Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Review (Bromonger)
An absolutely legendary RPG. Baldur's Gate is the beginning of one of the most underrated series in all of gaming history.
THE GOOD:
- Loads of options for character creation that vastly changes your playstyle on repeat playthroughs.
- Plays just like classic D&D, except it's much more fluid and combats don't (always) take 2 to 3 hours.
- A wealth of charming characters and party members all around. Yes, INCLUDING the Enhanced Edition characters: they aren't nearly as bad as all the boomers make them out to be. They blend into the game extremely well.
- Getting lost and running around the map on a looting frenzy is pure bliss.
- The music and sound effects, while obviously a product of their time, still hold up well to this day.
- The game's real-time combat is very well handled. Being able to stop time and micromanage your moves whenever and however much you want is very handy and satisfying.
- Finally, the story. Wow. This is without a doubt my favorite story in any RPG game. The main plot is simple but takes some really creative directions, party members have awesome stories that start here and carry over into the sequel, lots of fun sidequests to follow, and the interlude, Siege of Dragonspear, was actually one of the highlights of my playthrough. Baldur's Gate has all the energy and joy of a tabletop romp with your friends, except the story is all just for you. This is undoubtedly the star aspect of the game.
THE BAD:
- Some of the old voice acting is kinda cringy.
- Damn, 2nd Edition rules are confusing as hell and make my eyes bleed.
- In true D&D tradition, Wizards and Sorcerers are the best classes in the game, but are complete garbage for the first 5 to 8 levels. The maximum level in Baldur's Gate 1 is level 9. If you want to play a mage, you will have to survive the entire first game being carried by your party before you can unleash pure carnage upon the Sword Coast in the sequel.
- Stealth can be really finnicky and hard to understand at first.
- There are some pretty extreme spikes in difficulty in this game. Make sure you save often, and if you get stuck don't be afraid to go do something else for a bit.
ADVICE FOR NEW PLAYERS:
- Don't be afraid to play a mage; you can definitely still contribute to your team, just be aware of the risks.
- Don't listen to all the yammering minmaxers online; unless you're doing a solo + hardest difficulty run, basically every class is viable in some way or another.
- Playing an Evil character with an Evil party is really fun, but be aware that it makes the game harder.
I love this game. I wish it would get the attention that it deserves. But for now, I'll settle with it being a phenomenal cult hit, and the first half of my favorite RPG series of all time.