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WHEN cRPGs TOUCHED THE SKY...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: March 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

This was the LONGEST the MOST FUN game I have ever played! And, mind you, I am not an easy customer (feel free to browse through my reviews, you will see what I mean...)

The original BG series was excellent in all of storyline, gameplay, music and stability. Now, nowadays, sequels usually mean a graphically-improved expansion (at best). BG2 is a rare exception of the sequel clearly SURPASSING the original. And in the case of such great original, this means a lot!

Words fail to describe the perfect harmony of brilliant ideas, interweaved story-lines and detailed coding that makes this game an unsurpassable classic! Do not let the slightly outdated graphics discourage you. They were cutting edge only some years ago - and you will be able to unleash their full potential even on mid-range PCs!

I have yet to meet anyone who has played it and not raved about it! Hard-core D&D funs will find the character building, fighting checks and balances and overall experience very close to the actual pen-&-paper games.
Casual computer gamers will notice none of the tedious stuff of other cRPGs as the gameplay runs smooth and beautifully.
You even have the choice to turn it into either a turn-based or an action game by tweaking the auto-pause options! I am telling you: this is how computers games should be!

You will let yourself get lost in the deep dungeons of the labyrinthic story; you will be laughing out loud to the humorous dialog; you will be surprised as to who is a double and triple-agent.
There is an evil beyond imagining unleashed and only you with your party can stand in its way.
Party members offer a multitude of unpredictable balancing points and diverging story-lines of their own: side quests, conflicts and love affairs enrich the story in so many original ways!

An unsurpassed classic!

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

An Improvement over the First.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: October 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is great, while trying and challenging, it is fun and dynamic enough to keep you riveted. The rewards and dynamism of the characters allows you to enjoy the game, as well as the actions of the characters in it. The places you travel to and visit are unique and well thought through as well. You may be stuck in a dungeon for a while, but the reward for success is not too little nor too much, but just right.

Still being able to control each movement and roll down to the core should you choose, no battle is unbeatable. For fans of Baldur's Gate, this sequel is wonderful.

One of The Best RPG Games Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: May 03, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Baulders Gate 2 has a classic appeal that just won't die. I have been playing newer games like World of Warcraft and Elder Scrow IV with there astonishing graphics and challenging play but theres still something that doesnt rank with the likes of Baulders gate 2.

To me its the plot and subplots of the game that make this game remarkable. The ability to make choses like what quests, who you want in your party, freedom to act Evil or Good. Each chose can change the game and make the game replay as enjoyable as the first. The charactor creation is as good as it gets for an RPG game. So if you want a game that isnt as keen on visual as it is on it overall story line. Get this game it wont disapiont. even if its 6 years old.

A Game to Revist

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is Black Isle's follow-up to the groundbreaking Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate, released on Nov. 30th 1998, was an accomplishment in the translation of pen and paper role-playing to the personal computer. With an engrossing storyline, colorful non-player-characters, polished gameplay, an attractive presentation and an incredibly detailed fantasy world to inhabit Baldur's Gate was a landmark achievement. And as good as its predecessor was Baldur's Gate II, released less than two years later, improves upon it in every imaginable way.
With a longer main quest, Baldur's Gate II continues the epic story you began in the original. Many of your non-player-companions return in one form or another in the course of the game, which lend the proceedings a much needed feeling of continuity. Additionally, the overarching themes of good versus evil remain, as well as your ability to decide whether to ally yourself with either side. And of course, there is the obligatory awesome, love-to-hate antagonist. Therefore, in terms of story, suspension of disbelief and the gratification that comes with completing any narrative work, you will not be disappointed.
Graphically the game looks comparable to its forbearer in art style and environmental climes yet it benefits, on a technical level, from higher resolution settings as well as more detailed area maps and sprite effects. Due to these aesthetic improvements the hardware requirements are slightly steeper than Baldur's Gate, but because of the relative age of the game most entry level computer as well as many laptops should run it smoothly. Now because of its age the game is no longer particularly impressive graphically. The graphics are definitely dated however, that being said, it is an attractive game and the visuals are consistently of good quality. The textures are sharp and each character's outward appearance changes with the equipment s/he is wearing, which is a must for most RPG fans.
In terms of personal opinion I must recommend this game unconditionally. Although there is a learning curve which must be surmounted any effort put in is well worth your time. This is a game that I have returned to time and time again. I have completed the over 40 hours of gameplay with at least three different characters and each run through the game has brought a deeper appreciation of the open-ended nature this wonderful gem. If you haven't played this game yet... you should.

Best game in existence

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: October 05, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This is the best game I have played in my life. I have played about a few dozen rpg games starting from the Pool of Radiance series on the Commodore 64, and this game is the best. I am just simply voting here and this is not really meant to help people know what the game is about.

