IWD or BG1/2 ?

N3CROMANCER · Post by **N3CROMANCER** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:17 pm

Alright, the title may be a bit missleading, but here's the deal

It's been a good while since I played any of the games, and right now I feel like starting to play again. I've got all the games bought, and now I need your suggestions in what order you think I should play them? This may sound a bit stupid, as the general order would be first to play BG1 and then BG2, but IWD is also there and I kind of miss it too. Anywho, what do you think I should start with?

Oh, and while we're at it, which game did you like the most?

Crenshinibon · Post by **Crenshinibon** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:12 pm

From those games, I'd suggest the BG series, starting from the very first one. While it has less freedom to roleplay, it has more interaction and customization. Generally I'd compare it to IWD with HoW and TotL expansions installed. I dislike IWD II however due to such a strong emphasis on combat and in general, I dislike the third edition rules.

BlueSky · Post by **BlueSky** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:16 pm

Here's a second vote for the BG series....
no matter how long its been since I played or how many times I've played it....I seem to always enjoy the series..
and with various mods installed..it seems like a new game.

N3CROMANCER · Post by **N3CROMANCER** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 1:57 pm

Yeah, truth to be told I came to the same conclusion you did.. About the mods for BG, any suggestions? I'd guess there are quite a few of them out there.

Domi_Ash · Post by **Domi_Ash** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 3:21 pm

For BG1/BG2 series, the mods that really make the difference imo are EasyTUTU (or BGT) combined with BG1NPC Project. That's if you are a dialogue-loving player. EasyTUTU/BGT convert the BG1's gameplay into BG2 gameplay. BG1NPC add BG2-style character interactions.

For BG2 there are gazzillion mods out there, with Fixpack and Tweakpack fixing up and allowing to customize the game; bunch of mods adding quests, even more mods adding the NPCs and one Total Conversion available. Check out the PPG's modlist (pocketplane.net) to figure out what suits your fancy, because honestly, it's really hard to recommend mods for BG2 due to the variety.

Finally, IWD never touched me much in any particular way, but I really like IWD2 and recently released an IWD2NPC mod that adds joinable NPCs into IWD2, again, for the players who like inter-party dialogues.

dragon wench · Post by **dragon wench** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 3:30 pm

That depends on the types of games you most enjoy playing...

If you plan to play all three games, I'd suggest the following order:

1) IWD
2) BG (probably fairly equal to BG2 if you use Tutu and the BG1 NPC Project)
3) BG2

The reason is that I have ranked them according to my personal definitions of worst to best, IWD being the worst. However, that is because I like games with a lot of inter-party dialogue and a strong back story.
IWD's story isn't bad, but it doesn't compare to the BG series, and since you create your own party, there's no banter. I find IWD2, in general, to be even worse, but Domi's NPC project goes a long way in redeeming it.

Anyway, it's sort of like if you drink coffee or wine, once you get used to the good stuff, it is quite difficult to go back to something of mediocre quality.. Hence why I recommend starting with IWD....

But, of course, that is my purely subjective opinion

sinbad71 · Post by **sinbad71** » Sat Nov 17, 2007 3:35 pm

i like the IWD series most due to the more combat orientated gameplay,but also like BG as more story driven and have to think a little bit more