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Simply amazing...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 22 / 26
Date: July 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The combined talents of Bioware and Black Isle Studios have done it again. The Throne of Bhaal expansion (which hardly feels like an expansion) brings many more entertaining hours of BG gameplay to the already spectacular product of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. If you are considering of buying the Throne of Bhaal expansion, you probably already enjoy Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn immensely. And if that is the case, I highly recommend this product for any BG fan. There are three whole new chapters added to the game's story to bring a wondrous conclusion the Bhaalspawn saga, as well as a large dungeon known as Watcher's Keep that can be accessed at any time. I found every new area with all the high-level foes very challenging. The voices, sound and music were top-notch. The graphics aren't very different from what you have seen in the original BGII, but they still strike me as being richly detailed and beautiful to behold. I did not find this expansion short one bit. (It is an expansion after all, not an entirely new game) The price for this product was very fair considering all the many hours I spent returning to the Sword Coast and battling enemies with god-like power. And as you finish the expansion and watch as the Bhaalspawn Saga comes to a close, you reflect back on the simple beginnings in Candlekeep and all the journeys and adventures that took you to this point. If you've been a fan of the Baldur's Gate games from the beginning, it'll be a sad but satisfying experience to see it end.

My hats off you to hardworking folks at Bioware and Black Isle Studios... There are few games out there that I love as much as this series. Lets hope you guys continue to release quality products that raise the expectations of RPGs for years to come.

"Wherever evil treads, Minsc treads louder!!"

Throne of Excellence

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 24 / 31
Date: July 21, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The combined talents of Bioware and Black Isle Studios have done it again. The Throne of Bhaal expansion (which hardly feels like an expansion) brings many more entertaining hours of BG gameplay to the already spectacular product of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. If you are considering of buying the Throne of Bhaal expansion, you probably already enjoy Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn immensely. And if that is the case, I highly recommend this product for any BG fan. There are three whole new chapters added to the game's story to bring a wondrous conclusion the Bhaalspawn saga, as well as a large dungeon known as Watcher's Keep that can be accessed at any time. I found every new area with all the high-level foes very challenging. The voices, sound and music were top-notch. The graphics aren't very different from what you have seen in the original BGII, but they still strike me as being richly detailed and beautiful to behold. I did not find this expansion short one bit. (It is an expansion after all, not an entirely new game) The price for this product was very fair considering all the many hours I spent returning to the Sword Coast and battling enemies with god-like power. And as you finish the expansion and watch as the Bhaalspawn Saga comes to a close, you reflect back on the simple beginnings in Candlekeep and all the journeys and adventures that took you to this point. If you've been a fan of the Baldur's Gate games from the beginning, it'll be a sad but satisfying experience to see it end.

My hats off you to hardworking folks at Bioware and Black Isle Studios... There are few games out there that I love as much as this series. Lets hope you guys continue to release quality products that raise the expectations of RPGs for years to come.

"Wherever evil treads, Minsc treads louder!!"

The Grand Finale

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: June 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The last chapters of the Child of Bhaal saga, the grand finale. Throne of Bhaal is an expansion to Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and thus you need SoA to be able to play Throne of Bhaal. Throne of Bhaal takes off exactly where Shadows of Amn left off and continues your travels. Alot is revealed in Throne of Bhaal, both of your past, and of what will be your future.
The storyline is much more linear than in Shadows of Amn, not nearly as many subplots, the story concentrates much more on the main plot. No need to say, at this time in the game you are at an almost godlike level, and the xp cap is at a stunning 8.000.000 experience points! You can make a new character directly in Throne of Bhaal, your character will start with ample experience points and magic items and equipment.
You will still have access to the NPC's that you had in Shadows of Amn, and the character interaction has(once again) been expanded. The plot is well crafted, and is entertaining, if not quite as good as the one in Shadows of Amn.
All said, Throne of Bhaal offers a worthy ending for the saga, satisfying your need for a conclusion of the story

