More Details on Rad-Sounding Baldur’s Gate Update

Also, while it's nice to see a classic get a lick of paint and a re-release, for $20 I don't think they're adding enough for this for it to be worth the money. $10 from GOG.com (plus BG Tutu mod) is not the deal that really trumps this game... it's the £15 gamersgate.com deal for the entire D&D Anthology (BG 1 & 2 & expansions, Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale 1 & 2 & expansions, Temple of Elemental Evil) which totally blows it out of the water.

If you're willing to trade PS:T, Icewind Dale, and some modding hassle for reliable multiplayer, widescreen and touch support out of the box, plus a few new NPCs and areas in a game already jammed full of content, well fair enough, but... well, you'd be nuts. Honestly if you're at all interested in old Infinity Engine RPGs like Baldur's Gate it makes no sense not to choose the D&D Anthology, unless you're convinced that the only way you want to play BG is on a smartphone.

EDIT: looks like the anthology is temporarily unavailable from Gamersgate but you can still get it from the Gamestop online store atm.

As somebody who bought the D&D Anthology when it was on sale and beat everything worth a damn in that 7 pack (BG1 and 2, and PS:T), I can safely say that a lot of people are going to be surprised by how goddamn HARD that game is. You are EXPECTED to save scum, especially at the start, because 1st level 2E D&D isn't really meant to be played by human beings. You basically have to avoid every encounter until you get a full party, because wolves will doubtlessly 1 shot you. This, plus permadeath mechanics galore, pretty much assure that you aren't going to beat the game without resorting to console commands. I know I didn't - the last encounter in that game, I'm convinced, is entirely impossible without abusing game mechanics.

I mean, all credit to them for holding the line and not "ruining the fun", but the fun is a harsh mistress.

This, plus permadeath mechanics galore, pretty much assure that you aren't going to beat the game without resorting to console commands. I know I didn't - the last encounter in that game, I'm convinced, is entirely impossible without abusing game mechanics.

@Terramagi said:

I know I didn't - the last encounter in that game, I'm convinced, is entirely impossible without abusing game mechanics.

Oh, I totally cheesed that last battle with Sarevok, because it's like twice as hard as anything the rest of the game throws at you and I feel no shame in admitting it. I would argue that the difficulty in BG levels out after the first few hours and becomes comparable to the rest of the Infinity Engine catalog, not including the madness of the final battle. That is, after all the meandering fetch quests you have to do in order to avoid your character getting one-shotted by random skeletons or wolves. Ugh.

If you haven't already, you should really check out Temple of Elemental Evil. It's a bit more fair with its difficulty, as you have access to the full suite of combat actions present in D&D 3.5. Oh, it's still crazy hard, but it's based around playing smart and not so much cheesetacular summoning or whatever.

From what is known about this re-release so far, you'd be better off just getting BG1+2 and spending an hour or two getting it to run with BG1tutu and some weidu/ease of use mods. That way you get all improvements from BG2 in BG1, not just some class kits.

@Terramagi said:

This, plus permadeath mechanics galore, pretty much assure that you aren't going to beat the game without resorting to console commands. I know I didn't - the last encounter in that game, I'm convinced, is entirely impossible without abusing game mechanics.

I was able to beat that last battle without cheating, but you're right I abused the hell out of the game mechanics.  I used ridiculous numbers of skeletal summons, webs, entangles, slows, constant haste, etc, combined with full party fire arrow spam and kiting, pausing probably hundreds of times.  I wonder what they had in mind for how you were supposed to beat that?  I felt that my expendable item hording paid off.

Aside from the summons, which were overpowered and spammy compared to other spells (not that I didn't use them all the time), that just sounds like great tactics, not 'abuse of mechanics' at all. A full archer party coupled with anti-movement magic on the enemy, micromanaged with pause? Personally I just think that's a nice example of the flexibility of combat strategy in the game, exactly how it should be played. If you found a good use for Web spells then you're already a better tactician than I was.

As you suggest, potions and consumables can change a fight. I get the feeling that a lot of people who found BG impossibly difficult just didn't realise how useful all the multicoloured drek in their backpack could be. Those of us who didn't mind making multiple attempts with different tactics/potions/scroll combos each time - plus lots of Summoned Monster spam :P - merely found the game very difficult, as opposed to impossible.

anything like neverwinter knights?

Ugh. More Underdark, but oth nore Baldur's Gate as well, so I can't really complain too much.

@Divina_Rex said:

anything like neverwinter knights?

Yes.

Cross platform multiplayer in Baldurs Gate? Hell yeah.

@Divina_Rex said:

anything like neverwinter knights?

This is the progenitor of NWN. Pretty much the same style of game, except for using an older version of the D&D ruleset which is more rigid and technical (looking up THAC0 should get you started ;)), and lacking some modern streamlining and usability, meaning it has lots of walking, inventory management, switching between characters for menial tasks etc.

400 fixes? That sounds a lot like the same amount of fixes fan patches have addressed.

@Laivasse: @ArbitraryWater:

You guys! Cheesing the system for everything it's worth is 90% of the fun in the Pen and Paper version of the game! So it makes perfect sense that you'd want to do it on the computer as well. Figuring out how to get that Mage/Fighter to dual wield katanas +3 and cast haste is pretty much the meat of the game as far as I'm concerned. Making use of all those random scolls of Web and Magic Armor and whatnot are a huge component to success in D&D. That DM put that scroll of Flame Arrow there for a reason, dangit! That one guy in the next room might be weak to fire. Or not, but hey it still does damage!

The games also force you to rely on either a completely cheesy party such that you roll through everything all the time, or a well balanced one with lots of gold to res and cure the friends who don't make it to the end of the battle.

The early portions of BG1 are quite unfair though (until you start getting the fun Bhaal powers anyhow), but perhaps they will address some of the nonsense running around in the early portions of that game.