I just played... Baldur's Gate 2: Enhanced Edition

Hell hath no fury like a d20 scorned.

Unfortunately, this Jon doesn't have a cat. 

                To be fair, the above statement is a bit of a lie since the game differs from its predecessor in the luck dependence department. In the first game a lucky roll was often what separated your Halfling thief from nimbly sidestepping an enemy swing and getting blown up into pretty little red chunks; this isn’t necessarily the case this time around because the higher levels translate into relatively consistent chances to hit and get hit.

It's all about tactics, though 'cheesy' options to beat encounters easily exist... depends on your ethical code.

                Talking about higher levels, this is the kind of sequel that is very similar to its predecessor, and by similar I mean that it is identical. Literally, since it is a continuation of the story, albeit at higher levels with greater challenges and a plot filled with greater stakes. This is especially the case with Enhanced Edition, since the enhanced additions in the first game tied it up firmly mechanically and content-wise with the second game, removing the prior dissonance between the two games regarding class kits and weapon specialisations. So yes, the gameplay is exactly the same, albeit with the added arsenal provided by higher levels and areas to explore.

                For those not in the know, now you should be in the know, and know that Baldur’s Gate is part of an old beloved part of PC gaming called the good old isometric RPGs, which mixed tactics and roleplaying elements to popular effect. Tactics and carefully planning frolicked hand-in-hand with luck upon the bosom of a d20 dice which decided a whole lot of things. Arguably, the luck factor can be incredibly aggravating, and it is, often, but it also has its fair bit of old school charm, like old horror movies which serve as effective comedies today. The system works, and it is fun, but occasionally the RNG gods will look upon you with baleful eyes and decide it’s time for your heavily armoured Paladin to be plinked to death by a pack of kobolds. Though, as I’ve mentioned just 200 words ago, the higher levels and higher numbers translates to luck being reduced from God to a somewhat powerful divine being who can influence some things now and then but can’t really decide the flow of things with a snap of his random little fingers.

A rare outdoor battle. 

                Spoiler Warning for the first game.

                This sequel follows hot on the trail of the first, wherein you discovered that you are the child of the dead God of Murder, and that your brother is out to murder you, so you have to murder him before he can murder you, while a whole lot of other people want to murder you for various reasons, so you murder them as well. You do eventually murder your brother, and then in a shocking twist of fate, get captured and not murdered by the mage Irenicus, who holds you captive and performs experiments on you with the hope of making you hope you had looked into this ‘getting murdered’ business a lot earlier. But the game can’t have you be captive all the time, so you break free and set out on a quest for answers, revenge and to murder those who have their minds set on murdering you, or to just murder people.

From savior to guinea pig.

                In a way, the plot really doesn’t feel like ‘the next logical step’ to the story, since it often feels like more a side-story to a greater picture, but it serves as an interesting sequel nonetheless, with a thoroughly engaging plot and some surprisingly interesting themes and stories to explore. Though, perhaps the greatest intrigue is why the game is still called ‘Baldur’s Gate’ even though the titular city has absolutely nothing to do with anything, and is barely even mentioned in passing. The main plot does tend to meander a fair bit, like any RPG plot to be honest, and you might often delve so deep into a certain area that you lose track of what is going on and what has to be done, and this is especially the case if you play irregularly. Though this is also in part the fault of the pretty impressive variety of great and involving side-quests scattered throughout the game’s world, which can really suck you into their plot that you forget about the old ‘I’m the child of the God of Murder and everything is murder’ part of you, and I find it odd that I am actually complaining about an excess of good content that I am feeling fairly stupid for it so I’m just going to end this point with dufadadasguda.

Erkwa?

The stakes are pretty high.

                Though a major pickle I have with the series is with how evil is not really evil, it’s moustache-twirling ‘being a dick for little benefit’ syndrome. There is literally no benefit to playing an evil character, so that completely contradicts the word ‘little’ in the previous sentence, aside from perhaps feeding a kink or something. ‘Evil is phony’ is perhaps the best way to describe it, since the only evil available is the ‘I am really diabolic therefore I’m going to do bad things’ approach. An unfortunate drawback of the ample side-quests is that world is far more ‘fragmented’ into separate areas, each pertaining to a respective quest. While these areas can be extensive and have multiple quests within them, they are a far cry from the rolling, expansive areas of the first game which are almost completely absent this time around. Which is a bit of a shame, since it was always interesting to hit the road and face what comes before you (though you can always argue that the first game had TOO MANY expansive areas with too much walking and too little to actually do).

Oh Yoshimo...

...?!

When Haer'Dalis flirts, he FLIRTS.

