Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape

[Tecmos Deception]

Last year when BG:EE came out, I took a break from P99 and finally played the game all the way through. I had played it on and off a few times back in like 2000 but never finished it, and I never REALLY got into it. This time I was hooked though. Played two or three times through with parties and once solo. I never got into BG2 to follow up with that though, until this year when BG2:EE came out. Now I've done SoA and ToB with a solo illusionist/thief and I'm just starting ToB with a good party now. I might play once more with 2-3 people to romance Aerie and play a fighter/mage.

Anyway. How do Icewind Dale (and 2) and Planescape stack up against BG1 and 2? My buddy who introduced me into these games back in 2000 swears that Planescape is the best game ever. Should I play that after I finish with BG2, or should I do Icewind Dales first to avoid being disappointed with them after being awed by Planescape, or what?

[radditsu]

Iwd and iwd2 are Very very very hack/slashy with not a tpn of rp.


Iwd is unique due to its 3rd edition rules. Worthy of play.


Get the resolution fix for torment and you will have the best ROLEPLAY experience of your life.


It depends if you like the combat system more than the role play aspect.

I think you can play torment without fighting

[Tecmos Deception]

Is iwd more like nwn in terms of combat, or is it still bg-style fighting just more of it?

[radditsu]

It's infinity engine. So all like bg/bg2. Iqd is kinda an in between bg1 and bg2 evolution wise. Less polish than bg2 but more than bg1

[Klendathu]

Originally Posted by radditsu [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

It's infinity engine. So all like bg/bg2. Iqd is kinda an in between bg1 and bg2 evolution wise. Less polish than bg2 but more than bg1

This. If you enjoy the BG styling of gameplay, IWD is well worth the time.

I haven't tried BG2:EE. I did get the first one, and enjoyed it. Kind of fun to play a Kensai, but still watch Xzar lose his mind, or Minsc and Boo.

[Derubael]

For anyone that's played it, how does bg2EE stack up against original bg2 with the gibberlings fixpack? From what I've heard, you're actually better off with the original version + fixpack (since its basicaly 10 yrs of modders fixing bugs in bg2, as opposed to 1 yr of hastily fixed bugs re released in a "new edition").

To answer your questions, IWD2 uses the 3rd edition D&D rules as opposed to AD&D2, so the actual mechanics and spells in the game are VASTLY different than bg2. But, like Radditsu said, its still Infinity engine, so the gameplay is almost identical. In my personal opinion, IWD2 was worth 1 play through. I got to the last section of the game and burnt out (never beat final boss). It's FAR more combat intensive than BG2, and there is little story. It's a lot of dungeon crawls and hack n slash. The dungeon puzzles and layouts are mostly similar, and in my opinion, a snoozefest. It's the first infinity engine game I just straight up read a strategy guide on, because it just wasn't that enjoyable exploring on my own (you'd be straight up robbing yourself if you did this for any other IE game).

Planescape is on a whole different level. If you're into IE games for the combat, this isn't the game for you. It's about 80% story and roleplay. Obviously there's still some combat involved, but its a LOT of reading and a LOT of figuring stuff out. That being said, the story is absolutely fantastic, the characters are some of the best you'll ever see in a video game, and even now 15 years later, people still call it their favorite game of all time based purely on the story and characters. If you're into a good read, pick it up, get the demon chick, and thank me later.