Baldur's Gate II or Icewind Dale compilation?

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Just wondering which of these two games you guys would recommend?

I've been away from the Pc games market since Baldur's Gate I. Just got a
new computer and am looking at 5+ years of software.

This is what I like:

- Turn based fighting
- High replayability value.
- Heavy emphasis on level building

Before my Pentium 133 (32 mg ram) forced me out of the market I really
liked Baldurs gate and Diablo and HOMM3(sorry for the strategy props).

I'm considering both BG 2 and Icewind Dale, but I am curious about
Neverwinter Nights.

I've heard that Icewind Dale let's you build your entire party which
reminds of Bard's tale (the original which I loved).

I could (and have) read magazines and links, but I thought I would check
with the experts.

Nobody knows games, like gamers.

Cheers,

Kris
 
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Hawklan wrote:

> Just wondering which of these two games you guys would recommend?
>
> I've been away from the Pc games market since Baldur's Gate I. Just got a
> new computer and am looking at 5+ years of software.
>
> This is what I like:
>
> - Turn based fighting
> - High replayability value.
> - Heavy emphasis on level building
>
> Before my Pentium 133 (32 mg ram) forced me out of the market I really
> liked Baldurs gate and Diablo and HOMM3(sorry for the strategy props).
>
> I'm considering both BG 2 and Icewind Dale, but I am curious about
> Neverwinter Nights.
>
> I've heard that Icewind Dale let's you build your entire party which
> reminds of Bard's tale (the original which I loved).
>
> I could (and have) read magazines and links, but I thought I would check
> with the experts.
>
> Nobody knows games, like gamers.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris
>
>
>
>

HoMM4 or 5. Really. I've been obsessively playing HoMM4 recently. Lots
of fighting and level building. Not only that, you can COMPLETELY ignore
the poorly written stories and just fight and explore.

I liked Icewind Dale 2 better than Icewind Dale. This comes from liking
the 3.0 rules better than the 2.x rules.

From what I hear, Temple of Elemental Evil is turn based. I have it on
my desk but I haven't played it yet.

Avoid the new Pool of Radiance. I played through it, but only because I
was home sick for a month. Otherwise, I would have had no patience for
such an extremely dull dungeon crawl.

CH
 
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I loved Homm3,

I've heard some pretty mixed reviews on Homm4 though. Frankly I agree, the
story really on set up the campaigns. The draw in the series was the city
building and combat options.

Outside of the series I know (diablo's,Homm, BG) I am a bit lost.

PS:T sounds just downright off the wall.

I mean the story sounds intriguing but what is the gameplay like? I like
the notion of having to solve mysteries/puzzles but I like a good dose of
hack and slash too! From what I've heard I'm not sure this game provides
much of the later(and I don't arcadie hack and slash(DOOM), I mean RPG
dungeon building)

And yes, I did miss Fallout 1 & 2. Please forgive my ignorance but when I
was playing games graphics cards were and option.

Cheers,

An excited gamer overwhelmed by years of good software - coming home.
 
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On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:21:52 -0500, "Hawklan"
<kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> wrote:

>Just wondering which of these two games you guys would recommend?

Baldur's Gate II is one of the very best CRPGs ever released. Only a
few rate higher. Alt.games.baldurs-gate is a newsgroup dedicated to
the BG games, and to a lesser extent, all of the infinity engine
games, including Icewind Dale.
 
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Hawklan wrote:
> Great that helps,
>
> Some posts have really talked up Planescape: Torment saying that the
story
> is quite good. Just wondering is it any good? I am kind of torn
between it
> and Might and Magic IX (a series I know and liked).
>
> Essentially I want to get one bird's eye view game and 1 traditional
3d
> perspective game.
>
> I think I'll give BG 2 a try though.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris


The Baldurs Gate 2 compilation hands down. One of the best RPGS of all
time. Stay away from Might and Magic IX. I liked the series too
but it's very, very tired at this point.
 
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Baldur's Gate 2 is far superior to IWD (IMO) and with the Throne of Bhaal
expansion you can hit level 40. There is an enourmous wealth of mods out
there to add to your gaming experience - its easily the most in-depth and
huge RPG on the PC. IWD I didn't take to at all. NWN is a bit linear and
the storytelling is comparatively poor. The two expansion packs add a fair
amount to gameplay but you'll get the most out of it if you have a decent
net connection to play multiplayer - this is where it shines.