A satisfying end to the Baldur's Gate saga

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 10
Date: August 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Throne of Bhaal should not be compared with Tales of the Swordcoast, the expansion for the original Baldur's Gate which drew criticism for just being a few extra dungeons added in. TOB can, at times, feel like a full-fledged sequel. It both adds a massive new dungeon, Watcher's Keep, to explore, which upstages Durlag's Tower from TOSC, as well as continues the main storyline. You can import your characters from BG2(which in turn can be imported from BG), and now advance them all the way to 40th level(although this would take playing the game a few times through; I beat the game at about 28). You'll gain special abilities as you go above 20th level, such as Whirlwind Attack or Dragon's Breath(a mage ability which will summon the head of a red dragon which sprays enemies with fire) As your party is now above 20th level, people around will now treat you as the legendary warriors you are. It is not only satisfying to see that your character has come so far from being a 1st level wimp in Baldur's Gate, but also, you feel as though you're really part of the world now.

Watcher's Keep is a large dungeon with an interesting concept that I don't want to spoil. You'll find many interesting enemies inside, and the several levels which make up the dungeon are very varied in the way you overcome them. The end (and not to mention the monster there) is equally interesting.

As for the continuation of the main storyline, in which the main character is a Child of Bhaal, the deceased God of Mureder, TOB brings the saga to a close. Your battles become even more fantastic, as the Children battle to see who will assume their father's throne. Two new towns are present in TOB, each unique and possessing complex side-quests of the same flavor as those of BG2. After you defeat the final boss (a very incredible fight in itself), you will decide your own fate. At the end, the future of all of your party members is also told.

There are numerous other features I didn't mention, but you'll find appreciate them on your own; just buy this game. Make sure you play the rest of the BG saga first, though.

Overall a definite improvement in game quality since the 1st

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: July 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Baldur's Gate II's expansion Throne of Bhaal has introduced excellent new features that were absent in ToB's progenitors and even in the great Planescape Torment. First off, dialogue choices in your Abyssal realm amount in the end, that is they are like karma. The more evil dialogue choices you choose, the more you lean toward it, affecting the ending. Where as PT's dialogue choices affected alignment. Its unsettling that even if you were Lawful Good, ToB doesn't check for this and still gives you the option to say basically nothing will stand in my way. Would a lawful good person act like that? Sure if you're roleplaying you can chose the other choicest, but its an eyesore that its even available.

ToB has an excellent pace, it has a few plot twists yes but nothing mind bending. Gameplay is more combat oriented, ala Icewind dale, but then comming from BG I where you had to kill the final boss, well its no suprise. Nothing changed much in that respect. Intimidation doesn't depend on your stats, just on your Bhaal spawn reputation and scripts. You finally get the chance to use resurrection on clerics to help people, thank god. Its annoying it has to be scripted and not availabe as a free choice.

Dialogee choices actually have some different answers now actually, but only on certain npcs. Items have increased many folds, now availabe are ammunition belts, potion cases, and many upgradable weapons. The Flail of Many heads it is! Cespenar was certainly one of the most enjoyable npcs, although there was no chance to converse with the imp, so when the end came to pass, he was just excess junk that didn't need further attention. He was an object, not a sentient being. Easier to destroy an object than to rationalize saving his life. I mean he made all these power objects for me and I can't even save him, thats ludicrous. I can't even warn him.

You're alignment doesn't affect the ending, your choices does. Hrm, a contradiction perhaps, but your alignment doesn't change. Indeed ToB has ended the Baldur's Gate saga rather pleasantly, with a great epilogue section after the game is finished. It gives you a brief history of each character after they left you, different if you have a romance. But I rather felt some characterization was left out in the ending. I would have hoped it wouldn't be another you or me again ,like with BGI Sarevok.

Once you're at the end, you'll know what i'm talking about. Contrary to my expectations, I don't gain any godly powers. And the fighter abilities can only be used 1 per round, so basically you have to micromanage, egads not fighters and mages! I term godly powers as those special abilities that only I have, and none others, perhaps mebe Bhaalspawn. In PlanescapeT, you gained "Spoiler"

Rune of Torment, allowing you to cast a lvl9 spell of torment based on your experiences. Unlimited.

