Baldur’s Gate 2 is the worst game I have ever played
Posted: 09/02/2011 Filed under: Gaming, Geekdom | Tags: baldur's gate 1, baldur's gate 2, bioware, crpgs, d&d, reviews, rpgs 5 Comments »Baldur’s Gate 2 by Bioware (Interplay, 2000)
The original Baldur’s Gate is one of my favorite games of all time. Open-ended and challenging, the game reenergized the hard-core American CRPG. Masterfully adapting the sometimes cumbersome (THACO, anyone?) second edition AD&D rules for real-time gameplay, Bioware really showed the world how to make a great, nigh-perfect role-playing game.
Needless to say, I was extremely excited to play Bioware’s follow-up. Sadly enough, I could not have been more disappointed in how this game turned out! So much so that it is difficult to for me to put my rage into words.
Perhaps it is best to just take the flaws in this game point by point.
My choices in BG1 have no consequence in BG2: In my playthrough of the first game in this series, I killed Xzar and his annoying halfling friend. But look here! There alive in & well in the sequel! What’s up with that Bioware? There are virtually no consequences for anything I did in your original game! Quayle as a kindly uncle figure to a whiny unwinged elf? What the hell? And, come on, what’s up with me starting the game with Minsc, Jaheria, and Imoen in my party? I never traveled with any of them in the original game! And who gives a shit about Imoen?
My choices within BG2 have no consequences: There are so-called “turning points” within the “plot” of this “game” that seemingly are supposed to have consequences but they really do not. Choosing between the vampires and the Shadow Thieves? No real difference between them! Oh, sure you might have a few different quests in Chapter 3 but in the whole the game turns out the same! You still end up in Spellhold. And deciding to try to sail back to Amn instead of going straight to the Underdark? All that gets you is 30 minutes in fish-city and no real consequences! Come on, Bioware! What real RPG gamers want is real choices not the illusion of choice.
Reused textures and tile-sets: Bioware artists are you really that lazy? There so many reused tile-sets in this game that it is extremely pathetic. There are only like three different layout for houses in this game and they are all recycled from BG1! There are only two tile-sets for random encounters in this so-called “game” and the in-Amn random encounter’s art is just recycled from the Bridge District! One of the major dunegons in this game is used twice (Bodhi’s graveyard hideout). Did you really think that we wouldn’t notice your laziness, Bioware? It often just felt like I was on a visual treadmill as a slogged through this “game.” Speaking of treadmills…
Limited exploration options: More often than not while playing Baldur’s Gate 2, I felt like I was playing a “game” set on rails. So much of this “game” is completely linear! While in the original game you can pretty much explore the entire world while ignoring the core plot, BG2 basically sets you on a clearly fixed direction. Besides that there are so few quests in this game. I mean there are like three quests in all of Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 has like one long dungeon! The great sense of exploration, epic scope, and the ability to stumble in danger is largely gone from this “game.”
This game is idiot proof: What is up with “pins” on the world map that clearly mark quest givers and stores? Half the fun of the original Baldur’s Gate was wandering around trying to find the right house out of the sea of identical looking housing. What is the point of a so-called RPG if you don’t have to take detailed notes just to keep track of where the quest givers are? Clearly Bioware is now designing their games for the lowest common denominator – shooter fans and console gamers.
Romance over plot: BG2 contains “romances” between your player character and a few non-player characters in your party. It is clear from this development that Bioware has now moved away from making each NPC an interesting character to focusing on a small sub-set of fanservice character “romances.” These gross virtual sexpots have little do with the “game’s” plot and never push the story forward. It is clear that Bioware is now putting development resources towards fan service things like “romances” instead of more valuable things like art resources and real content.
If Bioware, formerly the king of the American CRPG, can produce a real piece of crap game like this we are, clearly, reaching a crisis point in the RPG market. If once-great companies, like Bioware, continue to produce quick cash-in games like BG2, real RPG fans will be begin abandoning the genre in droves.
It makes me sad to type this but, the terribleness that is Baldur’s Gate 2 could mark the beginning of the end of the American CRPG.
And let’s not forget the arbitrary restrictions on your character. Why can’t my Thief use the Holy Avenger? Did magic make me forget how to hold a damn sword?
Too true! This game is the worst. American RPGs are truly in crisis.
The only bright spot is Witcher 2. That game is perfect. No flaws.
[...] is the worst Bioware game” to prophecies of the eminent collapse Western RPGs. I am on the record noting that Bioware has been failing to provide quality entertainment for the last 11+ years, yet, [...]
