Elder Scrolls or Baldur's Gate: from an old noob

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George Mulligan

George Mulligan

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Ok, back in the day I was smitten with D&D and mastered games like DOOM. Since that time, I've worked my butt off and had no time for gaming. Now, many years later, I'm ready to re-indulge.

I'm looking at RPG, and my focus is on these two games/series based on my research to date. Could those who are, ahem, of a more mature vintage, please guide me with some of your knowledge and experience?

I am not looking for "this one is better than that one" replies. I'd really like some pearls that differentiate them. Heck, I'm likely to own both at some point, but I'm making a decision on which to immerse myself in first.
 
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lilcinw
I was playing Interplay/Black Isle isometric RPGs long before I was introduced to TES so I am probably biased but I will give you my impressions.

The thing I liked about Baldur's Gate is that your character feels critical to the plot from the first moments of the game. The games are essentially the story of how your character goes from the orphan in a library keep to inheriting you father's throne. In TES III-V (I have never played Arena or Daggerfall) it just seems that you are in the right place at the right time and luck throws you into an adventure.

The other reason I enjoy the BG series is the artwork. When the games were made 2D was already an art form. I clearly remember being disappointed with the graphics the first time I...
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Mouldread

Mouldread

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Hello,

I'm probably roughly the same age as you if this matters at all. My problem with games like Baldur's Gate is that I don't like the idea of having to control and cater for more than 1 character. If this isn't a problem for you I've only heard positive feedback for the game. But try and find the Enhanced Edition as it was remastered to look better on modern PCs.

About the Elder Scrolls I can only speak about III - Morrowind, IV - Oblivion and V - Skyrim. I absolutely loved all three of them. And to me they all have a great replay value too. Pick a different character or decide to avoid the main quest and do all side quests and just explore. I have most fond memories of Morrowind and I still keep playing Skyrim almost 3 years after release.
 
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lilcinw

lilcinw

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I was playing Interplay/Black Isle isometric RPGs long before I was introduced to TES so I am probably biased but I will give you my impressions.

The thing I liked about Baldur's Gate is that your character feels critical to the plot from the first moments of the game. The games are essentially the story of how your character goes from the orphan in a library keep to inheriting you father's throne. In TES III-V (I have never played Arena or Daggerfall) it just seems that you are in the right place at the right time and luck throws you into an adventure.

The other reason I enjoy the BG series is the artwork. When the games were made 2D was already an art form. I clearly remember being disappointed with the graphics the first time I played Morrowind. It was cool be able to run around in first person but when you stopped to look at anything it seemed drab in comparison. Modded Skyrim is the first time I felt that the level of detail was on par with old isometrics (even if the mods thrash the 1GB of VRAM in my old GPUs).
 
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George Mulligan

George Mulligan

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Sep 20, 2014
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Mmmm, good input, guys. Info is marinating on my brain while I order and build my new system for a couple weeks. I'm leaning on going to Elder Scrolls first, then Baulder's Gate. It might be helpful to work with a single character first, before graduating to a party. And, lilcinw, your info on artwork is well taken. I imagine if I went from BG first, then to TES, I might be disappointed in that respect- going the other way would be cause for another smile when I get there.

I'm sure I'll be able to re-enter the TES worlds as the years go by, but I wonder... is the BG world as expansive as TES such that you can live multiple stories/lifetimes as it seems you can in TES?
 
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GmanBOSS

GmanBOSS

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IMOP no, They both end up pretty much with a single or two endings. If you are a die hard D&D fan and enjoy creating you char with every little aspect you like then go with BG series. If you want a more relaxed and much greater graphics feel to your game then go with TES. I still play both now as we speak(type).
For me I would vote TES cause the gameplay is smoother and the quests are more advanced than kill that and bring me this.
 
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lilcinw

lilcinw

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Yeah, that is the downside to BG being so story driven; there isn't much room for you to change what happens. Replay is mostly about trying out different classes/builds for your character and choosing unique companions. Icewind Dale (made by the same company on the same engine) is great for this because you create each character in your party so you can do some interesting builds that you can't find in a stock NPC.

Betheseda is great at creating a large open world and letting the player do whatever they want. I was apprehensive when they bought the rights to Fallout (another old Interplay isometric) but I think they did an excellent job maintaining the lore while injecting their brand of gameplay. The first time I played Fallout 3 I was so distracted by side quests that I actually forgot about the main story and only decided to finish the game because my character was no longer leveling.
 
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