switch in prep for 2 as I have played other crpg but finally getting round to bg2 and it's super addictive.
I dunno I played both games without any nostalgia a couple years ago (I'm in my early twenties currently) and enjoyed them a lot. I do prefer the first game a bit because of the story but that's about it. I'm planning on replaying them soon in preparation for Baldur's Gate 3 - interested to see how that one turns out.
I fluctuate between missing the open-ness of BG1 and the better constructed/paced story of BG2. Both approaches does have merits for sure.
@Revanchist
It's no Baldur's Gate 2 that is for sure.
We want an update!
I play through the whole series every year. And yes, it is still great. BG2 is even, imo, still the greatest.
Amazing! I finished a BG2 to TOB play through a few days ago. First time in quite a while. The game definitely holds up. The story, music, atmosphere, characters & voice acting... It's a wonderful place to adventure in. It was great watching this video essay with everything so fresh on my mind. Totally agree!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
I'm playing a barbarian atm. Minsc, jan, viconia, keldorn, aerie, barbarian.
yes yes it was.. but It does require patience and a lot of reading . pure RPGing.
Nostalgia isn't an argument for or against anything being good or bad, nostalgia is a feeling you get remembering something you did or heard in the past. That feeling can be positive, neutral, or negative. You could have a feeling of great fun playing a BAD game, or a negative feeling playing a GOOD game. The whole ideology of "it's just nostalgia" was developed to attack those who love and enjoy something in the past and most of the time the older things are better. Simply put, something good is good no matter how old or from what period. With their argument that means anything in the past is bad, so any sport, board game, movie, show, anything is garbage and I do mean anything. These people confuse quality with graphics and control interface instead of gameplay and story. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean every arcade or older game was amazing or that people don't recognize bs then either but so many damn games were good and still are good. Again, by their logic any Mario game pre Odyssey is automatically bad because OMG LOOK AT THE GRAPHICS AND SOUND LIKE OMG FAM. Or every Zelda and Metroid game is garbage now because of the new one. There are MANY games I played later in life I never even knew were out when I was younger and fell inlove with them. Since the video is about BG, I only started playing BG in 2019 with EE BG1, 2, IWD, and Planescape Torment. Not sure, there are many quality of life improvements but BG will be BG and I absolutely loved and love it. I have hundreds of hours in them, I still haven't even played with every class or have had every party combo. And same with Neverwinter. Let's be honest, no game is perfect, not a single one. The major issue with people who bitch about graphics are those who don't have an imagination, they need every little detail painstakingly shown and spoken to them. Those of us who have wild imaginations overlook imperfection and let our creativity fill in the blanks. I mean, every RPG game owes its life to DnD and that entire tabletop is 95% YOUR creativity and imagination. The other 5% is art and story from the box and manuals. I'll be honest, newer games are mostly shit, the best of the newer games have been smaller teams or independents while AAA has been dying more and more every 5 years since the 2000s. The 360, PS3, and Wii era destroyed gaming but that's another story. So back to the point, nostalgia is a feeling you get from remember the times you had in the past, no matter the type of feeling. Judge a game by its gameplay and the period it was made in, look at its competitors at the time and you will start to appreciate it more. Just another example, I never liked Mario 64 when it was out nor do I today lol, but I understand its importants and still love the graphics and FEELINGS I get when I used to play it.
Or, maybe this "ideology" is merely people calling out other people who cling onto their past with rose-tinted glasses as at that point they were in a stable position in life and could devote a greater amount of time to the media they consume, especially as children, thus attaching greatly to it.
I always felt the whole "it was done better before" thing to be full of shit, and that's coming from someone who has a great deal of respect for that history. There's no way I could suffer through the original Wasteland or Ultima titles without it. We also just need to call out the instances where people put themselves and their favorites on a pedestal because "the kids just wouldn't get it, they keep being on their phone, playing Fortnite and liking da grafeeks", when the game in question is some obscure 90's dungeon crawler which even at the time was lambasted for having terrible controls and non-existent level design.
Things weren't better in the past, we've only expanded our understanding of gamedesign as time went on. How it's used, though? Now that's a fair complaint. But you don't have to retreat back to your cozy "sitting at your father's PC while he's away to play some games you sneaked there" days in order to criticize Skinner-box bullshit and monetization. Too many people specifically glorify the past and that's a one way trip to the goddamn cemetary. Some things really do *only* improve with time, let's not gloss over that also.
@@thosebloodybadgers8499 In Encased (2019) you CANNOT sneak behind someone you don't like/need to kill, plant a dynamite in his/her pocket, walk away and have it detonate, without anyone being any the wiser (because no one saw you do it) thus circumventing the fight or the conversation, but still getting the job done. This is something that you CAN do in Fallout (1997).
Disarming a trap in a chest and unlocking in Pillars of Eternity 2 (2018) is a matter of two clicks, which makes sense because if someone is proficient in trap-detection and lock-picking, clicking on a trap-detection specific button the rest is just an operative thing. Changing to a trap-disarm mode and then clicking on a lock-picking icon like you need to do in Baldur's Gate (1998) is unnecessarily convoluted and something that we have, thankfully put behind us.
I think framing the "New games vs old games" discussion as something boolean (They are totally wrong, I am totally right) is foolish, that reduces every argument in favor of the "good old days" to nostalgia from people who can't get past their attachment to things, and every argument in favor of the new way of doing things as something that "only appeals to Dumb Gen Zers who don't understand the greatness of the old days because they need instant gratification because they need to go back to their phones".
Videogames have come a long way in the last 20 years, this is undeniable, but we have also lost many things in the process, and some of those things are greatly missed by large population of gamers... Dismissing 20 0r 25% of the entire gaming community as people who have "the wrong mindset" is... the wrong mindset.
@@YeOldEntertainment Very well put!
Personally I'm a bit frustrated by how RPG-development seems to have stopped or regressed in all the places that matter... at least to me. World reactivity and more specifically NPC reactivity (in the sense that their story changes beyond just one or two voice lines) is still minimal for instance. These worlds are just not very dynamic, though ending slides and smaller consequences or reactions are still appreciated of course. Still, even just NPCs moving between maps might already make things feel better.