Most of your complaints are nothing of major. BG2 is best rpg ever, not a worst game ever.
Choices you’ve made in BG1: Yes, there are lot of choices you’ve made in BG1 that BG2 ignored. However, they are minor things. Xzar’s return is no more than a simple joke. To show that this is stll the same game in different time span. And perhaps to hint, there are many ways for people to come back from death — like when you use ressurection spells on your party memebers. As for Minsc, Jaheira, Imoen, as soon as you are out of Irenicus’s dungeon, you don’t need to have them in party anymore. No one forced you to take them around. There are plenty of other wonderful NPCs to choose from or you can solo if you’d like. This is not a valid complaints.
Choices you’ve made in BG2: You were pretty forgiving about DA2, so why are you so harsh on BG2? You say it doesn’t make any difference whether you choose between shadow thieves or vampires. Well, same goes in DA2. Whether you’ve chosen to side with Templars or mages, you still end up fighting with them both. Worse, in DA2 that happens regularly (e.g. no matter what you do with Grace and mages, you end up killing them in “Best served cold” quest anyway). It happens once in BG2 and you make it sound like the whole game ignores choices you’ve made.
Reused area/tile set: Have you really played BG2? Have you finished the game? The game covers vast area of lands, and they all have unique drawings/landscape. One of the things BG2 is known for is, beautiful art work of each different area. And, again, you think DA2 is a decent game, and it has more recycled area than any other game I’ve ever played/known. And yet you didn’t complain about that point in your review for DA2. The whole “game is rushed” is not good enough excuse.
Limited exploration option: Duh. This game was never meant to be an open end game. It was suppose to be linear as it is story based, and it delievers it so beautifully. Don’t look for things that game didn’t offer in first place.
The game is idiot proof: What, so you are saying technology is for idiots? It was just simple evolution of game. I didn’t see you complaining about that in DA/DA2. Whenever you pick up a quest in DA/DA2, it directs you where to go with arrow on the map. Seriously, if you are going to complain, try coming up with something more sensible.
Romance over plot: The game doesn’t force you to have romance. You have a lot of chance to tell your NPCs, you are not interested. Your romance only adds few more side-quests, it doesn’t affect main plots in major way. If anything, the choices you make for your romance options, does have consequences. This denies your claim of “BG2 has no real consequences”. If you follow romance with an NPC, Bohdi abduct your lover and you have to fight to get your lover back. Again, I didn’t see you complaining about romance in both DA/DA2. DA2 was far more worse if you wanted to complain about romance. In DA1, out of 8 possible companions, 4 of them were romanceable regardsless of your Warden’s gender. In DA2, out of possible 6 companions, 4 of them were romanceable since all of them are bisexual. In BG2, out of possible 16/17(ToB) companions, only 3 of them were romanceable for males and only 1 romanceable for female protagonist. So I don’t see how this is valid complaints.
I’m not saying BG2 is a perfect game — there are never a game or product that have no flaws. But by far, BG2 is greatest of all RPGs, and to see someone shut their eyes and try not to see good side of them makes me feel sorry for them.
blob: Thanks for the great comment!
I’m going to let you in on a secret, this post is a joke. I don’t actually hate BGII or think it is an awful game. Quite the opposite, in fact. I’ve played the game (to various states of completion) at least a dozen or more times – in fact I played through BGI & BGII as recently as this summer. BGII is my gold standard for Western RPGs. I am more than a little obsessed with Bioware games, in general.
It is good that you bring up my opinion of Dragon Age II in your comment, for this post is actually (and strangely) about that game. It was written in a mental state shaped by my reading of too much blogging and Kotaku commenting about that misbegotten game. I felt that the internets discourse on DAII had reached the point of criminal insanity. (It has actually gotten worse, I feel since September) As I note in my post about Dragon Age, I feel that the DAII has flaws but they aren’t fatal.
What I thought I would do with this post is suggest that some of the “problems” that your average drunk Kotaku commenter harps on and on about with DAII are reoccurring issues in *all* Bioware games. I could have picked, say, KOTOR but decided my point would be made best by going after the sacred cow – BGII.
So, I took some minor flaws present in BGII (and all Bioware games) and exaggerated them out of all proportion to make my point. Perhaps, I did not make the parody in this post clear enough and for that I apologize.
I really like this post and it always makes me smile when I re-read it.
But again, thanks for commenting! I hope you come back when I post more content here (which should be coming shortly!).