Thinking about playing Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

[ce gars]

BG1 is a low level campaign through and through, but honestly I think it's the better of the two: BG2 is still good but it eventually just devolves into battles of who has more magic on their side in the end game. My favorite thing to do with the enhanced editions is to mod the original FMV movies and stuff back in, mod the new characters out, and forget that Siege of Dragonspear ever existed and that I wasted $5 on it.

I'd also recommend Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment if you can't get into BG1 though: Icewind Dale is a full high level campaign with lots of fun shit to build characters with, and Torment is just a great story.

 

[God of Nothing]

I have soloed both games and only ever gone through the first with a full party. Frankly, I couldn't really give a fuck about most of the companions. While I can see the merit in playing with a party in 2, I just had more fun going in alone. It made the first game feel like it had a better narrative than it actually did because I actually felt isolated, weak, and growing in power exponentially as the chapter narration said. Played as a sorcerer most of the time because magic is more fun to play around with than auto attack, but I did like managing to claw my way through The Sword Coast as a solo Asssassin.

2 was too rail-roady for my tastes. I couldn't give a shit about Amn as a setting, and I utterly destroyed Irenicus when I actually got the chance to fight him, which made me scoff at all the times he somehow fucks you over. It was also so small in comparison to the first despite having greater scope. Being a Bhaalspawn had more narrative weight the first game because there are dozens of little tidbits foreshadowing the truth despite it being obvious. It all feels like it's leading up to something, and it does when you confront Sarevok. Frankly, 2 should've just been Throne of Bhaal but far better built and developed so that ending scene from 1 pays off immediately in 2.