It's probably a problem that many of these games have a central storyline and accompanying power curve and they make assumptions about the player's party size as well. What I mean is that it is difficult to have real consequences for the player's actions or for their character build and background, when that might simply result in problems with playability and consequently progression. Lack of a central plot may also create problems with motivation, but I still feel it might be worth a try. In general, it should be an approach that avoids a situation where the player's main concern ends up being gobbling up as much content as possible, merely because the power curve dictates it. But that removes the possibility of letting the player fail at quests (or not have them be available in the first place) and to have impactful consequences.
Having a game revolve around skills and actually playing your role might be one way to go about it. Having actual options for Thieves for instance. Providing a framework for the dumb Warrior that doesn't absolutely require him/her also having a party. Perhaps he can join up with some mercenaries instead. Don't just have "Origins", actually commit to a bunch of different storylines or set of side quests that are fitting for certain background/classes. And don't try to have a plot for everyone on top of it.
Even Arcanum has that problem. The reaction modifier just doesn't matter much unless it's really low, because the developers had to make sure that the game won't break too easily. So you can simply improve your reaction by "saying nice things" essentially and you'll be back to the same baseline as most other characters. Bloodlines' Humanity system felt better in that respect, but I think that's partially just since it's a smaller game with more developed characters and more focussed writing.
Pavé César, ceux qui ne vont pas lire te saluent.
I played BG 1 first time in 2018 (when I was 20 yo) so I didn't have nostalgic glasses. For me those 2D graphics aged really well and I can find backgrounds really nice.
I must have completed BG2 five times by now, and I think you hit a lot of the high points well. You mention it a few times obliquely, but the world of BG2 feels like it is actually populated, and so many modern CRPGs feel empty. The sound is part of that. Hearing the inside of the temple of Helm is very soothing to me, perfectly calibrated to the setting!
There are also stupid little quests you really don't feel like bothering withbut nevertheless wrap up in a satisfying way, like getting the Illithium for Sir Sarles. It's a fairly short quest line that starts out with a kind of everyday banality and ends either with the lump of fake Illithium being mistaken for Helm himself, or you slay a child murderer. Both results are narratively satisfying!
This is a great retrospective.
Thanks man!
The issue with modern games does not lie in their deviation from the past format, synchronization is actually a good thing. The problem is within the modern trends that came along, there are many culprits but the 3 heads are Simplify, Demystify, Satisfy. On the surface these sound awesome (and to an extend they are), but each one hides something.
Simplify: Everything is streamlined giving 20 choices with variations is bad, you get 4 main paths. You are no longer an archer or a mage, you are "Ranged DPS" your arrow or fireball are the same thing with different texture. But I wanted to play an archer! I wanted to count arrows and have situation/useless skills that track things or hit weak spot or something that other ranged kits can't do. They think they make all roles accessible but what they really do is make everything tasteless.
Demystify: No matter what you do the story will reveal itself, every single aspect of it, even if you did not search for it no worries. We will also explain the meanings and metaphors, we can't leave you like that. Also everything will be online so you don't have to look, anticipate or discover a single thing, no surprises for you (this last one is on us the gamers^^). They think they give us convenience and clarity but what they really do is take away our magic (and insult our IQ a bit).
Satisfy: We never bring any difficulty to the player. This is not in game difficulty, this is making the player take decisions that will make them lose something or inconvenient them in any way. This one specifically sounds awesome, until you realize that even widest open world is nothing but a huge line zigzagging on this colossal "map". They think they protect us but what they really do is cut our wings.
The nature of the issue is that the modern day mentality of convenience and fast pace is integrated in games. However, it is this very generalization and comfort that deprives the game from the ability to engage the player with complex issues, situational skills and everything else that gave it an identity in the first place.
That's exactly it! I'd totally subscribe to your channel!
@@YeOldEntertainment naaah, I rather leave my cool comment in your awesome channel and let you handle the akthualies & yousaids in the comments, hehe. Keep it rolling I need my Fallout review.
While I mostly agree, when it comes to simplification I think it comes down to what you simplify and your subjective preferences. No arrows and bolts anymore isn't a problem for me. Even back in BG2 once I found a bow which didn't need them, it was mostly just a relief and you don't have to think about all the different kinds of projectiles that you mostly don't need most of the time anyway.
Similar story with the inspirations and afflictions of PoEII. They are just a random thing that adds or subtracts some more numbers on top of the rest of the numerical mess and I don't even have attempted to consciously use the counter mechanic. I also have long since lost the overview over who is protected from which afflictions.
Sometimes it's enough to have good tooltips to avoid confusion, but once you start piling more and more systems on, then sooner or later it will become an utter mess unless you know the systems by heart.
@@burningsheep4473 Yes I agree, I myself don't like the arrow mechanic or the complexity in numbers. This is not a contradiction, ''by counting arrows'' what I really meant is ''things that make this game/class/race/choice unique''. I am not really focused on the subjective part of ''I like this, you like this'' (which is indeed also a thing) but on the mentality of streamlining as a policy of making games, leaving us with generic mechanisms that we see over and over.
As for the other part, you are absolutely right and even the example is prime. But I feel that this is mainly a matter of elegance not simplicity. You can have an in depth system and not make it a brainteaser (Hi Arcanum!) or build a world with different factions and groups that have a clear and distinct stance towards the world (Hi New Vegas!).
So yeah, I agree with everything that you said but maybe my comment wasn't as clear as I wanted it to be (wrote it while sleepy^^).
@@georgeraigor885 Yes, I understood your point to be more general than it was, but I pretty much agree with all of that :)
I remember the first time I investigated the Tanner Murders. That was such a thrilling little side quest with no great value to the overall game bar the extra experience. Also D-Arnise Keep, what a lovely mission, really really enjoy that one everytime.
BG2 is one the greatest games and best sequels ever made. The writing alone is awesome (with some of the best written romances of any rpg), the quests offered such a variety and made exploring the maps feel worthwhile.
Yeah, there are some difficulty-spikes here and there but it's never unfair. The only thing that could've been better is the magic-system. Like too many very specialised spells with same graphical effects made debuffing quite annoying (when you used a lvl6-spell even if a lvl4 would've been enough, just because you couldn't differentiate if it was a lower or higher magic-reflection-spell cause they both used the same animation).
