Played some popular WRPGs - How hard is Baldurs Gate 2 to get into?

Play the tutorial and read the manual from cover to cover. I can't really give you any other advice then that aside from play the game which is a given. It will come, the game looks daunting but it is actually very simplistic once you understand the interface. It isn't hard to get into but as I tell anyone who picks it up; play the first also... The games are set up so it is more of "an epic saga" akin to Lord of the Rings instead of individual games. The original, the sequel and it's expansion are actually considered a single game by most considering with mods you can literally go from the start where your a child fresh out of training to the end when your... well lets just say you can get VERY powerful.

among the "greatest"? it's about preference, CRPG comes in different flavor. plenty of gamers here cannot stand Dnd and party centric CRPG. compared to games like BG2, there are more solo, first person or third person RPG, Elder Scroll, Gothic series, Arx Fatalis, The Witcher and etc; also there's an army of Action RPG.

if overwhlemed, see if you can stay with it for a little while; maybe you'll get into it.

if from overwhlemed, you're getting sick and tired...stop playing, there are other CRPGs to try.

hmm... the starting Dungeon in BG2 is utterly bad, sucky and so on -.- But when you get out, the games passes the controle on to you, complete controle that it.

it is amazing, altho very old in terms of control, dilivery and such, but there is general freedom to be had in there.

And an amazing world you can go on enjoying...

Now the aD&D ruleset is pretty complicated, and would require some getting used to, altho I doubt you can make a terrible character even if you wanted to. Besides there is a party afterall to rely on...

BG2 does start off slow. try Icewind Dale 2 instead. although not as famous as BG2, imo it's actually better in many ways. 2 reasons particularly come across my mind -

1. IWD2 uses DnD 3rd edition ruleset, which is much more robust than BG2's ADnD 2nd edition. it allows more extensive character building, interactions, and a simply more engaging gameplay.

2. Black Isle once again shows its mastery in storytelling with IWD2. the pacing is particularly flawless... Peter Jackson couldn't have made it more gripping than it already is. i'd go as far as saying it's the most exciting Infinity crpg.

so there you go. if BG2 isn't your cup of tea, definitely try IWD2, which now comes in a complete boxset with all 3 games in the series.

Remember the dialog's in the game are just as incredible as the battles, always start out any unfamiliar places that are not towns buffed, rested and have a ton of potions ready. Setup your spells accordingly if you're visiting places that either have alot of:

Undead - Leveldrain/healing spells galore/protection spells

Casters - Spell protections/breach(Godsend)/Pierce Magic/Summon Animals

Massive zoo keeping - Fireballs/Fear/and everything else that does direct damage(cloudkill ftw)

Spells are the hardest things to keep a bind on mostly because the fights quickly end up badly as not enough preparation made to counter specific monster types.

Take the failures with an open mind, some fights look incredibly tough but with some smart tactics and maybe cheezy moves you'll quickly turn the tables on an impossible fight. Watch youtube vids for some tips but don't spoil the experience yourself. Try Icewind Dale 1/2/heart of winter as well

It has one of the most painfully boring first chapters of all time, but the game really picks up after that.

I'd suggest that you keep at it - you're bound to get the hang of it once you've build a good party and tackled a few of the longer quests.

BG2 IMO is the best WRPG to date, a shade above Planescape. A must buy!

It starts a bit slow, and if you aren't familiar with the first game, rescuing Minsc and Jaheira might not mean much to you. And you will wonder who Khalid was. That being said it picks up bigtime and is a brilliant game.

Do you guys think that maybe its jumping straight into the deep-end with the game?GulliversTravel

see the post immediate above yours...BG2 is antique...BY TODAY'S STANDARD! so, a way to look at what you're doing (and planning to do) now is simply that you pay sorta homage to old fashioned, outdated games. it's not the deep-end of PC games, it's your experiencing the necessary clumsiness of those games due to primitive and unpolished technology and game design.

don't be too hard on those antiques if you actually finish BG2 and proceed forward with your plan.

I have low (or obsolete) standard and so I think BGs, Torment, Fallouts are still the best among CRPGs.

[QUOTE="GulliversTravel"]Do you guys think that maybe its jumping straight into the deep-end with the game?teardropmina

see the post immediate above yours...BG2 is antique...BY TODAY'S STANDARD! so, a way to look at what you're doing (and planning to do) now is simply that you pay sorta homage to old fashioned, outdated games. it's not the deep-end of PC games, it's your experiencing the necessary clumsiness of those games due to primitive and unpolished technology and game design.

don't be too hard on those antiques if you actually finish BG2 and proceed forward with your plan.

I have low (or obsolete) standard and so I think BGs, Torment, Fallouts are still the best among CRPGs.

