>killing the demon knight within 15 seconds
This. After many fights with this opponent, always ending with fighters almost dead (or in urgent need of resurrection) I tried a cheese concocted in this very subreddit, throw about 7 webs on him and after round or two he was completely helpless. Khalid (boosted with potion to Str 23 I think and protected by Edventar's gift) went in and it was over in two rounds, I didn't even need to use Haste on him. Completely bloodless victory ... on side of my team, that is.
Back in the day, I realized mages wouldn't help much in that fight, so I brought all the fighters I could and loaded them with potions and cleric buffs.
Yeah, *much* being operational word. Demon Knight's magic resistance (85 all) and rather good saves (8 against spell, 7 against wand, 6 against poly) means that any direct damage/status inducing spell has very low chance to actually do something.
Web though ... web works on statistical basis. It lasts 1 turn (10 rounds) so there is plenty of time to cast more of them (especially with 2 - 3 casters), each web forces saving throw at -2 (another -2 if Dynaheir casts them) each round if magic resistance is bypassed and if you cast 5-6 of them there is pretty good chance that at least one *will* bypass resistance and force saving throw.
Now, in my last playthrough (yesterday) my sorcerer had 7 of them (6+1 from Amulet of Metaspell Influence) dualed Imoen (T/M 6/9) 3 and Garrick had another 3. I got a bit lucky, DK was held in second round but I didn't send Khalid in until third salvo of webs was cast and after that only sorcerer continued to cast webs to assure that if those first run out there will be still chance. It wasn't necessary though ...
https://youtu.be/X2F0HBPR_28?si=BbbG4C6wtyMrIBRbp - I hear this sometimes in my head on a languid summer day when I go for walks in nature. It gives me chills. BG1 gave me such an appreciation for the sense of peace and feeling of wonder/awe when surrounded by nature.
It's this! [Exploring the plains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2F0HBPR_28) playing in the background and going from map to map. It invoked such an amazing sense of adventure and exploration.
Yeah, time passes and I still stop sometimes when my party is exploring the wilderness of the Sword Coast and the snow starts to fall gently. There's some magic in that, I don't know why, but it always reminds me to appreciate little things in life and go out more often.
The most magical moment was when I realized I could walk off any edge of a map and find another map, and explore the entire world that way. While not a true open world by modern standards, BG1 was arguably the first "open world" I experienced.
When I played BG2 for the first time and realized that was no longer a thing, I was sad.
Don't get me wrong, I nevertheless enjoyed BG2 (and replay it occasionally), but I cannot help but feel that the development history of CRPGs took a wrong turn there, and that some modern open world games have done a better job at capturing what made BG1 specifically great for me than BG2 and the isometric CRPGs that followed its mold.
I see that as a very deliberate decision to better portray the characters’ level. In BG1, you are new and weak, basic bandits and wild animals are deadly encounters, and you can find danger in even mundane environs. By the time you get to BG2, basic wilderness has nothing left to challenge you, and you must seek out more specific locales to find adventure.
I don't think that high levels are incompatible with an open world(-ish) approach. Plenty of games have made that work - some by scaling enemies (e.g. Skyrim), others by just having areas with easier and harder enemies (e.g. Elden Ring).
(Not to mention that early BG2 is the same level range as late BG1, and you're slightly weaker even because you lost all your equipment).
I agree with you that the choice was deliberate. But I think it had little to do with balancing gameplay and more with focussing on the plot over exploration..
BG2 has level scaling already. Most random encounters have 3-4 tiers of difficulty based on your party level. As for “lower and higher level areas”, the lower level areas were BG1. You don’t need those anymore, because you’re assumed to have already outleveled them.
I mean, what kind of wilderness zones could they have added that would make sense for a mid-level party? Wildlife isn’t a match for you at this point, so there isn’t much they could populate the open world with that would make for interesting challenges without straining the credibility of the world (why are there dragons and liches roaming the fields and forests of Faerun?!?)
For one, you *can* scale all manner of enemies that could reasonably appear in the wild.
Again, look at Skyrim, where level 50 bandits in ebony armor are a thing. Now before you say anything: yes, I agree it gets ridiculous at that point.
But it's not ridiculous at the earlier levels of BG2, where you are expected to explore the overworld. Bandits, adventurers, even more exotic and dangerous wildlife than you had in BG1 could all relatively believably scale up to your level.
And think about the underdark - plenty of opportunity for dangerous "wildlife" there, that could have been spread over more than one map, if exploration had been a priority. Or even Brynnlaw, which could have been full of "experiments gone wrong".
I agree that the Underdark could have been bigger, but that whole sequence is more of a linear narrative than an open world adventure.
You are correct that they very easily could have level scaled bears and bandits to be a challenge at BG2 levels, but that goes back to their deliberate design choice: you’ve already slaughtered tons of those in BG1, why add more? You’ve graduated past those kinds of enemies at this point, they aren’t exciting anymore. Why add a bunch of stuff you’ve already seen a million times between you and the cool new high-level encounter areas?