Yeah, sometimes simplification can be a good thing. Lesser Restoration and Breach are burned into my mind for good, but other than that I don't remember anything ;)
Also, for some reason no D&D-RPG I've ever played ever bothers to help with wizard specialists. No, I don't know which set of spells are Abjuration and which Transmutation and which specialists relate to which schools and what the opposing schools are.
@@burningsheep4473 Yeah. Also the magic-resistance-system was kinda annoying if your main was a mage. Like attack-spells really didn't do much until you unlocked the lvl 6 spell of reducing magic resistance (which is stupid in itself - using a spell to reduce spell-resistance). The first quarter or so of the game felt like "oh, so you resisted all 3 of my magic-missile-spells? great. But i can'T shoot the fireball in doors in a tavern.".
That's what BG1+2 have in common: at the start mages feel really weak... and after about the half-point of the game they can get quite op.
@@janrautenstrauch4729 My experience was a bit different. I never bothered with magic resistance in any of my playthroughs, but I remember that especially in Throne of Bhaal most damage spells just didn't really work anymore, so I mostly just continued buffing the melees and sending them forward. If anyone was insolent enough to cast Protection from Magic Weapons there was always a Breach at the ready.
Played BG1 for the first time last year, it became my no.1 game played on steam replay for the whole year. Fair to say the game is amazing.
I'm playing through the Dragonspear expansion right now, and will be starting up BG2 right after that's finished.
Baldur's Gate II is an awesome game. The best one in the series. It also has an awesome villain. The writing and the number of choices the characters can make are superb.
Love your videos! This has to be my fav. I played this game on release day and I was only 16 years old. It took me a whole year to complete playing every single day, and yet I think I didn't see more than 30% of all of it (and I guess I wasn't mature enough to understand it in all its depth). I am planning to play all Infinity engine games again, and your vids are just giving me the urge to do so, so thanks! :)
Thanks! I pretty sure you won't be disappointed with your re-visitation crusade.
Thanks for mentioning Tyranny. I love that game and I'm always happy when it gets a shout out.
I started a bg2 game so many times, and I now see I still missed so much content. This is amazing.
yes it was great for one main reason , we witnessed the creation of a sub genre that remained 25 years with us and still kicking.
It is greater than great, end of topic.
There are 8 different strongholds. Just google it and look it up on the wiki. Last game I played with the mod that lets you get each of them and play the different quests for each of them. There is the fighter keep, the mage sphere, the ranger cabin, the cleric temple, the paladin temple, the druids grove, the thieves guild, and the bard's playhouse.
Although which temple you get differs based on alignment. Sure, it's a very similar experience but they're technically different locations, so you could argue there's ten distinct strongholds, eight stronghold types.
Baldurs gate 2 is my favourite RPG of all times. It has the rich gaming experience to offer even in the modern days.
When i went back a year or so ago and played BG1 i was gobsmacked by the size of the game, its not just the basic story content, its the depth, controlling, developing six characters and their inventory, controlling their specs ad the impact that your alignment and reputation and even morale and party dynamic. These games were so far ahead of their time its actually surreal and the depth has never been replicated.
I know I'm late to the party but here's a couple of strongholds I've encountered (I played this game like a maniac many years ago):
1) D"Arnise Castle for Fighters, Barbarians, Monks
2) Mae'Var's guild as a thief
3) Theater in one of the districts as a Bard (very funny and interesting questline)
4) Sphere in Slums as a Mage or Sorcerer
5) Hunter's House in the Umar Hills as a Hunter
6) One of the three Temples in Temple District for Priest (it depends if you chose Lathander, Helm or Talos)
7) Druid Grove as a Druid
8) Order of Paladins will also have a place for you if you are a Paladin (those quests are really interesting)
And that is all I can remember. Maybe there is still something more but I think that's all I've explored when I used to play a lot of BG2. Hope it helps someone. Also remember that if you have two classes the moment you choose one stronghold then the other one becomes unavailable. There are some mods that can change that though.
My favorite game of all time. Currently doing my umpteenth BG EET run.
To claim that BG2 was only good because of nostalgia for it is really stupid; BG2 was hailed as the best CRPG ever right after it was released! It was a best-seller back then not because of nostalgia, but because it was so god-damn awesome, so amazing, such a revolutionary epic game that had zero competition! I spent countless hours playing and replaying it back in the day because it was so god damn good, before any nostalgia for it could possibly exist. People need to look up the definition of nostalgia!
Well I brought up Mary's definition hehe. (And debunked it! haha)
I don't recall any other RPG having 3 types of pantaloons You can acquire and reforge into a Big Metal Unit. You should have started with that - nothing can top that argument.
#trudat
This video is tasting like an old wine now after realise of Baldurs gate 3. Maaan, what amazing trilogy 💙
There is a new bottle for you to drink in the channel XD. Check out the latest video on Baldur's Gate 3.
@@YeOldEntertainment Nicee. Will do! 🥂
You got me. I’ve started a playthrough of BG2.
Oh my!
@@YeOldEntertainment took a step back playing BG1 instead. Want my bard to go through the whole saga.
So first take, I actually didn't like BG1 that much when I first played, in like 98 or whatever? But I came back to it. There is no expectation that these new people would suddenly, first toe dip, have their mind blown. This game is a slow-burn. This is definitely a game for people who can really get mentally in the world. It's for people with a brain, imagination. It's like when they say the book is better than the movie, these old games are like books. You had models, and graphics, but lets be honest it was your imagination that fleshed out the characters. I just finally beat my full BG1-SOD-BG2-TOB playthrough with 1 character. It actually took me a decade or so. There's a lot more than just a couple hundred hours here if you really do all the quests, sidequests, and don't just power through things. You take your time, think about the scenery, the characters.. etc. If you really take your time and chew as you play, I guarantee this title is one of the best series, bg1->tob, possibly available to play to date.
Yes, new players to BG can be confused with THACO and other odd 2nd edition stuff like that, but the journey you take from BG1’s Candlekeep as a lowly lvl 1 nobody killing rats, to the end of Throne of Bhaal where you are dropping nukes on people (or a master swordsman) is absolutely amazing. The story, the atmosphere, the attention to detail, the characters, the excellent side-quests, it all just sucks you into the Baldur’s Gate world. BioWare was at the top of their game back then. These games are in my top 5 of all time and I have played through them many times. There have been some very good modern CRPGs released recently that I really enjoyed like Kingmaker and Solasta, but nothing can match the amazing journey you take in the Baldur’s Gate games.