.... are you all right, teardrop? you don't sound like yourself at all...... i mean, surely you know as well as i do that - aside from the Infinity isometric graphic - the depth and sophistication in DnD crpgs are leaps and bounds ahead of the majority of modern crpgs. antique they may be, but outdated they are not. 10 years into video gaming and i'm still proud to say that nothing comes close to DnD in the entire genre, and nostalgia has absolutely nothing to with it.

Okay i have a much better idea now that everyone has replied, i plan to play Planescape Torment, NWN and Fallout 1 and 2 afterwards, all those are also considered masterpieces. Do you guys think that maybe its jumping straight into the deep-end with the game?GulliversTravel

Don't listen to the graphic-whoring naysayers, they probably put down the masterpiece that is Planescape: Torment as well, which was voted in Gamespot's greatest Games of all-time.

If you want to get a feel for the characters i mentioned (Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid) I suggest starting with the original BG first, but BG2 is clearly better.

NWN is a good game, but the sp is not nearly as good as that of BG2, however the 2 expansion packs of NWN bring the game back up to par, so if you get NWN be sure it includes the expansions as well. MP is good.

Also with BG2 be sure to get the expansion...Throne of Bhaal, good stuff.

I think the gameplay actually holds up quite well even nowadays. The combat has a very tactical feel. Pause, issue commands, unpause, pause and change/counter targets, position a hidden rogue behind an enemy to backstab, unpause etc. Some of the larger and harder battles in particular feel quite epic.

Baldur's Gate 2 can seem a bit daunting and complicated at first, and it does start out a bit slow - especially if you're not used to dnd based games, but stick with it. BG2 (+ the expansion, Throne of Bhaall) is easily my favorite game of all time. After you have a run through the vanilla game, check out some of the mods.

I tried to play BG 2 once with the demo. With no tutorial it took me multiple times to get the hang of it, but my party members were still dieing.

.... are you all right, teardrop? you don't sound like yourself at all...... - the depth and sophistication in DnD crpgs are leaps and bounds ahead of the majority of modern crpgs.

Jinroh_basic

I'm alright...it's just that now I'm more cautious giving answers to newcomers' questions concerning older CRPGs. our "great" may mean vastly different from what Mass Effect generation's "great." I would rather those who're not into more complex gameplay stay away form BG2 than they come back blaming us for recommending them such boring/ awkward game.

guess I was playing the "bad cop" while all you good cops in this thread ^^"

and yes, I totally agree with you on that.

actually, right now I'm on another BG2 run, trying out a NPC mod^^"

I would play BG first... BG2 is pretty hardcore because you start off at the level of a legendary hero pretty much, and then from there you can level up to the equivalent of a god.. or something. I don't know too much about D&D but I know enough that anything after level 9 is pretty uber, and 20+ is insane.

So in that regard BG is a bit more down-to-earth, start your adventure, type of thing. Easier to swallow, I'd say. The story carries on directly and you can use your character from BG1.

I would play BG first... BG2 is pretty hardcore because you start off at the level of a legendary hero pretty much, and then from there you can level up to the equivalent of a god.. or something. I don't know too much about D&D but I know enough that anything after level 9 is pretty uber, and 20+ is insane.

So in that regard BG is a bit more down-to-earth, start your adventure, type of thing. Easier to swallow, I'd say. The story carries on directly and you can use your character from BG1.

MyopicCanadian

based on the whole BG saga story premise, our PC has to be legendary in the end. and that's why, you'll see some mythical creatures as enemies in BG2:SoA-->ToB. you don't fight demilich, mind flayers, beholders and such in BG (which doesn't even have lich), not even in NWN2, you can advance to lvl30 with expansion.

playing BG1 first is certainly recommended, but it might be even more difficult to get into than BG2...a lvl1 character wandering into the wild...that's very tough^^:

[QUOTE="GulliversTravel"]Okay i have a much better idea now that everyone has replied, i plan to play Planescape Torment, NWN and Fallout 1 and 2 afterwards, all those are also considered masterpieces. Do you guys think that maybe its jumping straight into the deep-end with the game?AFBrat77

Don't listen to the graphic-whoring naysayers, they probably put down the masterpiece that is Planescape: Torment as well, which was voted in Gamespot's greatest Games of all-time.

If you want to get a feel for the characters i mentioned (Minsc, Jaheira, Khalid) I suggest starting with the original BG first, but BG2 is clearly better.

NWN is a good game, but the sp is not nearly as good as that of BG2, however the 2 expansion packs of NWN bring the game back up to par, so if you get NWN be sure it includes the expansions as well. MP is good.

Also with BG2 be sure to get the expansion...Throne of Bhaal, good stuff.

I guess it can be hard to get into,but after you have it's an epic,awe inspiring game.Your standards for an rpg shoot up ten fold.The dungeon though...ohh the dungeon.Better going through it your first time but now i just use the nodungeon mod,just skip it basically.I prefer planescape torment over BG2 if im being honest.Just edges ahead for me.