If only they gave me some special abilities, like vampric drain -10s to get hps. But I still have the slayer, eh alot of good it does. It has 100 hps when I turn into it, even though my kensai warrior with 21 con has 220+hp. no cheats. There's no duel of honor, there's no equality of fighting a 6 player party like mines, with actual AI. The Light/Dark planetar has better AI than my cleric and better spells. I can't micromanage 2 fighters, 1 thief bser, 2 mages, 1 cleric. There's no way I can keep track of when every guy's round just ended to get the best out of their casting/potion quaffing abilities. If I let the AI script handle it, I'm basically dead since they override my commands. Some people I know can do it, but if I wanted turn based combat, I would like a dedicated TB, like Arcanum has. Arcanum's AI handles their own party members, but I'm forced to do everything, which wouldn't be bad but I don't know when the rounds end.

I recommend Throne of Bhaal for everyone that has followed the saga of the Prophecy of Alaundo, or just those who bought BG II Shadows of Amn. It is a good concluding sequel that shows the development team learned something, but not enough. Charisma works to barter for rewards, but is useless in most cases. Wisdom and Intelligence affects the powerful Wish spell quite well. Dialogue text appears over people heads, so you don't have to go up to them and pretend they actually want to talk to a complete stranger about the gossip of their world. I don't think they would be that friendly in a siege, they should just ask who are you. Everyone seems to know me for some reason. Just makes my character feel more stupid when I finally realize how much information was withheld from me.

Since I'm nearing my 1,000 word caps, let me say this for those Planescape Torment fans and those hoping for some innovating concepts to be introduced. ToB basically tailores good combat+good objects+dungeon crawls+1 town for a base+ high level abilities+new spells+some fancy scripts+the only end for the Gate saga. There are more, in the game, find it when you play it. No ability to Lie/tell Truth like in PT. I do not determine my alignment based on Chaotic/lawful behavior. I'm being greedy as Lawful Good, no alignment change. No I can't converse with my companions, they're mute or something. Jan at the end was hilarious, just great, great comedian. Get Jan in party at end to see what he says, like a shocker. Intelligent solutions don't occur if you have Wis/int of 18, I guess the protagonist is just too big and dumb to outthink other people. Although 1-3 creative solutions are in the game. I hope you take my review to mind, rather than heart. ToB could have been great, greater than Planescape Torment, but... it lacks quality of emotion and depth of interactivity.

Excellent expansion for all Baldur's Gate II fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 5 / 6
Date: July 07, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Baldur's Gate II was a solid, well-rounded RPG: excellent battles and a fairly compelling plot with a lot of interesting sidequests. The expansion is more of the same, albeit slightly more refined. There are no systematic improvements to Throne of Bhaal; the Infinity Engine is still the Infinity Engine, and the dialogs are similar length and depth.

Throne of Bhaal is more linear than Shadows of Amn; there are few small sidequests or optional areas. There is only the one new NPC, although he is a very interesting NPC (and I recommend taking him in your party through the expansion, even if you play a good-aligned party). Watcher's Keep (the add-in) had its moments, and had a tremendous quantity of loot; however, I didn't find it as enjoyable as the add-on area. The main plotline moves quickly and compellingly to a conclusion that satisfied me, and I hated the endings to BG1 and BG2.

The new class abilities are terrific. Thieves (and Bards), with Use Any Item--which really means Use Any Item, including the Holy Avenger!--and some very formidable new traps, are probably improved the most. The best mage abilities are Summon Planetar, Improved Alacrity, and Dragon's Breath; fighters get Greater Whirlwind, which is the game's best boss killer. Clerics and Druids get great summons, as well as a couple good offensive spells.

The new class, the Wild Mage, is a tremendous amount of fun to play, and I'd recommend any mage fan start a new character in Throne of Bhaal to try them out. Only a few new wizard (and no new priest or druid) spells are introduced, other than the high level abilities. I'm a little disappointed with the implementation of Wish (basically a list of random options, most not very helpful).

The player amasses levels, new abilities, and absurdly powerful items very rapidly. In Throne of Bhaal, you'll be worthy of the attention of Solars (the highest celestial servants), you won't even bother to sell the countless +3 weapons average opponents drop, your party will be able to annihilate hordes of Drow and other formerly tough monsters, liches will humble themselves before you, and you'll defeat dragons that make Firkraag seem like an oversized kobold. Those looking for a classic AD&D experience should look elsewhere, but it's a lot of fun to see to how far you've come from the feeble adventurer of BG1 ("Bondari reloads").