Cada vez mejores los videos Alex.
BGII was fun and incredible for it's time, and still is a fun D&D experience with a story that you actually care to see unfold. But as you say, is a choice centric game and you feel it reacting to the type of party you use and the interaction you have with the characters.
Woot! Thanks for the vid Ye Old Entertainment!
Not at all, man! Thank your for lending your time to the channel and your continuous support. Enjoy!
A wonderful video! Thank you very much for making it.
I think I'll go and replay BG 1 and 2. 😊
ACTUALLY, this review is very satisfying. 😊 I’ve been playing it off and on since it was new. After 2 play through a of bg3, I think I’m going to do it again.
As someone who finished Bg 3 twice and has never played the old games recently decided to give them a go and im glad i did even though i cannot stand the pathfinding especially in ridiculously tight corridors , you're absolutely right about the quests and companions feeling so much deeper and more involved with their own values and personalities where some might even flat out refuse to remain in your party if another they despise is present eg Anomen and Hexxat whereas in Bg3 companions and relationship with them felt so bloody forced and surface level where everyone just gets along fine and everyone wants to get in your pants despite you not even having them in your party it was rather off putting and weird...
Oh man I'm subbing based on your different strokes video.
The „different strokes“ but had me actually dying laughing! xD
The issue between Anomen, Minsc and Aerie, that was the culmination of a lot of thing that happened during the adventure, you needed to have specific party, said a lot of specific things, thing needs to happen in a determined way and that combination ends in that between that three characters... just masterpiece, not even today has things like that.
Great video! I remember playing BG1 at a friends house back when it released. None of us really knew english so we had to look up soooo many words. Playing the BG1 & BG2 enhanced edition was great but it was a few years ago. This video made me wanna go back and play BG1 and BG2 before I venture into the BG3 adventures for the first time!
Thanks my man!
The Video Editing and Soundtrack, got me here.... No Regrets, Worth the View !!! As I contemplate getting Bulders Gate 3.... Overall great Video. Thanks !!! Interesting!!!!
Thak you for watching!
Nostalgia...? Maybe. But instead of calling it a "longing for the impossible or for an idealized past", I'd rather call it "looking for comfort in things we're familiar with". There's a reason why folks keep coming back to the same things over and over in their lives. I've known people who've been vacationing on the same Greek island in the same little village *on* that island and who do the same things when they're there each year ... for 25+ years, starting when they were in their late teens.
In any case: There's one thing I will say about BG3 vs parts 1 and 2, having just finished my second play-through last night: It's as if the developers were completely familiar with the complaints people have about modern games and then set about - successfully - to avoid most/all of them. But: Doing so is *so* much more work with a modern game like BG3 than it used to be. Last night for example when it came to giving my Tav's speech before the final assault, I had Minsc in my party and the game gave me the option to let him do the talking. It was a full-blown speech complete with some nice quips from Jaheira at the end that left me pretty ...errr ... speechless. In a game like BG1 or BG2, including something like this would've "just" been a question of writing the speech and putting the lines of written dialogue in plus perhaps a few lines of voice-acting. In BG3, it involves those things too but also detailed facial and body animations, choosing camera angles, cutting together the scene, orchestrating it, etc.
And this level of detail and meticulousness is what makes this game feel so satisfying to me and not like a "polished but dumbed down" version of the first two.
What I will say though is that sometimes I almost wish for less details when it comes to the visuals and all that. There's just something about having cruder graphics that force you to use your own imagination to make the game's world truly come alive in your head.
I am probably older than most of the people here. I played Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 when they released. I played almost every RPG ever released. There are goods and bads for all of them. It is also true that with time and improvements old games are hard to play via graphics but fun part of the games never comes with graphics but with story and gameplay. Only thing i can point out is a personal experience, i played BG1 nonstop until BG2 released and i played BG2 about 5 years nonstop. I finished the game more than i can count for both as good, evil and neutral and i think there are still tons of quests i haven't done yet. Fallout 2 and Planescape Torment were also wonderful games from same era. But i think BG2 is a bit better for my taste.
Skyrim and other Elder Scroll games were good but it became epic just because of the mods. I found myself trying out mods more than playing after first play through. Never played it nonstop like BG's. Dragon Age series was good but i played each once or twice. Witcher, Mass Effect both offers wonderful story and i really enjoyed playing both but every outcome of your choice is A or B. It also doesn't effect rest of the gameplay too much other than minor changes.
As a conclusion these are all personal opinions, new generation games look better in most cases but they lack of depth in story, most games being made both for consoles and pc's so controls and menu's are terrible for both. Old games doesn't look good now, hard to play in most cases even modern computers cannot run some of them without additional programs etc. But they are the reason we have new games. They are the inspirations and flag carriers of the genre. You may find partitions of what BG2 bring in to genre, but never all of the aspects together.
I didn't get to play BG1/2 back in the day but I've recently played through both games the EE editions. I didn't play the dlcs first time around. Once I beat bg2 I immediately started over a new playthrough on bg1 with new character and companions and I absolutely love it. And I'll be going through the docs this playthrough. So it's not nostalgia for me. BG is just really good
exactly this... this is what I'm not seeing in these new BG3 players, they swear by their "best game ever" but you see they are done with the game after 3 weeks... sorry dude, this is not what CRPG was, specially something that bears the name Baldurs Gate on it, these were games that required your attention for half a year, and you would replay with different characters, not simply move on so quickly
As always, your videos are awesome! I really appreciate the way you review these RPGs here.
Thanks man. This one was more like an essay, but thanks a lot.
I'm still pretty young I think, at my mid twenties. I grew up playing my older brothers' games so I generally played older stuff in 2005. Command and Conquer, Baldur's Gate, Starcraft, SNES that kind of stuff though the timeline for all those are rather spread out. Baldur's Gate and high fantasy in general was always what appealed most to me. I came up with the very two characters who have gone to be the templates for every character I make in games to this day. A do gooder tank paladin guy and a morally dubious swordfighter who kinda just does whatever I think is fun at the time.