Too many distractions

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is similar, but vastly inferior to Arcanum. It would nonetheless be a very fun game if not for the fact that you are constantly "roped" into new missions. In Arcanum, if you want to find a new mission, you talk to someone and prompt them for a mission. In this game, right while you are in the middle of another mission, you will get approached, over and over again, with requests to do new missions. Before you know what happens, you have 5 missions in your queue and the clock is ticking on all of them (in some cases, travelmates will die if you don't solve the mission quickly enough). And for every mission you finish, it seems you get two more that you have to do. At a certain point, I just found myself so buried in missions that I quit playing. I had totally forgotten what I was doing in some of the earlier missions and I just realized that it wasn't any fun any more. I think if you use a walkthrough guide to make sure you finish your missions more quickly, then maybe it wouldn't be such a burden to play.

Incantus Pulchur Imperium!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 7
Date: April 29, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is easily the best game i have ever played. You can rank a game in many ways, i give this game maximum points in every single category...

Voice Acting

Probably the games strongest area was it's character development giving the game an extra dimension of realism and gravity, integral to this was the awesome voice acting which was/is the best i have ever known, this game showed that voice acting in computer games can be incredibly powerful, the actors who played the characters are real pro's. My favourite was Irenicus, he breathed a realism and a menace into the character which truly brought that villainous character to life. Also in this category is dialogue, which is equally incredible, occasionally i can still here a reedy voice in my head saying...."you should not have come to this place", unforgettable.

Graphics

For their time, these graphics were top of the range, the outdoors are particularly impressive, wether it's the temple district or the wilderness, no two trees look anything alike.

Sound/Music

The sound effects in the game were amazing, when you are in a city you here murmurings (of street traders/hawkers) which blend wonderfully into the background complementing everything. When you enter Suldanesselar you hear the frantic almost deranged chirpings of the birds which convey a sense of order-disrupted. The games musical score is absolutely gorgeous! The main theme (which kicks up when a fight starts) is rousing and exciting and a pleasure to listen to, it adds even more grandeur and scale to the game.

Gameplay

Top marks here too, there are so many ways you can play the game, so many paths you can take, the challenge level varies but overall is suitably balanced. The games replayability was awesome (i won it at least 10 times and each time i was amazed at how new the experience was). When you add to this the extraordinary value for money you get because the game is extremely long, yet it never becomes repetitive.

Overall this game showed me for the first time what the computer role playing genre was capable of, playing this game was like starring in a movie combined with reading a wonderfully gripping novel. You really feel for the characters. I had thought Planetscape Torment was good, this game introduced an entirely new experience. Easily the best game i have ever played (and i have played a lot).

How did they pack it all into five cd's?

sort of.... dreary

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 20 / 41
Date: March 11, 2005
Author: Amazon User

It is difficult to stand against the onslaught of love and respect for this game. And I'm not saying don't try this game. Too many people loved it for me to expect you to go by my experience, but I do want to share with you my different perspective.

First off, looking back, I don't hate Baldur's gate. It has it's virtues. Its just that after 20 or so hours it began to weigh on me, leaving me with a feeling heavy, bleak, and insistent. In taking up computer games as a hobby a year ago it was one of the first games I played or really got into. Fascination rolled into addiction and addiction rolled into a kind of dread and tedium. Finally I realized I didn't actually have to play this game anymore. So I didn't. This may seem like an obvious solution to you, but then you don't actually know me so well.

Enough preamble. I like to rate games based on categories that I find important to me and so I will do that below on a scale of say 1 to 10. How's that?

Story: 4, I'll admit my predispositions here, and also that not actually getting more than a third of the way through this game limits me a little, but I do feel I got the main idea. My predisposition is that I long for a computer game that is story driven effectively and actually works as a good story. Story is always such a distant second to gameplay that you end up with these half hour stories built into 15 to 60 hour games. Generally they either make little sense, or fade into a weird sequel nothingness in the end (hello half life 2, beyond good and evil (good games both nevertheless)). I have tried so many, do actually like many games, but have been underwhelmed repeatedly as far as story. Baldur's had the advantage that I was new to gaming and so hadn't seen all it's conventions before, even if they were familiar. In this game you wake up in a prison cell and have a secret destiny. Yeah yeah yeah. It's actually not too bad though and the quality of some of the characters helps, but, and I think this might be the key problem, in order to create an open ended world, provide a variety of quests, and give the good/evil option as it were, the whole thing comes completely apart at the seams. The story falls apart into ridiculousness except the game pretends it hasn't and you're supposed to too. Just to start you spend hours struggling to break out of a dungeon you have no knowledge of even though a member of your party broke in to get you. Wouldn't she have some helpful information? How did she manage it in the first place? So much of this game is full of stuff like this. Its been awhile so I'm fuzzy, but could come up with quite a few more examples, like places where the sense of what is good and effective to do in the game defies the reality of your characters as actual people. In my opinion you can have a very linear game (problem is too few options as a player unless it's done perfectly), or a completely wide open, basically questless game (problem is it feels kind of pointless unless it's done perfectly and beautifully) or you can have a reality defying muddle in the middle of the two. Baldur's takes this last path I am afraid. Still, I would have sort of liked to see how it all turned out if I didn't have to slog through so very much stuff and time to get to it.