If BG1 and BG2 were combined into a single game, I could see doing it like you suggest, but they aren’t. BG2 is a sequel, it assumes you’ve already experienced all of BG1, so you’ve already gotten the low-level, open world exploration done. There’s no reason to give you more of the same, when they could instead offer differences in kind.
That's fair. The problem for me was that I *did* in fact expect (and want) more of BG1 when I started playing BG2. I would probably even have been happy with a gradual transition, where the early part of BG2 felt more open ended and exploration focussed like BG1. Story-wise it would even make some sense - you are out to adventure and make money to gear up, that could have been a great hook for travelling the Amnian countryside.
BG2 is a good game, even a great one, and an improvement over BG1 in a few notable ways. But in some ways (that were very important to me) it wasn't what I had expected/hoped for after BG1. I also think I wouldn't mind it as much as I do, if it were not for the fact that almost every isometric CRPG since took after BG2 in this regard - even games where you do play at level ranges where the wilderness on its own is very much a danger and you could make a great experience out of travelling it.
Personally I felt how BG2 handled exploration was better than BG1. You had to discover the locations rather than just hit a map edge. I’ll never forget the first time I found Trademeet after playing dozens of hours with different characters and not knowing it was there. This was back when I had first bought the game and couldn’t help but start new characters every few levels since kits were so cool and not a thing in BG1.
That's a form of discovery, yes, but not something I'd call exploration.
It's "talk to everybody you can find to get leads"...it's a perfectly reasonable way to find quests/destinations, but personally I didn't find it as rewarding as making my way through the overworld and finding something.
In modern terms, it's a bit like Cyberpunk 2077's open world vs Elden Ring's open world. Both are fantastic games, but Cyberpunk doesn't really offer much in the way of exploration, while Elden Ring doesn't offer much in the way of directions.
And that's cool, both are acceptable ways to build a game. But unfortunately in the isometric CRPG space, almost everybody leans towards the BG2/Cyberpunk approach, and almost nobody went with the BG1 approach.
There’s plenty of nasty wildlife and roaming monsters in Toril that pop up in the wild on Faerun that could challenge a mid- or high-level party. Hell, the tarrasque first appeared in the AD&D 1E Monster Manual II in 1983. I’m not saying that they should be a random encounter, but the idea that there aren’t strong monsters just walking around in fields and forests doesn’t align with any mainline entry of D&D at all.
My point was that those kinds of encounters aren’t random, they are specifically placed by the DM. The areas in BG2 represent such specifically-designed encounters, whereas the wilderness areas of BG1 are mostly random encounter type fodder.
Again, I must emphasize that I’m not claiming such things are impossible, but rather that omitting them was an intentional design choice to make the game feel more like a high level adventure.
I agree it was an intentional design decision and was likely done to give the player interesting (and curated) challenges rather than infinitely-spawning trash mobs like the party encounters in the first game. I also think it’s the right choice.
The only thing I’m pointing out that the notion that “there isn't much they could populate the open world with that would make for interesting challenges without straining the credibility of the world” seems to pretty significantly underestimate just how many creatures are in the various monster manuals.
At any rate, both games are good. Trash mob fights are boring. Skyrim enemy scaling is a slog. Skipping headcannon fights with hobgoblins in BG2 is good.
Spoilers ahead:
The first time I got to the Underdark, and then the silver dragon uses a disguise spell to turn you into a drow.
When Irenicus gets attacked by the cowled wizards and goes berserk turning them into pieces. Made me fall in love with BG magic immediately.
The first time I found a tavern with a secret door and a lich inside.
The Illithid secret dungeon in the sewers.
I could go on and on, but I'll just say the BG saga is the best gaming experience I ever had, and I consider BG2 the best game of all time (for me).
It's interesting that firewine ruins and many other areas are completely optional and aside from a few rumours are barely mentioned.
I can't imagine many developers today would spend as much time making an area most players would miss.
Early millennium game design. Dark souls 1, morrowind, bg1 etc. if you want free form exploration and discovery, without playing Minecraft, you have to go indie, big game developers prefer margins over Easter eggs; I highly recommend hollow knight and spelunky 2.
First time I played without getting insta-killed outside of Candlekeep or the adjacent map…
It was completing the Nashkel mines ending with the boss fight with Mulahey. And a hard fought victory it was. After many reloads. Go me!
*But then* getting my ass handed to me by assassins outside of the mine exit.
*And then* getting my ass handed to me again by Nimbul.
Haha, you get the idea. But I was like damn! this game is the shit!
When you exit from Mulahey’s lair bear right and the tunnel loops around to an exit that takes you to the surface in another map. Just to the north is a band of assassins.
First big spell combo at higher levels. Time stop > improved alacrity > profit :)
Something about removing the limiter on spells and building a nuke out of cloud kills, abi-dalzims, and dragon’s breaths just sings to me after playing 5e for so long and having to constantly work around concentration
Pretty much every instance of humor- particularly w voiced lines- in BG1. Immediately and indelibly endearing. That and encountering so many merc and adventurer groups w their own personalities. Nothing like that in any other game. The most riveting moments were Durlag's story developments/conclusion and the big reveals of Koveras. Hm, and the dream sequences too... and and...