I think i agreed with you, Part that make the companion in this game really memorable and make you feeling attached is the how branching the quest is with endless possibilities how to tackle it and how to fail it and this can't be achieved as you said if the companion quest is a DLC 👍
had another 160h playthrough just last year so I'd say it holds up
love both games. got them when they came out and still play them occasionaly. atm doing a bg1->bg2 run and just got immoen back in spellhold 8-). wanted to take jaheira later in bg2, but didnt know that if you didnt get her out of the starter dungeon she would be gone forever, bummer! lesson learned 😂
I replayed the remastered verison some years ago and to be honest its actually a good game. True the original is quite ugly by todays standarts but the remastered version is more or less the same with refined graphs. I had nostalgia for many games (BG2 as well) and with some I was unable to play for more than half an hour. Not the case with BG2. Story was engaging, loot system is ok and there is a lot of variaty on what and how you do. At the end of the day its a RPG and as such the story is the most important. Its a good read and we should appreciate it. Its not for those who need action.
It was and It’s still is great. I play it at the very least 1 times a year. Playing solo or playing with handicaps and the fact that the game becomes completely different with each character you play.
I found BG existed just week before BGEE released (so 2013).
I got Tutu, could not get it to work for a week, then I got it working finaly at night, then had busy day at high school, so couldn't play. After that I opened Steam and News that BGEE released poped up.
So 2013 and EE version, wonder if that is nostalgia speaking when I say I love BG1+2, and it is one of the greatest RPGs ever.
Hehe. This looks a lot like a comment that'll get cited in an upcoming video XD.
your intro hit me everywhere :D
Saying "It's nostalgia" is just a way for people with less life experience to downplay the experiences of people with more life experience.
The thing is, the cult of the new is also a thing. It's not about getting over nostalgia, its about putting yourself outside your comfort zone to understand what made these older things great. If someone has nostalgia for something, it means there is something that makes it still great.
Loved every word of this comment.
@@YeOldEntertainment Thank you, sir. This is a great video by the way.
Irenicus' voice still gives me chills.
I have deep respect for these games, and they're very nostalgic. But nearly 25 years down the line, I now view them with different perspective than I used to. It's easy to see how these games developed into Neverwinter, then into Knights of the Old Republic, and onto future games like Jade Empire and Mass Effect. People really love everything about this game, save for a few dodgy balances issues adjusted by mods or instant kill mechanics like Decapitate, Level Drain or Stat Drain (Products of older 2E DnD mechanics, that I've grown to love over the 3/3.5/5th gens nowadays). But over time I've grown to be a thorough completionist, and BG2 specifically stresses me out to play in modern times. The constant juggling of companions to do their quests in timely manners without messing them up, while trying not to progress the story too far to prevent quests from getting locked, hell even some companions like Jan Jansen just stop working if you wait too long to get him, ultimately slow the game down immensely for me. Few people online have ever made guides to help guide a player in this, so every playthrough has tons of mistakes made from lack of knowledge rather than intentional choices.
I know it's hard coded into the game, but if I was ever given the decision to take every single companion into one party (even if it sapped all of your experience and would need enemy rebalancing for all of it) and let them RP themselves to death (sometimes literately), I would take it in a nanosecond. I enjoy the characters, quests, and interactions of the world, but it takes certain types of days to get me excited to play it (because I attempt to do every single thing in the game in one swift motion). Baldur's Gate 1 is easier in this aspect, and as such it remains my personal favourite of the three (soon to be 4). Though I've thought of using AI tech to go back through and fully voice characters like Viconia, and record a completionist run of the game using said Audio. It would create an interesting, more modern experience of the game similar to Morrowind's jump to Oblivion.
Thanks for the entertaining video and retrospective :)
Shit take.
@@mikeity2009 Explain.
It wasn't YOUR nostalgia. Yes, yours. Because I came late to the party: I first played BG1+2+Throne only 2 years ago, when I was 28 years old and had of course zero nostalgia whatsoever for a game I had never played before: I almost immediately recognized this saga as one of the very best rpg I ever had the pleasure of experiencing. One year later I did my second playthrough using the great community mod SCS, which made it even better. I'm currently planning my third run this year with Ascension and Rogue Rebalancing too.
So, in case you still have doubts about whether or not this is a real masterpiece, now you know.
Didn't watch the video. did you?
@@YeOldEntertainment Why? Of course I did. My comment was only aiming to add something to what you've stated. The "you" I used wasn't of course adressing you. I'm sorry if I haven't been clear enough ;)
@@00Mk000 O.k o.k. Sorry, that's what it sounded like.
BG2 was the first CRPG or just RPG back when I played. And it was Epic, I've played it many times and I bet there is still stuff I've missed, In the bridge district there is a door that you need a rogue stone to enter just happened to have one in my inventory this IF is what makes the game great.
It's 2024. My first time playing Baldurs Gate 2 (and the franchise in general). Also haven't really played anything in this genre (except Warcraft3).
Yes, it is good. A decent dungeon crawler. The only cons are taking the time to adjust the screen so it's not as small and painful to look at as well as looking at the outdated graphics.
Nothing a remaster could not fix.
I played BG2 for the first time in 2020, and I consider it my favorite game of all time now. That game got me absolutely hooked and the story and setting are extremely memorable.
Same. As much as I enjoyed BG3 it doesn't match the atmosphere of BG3
@@Maesterful yeah BG3 is a more fantastical and grand type of story, much like the first Baldur’s Gate. BG2 is much darker and has a very sinister antagonist who actually kind of scared me in my first playthrough. It was definitely a good idea for Larian to try to replicate the feel of the first game more though, because that was the original creative vision.
Comparing Bethesda style companions and BG style companions is not a fair comparison. Both games have their own strengths and weaknesses. The strength of Bethesda games lies in them being immersive sims where you can forge your own path and create your own experiences
Skyrim only has one actually fleshed out and well written companion, and it’s Serana, with her having a whole 12-quest long story directly related to her, and a clear development of her going from being skeptical around you to trusting you and thinking of you as not just an ally, but a friend. She’s the only one though, and you can’t marry her ;(
That Ice-T clip at 1:39 had me laughing for a minute straight and got you a sub.
It's a Pavlovian thing for me. I see that Ice T clip, I laugh.
The music... the music! I was just listening to this video and the soundtrack gave me goosebumps.
BG2 is quite possibly the greatest RPG ever made. I actually played it co-op back in the day with friends. disappointed the "enhanced edition" didn't have the online co-op.
I don't really understand your last argument; because you like X and Y is the progenitor of X, doesn't mean that you have to like Y. That's kinda fallacious and doesn't add anything to your main point.
