Baldur's Gate
Enhanced Edition: It is just too bad that the so-called "Enhanced Edition" doesn't really contribute much over the original game. Even now people continue to argue whether it is worth the upgrade. The graphics aren't that much different from the original version. Though I guess it is always good when they fix 400 bugs even if it is like 20 years later. The user interface is "cleaned up" but honestly the graphics still like something from the Runescape era.
Things I dislike of the genre: Anytime I tried to look up information about the game things get very technical. People would talk about how the game follows version 3 and not version 2 of the board game rule sets. Some start talking about how bards aren't supposed to be wearing armor or that THAC shouldn't be changed. Here I am clueless what THAC actually stands for. Caster abilities are ludicrously powerful but can only be used once before you have to rest in the end (or make camp). Abilities need to be set beforehand. In the case of Baldur's Gate thieves are the ones that can detect traps, stealth, or pick locks. Although the game automatically uses these abilities when not in combat, they must be "checked" every round in the game. You are pretty much expected to gain and use health potions over cleric healing abilities.
Problems with Baldur's Gate: Like Pathfinder: Kingmaker, I just felt like the game was too hard. I didn't want to continuously pause the game like Dragon's Age
just to survive an encounter. I didn't want to min-max my classes and
characters, check their positions, and sort out their inventory. I
didn't want every battle to be an "epic battle" that nearly
kills my team in a matter of seconds. I also don't like when my party
misses the enemy eight times in a row. Why aren't my equipment worth
more than a couple pieces of silver? I could collect every bow, sword,
and armor in a dungeon and still be less than what the reward is. I
don't want to make the enemy chase down a team member like in Mechcommander.
Why is it that my enemies can kill me instantly when my health is 5
health bars maximum? Why is it that rangers can critically kill
anything, both friend and foe, when my fighters can't even block some
simple arrows? Take any early encounter - Ogre, Tarnesh, Neira.
Any one of those took me around 10 tries before giving up and looking
online for tips. How was I supposed to know to fire from a distance when
I didn't have a ranger in my group, run away to the local guards and
hope they do more damage than me, or evenly space my group and try to
use specific abilities to interrupt their overpowered spells.
At least there were good things: That isn't to say I hated everything about the game. The tutorial sections were very informative and the inclusion of journal entries helped a ton. I very much enjoyed the ability to add my own personal journey entries as well. The quests were just as humorous as Fallout with their own personal touches. Nearly every commoner had their own version of what was going wrong in the area. There was one I stumbled across that hinted at Neverwinter Nights and another that kept bothering you until you left. There were plenty of companions to choose from. It actually made me kind of sad to pick and choose. The quests were well designed and some of the items, like the cursed girdle, gave me a small chuckle.
Ending: This is where I usually give my review of the game but I can't bring myself to rate a game that is so old and loved by many people. I'll do my best to find another game that I might enjoy more.
11-25-2019