Characters: 7 or 8, very good. Love the pictures. Voices excellent. Really nicely done, though after awhile hearing them say the same phrases hundreds of times was hard to take. Also the story caused them to do things completely out of character at times.

Gameplay: 5, I prefer less difficulty in games and would have appreciated a difficulty level system very much. There is a lot of fighting, managing your stuff and fighting some more and its that d and d dice rolling fighting that can look very strange (big guy with huge sword swings at weakened creature just standing there and misses wildly). It often left me feeling faintly like it wasn't working and that the game didn't do what was in the queues for my characters even though I suppose it really was.

Graphics: 6, nice general visual design and though its dated now its pretty powerful in the sense of mood it imparts (though see below). I mean it really did affect me in an almost dreamlike way for awhile. It was a bit of a letdown in terms of giving me a sense of wonder though.

Dreariness factor: 1, cold, chill and frequently joyless. That's how I found it. Some of the character humor helped a little, especially the nicer characters, but so much killing and grim characters and so little relief or oasis or real rewards or lightness in comparison. Plus I felt burdened by the way the quests could just sort of pile up on you and all be emergencies.

Technical issues: I always feel this is so subjective as you never know what will be a problem with your computer, but a few small or weird glitches were really awful for me. I couldn't get downstairs in one place, something crucial disappeared in another.

Learning factor: 4, had a tutorial level which maybe I wouldn't find too confusing with the experience I have now in games, but I really wish it had been more clear and specific.

Product materials: 5, a nice start, decent book, but really quite incomplete.

Chore factor: 2, well, you know, so many rooms of so many monster things to really get anywhere. I really did feel burdened.

Difficulty: 3, kind of already discussed but I'll add that everything seemed either kind of hard to kill or quite hard to kill, it would have been nice and even appropriate if some things had been very easy too. I will repeat I might have lasted longer with an easy or moderately easy setting, but it still would've gotten to me in the end.

Game saves: 7, a pretty good save anytime system only flawed by an inability to save in combat, which, if I recall, could sometimes sneak up on you and then it was too late.

Conclusion: I find when I write negative reviews of really popular and respected games (gta vice city is a good example) people tend to say its not helpful, and if I like them its very helpful, but sometimes I think they maybe already played the game and think it's some kind of contest these reviews (then of course, maybe they just think its not a very informative review). I'm just telling you my reaction here and my thoughts. A lot of people gave this classic game 5 stars. I really think this game could've been alot better.

Baldur's gate made me think maybe I don't like rpgs too much, but I am currently pretty far along in star wars knights of the old republic and very much like it.

Best Game Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: December 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If I could make ambrosia, If I could create the very divinity of all that ever existed in gaming, and if I could program, I would have made Baldur's Gate.
Even as someone who frequents First Person Shooter games, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, is still the best game I have ever played.
If you enjoy plot that actually matters, a game that ISN'T Completely hack&slash, a game where you can become a god (Well, in the expansion at least...) and if you enjoy games that will make you actually think, then BG2 is an awesome game for you.
And even if you don't normally enjoy those types of games, Get BG2 anyway.
While it is recommended that you play the first game before the second, it is not necessary. The first one was a bit on the boring side anyway.
You start as a captive in the dungeon of Jon Irenicus, an evil mage who has captured you to further his own cause, whatever that cause may be. You must escape his lair, to enter the city of Athkatla. And then? Then the game has only just begun.
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a very open ended game, but the main plot is still quite evident, so you don't get too lost.
Some will be the Barbarian leader who captured a Keep by force, others will be a Sorcerer who took control of a Planar Sphere.
There are no limitations.

This game will blow your mind.

One of the best RPGs I've ever played...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: October 05, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Final Fantasy? Good, but not great.
Diablo? Not even worth mentioning.
Divine Divinity? Good, but not really noteworthy.
Planescape: Torment? The only game better than this.

Baldur's Gate II has it all.

Beautiful landscapes. Detailed locations. Absorbing gameplay. Realistic characters. Twisted enemies. Entrancing music. Tens of thousands of items, both mundane and magical. Hundreds of spells.

Seven races. Eleven classes. Many sub-classes. The ability to change your class later or start with multiple ones. Skills. Stats. Resistances. Proficiencies. In short, nigh-on ultimate control over the customisation of your character.

Barbarian? Sorcerer? Perhaps a Monk or a Bard... and unlike Neverworking Nightmares, you can actually have a party! Six characters and up to five summoned creatures at a time makes for a mini army to challenge your enemies with (and believe me, you've got a lot of them).

See that demon there? He's after you. Emphatic Manifestations of the hatred of a bunch of worshippers chasing you around temples dedicated to dead gods. Character-specific curses. Turnip-obsessed Gnomes.

And through it all, your god-blood is as much a curse as it is a blessing, for there are quite a few plot twists revolving around your father...

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