My main problem with BG writing is the worldbuilding that is tied to. The DnD universe is build with TTRPG in mind, where a group of people make their own adventure. It can't predict what they might want to do and it doesn't want to limit them in that regard, thus almost everything is possible. And when everything is possible, nothing has impact. Someone dies, you resurrect him; someone gets surrounded/lost, he teleports; a demon comes from the demon plane, you bring an angel from the angel plane; etc.
When there are no limits, there are no real consequences and, at least for me, it's really hard to get invested in any story. Most of the limits that exist in DnD/Pathfinder CRPs, exist because not all of the in-universe options have been enabled or programmed. Resurrecting NPCs is an egregious example, why can I resurrect my companions multiple times but not anyone else. I also find the DnD/ Forgotten Realms lore and history ranging between indifferent and atrocious, but that is a whole other matter.
To sum it up, in my opinion, worldbuilding is the foundations of any story, and in this case it is deeply flawed.
Anyway, I am going a bit of tangent but I need to say it, I consider the BG remasters disappointing for two reasons. First, as games, their biggest flaw is the human-machine interface; how they convey relevant information to player and how you interact with them. In that area, they did the absolute minimum, much of it was already done by mods before.
Second reason, the writing. They added a lot of stuff that I generally find ok, sometimes even good, but they are out of place. The new stuff is written by different people 20 years after the original, and as a result feel different. It's like reading a book where 10 pages are written by writer A, the next by writer B, and then back to writer A. I don't know how to phrase it, but the overall writing looses its harmony, it's inconsistent.
I never said "you have to like". You don't have to like anything. I said quite specifically "every time anyone compares Pillars of Eternity, Pathfinder or any other game to Baldur’s Gate 2 using “it’s better than”/ “it’s worse than” …". You can like whatever you want. The reason I wrote that is because I very often see that newcomers fail to acknowledge where their favorites come from. As for the Enhanced Edition, I know you said you were going on a tangent and all, but that content was never even mentioned in the video, the footage was only because it was convenient for the editing.
Sorry, i rushed the comment and it may have come out a little wrong. I wanted to mean that being the original, doesn't make it immune from criticism or comparison. If someone likes PoE more than BG, why shouldn't he be able to say that PoE is better than BG? All that stuff is subjective anyway. Eh, the video comes out a bit as a "respect your elders" rant.
And now that you say newcomers, it makes the tangent a bit more related. Almost all new players will pick the EE, and experience the EE writing. I don't believe we can expect them to decouple it from the original when forming an opinion about the game.
@@manolios7 My point is simple... regardless of which game you like more (or "is better for you") you have to acknowledge were it came from and NOT dismiss the influence of the OGs. I like Iron Maiden more than Led Zeppelin, for sure, but I wouldn't say it's better, I wouldn't say so... simply because there's a lot of Led Zeppelin in Iron Maiden. How many of the bricks in that wall we call Iron Maiden were built by Led Zeppelin? How much of what we get in an Xbox one we are getting because there was an 8 bit NES before? How much should we thank Baldur's Gate 2 for what we enjoy and experience in Pillars?
Many of the people who say "lmao, this game is so boring" when they refer to Baldur's Gate 2 (a little bit like the kid mocking the NES because he has access to the XBOX), also think Pillars is one of the best games they've played... so yes... in those cases I think a strong unequivocal "respect the elders" is very much in order.
I played BG2 for the first time around 2008. I still replay it every couple of years, did so last summer. I just get this “going on an adventure” itch, which no other game can scratch. And if i look at bg2 and, let’s say, morrowind or oblivion, which were stunning graphics wise at the time, I can honestly say that BG2 graphics aged much better.
P.S. I played IWD2 when it came out back in 2002. And i replay it every couple years as well. And STILL sometimes i stop and admire the beautiful backgrounds - so even visually the game is good for me.
I don't konw what it is about BG3 but looking at footage of the game I can already feel it doesn't have that same feeling of embarking on a huge adventure... it looks very linear to me... what do you think? I have BG2 installed here but haven't got around to playing it... before doing it I was actually looking for the original non-enhanced version of BG1 to play it first
@@FeelingShred I’m playing bg3 now, 125 hours already, it is absolutely non-linear. You can do things in any order you want, and it’s all interesting. It also does have the sense of an adventure - there’s a lot of stuff going on, the game is BIG and rich with content. As for BG1/BG2 - i’d skip BG1. Just read the story online and move on to BG2. To me BG1 was quite boring, too simple. BG2 is a masterpiece tho.
I've never played Baldur's Gate but recently finished my first playthrough of Dragon Age Origins and would like to try more older games. I've heard B2 is better than the first. My question for anyone interested is would it be wise to play B2 first or should I start with the first game? Any advice would be appreciated.
Hehehe. Well. Dragon Age Origins for me is one of the"newer" games XD, it's definitely one of the best though. But yes BG2 is better than the first one. If you aren't going to play the first one, I strongly recommend you look into Advanced 2nd edition D&D rules or the game's manual. This one is not as easy to "wing" as Dragon Age Origins.
@@YeOldEntertainment Thank you🙂
I don't need to watch the video to say "yes it's bloody magnificent"
But I'll watch the video anyway :)
Oh wow I would have never imagined to see Mary Spender in a Baldur’s Gate video
And yet... there she is XD
I am just replaying BG2 in the EE edition after an absence of almost 20 years and I agree with your comments. The main thing they don't do anymore are branching quest lines and lengthy companion quest lines that interweave with the main character's story, and I don't think you can really know how much that adds to the experience if you haven't played it yourself. Good stories, after all, are rarely about just one character. The Pathfinder games are really good in many things and surpass their old progenitor in some, but not in this. POE does very well with its intricate character interaction (really, this is way above BG2) but the quests are still rather limited in comparison. Playing BG2 today takes some getting used to the poor inventory management and the very old character graphics (environments are fine, but character models...not so much), but once you get over that, the game takes off almost like back in 2000. And the music....those dragon and lich battles wouldn't have been as epic without the music.
You can say a lot of the many things newer games do better, but the point is: those they, as a rule, do not do better are closer to the heart of storytelling. And that's why BG2 deserves its status as a classic and has more going for it than nostalgia.