                The NPCs that join you on your quest this time around are far more fleshed out and feature their own quest(s), will always add their quips to your current progress and interact with other party members. They have their own stories, interactions and unique gameplay elements, from unique equipment and abilities to varying personalities. A definite and massive improvement from the previous game’s characters. From the battle-worn and battle-wise Keldorn, the whimsical and flirtatious Haer’dalis, the vicious and loyal Jaheira to the insane and lovable Minsc, there’s a lot of variety to be found here. Though a couple of characters can be incredibly hit or miss, since I personally found the smug and condescending Anomen to be quite a bearable and amusing, but found the innocent and naïve Aerie to be painfully annoying and whiny (be it justified or not).

Oh, Aerie...

SHUT UP.

Pictured above: Pathetic enemies

                The higher level gameplay has also thrown its blessed light onto the combat department, and boy is it a thrill now. There’s a whole lot of variety in character customisation, combat options and equipment decision to let you fine-tune your little party to your liking. Mages and Priests boast a pretty ridiculous volume of spells to choose from… arguably too many as most can prove to be rather useless or redundant, though the sheer number of options opens the windows for a grand variety of strategies to tinker around with. Unfortunately, being prepared can play a key role in the game, especially in the expansion where you can find yourself unable to progress because you are not prepared (not impossible, just frustratingly difficult). The combat is on the whole just a whole lot more exciting and involving, as you tactfully control your warriors on the frontline, micromanage your thief’s positioning and cycle through your spellcasters. There’s a great bit of enemy variety too, though there can be too many ‘voluminous but ridiculously easy’ enemies in parts, who are just easy prey for your party and just serve as pointless cannon fodder for nothing. There are many enemies such as trolls, beholders and mindflayers who shake things up a bit, forcing you to reposition and reprioritize all of your ingrained tactics and roles.

A whole lotta spells. 

Rawr.

                There a lot of dungeons in this game, and it’s good that they are varied enough and challenging enough to be consistently interesting… though something has to be said about how many damn dungeons there actually are. I’m sure if I were to go back and do the math, dungeons will form about 73.46% of the game, which makes me wonder why my characters didn’t form some kind of aversion to sunlight or have their minds devolve into them believing they are subterranean pixies here to bring about love and murder.

Meet the Vampires. They are going to annoy the hell out of you. 

                Visually the game is still nice, with a pretty significant art upgrade from the more simplistic designs of the first game. In a few spots I couldn’t help but feel that a poor artist suffered the wrath of someone’s OCD desire to fill in all the empty spaces with intricate designs, since things tend to get a bit too intricate and the patterns can make you believe you're a psychedelic space goat. Though the artistic variety is great (and appreciated in the dungeons) and helps give the areas their own atmosphere and tone… though trudging through subterranean dungeons can begin to feel the same after a while, what with being underground and what not things could get a tad grounded.

So many circles...

                The choices in the game bear little weight to them, and seem to tend to serve the role of roleplaying… which is fair enough since you can have some fun with the responses you get to choose from. Being a generally unaware and dramatic Wizard is a possibility for one. Though, once again, being evil is more for ‘the sake of evil’ and bears little gravity, especially since the evil presented is dumb evil, in the vein of ‘I’m evil and therefore I’ll just do this mindlessly evil thing’ thoughts.

The divine 'nightmares' are pretty well done.

Stakes: Even Higher. 

                The expansion, Throne of Bhaal, is in a way what would have been the ‘logical’ next part to the story, what with more murderous sibling rivalry than you can shake a murderous stick that’s related to you at. The expansion also feels more like a sequel because it takes place independent of the original game, with all new locations and the inability to revisit previous locations. While it’s got some cool mechanics, it is more of a dungeon-and-boss gauntlet than anything else, and despite your siblings being as colourful and varied as they are, things can get a tad dreary as you seem to marathon through a whole lot of murderous vendetta. Conjoin this with the previously mentioned fact that the expansion can be really difficult in spots if you are not prepared, and sometimes these ideal preparations need things from the original game… which you can’t access anymore in the expansion. It’s still fun though, even though Luck has now been demoted from somewhat-power-divine-being to drunkard-who-sits-on-your-sofa-doing-nothing, since the rolls and levels are so high now hitting and getting hit are almost guaranteed. A fairly interesting bit for introspection, on how the mighty one has fallen. You come to miss some the excitement brought about by luck, honestly.

I didn't choose the Drow life, the Drow life chose me. 

                All in all, I have to end with the confession that, despite my profound love for the first game, I never did play the second game when it released back in the day. So the game managed generate a pretty monumental amount of hype within me, as I consistently heard others rave about it and praise it to the high heavens. And the game delivers, I was gripped for the pretty handsome length of it; the story kept me interested and the great combat and secrets kept me invested. All of this is tied up with a beautiful ribbon of replayability as this series, as a whole, is pretty damn replayable (hell, I was contemplating my next playthrough and my eventual attempt at a hardcore playthrough as I trudged through it for the first time… a very good sign for a game) and worthy of its place in gaming history, and its status as BioWare’s crowning jewel. 

It was a bit of a sentimental affair, watching the saga come to an end.