Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-06-06, 17:26:
dr_st wrote on 2026-06-06, 15:56:
I got gifted complete Big Box copies of the first game + expansion, and of the second game. So now I'm trying to get a Big Box copy of Throne of Bhaal, for sake of completion, and don't want to overpay for it. 😜
Throne of Bhaal concludes the story of the saga in a decent way, but it's not really on par with base Baldur's Gate 2 in terms of scope, quest quality and world design.
Similarly, I though the first Baldur's Gate (and its own expansion) was just kinda ok, but not that great compared to the sequel.
I've grown to appreciate BG1 more over the years (though I always loved it). The low level adventure feel, travelling in that world, taking in the sights, the forests, the dungeons etc - even if all you get never reaches beyond something like a talking chicken you then deliver to the next location for half a paragraph of text. Something compelling about that game that I can't quite put my finger on. The writing isn't the greatest, the plotting is lopsided, the combat - especially at those levels - never really takes off until the very end, and never gets terribly compelling even when everything is in place for it to... sort of start taking off.
One thing is misremembered about BG1 and the EEs sealed it as The Infinity Engine Experience, I think. It's that the original perspective is much closer to the ground than these games get presented at currently. At 640x480 and even 800x600 it's almost a TPP game. It matters a great deal for immersion, and is completely lost these days. You throw in more kits and elements never intended for BG1, its feel, balance and gameplay, and the current way to play BG1 out of the "box" isn't really what the devs intended.