Yes absolutely, most of these things are no longer part of the plan for modern day developers, at least not fro triple A devs.
I never looked at the characters and thought: i need to see all the blades of hair. I think the avatars are fine. Blurry but detailed enough. And definitely never thought I needed mocap and cinematic dialogue like in bg3. Or the full voice acting of British goblins. But I guess it's a must ever since the camera became dynamic and not stuck in topdown view. I suspect that it uses a lot of resources and energy making these, instead of focusing on gameplay
I am playing it properly for the first time on switch at the moment despite playing Pillars/Divinity and some other crpg and it is absolutely fantastic despite it's age. It is a bit clunky on switch but very addictive.
This is awesome to read. It sort of validates that BG2 has more than nostalgia going on for it
Thank you for reviewing what I consider THE game.
I played the BG trilogy for the first time when it came out, I was barely 15 and just started playing pen and paper D&D with the same ruleset, so I was immediately hooked. But then, there are SO many things to like about these games, and you really did a great job in explaining quite a few: quests that revolve around characters and their motivations where you can still have an impact, funny banter, rewarding exploration, an incredible power curve that isn't just the same game with bigger numbers, a great balance between main quest and misc quest pacing, etc.
I did play the trilogy at least 3 times across more than 2 decades, and yes, there is a component of nostalgia because I did grow up with these games, but still every time I actually enjoy them for what they are, and I'm sure I'll play it again in the next decades.
Now that I think of it, I still have to try IWD2. Since you speak so highly about it, and since I really appreciate how you review games (and very, very often I totally agree with what you say), I'm getting more tempted by the day!
Thanks again, Alex!
Do it! Baldur's Gate 2, Mask of the Betrayer and Icewind Dale 2 are the podium of D&D Medieval fantasy RPGS!
@@YeOldEntertainment I also played (and loved) Mask of the Betrayer. I played it only once, though, so maybe I'll eventually re play it, but for sure I'll give the priority to IWD2!
brilliant game,you can spend hours and hours ,so much to do,so many characters ,spells,ways to proceed,yes its graphics are now dated but in comparison baldersgate is the best rpg ever made.
I played them backwards as a kid on ps2 and absolutely loved them.
But... PS2 games are completely different than BG games from this video.
For me, the biggest take away has always been the lack of freedom in any other game. Baldurs gate trilogy has a clear story and objeective that you have, with a world built for that, yet despite that, the game lets you still do whatever you want. you want to be a druid shapeshifted all day, great. want to fireball into a crowd of people, you can. will it ruin your ability to really play the game, yeah, probably. can you break the quests of the game, yes. want to just randomly have skull traps on the floor everywhere, or knock people unconcious, or go straight to any encounter in the game, you can d that. you have agency not by just the game choices, but the actual way you play the game. and it still has a rich world and lore and plot that affords it. i dont know any other game that really has that, and its why it remains at the top of the list above all else for me.
Akshually there: are 1) Fighter stronghold (De Arnise) 2) Ranger stronghold, 3) Bard theatre, 4) Thieves Guild, 5) Paladin questline, 6) Druid grove, 7) Cleric duties, 8) Mage stronghold (planar sphere). Nice review though
nailed it, 100% with you, and let me add some more: at that time very few games were localized in italian but bg2 did, to the very last voice line (even bg3 has only text in italian), that was a blast to young me with very little english skills. I still happily remember a bug that occourred when anomen becomes a knight, and his name would change to "HEY YOU, GET OUT OF HERE" in italian, or my very first time playing it without music (who knows why) on an outdated laptop wich barely ran it. Sweet, you made me wanting to replay it for the 1000th time.
OK I'm convinced, I'll buy this game.
Art (in any form) is subjective!
Try the games you're wondering about guys! 👌🏻
Maybe it'll surprise you - maybe it'll bore the bejeezus out of you...
This was so awesome, nostalgic or not. ✨
Thanks :)
Baldurs Gate 2 is an epic, great game, but it was obviously released in an unfinished state. I played it 3 times without ever discovering the meaning behind certain areas. I asked on the forums and the answer was that they were quests that were meant to be included in the final release, but were later dropped. They still kept the areas in though. But for me they had the effect of adding a certain mysteriousness to parts of the game. So you could say that Baldurs Gate 2 is te greatest unfinished game ever released.
If I enjoy original sin 2, wasteland 3 and kingmaker will I like this? Both are only like 12 bucks on PSN rn
Well this was the forefather of two of those (Divinity Original Sin 2 and Kingmaker) and in my opinion it is far superior in many respects, but I don't know if you've been playing games since before the 2000s. If you started playing games around the 2010... some of its mechanics (and production values) may come off as dated an hard to get into. Otherwise... this is one of ten games you must absolutely play before you die if you are into rpgs.
@@YeOldEntertainment nah I'm only 29, I didn't get into RPGs until around when Skyrim came out and have since been trying out everything from Disco Elysium to Dragon Age. But shit, its only 12 bucks and the way you described the companions in the video made it sound very attractive. I think I'm gonna give it a shot. Thanks bro, I appreciate the quick response.
@@Dubyahh No probs. I hope you like it!
The march of the Fire Giant will be played tonight.
The different strokes part with triss and yen got me
I've been waiting for a very long time for this comment... THANK YOU!.
the alpha and omega
Those tacos looked so amazing I need to try that one day!!!!!
They ain't got nothing on the ones I showed at the beginning of the Moonring video! (those are the ones I actually get at my local Mexican restaurant) czcams.com/video/d8ZfsMU890E/video.html
@@YeOldEntertainment damn!! Looks amazing!! Thanks for sharing brotha
thank bro i have been trying to play balder gate as a new player, after watching this am gonna play it
😁
I hope you have a blast.
Nostalgia or not, if I had to choose three games for my one way trip to a remote island, it'll be Baldur's Gate 2, Super Mario World and Tetris!
Super mario world??? O.k... XD. Yes BG2 and Tetris are good games to take to that island.
16 developped companions (some way less than others) is too expensive for a cRPG these days with full voice acting. I was pleasantly surprised that ALL lines were voiced in pillars 2 but it was probably one of the reasons it didn't/barely made its money back...
I've played probably at least 1 playthrough for each class so 12-15? times but now I struggle to finish after coming back from the asylum, once all side content is done. The combat and inventory management IS outdated and AD&D sucks compared to 3 (have yet to try 5).