On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 09:21:52 -0500, Hawklan <kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca>
wrote:

> Just wondering which of these two games you guys would recommend?
>
> I've been away from the Pc games market since Baldur's Gate I. Just got a
> new computer and am looking at 5+ years of software.
>
> This is what I like:
>
> - Turn based fighting
> - High replayability value.
> - Heavy emphasis on level building
>
> Before my Pentium 133 (32 mg ram) forced me out of the market I really
> liked Baldurs gate and Diablo and HOMM3(sorry for the strategy props).
>
> I'm considering both BG 2 and Icewind Dale, but I am curious about
> Neverwinter Nights.
>
> I've heard that Icewind Dale let's you build your entire party which
> reminds of Bard's tale (the original which I loved).
>
> I could (and have) read magazines and links, but I thought I would check
> with the experts.
>
> Nobody knows games, like gamers.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris
>
>
>
>



--
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/
 
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Great that helps,

Some posts have really talked up Planescape: Torment saying that the story
is quite good. Just wondering is it any good? I am kind of torn between it
and Might and Magic IX (a series I know and liked).

Essentially I want to get one bird's eye view game and 1 traditional 3d
perspective game.

I think I'll give BG 2 a try though.

Cheers,

Kris
 
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"Hawklan" <kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> wrote in message
news:6256ae0ce1f4f04afb5a12a054f9d719@localhost.talkaboutcomputing.com...
> Great that helps,
>
> Some posts have really talked up Planescape: Torment saying that the story
> is quite good. Just wondering is it any good? I am kind of torn between it
> and Might and Magic IX (a series I know and liked).
>
> Essentially I want to get one bird's eye view game and 1 traditional 3d
> perspective game.
>
> I think I'll give BG 2 a try though.

For the choice between BG2 and IWD games:
I'd say get them both... they're going to set you back something like
$10-15 each, no? So might as well get them both and just put one aside for
now or play them both at the same time.

For the choice between Planescape and MM9:
First, can you even find a copy of Planescape Torment anywhere? This
game rarely ever even appears in the used games bin (maybe once a year at my
local EB, and even then its usually gone in a day). I thought MM9 was ok,
but I liked MM6-8 better (but MM9 looked alot better)
 
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For the choice between Planescape and MM9:
First, can you even find a copy of Planescape Torment anywhere? This
game rarely ever even appears in the used games bin (maybe once a year at
my
local EB, and even then its usually gone in a day). I thought MM9 was
ok,
but I liked MM6-8 better (but MM9 looked alot better)

Your right I've found Planescape hard to find!
I am interested as to why MM6-8 were better than MM9. Please keep in mind
the last one I played was World of Xeen (I think that was IV & V).

I've heard people say that MM6 & 7 were better than 9 but I can't figure
out why. I mean that is a lot of unused technology if MM9 could not outdo
its predecessors. Although in many ways MM1 was better than IV & V.

In the end with games this old, I may just scoop up what I can at EB. But
I know I can get BG2 with the new compendium.

Thanks,
 
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Hawklan wrote:

>
> PS:T sounds just downright off the wall.
>
> I mean the story sounds intriguing but what is the gameplay like? I like
> the notion of having to solve mysteries/puzzles but I like a good dose of
> hack and slash too! From what I've heard I'm not sure this game provides
> much of the later(and I don't arcadie hack and slash(DOOM), I mean RPG
> dungeon building)
>
>

Lots of people adore this one. I hated it. It bored me. I hated
recursively going back through all the conversation trees looking for a
new conversation tree that may have come up. The story that I did find
was dreadfully dull, and seemed more like dredging than discovery. I
ended up reading the faq, and finding that I failed to find about 1/3 of
the game, even after I looked for hours.

But don't let that put you off. My opinion <> truth.

CH
 
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Augustus wrote:


>
> For the choice between Planescape and MM9:
> First, can you even find a copy of Planescape Torment anywhere? This
> game rarely ever even appears in the used games bin (maybe once a year at my
> local EB, and even then its usually gone in a day). I thought MM9 was ok,
> but I liked MM6-8 better (but MM9 looked alot better)
>
>
>

I always enjoyed the MM series. They're the "beer and pretzles" RPG.
Don't think to hard. Kill stuff. Level up. Have a beer.