I experienced no significant bugs. I found the game fairly easy, with the exception of the final battle, but there are a few encounters sure to surprise even an experienced BG2 player.

Overall, it's about 25 hours of gameplay, split down the middle between Watcher's Keep and the main plotline, but it's worth replaying. Going through the main plotline was the most fun I'd had in front of a computer in some time, and I highly recommend Throne of Bhaal to anyone who enjoyed BG2.

Not just an expansion!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 5
Date: September 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

No doubt you, the Baldur's Gate player, thought that mirror image looked stupid. Well now it doesn't, courtesy of an Icewind Dale-inspired tweak to the graphics. This is the least of the improvements made to the last in the series, which has proven the best yet. If it sounds like I'm speaking of this product as a new game, it's because it practically is. The expansion should roughly double the game time of the original BG 2, depending on how much of a veteran you are. In this expansion are yet more fantastic new places, and the monsters to go with them, along with a TON of new stuff. I'm not even going to try detailing all the items, spells, NPCs, quests (etc.) in this expansion, but suffice to say it'll keep you busy for a very long time. One thing the novice player should be warned of, is the difficulty of some of the bosses in the expansion. Being a rather seasoned and cocksure adventurer, I had the gall to set the difficulty up to hard. Well, soon I had it back down to core rules, then to normal, and even once to easy near the end. It's surely a tough game, but the challenge makes you really feel like you've really accomplished something when you get over it. The only thing I didn't like about this game is the fact that it's the last one in the series. That, most certainly, is higly regrettable.

The Baldurs Gate legacy has ended, Flawlessly No less

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: June 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This BG2ToB is a great expansion that brings the Baldurs Gate series to a close in a magnificent way. This expansion starts off right where Shadows of Amn ended. Now that Irenicus is dead you and your party have many new and fun quest ahead of you. BG2ToB is almost a whole new game because it adds over 80+ hours to the already long Shadows of Amn. You can upload your party from Shadows of Amn and play with them further into BG2ToB. One of the coolest things about this expansion pack is that you can reach 8,000,000 XP with your characters. That is more than triple the amount in Shadows of Amn. Also there are many new spells and weapons in this expansion that will keep you coming back for more and more of Baldurs Gate. Overal this game or should I say expansion is an awesome close to an unforgetable Baldurs Gate legacy.

Best Game Ever

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: August 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have to disagree with almost every dissent I've read about this game. This is easily the best expansion I've ever played and is high on my list for best game ever.

Some have said this is too hard: I have certainly not found this to be the case. It is appropriately challenging, but there is no challenge in the expansion that is unbeatable. In fact, with a little creativity (and exploitation of the mediocre computer AI) some of the should-be-hard fights get easy fast.

Second of all, there is plenty of voice acting. Thankfully, it's not overdone. If anything, it can be a little longwinded. The party members have some new dialogue each and spend more time talking to eachother, and the NPC's you'll meet have new and interesting things to say... if they do occasionally ramble on for a bit, it is forgiveable.

All and all I'd say this is a fine conclusion to a series I was very sad to see finally end.

If you liked Baldur's Gate II...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 4
Date: October 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

... you need to buy this expansion game. ToB allows you to import your party from BG2:SoA and continue on with their adventures. Game play is the same. They have implemented a few tweaks to some of the spells. The best new feature is the addition of new higher character levels. The new levels also include a list of special abilities for each class. Since your characters are higher levels your opponents are also higher levels.

My one complaint is that ToB seems a little Monty Hall. It is cool to find some wicked new sword or spell, but in ToB you can't go into a new area without finding a +5 weapon or a 9th level spell. When all your magic users are casting time stop and multiple fingers of death and summon deva, it takes a little of the challenge out of the game. BGII:SoA seemed more difficult.

If you enjoyed BGII:SoA you must buy this game. BGII:SoA is one of my favorite games and I loved the chance to keep playing once I had finished the game.

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