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I've heard good things about this game. How does it compare to Pool of Radiance, Dungeon Siege, and Neverwinter Nights?

Even nearly 10 years after its release, it is still in my opinion one of the best rpgs on the market. Combined with its expansion and with BG2+ToB, it has an epic storyline, interesting and well thought out npcs, great gameplay and great replayability. Although I like NWN, the BG series is at least 10 times better than NWN.

One word of caution though, if you want modern graphics, 3D all angle camera rotation and a game where you do not have to deploy different tactics in battles or think about which quests to take, where to go etc. and you like linear games where you are told exactly where to go and what to do and in what order all the time, then the BG games are not for you. But if you want a computer RPG that captivates you in its characters and story, that makes you think about where to go next and what your character would do in that situation, that gives you the opportunity to roleplay far more than most recent RPGs, then definately get BG. But I would recommend getting TotSC as well, and both BG2 and ToB and play through the entire series in order

If I'd played NWN first, I might have really liked it. Unfortunately, Baldur's Gate was my first game and it blew me away so much that after buying NWN, I couldnt't even bring myself to play past chapter 2. I'd say definitely buy it, as long as you're someone who prefers content over looks, the graphics are very poor now (but they're part of the charm I guess)

I agree with previous speakers, but would like to add a few very personal remarks.
Though the real-time graphics are 100% 2D, all the sprites are "photocopied" from very nicely made polygon models. The animations are rich, and the vast areas are all most exquisitely drawn by hand. The game is played in an extremely low resolution (though there are ways to bypass this) and is designed for something like a 200 MHz cpu, but still, always in my own opinion and obviously not from a technical point of view, it looks better than say NWN2. I think that over the last years we have let ourselves be dazzled by advanced 3D effects for the sake of it. Maybe now, when these features are more commonplace, we can once again appreciate the huge amount of art imbued in a game like Baldur's Gate.

rmemmett84 wrote:I've heard good things about this game. How does it compare to Pool of Radiance, Dungeon Siege, and Neverwinter Nights?

What did you like (and dislike) about those three games, 84?

Such long answers =/

Here's how you answer "Is Baldur's Gate worth it?":

HELL YES

AvatarOfLight wrote:Such long answers =/

Here's how you answer "Is Baldur's Gate worth it?":

HELL YES

Lol, I agree with that, but you do have to bear in mind that although it is worth it in our opinion it does depend on what you consider to be a good game. I know people who can't get into games which have less modern graphics even if they do like the storyline, quests etc. so its worth giving a long answer so that rmemmett84 can make an informed decision, especially if he has never played any Infinity Engine games before.

CFM wrote:What did you like (and dislike) about those three games, 84?

Graphics are unimportant to me. Out of the three games listed that I have played I prefered PoR-RoMD. I kind of classifed the other 2 as "hack'em up" games. As Mr. Sir said there was little thought...especially DS... you just followed a preset path and killed stuff. I thought RoMD played alot more like what I remembered of real D&D and required more strategy. Bear in mind though I'm at least 10 years older than most on this site and played D&D over 20 yrs ago when it didn't require a Bachelor's Degree to figure all the stat modifiers out. I have also played Nox from Westwood which I failed to mention but would probably rank higher than DS at least. Incidentally, I don't know if any of you enjoy military games...but if you do I would highly recommend C&C Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge also from Westwood. From what you people have told me it sounds like a game I would enjoy. As always I thank all of your for your help.

84, dude, you are SO gonna love the Baldur's Gate series.

Play BG1 (and the TotSC expansion) first. The box you're looking for says "The Original Saga", which includes TotSC. Install the TotSC official patch too.

Then play BG2: SoA (and the ToB expansion). The box you're looking for says "The Collection", which includes ToB. Install the ToB official patch too.

BG2 has more NPC interaction, and in terms of strategy, magic in BG2 can be akin to playing chess. Even so, play the games in the order of the story, and you'll enjoy them both even more. For many reasons...

You mentioned graphics... the Baldur's Gate games don't have jaw-dropping graphics, even for when they were first released. But they have artwork, music, ambiance, story, character, and overall charm that creates an atmosphere that I'd put up against any game any day of the week.