:)

CH
 
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"Hawklan" <kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> wrote in message
news:8df84ced5a72c13788b741abe36f6361@localhost.talkaboutcomputing.com...
> For the choice between Planescape and MM9:
> First, can you even find a copy of Planescape Torment anywhere? This
> game rarely ever even appears in the used games bin (maybe once a year at
> my
> local EB, and even then its usually gone in a day). I thought MM9 was
> ok,
> but I liked MM6-8 better (but MM9 looked alot better)
>
> Your right I've found Planescape hard to find!
> I am interested as to why MM6-8 were better than MM9. Please keep in mind
> the last one I played was World of Xeen (I think that was IV & V).
>
> I've heard people say that MM6 & 7 were better than 9 but I can't figure
> out why. I mean that is a lot of unused technology if MM9 could not outdo
> its predecessors. Although in many ways MM1 was better than IV & V.

I never played MM1... so I can't say if MM2 was the same as MM1 or not...

MM3-5 were effectivly the same game engine, with a few minor changes between
MM3 and MM4/5.

MM6 and 7 were pretty much the same game but with different settings. There
were a few changes here and there to the system and probably the big
difference between the two was MM6 used "MEGA Dungeons" (every dungeon was
pretty much colossal in size and each was like an entire adventure in itself
to explore) while MM7 instead used ALOT of tiny dungeons.

MM8 was almost the same as MM6 and 7... it had the same sort of graphical
look and feel (although better graphics in some places) than MM6 and 7, but
was almost the same game other than that (a few tweaks to the system and the
party became more like NPCs you swapped in and out of the party)

When it came to MM9, the game was graphically more appealing, but that was
about it... the system had quite a few bugs in it and the system changes
weren't really big improvements.

This is probably what led to the eventual downfall of the series... in that
the games rarely ever seemed to change or get better in time. They would
get a new engine and use it for a few years so that by the time the final
game came out it looked quite abit out of date (If MM8 came out when MM6 was
new it would have been heralded as a landmark game of the era... but instead
it looked old and cartoony compared to what other companies were putting
out)

Personally I had a good time playing through MM9... I was just saying that
alot of other people didn't like it and generally the game didn't rate too
well amongst gamers.
 
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> I think I'll give BG 2 a try though.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Kris


I had fun playing through bg2. some of the fights got a little tough though.
I got stuck on the expansion and just uninstalled the game.

I would suggest torment over everything
 
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On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 10:04:32 -0500, "Hawklan"
<kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> wrote:

>Great that helps,
>
>Some posts have really talked up Planescape: Torment saying that the story
>is quite good. Just wondering is it any good? I am kind of torn between it
>and Might and Magic IX (a series I know and liked).
>
>Essentially I want to get one bird's eye view game and 1 traditional 3d
>perspective game.
>
>I think I'll give BG 2 a try though.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Kris

did you miss out on Fallout 2?

if so, that's another one to add to the pile.
 
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In article <bcf9b76ccfb48977182030b756ee25fb@localhost.talkaboutcomputing.com>, Hawklan wrote:
> Just wondering which of these two games you guys would recommend?
>
> I've been away from the Pc games market since Baldur's Gate I. Just got a
> new computer and am looking at 5+ years of software.
>
> This is what I like:
>
> - Turn based fighting

Well that leaves out both of your options, sadly. Icewind Dale
and Baldur's Gate are both hit-the-space-bar-over-and-over based.

> - High replayability value.
> - Heavy emphasis on level building

They've both got those covered.

> Before my Pentium 133 (32 mg ram) forced me out of the market I
> really liked Baldurs gate and Diablo and HOMM3(sorry for the
> strategy props).
>
> I'm considering both BG 2 and Icewind Dale, but I am curious
> about Neverwinter Nights.
>
> I've heard that Icewind Dale let's you build your entire party
> which reminds of Bard's tale (the original which I loved).
>
> I could (and have) read magazines and links, but I thought I
> would check with the experts.
>
> Nobody knows games, like gamers.

Given your love of Bard's Tale, et al, I highly recommend you
check out Wizardry 8. You'll have to hope it has not bugs with
your current video card (some people have had problems) but it's
an awesome party-based, turn-based, old-skul RPG.

