Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition

I've been playing this game since release in 2000. Started playing it with my dad and we played for ages until he passed 5 years ago. This game is amazing and will always remind of my old man. The story telling is great. The DnD base it provides translates so well to even current editions. This game is worth the 3000+ hours and even more.

I played on story mode (where your party straight up can't die) because awkward computer DnD from 2000 is not my thing. The world, characters, etc. are really good and outshine many modern games easily. I would recommend (atleast on sale) if that aspect interests you but the gameplay itself doesn't.

Nothing can be said about this sacred game. This is the ultimate CRPG experience. That's it. It's not a game. It's a portal to a magical realm inside you. Try it.

Without hesitation, this is the best RPG I have ever played.

I say this to you without direct nostalgia. I have never played Baldur's Gate 2 or the Throne of Bhaal expansion before. I did grow up playing isometric games so that may play a part, but otherwise this was entirely fresh to me.

I find it insane that the bar was set so long ago and to my knowledge nothing has lived up to it. It is both disappointing and frustrating. I was wholly sucked into the realm built into this game. Of course it's based on the D&D universe so it's expected to have depth, but the writing for this particular story I found to be incredibly interesting and varied. You explore so many different places with all sorts of enemies like dragons, demons, trolls, undead, mages, mercenaries and so on. There were moments of genuine surprise with plot twists and the settings changed so drastically it really felt like I was living through a gigantic adventure.

Besides the writing, the gameplay really shines. There are so many different solutions to so many problems. So many spells are able to be used to buff you and your party or directly impact your opponents or debuff them. You can use traps, magic, pickpocketing or abilities attached to magical items. Battles could sometimes feel like puzzles and I was never bored doing them. Some of them could be quite challenging and felt incredibly rewarding to get through.

However, not all people will be capable of getting into it. This is nearly a quarter of a century old game with the D&D mechanics from 2e. The only technical problems I came across were pathfinding issues, characters being stuck on one another and therefore unable to move or taking a moment to unstick or a black screen being present when I had to alt tab out. There is lots of reading which may put some people off, a somewhat clunky UI and some genuine challenge and thinking required.

To those of you who can play older games, maybe because newer ones keep disappointing you, maybe because you want to see what the big hits were years ago, I wholeheartedly recommend you do so,

It is in my mind now that to not play this as a saga (BG1 and BG2) is to miss out on the finest RPG experiences that exist. Don't miss out.

This is truly one of the most legendary CRPG titles ever created.
Characters, plot, quests, details, sound (even game mechanics in its maddening complexity) all of it is masterfully executed. And we are talking about year 2000.
There are so many things written about the game that I wont waste time with general info and skip to other not so much mentioned stuff. Since 2000 it seems the quality bar has been lowered year by year. Funny that it is BG3 that created another spike which seems to stir hunger for quality among the major gaming population. Job well done!

2-3 years ago I bought BG3 in early access. At that time it was too much like DD: Original sin 1,2 so I dropped it till they finish it some more. Now in order to better compare souls of old and new and with fresh memory, I told myself I will once again after so many years experience this old legacy.
So I finished BG1 and now also BG2. I forgot about so many fine delicate things. Mainly from story and dialogues. Some plot twists seemed better in my memory and sometimes I was pleasantly surprised about something I forgot. I really enjoyed myself. Wanna have some fun? Put together a group of unlikely companions (with certain restrictions) and create a bond of true love thru ring that sets your Ch to 18 (obtained really early). That way you will be able to calm them down after hearing so many nice conversations and quarrels.
There were also some bitter parts like the game mechanics with all spells. It can be mind bending like paintings from Salvador Dali. One can lose him/herself in the rabbit hole, that is how deep it allows you to go. Let me just give you an example: wizard spell 5lvl Breach has a nice long list of things it does dispel. But does it ever mention somewhere that it may not work? No. It creates the impression it will always work. But there are a few spells that defend against it and you will only waste your Breach without knowing it. Then you notice, start reading and learn. And you opened one door that leads to a corridor with other doors. Just a metaphor to show there are so many things like this you would like to research that it makes your head spin. It could have been done better. But we are talking about game from 2000. (If you start digging around how it was created you could be surprised that it was not easy to code and some other funny things hehehe.) At least the internet started to be usable at that time. I recall how we talked with friends about the game for so many hours back then. "How would you beat a red dragon, mindflayers?" "How do you progress in that quest?" etc… Now you can type it in search engine and all is within reach.

My humble opinion is that Shadows of Amn is more balanced then Throne of Bhaal. ToB is excelent datadisk. Usually datadisks were of lower quality. With higher spells it starts to be a madhouse. It starts to be more difficult to create meaningful balanced challenge. At the end I started to feel what was said about the engine and its limits in terms of lvl. Now after all that I can say that I enjoyed the game and was glad that it is over at the same time. I can put it on the shelf and have romantical memories about it. Some quests and adventures will forever accompany me and make my mind richer.

If someone is into CRPG it means it is not for the love of the best graphic. It means deep characters and conversations. It often involves a lot of reading and the need to understand at least some game mechanics. And this game is one of the best there is.
Or let me put it in another way. If you are into CRPG then you MUST play BG2. And if you did, how did you like it?

The first real computer game I played with my dad many, many years ago. This will forever be THE game that I always go back to when I feel nostalgic or want to challenge myself. Cannot recommend this game enough. If you are even remotely thinking of playing, I would give it 2 thumbs up and then some.

I don't know if I am just old, but there is no game like Baldur's Gate 2. I bought BG3 and played it few times through campaign... and its good, but for me, its not even close to Baldur's Gate 2 Saga.
Basically what I dislike from the most of new games is actually a world that is drawn and illustrated, rather then 3d one, where pretty much everything/every game looks the same. Nothing can give me immersion the way Baldur's Gate 2. Voice acting, music, ambient noise, sounds when passing by... its probably just a nostalgia for a certain era of gaming (I guess the same can be said for the movie era's as well, 90ies were crazy)... but BG2 is a masterpiece. It was masterpiece back in a day and I would say that enhanced edition is great as well.
Every little while I reinstall it and play it again.
BG2 and Fallout 2, still waiting for the game that will dethrone these.