Other games that use the same (modified) BG game engine: Planescape Torment (the BEST story I've ever experienced bar none), and the Icewind Dale series (fun exotic dungeon crawls).

You mentioned Nox... have you tried the Diablo series?

Godspeed.

CFM wrote:Other games that use the same (modified) BG game engine: Planescape Torment (the BEST story I've ever experienced, bar none), and the Icewind Dale series (fun exotic dungeon crawls).

[url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinity_Engine"]Infinity Engine[/url]

Oh yes is it worth it. Buy. Now. Book months off work.

Quit job. Divorce. Whatever it takes: buy and play.

It is akin to Dungeon Siege I suppose... only far FAR better story and such. The graphics may be a bit daunting at first, and are more ragged than Pool of Radiance, but buy it and stick with it. It will be one of the most tremendous gaming experiences you will have, and then you have the equally sublime sequel to come afterwards

rmemmett84 wrote:Graphics are unimportant to me. Out of the three games listed that I have played I prefered PoR-RoMD. I kind of classifed the other 2 as "hack'em up" games. As Mr. Sir said there was little thought...especially DS... you just followed a preset path and killed stuff. I thought RoMD played alot more like what I remembered of real D&D and required more strategy. Bear in mind though I'm at least 10 years older than most on this site and played D&D over 20 yrs ago when it didn't require a Bachelor's Degree to figure all the stat modifiers out. I have also played Nox from Westwood which I failed to mention but would probably rank higher than DS at least. Incidentally, I don't know if any of you enjoy military games...but if you do I would highly recommend C&C Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge also from Westwood. From what you people have told me it sounds like a game I would enjoy. As always I thank all of your for your help.

Oh yeah, definitely for you then. It's really not a hack'n'slasher like Icewind Dale (shame, beautiful looking game that), it has a strong story which is engrossing without smothering you and a fair amount of nonlinearity (moreso in BG1 than BG2 - maybe why I prefer the former) combined with the artwork, the music and ambience, I think you'd really appreciate it.

Yeah, it's worth it.

Handle situations like you wanna handle them. Hack 'n' slash everyone, confuse them to death, stick arrows in their guts.

It's all pretty fun.

It was released a while ago, but I still think it is one of the best RPG games out there. Sounds are pretty good, the storyline is interlacing and detailed. User Interface it a lot like Icewind Dale.

If you ever managed to wrestle through Pool of Radiance, you'll love BG. BG is what a D&D CRPG should be. PoR is a very poor, bad, awful substitute for it.

Warning: author may be biased because PoR messed up D&D rules and granted you no freedom in character creation.

GawainBS wrote: Warning: author may be biased because PoR messed up D&D rules and granted you no freedom in character creation.

PoR: RoMD actually offers far more freedom in character creation and development than BG.

You're forgotting one thing: RoMD is supposed to be D&D 3.0, while BG was still AD&D. However, BG did much better a feat of using AD&D than RoMD did of using 3.0. I remember the game selecting my skills and feats and IIRC, stats too. For a D&D player, that's anathema.
Beside: they messed up feats and the gameplay was horribly slow. (That last fact is, ofcourse, subjective.)

Guys, I realise you are just comparing BG to PoR but you are getting close to turning this thread into a "Which is better, BG or PoR?" thread. Please remember that this thread is here to discuss whether BG is worth getting and in comparison to other games as well as PoR.

By all means feel free to carry on this discussion, just be careful that it does not end up going off topic

Good, I pointed out BG is very much worth it: since the OP had fun with RoMD, I conclude that he will want to make love with BG. (Which is understandable, mind you.)

To make things clear: I also think that BG is far better than PoR.
I just wanted to correct an imho wrong statement.

this game is great!!!!
i played BG2 a whole lot but just rencently got my hands on the dvd box and started playing BG1 and it is a blast!!i really started to appriciate a lot of things like low lvl spells as shield or Prot from Perifiction, cheat and aid spells i normally didn't even use.
and there is more, much more to explore, the using of potions i usually sold and i actually buy arrows and sling bullets and keep going back to shops to buy more i'm really depending on arrows now

and,and,and... just to much to tell just buy it and play it it's great!