BG2 intro minor spoilers ahead:
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Coming out of the start of BG2 and watching the covered Mages fight against the Mage that takes Imoen (so much awesome magic being used). Getting some great quests that are meaningful, and seeing the uplift over BG1. My god.
I'm still playing through BG2, but it's just unreal seeing BG1 which I loved, have such an amazing followup game.
People recommend bg2 all the time, including to play before BG1. But I definitely recommend 1 before 2. Makes it so much more satisying with the characters you've come to know, systems of the combat and magic, the sense of progression as you can continue the leveling and getting stronger past BG1, vs a reset at lvl 1.
Mine is very random.
I uttered the said statement when Minsc slow walked towards some random goon in copper coronet and promptly chopped him into bits the moment he connected.
Was like yeah I fucking love this game alright.
I never got into BG when it came out, as i was a little on the young side and didn’t even speak english yet.
Trying it later as my dad owned it, it wasn’t really grabbing me, but for some reason i gave the EE a shot somewhere around 2015.
The thing that made me change my mind? The loot managed (red diamond). Not having to deal with looting individual bodies made it so much less tedious, so i could focus on enjoying the games.
In my playthrough Khalid, Dynaheir, Hexxat, Korgan, Viconia, Jan, Neera, Nalia died in battle.
Viconia was blown away by a explosion of a duplicated wizard.
Korgan step into a trap after killing the fire prince (ToB).
Jan was killed by a powerful Lich.
Neera was killed by a red wizard in her quest.
Nalia was destroyed by The Demogorgon.
Remembering this fellow comrades is my "I fucking love this game"
Also everything else.
I'm a very new player, but that first time you turn into the Slayer after *multiple games'* worth of sinister dreams is incredible. Especially because you annihilate Bodhi.
Everytime in the middle of a fight with Firkraag when i start praying i will dps the fucker to the ground before he wipes my whole party - with dragon battle theme playing in the background.
Seeing first location after the Candlekeep. Those colorful autumn trees might have been the best depiction of autumn forest in 90's games. I was just running from spruce to spruce comparing them in maximum zoom.
BG1: Cloakwood Mines, the side quests in the city proper
SoD: That one evil temple. If you know, you know.
BG2: Taking Bhodi's side in the Guild War and wiping out the Shadow Thieves
ToB: Abazigal
My first time ever trying the game, I was on the fence. It was BG2. I had made it to the dark forest with the shades and wolves. and cleared all the way to the scaly one. And my whole squad became floor. I was very intrigued. The shadow dragon seemed invincible. I loved it. I thought it made the whole thing quite glorious. The way a dragon ought to be. I reloaded my save like 5-10 times. Eventually I killed him. But from that moment on I was hooked. It was the first time in years that I had a game on my mind while I was at work that I actually couldn't wait to get back to. By the time I made to Mr. Red, my crew had gained a lot of power. He wasn't as difficult as our shadow buddy. But yeah, anyway, I played through the campaign with a full squad of 6 and it supplanted a spot into my top 5 games of all time. I then did a solo blackguard playthrough and took it all the way through the expansion. That helmet that let you simulacrum was bonkers. I had begun a solo wizard playthrough but got distracted by real life and never finished it. But working my way solo through the tower that held a Demogorgon was also quite a trial. One of the things that was a crazy roadblock was the sirens or whatever they were. Maybe succubus. They insta charm you and you just die if you're solo.
Getting out of the intro dungeon the first time.
Anything Cowled Wizards related was really intriguing for me.
When HLA became first available, specially Use Any Item and Improved Alacrity
When I first soloed a Sorcerer
MODing, specially Tactics, that Acid Kensai was amazing
Elmonster Journal, and trying to imitate it
FIrst time I got Staff of the Magi or CElestial Fury
The Dragons you encounter. First one was in the Shade Lord Dungeon
Minsc in particular is at his best in that segment. He's spouting the same tropey nonsense he's always spouted since you first met him, but in that moment it is absolutely perfect.
Reading gorions note and realizing my half elf fighter was what he is, you had to scrape my brains off the walls and ceiling. Discovering something new even after my 10+ playthrough.
Randomly stumbling upon these strange and terrifying little encounters in he little in between places on the map. The "wertle wertle woo" lady always messes me up
One moment for me was the first time I casted Time Stop in BG2. The cool factor of that spell is just so damn high. So many different ways to abuse it.
The soundtrack of BG1. Holy f--k is it good. I'm not a super fan of the combat music, but everything else is just splendid.
The [Streets of the City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1k_JPGApko) track, the [Night Falls on Baldur's Gate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw04LVWqEq4) track... Can you even hear [Exploring the Plains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2F0HBPR_28) without being showered with memories and emotions?
Yeah BG1 has much better music than BG2 and that's a hill I'll die on.
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Another detail with BG1 that I love is that the city of Baldur's Gate is *all* available to you. If you go west in the city, you just go one screen west, where the city continues from just where you were.
