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Low Quality Expansion

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: July 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

There are three kinds of expansion packs. Some, like Starcraft: Brood War and the Wing Commander 1 Secret Missions, are like mini-sequels and can actually be better than the original. They contain all the good ideas from the original that didn't make the initial release. The typical expansion pack increases functionality of the product a little bit with a few new features and adds on a decent amount of new content. The last type of expansion pack is where a lower design team comes on to take stuff in the original, change it around a little bit, add a few new levels, and call it an expansion pack. TOTSC is squarely in the third category. It's only reason for existing is for people who like to get more stuff and get more experience. If that's exciting to you then the game will be perfect but personally I found that the most tedious part of the game. I also like stuff making logical sense. In this game I recall a +3 Plate Mail just basically sitting around! Why would anyone leave that behind, seriously?

It's not just that the quests don't tie into the plot, but that they don't fit ANYWHERE. Unless your party is a bunch of treasure hunters it doesn't really make sense that your character would put the iron crisis on the backburner and go off on a boat ride that might take months.

Finally, it's meant to be played out of order. If you try to play it in order as I did, you will find the expansion quests too difficult at first and then the end of the game too easy.

So basically, I cannot recommend this. Don't get it!

I can't believe I wasted my money

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 9 / 31
Date: January 08, 2000
Author: Amazon User

This expansion pack (EP) was a complete wast of my time, and money. It adds a couple new magical weapons and armor, some new spells and a couple new areas to explore. There is no plot to the the EP, just some NPC saying "Oh I lost my son in Durlags Tower. . . ." and stuff like that. The only thing that made this EP worth two stars is that they cleaned up a lot of the rough edges from Baldurs Gate, and increased Experience points to a point where your fighter and like one other class can go up a level. By the way, it is just one more disk that you have to flip through if you decide to replay Baldurs Gate. In conclusion don't buy this EP, it isn't worth it, unless any new EP's come out that require it.

Details, Details

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 17
Date: September 10, 2000
Author: Amazon User

The 3d animation and video clips were all fine and good, but the storyline could be quite annoying at times, sometimes it's really hard to do things that don't have much consequence in the plot...poor programming really....let's hope that Baldor's Gate 2 is'nt like this, as far as I'm concerned it had better be a vast improvment.

Same old...

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: October 18, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This game provided little improvement to Baldur's Gate, chiefly by not advancing the plot at all. Hard-core gamers will buy it, but I advise the casual gamer to stay away.

Tales of the Sword Coast is fun, but lacks depth.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 14 / 16
Date: July 15, 2000
Author: Amazon User

In Tales of the Sword Coast, you are taken back to the land of Baldur's gate prior to the end of the game. You are placed in the city called Ulgoth's Beard.

Once in this city, you are immediately sent on a quest to an ice island. This scenario is realitively easy to complete. Following this completion, you can be sent on two more major missions. The first one sends you in search of Balduran's ship and a forgotten island. This scenario is intriguing due to the new enemies that are werewolves. The climax of this part of the game can be difficult, but has some nice game play.

After completing this scenario, you go for the last scenario that sends you down to Durlag's tower. There are numerous levels found in the tower, in which a few levels can be quite confusing. There is excellent images on the one level in which a skeleton of a greater wyvern surrounds the floor. In order to complete the tower, the party must defeat a demonknight, which is not too simple.

Following the completion of the tower, the party must complete one or two minor scenarios before the final task of facing Sarovek.

Overall, this game is just a mere minor extension of Baldur's Gate. Yes the play can be fulfilling, but there is not enough depth the game in order to justify the price. In my opinion even though it is adequate, there is no real need or desire to play this game.

They could have done better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: May 22, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I love this game; it's the best I've played since Ultima IV. But the expansion to Baulder's Gate is rather undeveloped. I think they should've put more plot to it. But the good thing is, I can get my characters to higher level. But there's nothing more to EP other than Durlag's Tower. I'ts not bad overall, but they could've done more with it.

Brutally Hard

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 07, 2003
Author: Amazon User

When I played Baldur's Gate, it was a wonderfully long experience of exploration and balanced encounters. If you ran into an over-powering encounter, you knew your party had ventured into the wrong place at the wrong time. This expansion is a bucket of cold water in the face. It's short, just four areas with a dozen or so levels, and brutally hard. Maybe I didn't level-up correctly in Baldur's Gate, but I found every step a struggle of high-level encounters, traps my their couldn't disarm and, worst of all, key puzzles. Additionally the expansion didn't have of the story elements of the original game. The game itself had almost no changes although there was a new auto-pause feature that was very helpful. Hard-core Baldur's Gate fan with a high-level party (10+) will love Sword Coast but other should probably skip it.

Nice thought-but a little watered down.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: August 14, 2000
Author: Amazon User

I'm sure that this add-on was pressured by the public to be released quickly due to the great succsess of Baldur's Gate, but at the time of release the price tag seemed a bit high for so little substance. Other than some new areas and quests to complete, the only redeeming quality of this package was the experience cap being rasied a tad giving all those dual-class humans a chance to shine. As a nice bonus, there are some REALLY cool new magical items that could ease the time an Import character will have in the next installment.

good, but not necessary

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 6
Date: July 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

It added a little to the main game, but nothing earth shattering and the quests don't have much to do with the main plot. The quests are VERY difficult to get through and take more than a little patience and perserverence to succeed. My advice? Seek out and downloadthe unofficial add on "Dark Side of the Sword Coast" to suplement Baldur's Gate and this Expansion Pack instead.

BG Expansion pack is fun & playable

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 38 / 44
Date: December 16, 1999
Author: Amazon User

This expansion pack to Baldur's Gate adds a few areas and moves the EXP cap from 89000 to 161000. It also adds a LOT of new magical EQ into the game. So your characters can get a lot more powerful. I found it fun, and fairly challenging. The new areas are fairly quest and puzzle oriented, a bit more than the core of Baldur's Gate. But don't try to take durlag's tower without a high level thief.

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