I've been thinking....

[ernme4vr]

I know it's hard to believe the title, but bear with me, ok? Just recently, after beating the Baldur's Gate games, I've put some thought into the choices of titles for all the games. I am a big person on choosing good titles. The titles for some of these games bug me. Mainly the BG series.

Baldur's Gate and Tales of the Sword Coast: Ahhh, Baldur's Gate. The Milestone that set it all. Really good game, nicely designed, blah, blah, blah. The expansion that we all know as TotSC, I personally think that it didn't have a bad name, really. You are legends across the Sword Coast. It fits.

Now, I come to what bugs me....

First, it's the Dark Alliance game for PS2. Ok, so you start in Baldur's Gate, but you only stay there for the first chapter. I know DA is not created by BioWare, but Interplay still had rights to it. If they had just called it Dark Alliance, it would have had a better allure in originality. I personally think Interplay was using the Baldur's Gate name/success in vain to sell a Diablo rip-off.

Second is the choice of calling SoA a sequel. I find that now the BG series is in a dead lock. Hopefully, a BG3 will be released, but there's a problem. We're all going to feel it's a continuation of the previous BG series, for it's got the BG3 tag on it. This is what I feel would have been a better title progression:

Baldur's Gate + TotSC <= This is what started it all. It fits, no questions asked. Good choice here.

Baldur's Gate: SoA + ToB <= Here we have the continuation of the Bhaal spawn story, and the closing of your legacy. You even play out Alandau's (spell check?) prophecy of the whole Bhaalspawn war. Note: I have not checked it to be a BG2, for it's a continuation, not a sequel.

Forgetten Realms: Dark Alliance <= Here is the result of Interplay's attempt of removing the DnD game series from BioWare. Before BG came in, you could ask a computer gamer what an RPG was, they'd list stuff like Diablo, Final Fantasy and that stuff. BG changed the way C.Gamers veiwed RPGs. Without the BioWare influence, the RPGs created by Interplay has fallen back to the Diablo premise. Now, I have not tried Pool of Radiance yet, so my opinion may be a bit biased at the moment.

Then, this is where the BG2 fits in. You start anew. Level 1, a whole new story is to be unfolded before you. The events of the previous BG games have taken effect on the world that is BG2. Then, the door is much more open to the possibilities of a sequel to Baldur's Gate series. I wish to hear what you people think about what I have posted here. I hope that the Moderators don't find this off-topic on me, please?

- King of Hearts

[ 01-06-2002: Message edited by: KoH ]

[Nightmare]

Your nit-picking. Sorry, but I'm blunt.

EDIT: Also, who cares? They are both some of the greatest games released on the PC. I find that people tend to b*tch about small things in a game, instead of praising that it did(almost) everything right.

[ 01-06-2002: Message edited by: Gaxx_Firkraag ]

[ernme4vr]

Hey, I was just trying to think of ways that the BG series could have been brought out better. I didn't say that it sucked. Wouldn't it be the same game if it as done like that though? Never know.

- King of Hearts

[Aramant]

Um... Not that I'm trying to be rude, or anything, but... Who really gives a flying f*** at a rolling doughnut whether it's called "Baldur's Gate Continuation" or "Baldur's Gate 2"? Does it REALLY matter? I highly doubt that the company will recall all the produced games to change an abitrary aspect of the title. Does it really matter what it's called anyway? If "Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn" was called "Baldur's Gate 2: My Skivvies Smell Like Lavender", it would be the exact same game. End of story. Titles really have no impact upon the product itself,and are generally used only as marketing/identifying tools. Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.