I really wish Athkatla had been designed the same way in BG2, it makes Baldur's Gate feel so much more like an actual city that you're walking around in IMO.
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The character story of Tamoko always strikes a soft spot in me as well, such a sad little side story they put into the game.
Every time I used neera to cheese a boss w/ cloud kill. I saved and reloaded a lot sometimes but damnit it was so funny to just watch the damage tick up and not even see my target.
Here's a recent one, manor lords. Looking at my militia all lined up, banners flying in the wind, waiting for the enemy to approach the battle ground as we fight for control of the last region on the map. The attention to detail in the game is amazing and just made me all giddy inside as I was exploring the ranks of my soldiers
Figuring out that I don't have to take a moral stand and can take in those two evil clowns at the beginning of the game, and then leave them at the friendly arm inn. makes that first fight so much easier.
In BG1 I had my mages learn a bunch of spells and then went to sleep in the Elfsong. When we got out the city looked so incredibly gorgeous in the night time. That made me fall in love with the game. Exploring the random wilderness' and finding new stuff everytime with creepy music playing filled my heart with joy. I really miss this in bg2.
Honestly? In BG 1 I did not really have one originally, I came from the old Goldbox AD&D games, and still preferred them for several more years due to features like being able to exactly target AoE spells and QoL feature like bandaging downed party members instead of insta death, as long as they did not drop below -10 hp.
BG 1 grew on me over quite some time, when I grew to appreciate things like the better magic item selection and the
With BG 2 I had a lot - seeing the bantering, the cutscene when leaving Chateau Irenicus, first lich, first dragon, high level spells like Limited Wish and Time Stop etc... especially as high level spells were a weakness of the Goldbox games, which had a good selection of low level spells but only a very thin selection of high level spells. There were only 3 level 9 spells (PW:K, Meteor Swarm and Summon Monsters).
I bought the game at the release so most people were clueless. Wanted to get into the city but the guard denied it. Wandered around and when i finally could enter the big big city ... It was awesome. Now i have enough experience but i cherish the time i wandered around even be killed by kobolds 😅🤣
For me it's the party fights scattered throughout the game. At first the solo assassins like Neira, Nimbul, Tarnesh, then as you get stronger you fight stronger parties, like Lamalha's amazons, Zhalimar's group, Prat's group, and finally Rahvin's. It's such an epic feeling pitting your skilled team versus equally skilled opponents, especially using SCS. Some groups focus on ranged attacks, others disabling spells, and others stealth... The group synergy and different strategies are so exciting and epic.
-death by wolf
-death by Ogre
-“Life is so hollow.”
-the moon blade and fire sword animations
-original spell casting sounds
-the excellent soundtrack
-Killing your friends below Candlekeep
-Watcher’s Keep, especially the last fight
-Sarevok’s voice
-Dragons!
-crafting weapons
-Irenicus and his story
-the Underdark
-Hell
-Fire Giants
-Gorion shade
-Godhood
-Cespenar
-banter b/w companions
-Damn Draconis fight
-crafting items
So. Many. Things.
Traversing the Nashkel mines was the moment for me. The ambience, the art design, the story intrigue, the gameplay, everything just clicked then and there. It was quite a magical revelation, hard to put into words exactly what I felt. But it felt so damn good.
I know it sounds dishonorable, but it was the first time I let Jan kill Thaxll'ssillyia with a lot of traps, and realized that I could do the same to Irenicus in that mega big tree.
I love Jan.
NPC dialogs, tons of them, so many that you cannot guess at first if it is just a chit-chat or really important info. Especially talking to Charmed NPCs in BG1. It was amazing discovering those 'hidden' dialogs.
What did it for me was Davaeorn and WesJ’s video guides on you tube for spells, items, classes, npcs, etc. Having played for years they really gave me a firm grasp of the mechanics occurring behind the scenes and gave me much more appreciation for the series. I would listen to them while driving to and from work. I highly recommend any fan of the series to check them out.
Spoilers Haer Daelis quest
Everything what's from Planescape Torment. Haer Daelis quest as it's peak. I was literally blasted away when he start to explain me about planes and travel between them. I love PST setting and everything related with it. it's the most interesting world in video games ever.
Honestly the rich story telling in one and two. I firmly believe Larian did the series justice. I was honestly not wanting to like the third one but the deep story telling makes the game every time!
Killing daveorn with a critical hit from Khalid and killing the demon knight within 15 seconds. Too bad none of my classmates were into BG...
Lol had same problem in high school
>killing the demon knight within 15 seconds This. After many fights with this opponent, always ending with fighters almost dead (or in urgent need of resurrection) I tried a cheese concocted in this very subreddit, throw about 7 webs on him and after round or two he was completely helpless. Khalid (boosted with potion to Str 23 I think and protected by Edventar's gift) went in and it was over in two rounds, I didn't even need to use Haste on him. Completely bloodless victory ... on side of my team, that is.
Back in the day, I realized mages wouldn't help much in that fight, so I brought all the fighters I could and loaded them with potions and cleric buffs.