--
Neil Cerutti
 
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Actually W8 was the last game I got to work on my old system.

I loved it at first but after playing it about halfway through I got bored
(I prefer the medieval period and when the sci-fi storyline played a
bigger role I abandoned ship, that it was running pretty slowly)

Your right of course, BG1 & 2 aren't really true turn-based. Although I
don't mind the spacebar compromise.

I was hoping to find a new series that would rival Black Isle but it looks
like until ES:Oblivion comes out I'll just catch up with BG2.


Thanks to all of you who gave me some good advice regarding worthwhile
titles that have come out since 1997(I know there are countless more, but
I've got to stop talking and start playing). I was leaning towards ID 2
but I'll play it safe with the tried and true BG2.

Thanks,

Kris
 
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"Neil Cerutti" <neil.cerutti@tds.net> wrote in message
news:38410iF5jgrl4U1@individual.net...

> Well that leaves out both of your options, sadly. Icewind Dale
> and Baldur's Gate are both hit-the-space-bar-over-and-over based.

you can set BG2 to pause at various times, including "end of turn", making
it prettymuch turn-based.
 
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> I liked Icewind Dale 2 better than Icewind Dale. This comes from liking
> the 3.0 rules better than the 2.x rules.
>
And I liked ID better than ID2. But I liked Bg2 better than both. I played
ID finished in two mounts, but used half of the year in Bg2. And really
enjoyed myself. Bernt E
 
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"Hawklan" <kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> wrote in message
news:bcf9b76ccfb48977182030b756ee25fb@localhost.talkaboutcomputing.com...
> Just wondering which of these two games you guys would recommend?
>
> I've been away from the Pc games market since Baldur's Gate I. Just got a
> new computer and am looking at 5+ years of software.
>
> This is what I like:
>
> - Turn based fighting


BG2 and IWD are both real-time with a pause feature. You can pause and give
orders at any time, making it better than turn-based (imho). You can also
set the game to pause after each round.


> - High replayability value.


BG2 has scores of NPC's and optional quests. In fact, you'll need to play it
a few times to see everything. Once you play IWD, well, that's about it.


> - Heavy emphasis on level building


Both games have this is spades.


>
> Before my Pentium 133 (32 mg ram) forced me out of the market I really
> liked Baldurs gate and Diablo and HOMM3(sorry for the strategy props).
>
> I'm considering both BG 2 and Icewind Dale, but I am curious about
> Neverwinter Nights.


IMHO, NWN is ok, but doesn't compare to BG2.


>
> I've heard that Icewind Dale let's you build your entire party which
> reminds of Bard's tale (the original which I loved).

IWD does let you build your entire party, but the downside is, they have no
personality whatsoever. Where BG2 has plenty of NPC's (enough to satisfy any
party mixture you can think of) with loads of personality. NPC's will argue,
fight, fall in love with your PC, have their own quests, etc etc.

The NPC's make BG2 the best game ever, imho. I'm playing it now for what
must be the tenth time.
 
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JWB wrote:

>
>
> IWD does let you build your entire party, but the downside is, they have no
> personality whatsoever. Where BG2 has plenty of NPC's (enough to satisfy any
> party mixture you can think of) with loads of personality. NPC's will argue,
> fight, fall in love with your PC, have their own quests, etc etc.
>
> The NPC's make BG2 the best game ever, imho. I'm playing it now for what
> must be the tenth time.
>
>

NPC's with personality is a big turn-off for me. I've always had fun
inventing my own personalities for my characters. I don't like it when
the game designers do it for me. Needless to say, I found BG irksom, and
BG2 more so.

CH
 
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Clawhound wrote:
> JWB wrote:
>
>>
>>
>> IWD does let you build your entire party, but the downside is, they
>> have no personality whatsoever. Where BG2 has plenty of NPC's
>> (enough to satisfy any party mixture you can think of) with loads of
>> personality. NPC's will argue, fight, fall in love with your PC,
>> have their own quests, etc etc.
>>
>> The NPC's make BG2 the best game ever, imho. I'm playing it now for
>> what must be the tenth time.
>>
>>
>
> NPC's with personality is a big turn-off for me. I've always had fun
> inventing my own personalities for my characters. I don't like it when
> the game designers do it for me. Needless to say, I found BG irksom,
> and BG2 more so.