I think DA origins strikes a better balance with less choice&consequences quests but feeling more impactful (3rd person perspective and cutscenes ARE more immersive when, say, you kill a child because there aren't better alternatives) and having exploration/combat less open but less clunky or complicated. I can't say I miss the "bystander got killed by a stray AoE, gotta reload or forget coming here since every single NPC on the map is now hostile". But as big as DAO is, it feels small compared to BG2 and everyone knows size matters. It's got only 2 (high) dragons in the base game, for one :D
BTW there is one stronghold for each class except martial classes :
-becoming lord of the castle for warrior, barbarian & monk
-replacing the ranger killed by shadow lord
-taking the planar sphere for the cowled wizards
-becoming member of one of 3 churches in the temple district (and sabotaging the others)
-becoming a member of the paladin order - I wonder if you can do it while screwing Anomen's chances or if you also get kicked out ?
-replacing what's-her-name as archdruid after killing her like you're a necromonger in Riddick ^^
-managing the theatre after you've rescued the tieflings
-replace maevar as the docks boss for the thieves' guild
...I did say I played way too much of this game. Never tried the enhanced though.
It's no doubt the inspiration for the origins in DA and the stronghold management in all the others.
(sorry for the wall of text, I got a bit carried away)
Sorry to say, but you probably just played it too many times. Even if you are faster than me, that's probably an easy 1000+ hours. I "only" played through Shadows of Amn four times and even so I only ever managed to finish Throne of Bhaal once. Still need to do an evil playthrough one of these days.
I'm the person who probably played BGII the most in the world... I've completed the entire game more than 100 times, more than 10 thousand hours of gameplay, with all possible classes, and with the help of mods, then I left my warrior/mage/ thief level 50/50/50 with all possible spells, proficiencies and abilities. There is not and will not be a more immersive and rewarding game in history than Baldurs Gate, especially because we can always use the same character we finished the game with to start a new adventure again, as if it never ended.
The easy answer to the title question is simple: Yes it was - back in the time. Now? Not so much. Yeah still relly good (still great at times) *if* you can handle the UI, gameplay and rules system, but not the experience it was if you had played it back in 2000. In the meantime there's been *a lot* of games that offered that epic journey, depth and roleplay so it's only natural newer players can't view it the same way as someone who had played it back then for the first time.
Now let's watch the video :P
Chess is an old game, the graphics and mechanics haven’t changed in centuries. It’s still good.
Would you recommend the mobile ports?
I haven't tried them myself, but some people in the comment section of the first two videos I made of Baldur's Gate said they were playing them on mobile and seemed to be happy happy with them.
I was literally playing BG2 30 minutes ago.
It really was, and still is, that great!
Did this REALLY require me to listen to the entire different strokes theme song?
I had the immense luck of grow up with games like Baldur's Gate (rpg), Diablo II (arpg), Age of Empires II (rts), Morrowind (open w), Heroes 3 (tbs), Pharaoh (builder), Blade of Darkness (today called 'souls' don't have any idea). To mention 1 of each genre.
I think that was a golden age for 2 reasons. 1, that 'all colors' had been reached, I remember looking at old games with those few colors like something from Commodore 64 or something like that, but in the late 90s 2D games were shocking with those realistic backgrounds, in contrast with the primitive 3D that seemed like a throwback to me (what is happening today with VR, which may be the future, but today it is in its infancy). And 2, computing power was also reached to be able to move large and heavy games.
That continued for the next years until more or less Dragon Age Origins, the last great RPG, including Fallout 3. The latter were entering the era in which everything had to be multiplatform to get more money, and the limitations of the console controls (and the little attention which has a casual user), had a terribly bad influence on these genres. Luckily they were returning since kickstarters on Pillars, Wasteland 2 and Divinity OS, but the taste of triple A that BG had in the past is missing. Maybe BG3, but the multiplatform decision, change of genre to turn based, all of the political correction ('body type' instead male/female, damn 'sensitive people' is so absurd xD), including the over-explotation of a beloved name with a consecutive number, aren't good signals...
Loved the vid as usual, and this time remembered to like it!
But, also as usual, I have one nitpick - this commenter saying that zoomers who'll prefer BG3 and the like over OG BGs aren't dumb, or that we're wearing the nostalgia goggles... WELL AKTSHOOOOALLLLY, THEY ARE, and nostalgia goggles look good on us (I prefer to think that I'm pulling them off in a Blues Brothers way, these glasses were cool). Zoomers often can't find a rope in Fallout 1 and can't proceed through Vault 15 (true story) or can't go through Deus Ex or Torment because of gfx or "too many choices" (again true story), not even mentioning Arcanum, VTM:B, and other stuff like that.
Also, do Gorky 17 (in non eastern euro world, which I've recently learned EXISTS, it was called Odium) FOR TEH LULZ
Well there's more than nostalgia value to BG2! But yes, I don't see many zoomers figuring out how to use the rope in Fallout to descend to the lower floors of Vault 15. Gorky 17... that rings a bell. an OLD bell. I'll check it out.
@Ye Old Entertainment of course there is more, cool suits, blues music, hilarious antics of 90s comedy actors. I love BG series and I come back to it every year or two, but I have to say that it never beat Planescape for me, for BG I have to be in the zone, and Torment is an annual must play. Also, I find myself coming back to these games a bit less often than I used to, last 8 to 10 years had so many good, indie cRPGs that I love, that I dimply have less time for the oldies. Before Kickstarter and the whole cRPG renaissance, I simply played a few games in a loop - Torment, BG series, Morrowind, Arcanum, OG Fallouts, VTM: Bloodlines, Icewind Dale 1&2, TOEE, KOTOR 2, and a few others, then I added Dragon Age Origins and first Witcher (my national pride) into the mix (Mass Effect came later for me), but I didn't play much else, and I played A LOT, I binged all of them, every day, every year, I had to play some cRPG or I'd go nuts, but finally, the glimmer of hope appeared with kickstarter pitches, and oh, how much money I gave them, and it was all worth it
@@YeOldEntertainment Gorky 17 is a terrible turn-based rpg/jagged alliance-like Polish euro jank, terrible, I love it, but it's so baad
@@YeOldEntertainment again, my longer comments to a comment don't get highlighted, so I tell you that they're here in a short one ❤️