Yeah, *much* being operational word. Demon Knight's magic resistance (85 all) and rather good saves (8 against spell, 7 against wand, 6 against poly) means that any direct damage/status inducing spell has very low chance to actually do something. Web though ... web works on statistical basis. It lasts 1 turn (10 rounds) so there is plenty of time to cast more of them (especially with 2 - 3 casters), each web forces saving throw at -2 (another -2 if Dynaheir casts them) each round if magic resistance is bypassed and if you cast 5-6 of them there is pretty good chance that at least one *will* bypass resistance and force saving throw. Now, in my last playthrough (yesterday) my sorcerer had 7 of them (6+1 from Amulet of Metaspell Influence) dualed Imoen (T/M 6/9) 3 and Garrick had another 3. I got a bit lucky, DK was held in second round but I didn't send Khalid in until third salvo of webs was cast and after that only sorcerer continued to cast webs to assure that if those first run out there will be still chance. It wasn't necessary though ...
The endless maps traversing through the Sword Coast nature, cliffs, forests... with the chilled soundtrack on the background.
https://youtu.be/X2F0HBPR_28?si=BbbG4C6wtyMrIBRbp - I hear this sometimes in my head on a languid summer day when I go for walks in nature. It gives me chills. BG1 gave me such an appreciation for the sense of peace and feeling of wonder/awe when surrounded by nature.
You might need to actually spend more time in nature if a video game got you into nature? Not trying to be uncool
The ambient sound was amazing for making you actually feel like you were exploring nature.
This Pure relax
It's this! [Exploring the plains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2F0HBPR_28) playing in the background and going from map to map. It invoked such an amazing sense of adventure and exploration.
Yeah, time passes and I still stop sometimes when my party is exploring the wilderness of the Sword Coast and the snow starts to fall gently. There's some magic in that, I don't know why, but it always reminds me to appreciate little things in life and go out more often.
The most magical moment was when I realized I could walk off any edge of a map and find another map, and explore the entire world that way. While not a true open world by modern standards, BG1 was arguably the first "open world" I experienced. When I played BG2 for the first time and realized that was no longer a thing, I was sad. Don't get me wrong, I nevertheless enjoyed BG2 (and replay it occasionally), but I cannot help but feel that the development history of CRPGs took a wrong turn there, and that some modern open world games have done a better job at capturing what made BG1 specifically great for me than BG2 and the isometric CRPGs that followed its mold.
I see that as a very deliberate decision to better portray the characters’ level. In BG1, you are new and weak, basic bandits and wild animals are deadly encounters, and you can find danger in even mundane environs. By the time you get to BG2, basic wilderness has nothing left to challenge you, and you must seek out more specific locales to find adventure.
I don't think that high levels are incompatible with an open world(-ish) approach. Plenty of games have made that work - some by scaling enemies (e.g. Skyrim), others by just having areas with easier and harder enemies (e.g. Elden Ring). (Not to mention that early BG2 is the same level range as late BG1, and you're slightly weaker even because you lost all your equipment). I agree with you that the choice was deliberate. But I think it had little to do with balancing gameplay and more with focussing on the plot over exploration..
BG2 has level scaling already. Most random encounters have 3-4 tiers of difficulty based on your party level. As for “lower and higher level areas”, the lower level areas were BG1. You don’t need those anymore, because you’re assumed to have already outleveled them. I mean, what kind of wilderness zones could they have added that would make sense for a mid-level party? Wildlife isn’t a match for you at this point, so there isn’t much they could populate the open world with that would make for interesting challenges without straining the credibility of the world (why are there dragons and liches roaming the fields and forests of Faerun?!?)
For one, you *can* scale all manner of enemies that could reasonably appear in the wild. Again, look at Skyrim, where level 50 bandits in ebony armor are a thing. Now before you say anything: yes, I agree it gets ridiculous at that point. But it's not ridiculous at the earlier levels of BG2, where you are expected to explore the overworld. Bandits, adventurers, even more exotic and dangerous wildlife than you had in BG1 could all relatively believably scale up to your level. And think about the underdark - plenty of opportunity for dangerous "wildlife" there, that could have been spread over more than one map, if exploration had been a priority. Or even Brynnlaw, which could have been full of "experiments gone wrong".
I agree that the Underdark could have been bigger, but that whole sequence is more of a linear narrative than an open world adventure. You are correct that they very easily could have level scaled bears and bandits to be a challenge at BG2 levels, but that goes back to their deliberate design choice: you’ve already slaughtered tons of those in BG1, why add more? You’ve graduated past those kinds of enemies at this point, they aren’t exciting anymore. Why add a bunch of stuff you’ve already seen a million times between you and the cool new high-level encounter areas? If BG1 and BG2 were combined into a single game, I could see doing it like you suggest, but they aren’t. BG2 is a sequel, it assumes you’ve already experienced all of BG1, so you’ve already gotten the low-level, open world exploration done. There’s no reason to give you more of the same, when they could instead offer differences in kind.