Given that it's incredibly easy to run a full built-from-scratch customised
party in either of them, that seems like a rather weak objection.

--
Mark.
 
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In article
<6dda3b98baf0c1bba5d499aef53fa2ac@localhost.talkaboutcomputing.com>,
Hawklan wrote:
> Actually W8 was the last game I got to work on my old system.
>
> I loved it at first but after playing it about halfway through
> I got bored (I prefer the medieval period and when the sci-fi
> storyline played a bigger role I abandoned ship, that it was
> running pretty slowly)

I didn't mind the setting at all, since your own characters
can be considered complete outsiders from entirely different
realms.

Two of my favorite parties were: a copy of the sample party from
Bard's Tale, including Brian the Fist, El Cid, et al (I
originally completed it with the sample party minus the useless
thief plus a Monk); and an approximation of six of the main
recruitable NPCs from Ultima 4, including Shamino, Dupre, etc.

Those without brain damage might not have found those things fun,
though.

I don't recommend plowing through Wizardry 8 with your first
party. Designing and building new party concepts was what
eventually hooked me on the game, although the first few reboots
were required 'cause I was so gimp.

--
Neil Cerutti
 
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Thusly "Hawklan" <kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> Spake Unto All:

>Great that helps,
>
>Some posts have really talked up Planescape: Torment saying that the story
>is quite good. Just wondering is it any good?

It is very, very, good. It is however a very unorthodox rpg, with a
lot of story, so it's not to everyones tastes. Me, I love it, and
occasionally accuse it of being art.

Today the graphics are of course quite dated.

>I am kind of torn between it
>and Might and Magic IX (a series I know and liked).

I saw it but never played it - AFAIK it was pretty universally panned.

>Essentially I want to get one bird's eye view game and 1 traditional 3d
>perspective game.
>
>I think I'll give BG 2 a try though.

A good game too; for me it's not as good as Planescape, Fallout2, and
Gothic2, but not at all bad. Many hold it in very high regard.

If you're a hardcore RPG'er who play for the interesting worlds and
interaction, I'd suggest PS:T and Gothic2 (which, btw, has nothing at
all to do with gothic-the-subculture).

If you want good but more conventional RPG's, then my advice would be
Knights of the Old Republic and Baldurs Gate 2.

All of them are outstanding games.

If you want something that is a quick blast to play coop with friends,
then Diablo2 would be my suggestion, it's shallow but really very fun.
Perhaps also Neverwinter Nights (me, I hated neverwinter nights but I
never tried coop or any of the user made mods).

Finally there's Morrowind. It's another unorthodox rpg, in that it's
open-ended: it doesn't really have a story, or an end - it's basically
just a big game-world to explore. I was fascinated by Morrowind for
about two months, before I started to feel that the world was dead and
static. Still, two months fascination isn't bad for a game, and some
don't seem to ever grow tired of it.

>Kris

--
"Forgive Russia. Ignore Germany. Punish France."
-- Condoleezza Rice, at the time National Security Adviser, on how to deal
with european opposition to the war in Iraq. 2003.
 
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Thusly "Hawklan" <kristan.miller@nospamdnd.ca> Spake Unto All:

>PS:T sounds just downright off the wall.

It is. Very different game. There is actually a learning curve,
because the normal assumptions about how to play RPG's don't hold.
There is no need to powerplay or be tactical in PS:T; my advice is to
role-play it, and make your choices based on what you feel is right.

>I mean the story sounds intriguing but what is the gameplay like? I like
>the notion of having to solve mysteries/puzzles but I like a good dose of
>hack and slash too! From what I've heard I'm not sure this game provides
>much of the later(and I don't arcadie hack and slash(DOOM), I mean RPG
>dungeon building)

Weeeeell.... There is a fair bit of combat, and it's actually not bad,
but the meat of the game is interaction and the story. It's about a
bunch of broken existences banding together, united by guilt and
remorse; the theme is suffering and atonement - but also forgiveness,
and like all good tragedies it's also uplifting.

Hey, I told you it was art.

>An excited gamer overwhelmed by years of good software - coming home.

Well, you have some very good games ahead of you.


--
"Forgive Russia. Ignore Germany. Punish France."
-- Condoleezza Rice, at the time National Security Adviser, on how to deal
with european opposition to the war in Iraq. 2003.
 
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