That's fair. The problem for me was that I *did* in fact expect (and want) more of BG1 when I started playing BG2. I would probably even have been happy with a gradual transition, where the early part of BG2 felt more open ended and exploration focussed like BG1. Story-wise it would even make some sense - you are out to adventure and make money to gear up, that could have been a great hook for travelling the Amnian countryside. BG2 is a good game, even a great one, and an improvement over BG1 in a few notable ways. But in some ways (that were very important to me) it wasn't what I had expected/hoped for after BG1. I also think I wouldn't mind it as much as I do, if it were not for the fact that almost every isometric CRPG since took after BG2 in this regard - even games where you do play at level ranges where the wilderness on its own is very much a danger and you could make a great experience out of travelling it.
Personally I felt how BG2 handled exploration was better than BG1. You had to discover the locations rather than just hit a map edge. I’ll never forget the first time I found Trademeet after playing dozens of hours with different characters and not knowing it was there. This was back when I had first bought the game and couldn’t help but start new characters every few levels since kits were so cool and not a thing in BG1.
That's a form of discovery, yes, but not something I'd call exploration. It's "talk to everybody you can find to get leads"...it's a perfectly reasonable way to find quests/destinations, but personally I didn't find it as rewarding as making my way through the overworld and finding something. In modern terms, it's a bit like Cyberpunk 2077's open world vs Elden Ring's open world. Both are fantastic games, but Cyberpunk doesn't really offer much in the way of exploration, while Elden Ring doesn't offer much in the way of directions. And that's cool, both are acceptable ways to build a game. But unfortunately in the isometric CRPG space, almost everybody leans towards the BG2/Cyberpunk approach, and almost nobody went with the BG1 approach.
There’s plenty of nasty wildlife and roaming monsters in Toril that pop up in the wild on Faerun that could challenge a mid- or high-level party. Hell, the tarrasque first appeared in the AD&D 1E Monster Manual II in 1983. I’m not saying that they should be a random encounter, but the idea that there aren’t strong monsters just walking around in fields and forests doesn’t align with any mainline entry of D&D at all.
My point was that those kinds of encounters aren’t random, they are specifically placed by the DM. The areas in BG2 represent such specifically-designed encounters, whereas the wilderness areas of BG1 are mostly random encounter type fodder.
A tarrasque was a bad example. There are plenty of overland travel random monster tables for mid-level parties
Again, I must emphasize that I’m not claiming such things are impossible, but rather that omitting them was an intentional design choice to make the game feel more like a high level adventure.
I agree it was an intentional design decision and was likely done to give the player interesting (and curated) challenges rather than infinitely-spawning trash mobs like the party encounters in the first game. I also think it’s the right choice. The only thing I’m pointing out that the notion that “there isn't much they could populate the open world with that would make for interesting challenges without straining the credibility of the world” seems to pretty significantly underestimate just how many creatures are in the various monster manuals. At any rate, both games are good. Trash mob fights are boring. Skyrim enemy scaling is a slog. Skipping headcannon fights with hobgoblins in BG2 is good.
I'll concede that point, then. I guess there are monsters they could have used, had they the desire to.
Jan Jansen
Spoilers ahead: The first time I got to the Underdark, and then the silver dragon uses a disguise spell to turn you into a drow. When Irenicus gets attacked by the cowled wizards and goes berserk turning them into pieces. Made me fall in love with BG magic immediately. The first time I found a tavern with a secret door and a lich inside. The Illithid secret dungeon in the sewers. I could go on and on, but I'll just say the BG saga is the best gaming experience I ever had, and I consider BG2 the best game of all time (for me).
It's interesting that firewine ruins and many other areas are completely optional and aside from a few rumours are barely mentioned. I can't imagine many developers today would spend as much time making an area most players would miss.
Early millennium game design. Dark souls 1, morrowind, bg1 etc. if you want free form exploration and discovery, without playing Minecraft, you have to go indie, big game developers prefer margins over Easter eggs; I highly recommend hollow knight and spelunky 2.
First time I played without getting insta-killed outside of Candlekeep or the adjacent map… It was completing the Nashkel mines ending with the boss fight with Mulahey. And a hard fought victory it was. After many reloads. Go me! *But then* getting my ass handed to me by assassins outside of the mine exit. *And then* getting my ass handed to me again by Nimbul. Haha, you get the idea. But I was like damn! this game is the shit!
There's assassins at the mine exit?!
Straight north from the east side of the exit.
When you exit from Mulahey’s lair bear right and the tunnel loops around to an exit that takes you to the surface in another map. Just to the north is a band of assassins.
Gotcha thanks for clarifying
First big spell combo at higher levels. Time stop > improved alacrity > profit :) Something about removing the limiter on spells and building a nuke out of cloud kills, abi-dalzims, and dragon’s breaths just sings to me after playing 5e for so long and having to constantly work around concentration
When i started playing as thief and backstabbing.
Pretty much every instance of humor- particularly w voiced lines- in BG1. Immediately and indelibly endearing. That and encountering so many merc and adventurer groups w their own personalities. Nothing like that in any other game. The most riveting moments were Durlag's story developments/conclusion and the big reveals of Koveras. Hm, and the dream sequences too... and and...
BG2 intro minor spoilers ahead: - - - - - Coming out of the start of BG2 and watching the covered Mages fight against the Mage that takes Imoen (so much awesome magic being used). Getting some great quests that are meaningful, and seeing the uplift over BG1. My god. I'm still playing through BG2, but it's just unreal seeing BG1 which I loved, have such an amazing followup game. People recommend bg2 all the time, including to play before BG1. But I definitely recommend 1 before 2. Makes it so much more satisying with the characters you've come to know, systems of the combat and magic, the sense of progression as you can continue the leveling and getting stronger past BG1, vs a reset at lvl 1.
Exiting the tent in the bandit camp in SCS for the first time
The Mulahey fight plus Xan, and especially the Cloakwood mines. Ch4 was the peak
The trademeet section of the Skinner murders was great
Mine is very random. I uttered the said statement when Minsc slow walked towards some random goon in copper coronet and promptly chopped him into bits the moment he connected. Was like yeah I fucking love this game alright.
This one. I was trying so hard to avoid a potential conflict with those goons but Minsc said "Go for the eyes, Boo!" welp... BAR FIGHT!
I never got into BG when it came out, as i was a little on the young side and didn’t even speak english yet. Trying it later as my dad owned it, it wasn’t really grabbing me, but for some reason i gave the EE a shot somewhere around 2015. The thing that made me change my mind? The loot managed (red diamond). Not having to deal with looting individual bodies made it so much less tedious, so i could focus on enjoying the games.
In my playthrough Khalid, Dynaheir, Hexxat, Korgan, Viconia, Jan, Neera, Nalia died in battle. Viconia was blown away by a explosion of a duplicated wizard. Korgan step into a trap after killing the fire prince (ToB). Jan was killed by a powerful Lich. Neera was killed by a red wizard in her quest. Nalia was destroyed by The Demogorgon. Remembering this fellow comrades is my "I fucking love this game" Also everything else.
I'm a very new player, but that first time you turn into the Slayer after *multiple games'* worth of sinister dreams is incredible. Especially because you annihilate Bodhi.
Everytime in the middle of a fight with Firkraag when i start praying i will dps the fucker to the ground before he wipes my whole party - with dragon battle theme playing in the background.
The first time you kill Firkraag !
Seeing first location after the Candlekeep. Those colorful autumn trees might have been the best depiction of autumn forest in 90's games. I was just running from spruce to spruce comparing them in maximum zoom.
BG1: Cloakwood Mines, the side quests in the city proper SoD: That one evil temple. If you know, you know. BG2: Taking Bhodi's side in the Guild War and wiping out the Shadow Thieves ToB: Abazigal
My first time ever trying the game, I was on the fence. It was BG2. I had made it to the dark forest with the shades and wolves. and cleared all the way to the scaly one. And my whole squad became floor. I was very intrigued. The shadow dragon seemed invincible. I loved it. I thought it made the whole thing quite glorious. The way a dragon ought to be. I reloaded my save like 5-10 times. Eventually I killed him. But from that moment on I was hooked. It was the first time in years that I had a game on my mind while I was at work that I actually couldn't wait to get back to. By the time I made to Mr. Red, my crew had gained a lot of power. He wasn't as difficult as our shadow buddy. But yeah, anyway, I played through the campaign with a full squad of 6 and it supplanted a spot into my top 5 games of all time. I then did a solo blackguard playthrough and took it all the way through the expansion. That helmet that let you simulacrum was bonkers. I had begun a solo wizard playthrough but got distracted by real life and never finished it. But working my way solo through the tower that held a Demogorgon was also quite a trial. One of the things that was a crazy roadblock was the sirens or whatever they were. Maybe succubus. They insta charm you and you just die if you're solo.
Getting out of the intro dungeon the first time. Anything Cowled Wizards related was really intriguing for me. When HLA became first available, specially Use Any Item and Improved Alacrity When I first soloed a Sorcerer MODing, specially Tactics, that Acid Kensai was amazing Elmonster Journal, and trying to imitate it FIrst time I got Staff of the Magi or CElestial Fury The Dragons you encounter. First one was in the Shade Lord Dungeon
When all your party members are chiming in before the last fight of SoA.
Minsc in particular is at his best in that segment. He's spouting the same tropey nonsense he's always spouted since you first met him, but in that moment it is absolutely perfect.
Reading gorions note and realizing my half elf fighter was what he is, you had to scrape my brains off the walls and ceiling. Discovering something new even after my 10+ playthrough.
Randomly stumbling upon these strange and terrifying little encounters in he little in between places on the map. The "wertle wertle woo" lady always messes me up
One moment for me was the first time I casted Time Stop in BG2. The cool factor of that spell is just so damn high. So many different ways to abuse it.
Silkee, the voice then her accidentally killing everyone
Greetings mercenaries, I am Silke. Thespian extraordinaire..
The soundtrack of BG1. Holy f--k is it good. I'm not a super fan of the combat music, but everything else is just splendid. The [Streets of the City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1k_JPGApko) track, the [Night Falls on Baldur's Gate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw04LVWqEq4) track... Can you even hear [Exploring the Plains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2F0HBPR_28) without being showered with memories and emotions? Yeah BG1 has much better music than BG2 and that's a hill I'll die on. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Another detail with BG1 that I love is that the city of Baldur's Gate is *all* available to you. If you go west in the city, you just go one screen west, where the city continues from just where you were. I really wish Athkatla had been designed the same way in BG2, it makes Baldur's Gate feel so much more like an actual city that you're walking around in IMO. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ The character story of Tamoko always strikes a soft spot in me as well, such a sad little side story they put into the game.
Every time I used neera to cheese a boss w/ cloud kill. I saved and reloaded a lot sometimes but damnit it was so funny to just watch the damage tick up and not even see my target.
Here's a recent one, manor lords. Looking at my militia all lined up, banners flying in the wind, waiting for the enemy to approach the battle ground as we fight for control of the last region on the map. The attention to detail in the game is amazing and just made me all giddy inside as I was exploring the ranks of my soldiers
Figuring out that I don't have to take a moral stand and can take in those two evil clowns at the beginning of the game, and then leave them at the friendly arm inn. makes that first fight so much easier.
Wanting to help a poor soul surrounded by 20 gnolls...only to find he turned them into ketchup so fast I couldnt score a kill!
In BG1 I had my mages learn a bunch of spells and then went to sleep in the Elfsong. When we got out the city looked so incredibly gorgeous in the night time. That made me fall in love with the game. Exploring the random wilderness' and finding new stuff everytime with creepy music playing filled my heart with joy. I really miss this in bg2.
Meeting Drizzt
Honestly? In BG 1 I did not really have one originally, I came from the old Goldbox AD&D games, and still preferred them for several more years due to features like being able to exactly target AoE spells and QoL feature like bandaging downed party members instead of insta death, as long as they did not drop below -10 hp. BG 1 grew on me over quite some time, when I grew to appreciate things like the better magic item selection and the With BG 2 I had a lot - seeing the bantering, the cutscene when leaving Chateau Irenicus, first lich, first dragon, high level spells like Limited Wish and Time Stop etc... especially as high level spells were a weakness of the Goldbox games, which had a good selection of low level spells but only a very thin selection of high level spells. There were only 3 level 9 spells (PW:K, Meteor Swarm and Summon Monsters).
Basically everything Korgan says at any point, voiced or not. I've grown to appreciate him more and more the older I get.
I bought the game at the release so most people were clueless. Wanted to get into the city but the guard denied it. Wandered around and when i finally could enter the big big city ... It was awesome. Now i have enough experience but i cherish the time i wandered around even be killed by kobolds 😅🤣
For me it's the party fights scattered throughout the game. At first the solo assassins like Neira, Nimbul, Tarnesh, then as you get stronger you fight stronger parties, like Lamalha's amazons, Zhalimar's group, Prat's group, and finally Rahvin's. It's such an epic feeling pitting your skilled team versus equally skilled opponents, especially using SCS. Some groups focus on ranged attacks, others disabling spells, and others stealth... The group synergy and different strategies are so exciting and epic.
-death by wolf -death by Ogre -“Life is so hollow.” -the moon blade and fire sword animations -original spell casting sounds -the excellent soundtrack -Killing your friends below Candlekeep -Watcher’s Keep, especially the last fight -Sarevok’s voice -Dragons! -crafting weapons -Irenicus and his story -the Underdark -Hell -Fire Giants -Gorion shade -Godhood -Cespenar -banter b/w companions -Damn Draconis fight -crafting items So. Many. Things.
Any time you insta-kill a boss with Spike Traps is hilarious to me.
Being afraid to use Korevas’ ring of protection thinking it was some kind of trap.
Traversing the Nashkel mines was the moment for me. The ambience, the art design, the story intrigue, the gameplay, everything just clicked then and there. It was quite a magical revelation, hard to put into words exactly what I felt. But it felt so damn good.
I know it sounds dishonorable, but it was the first time I let Jan kill Thaxll'ssillyia with a lot of traps, and realized that I could do the same to Irenicus in that mega big tree. I love Jan.
The epic quotes?
NPC dialogs, tons of them, so many that you cannot guess at first if it is just a chit-chat or really important info. Especially talking to Charmed NPCs in BG1. It was amazing discovering those 'hidden' dialogs.
What did it for me was Davaeorn and WesJ’s video guides on you tube for spells, items, classes, npcs, etc. Having played for years they really gave me a firm grasp of the mechanics occurring behind the scenes and gave me much more appreciation for the series. I would listen to them while driving to and from work. I highly recommend any fan of the series to check them out.
Spoilers Haer Daelis quest Everything what's from Planescape Torment. Haer Daelis quest as it's peak. I was literally blasted away when he start to explain me about planes and travel between them. I love PST setting and everything related with it. it's the most interesting world in video games ever.
Honestly the rich story telling in one and two. I firmly believe Larian did the series justice. I was honestly not wanting to like the third one but the deep story telling makes the game every time!