Baldurwinter's Dragondale of Elemental Evil II

Crimson KingCrimson King Registered User regular
edited March 2008 in Games and Technology
I just picked up a collection of 8 D&D games, plus expansion packs, for a grand total of thirty bucks. In this game-starved hellhole of a country (Australia), this redefines bargain. I have but one question - which should I play first?

The pack includes;
Neverwinter Nights and expansion packs. I already own NWN, actually, and have played a reasonable portion of it, but the expansion packs are new to me.
Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, plus expansion packs.
Icewind Dale 1 & 2, plus expansion packs.
Dragonshard
Demon Stone
Temple of Elemental Evil.

So advise me. Which ones are the best? Which should I play first? Should I play Baldur's Gate 1 before 2, or is 2 just better? Same question, but with Icewind Dale? What the hell is Demon Stone? How much does it suck that I didn't also get Planescape? And anything else you feel needs to be said. Any help is appreciated.

Crimson King on
«13

Posts

  • ShujaaShujaa Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    BG1 then 2.

    I don't think any of the others can top that experience.

    Shujaa on
  • KingthlayerKingthlayer Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Definitely Baldur's Gate 1 and 2. The first game is hard and not entirely necessary to play the second, but you should play both of them before any of the others.

    Kingthlayer on
  • jotjot Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If you are going to play BG 1, make sure to google the Tutu mod.
    Basically, it lets you play BG 1 with BG 2's engine, which means higher resolutions and more classes to play with.

    jot on
  • Crimson KingCrimson King Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Well, that seems pretty conclusive.

    Crimson King on
  • PancakePancake Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Honestly, I think you should have started with everything but the BG games.

    They are by far the best games in that pack. ToEE has better, more faithful combat, Icewind Dale has more interesting and challenging combat, and NWN expansions are okay, for the most part, but none of them do everything as well as the BG games do.

    Demon Stone and Dragonshard aren't even RPGs, though. I did enjoy Demon Stone for what it's worth, but it's still a straight beat 'em up. I never played Dragonshard but I've read it wasn't that great.

    Pancake on
    wAgWt.jpg
  • HarshLanguageHarshLanguage Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Dragonshard's not bad at all. Nothing spectacular, but it's an enjoyable RTS/RPG hybrid.

    Finish (if you have the saved game file) or re-play the NWN original campaign before you play the two expansions. The expansions are so much better you won't get the same enjoyment out of the OC afterwards. But the OC isn't as bad as some people say, and it's worth playing. In any event, the expansions are both great.

    HarshLanguage on
    QSwearing_trans_smooth_small.gif
    > turn on light

    Good start to the day. Pity it's going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.
  • CliffjumperCliffjumper Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Baldurs Gate 1 + 2

    Baldurs Gate 2 with it's expansion wasn't a game...it was a fucking life experience.

    Cliffjumper on
    WarbotPromo-1-1-2.jpg

    The Transformers Fandom: Consistantly bitching about something or another since 1984.

    http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/03/28/warbot_001/ - "WARBOT In Accounting"
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Baldurs Gate 1 + 2

    Baldurs Gate 2 with it's expansion wasn't a game...it was a fucking life experience.

    "Do you still think I'm beautiful without my wings?"

    No Aerie, I think you're a fucking annoying bitch who won't shut the hell up about yourself, you attention seeking whore. If you were this annoying it's no fucking surprise that someone cut of your wings, and I'm half tempted to stick some on you, just so I can cut them off again...

    "...Of course"


    Hey, you're right, that is just like real life.

    Rook on
  • CliffjumperCliffjumper Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Character building stuff.

    Cliffjumper on
    WarbotPromo-1-1-2.jpg

    The Transformers Fandom: Consistantly bitching about something or another since 1984.

    http://www.nuklearpower.com/2009/03/28/warbot_001/ - "WARBOT In Accounting"
  • BasilBasil Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Life without having played BG2 would be empty.

    Life without having played ID in their entirety would be similarly empty, but don't you dare touch 2 until you're done with BG1,2 and ID 1. The engine stands a good chance of turning you off the others despite their inherent awesome. BG2 is big on powerful mages, ID is big on huge armies. I preferred IDs combat, myself.

    Now, ToEE would have been six kinds of cool, but somehow it didn't quite manage it. If you can get over the general feeling of "Something is wrong, here" you can get a glimpse at a really snazzy combat system.

    Moments like "I've got a guy with a chain whip and a pikeman standing behind an armored dwarf poking out bugbear eyes.", "That bandit just got stabbed in the kidney by my halfling and the priest with the sharp, spikey mace pounded his face in while he was writhing on the ground in too much pain to scream." and "My ranger got swallowed by a giant toad, but its cool 'cause he just cut his way out in a spray of blood and vicera." aplenty.


    -And when you've played BG2 for the tenth or twentieth time, go download one of those incredibly huge character mods and do it again. And maybe one of the unofficial expansions, those were cool too.

    -Planescape. Get it. It doesn't matter who you have to kill, get that game and play it.

    Basil on
    9KmX8eN.jpg
  • Crimson KingCrimson King Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Dragonshard's not bad at all. Nothing spectacular, but it's an enjoyable RTS/RPG hybrid.

    Play the NWN original campaign before you play the two expansions. The expansions are so much better you won't get the same enjoyment out of the OC afterwards. But the OC isn't as bad as some people say, and it's worth playing. In any event, the expansions are both great.

    My brother's playing Dragonshard right now, and he seems to be enjoying it, but then he's a whore for anything remotely RTSy. And I've just downloaded the Tutu mod for Baldur's Gate, since that seemed to be a pretty unanimous choice. Time to get my Gate on.

    Crimson King on
  • FalxFalx Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Rook wrote: »
    Baldurs Gate 1 + 2

    Baldurs Gate 2 with it's expansion wasn't a game...it was a fucking life experience.

    "Do you still think I'm beautiful without my wings?"

    No Aerie, I think you're a fucking annoying bitch who won't shut the hell up about yourself, you attention seeking whore. If you were this annoying it's no fucking surprise that someone cut of your wings, and I'm half tempted to stick some on you, just so I can cut them off again...

    "...Of course"


    Hey, you're right, that is just like real life.

    To be fair, she improved somewhat in the expansion.

    Falx on
  • PieManPieMan Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I will admit, I quit playing Baldur's Gate I after a few hours.. But I have been playing Baldur's Gate II for months now... and I haven't even gotten to the third chapter... And I'm still loving every second of it :D

    PieMan on
  • DrakmathusDrakmathus Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I had to look up dragonshard.

    http://www.atari.com/dragonshard/

    The first D&D RTS experience?

    Lies
    blood and magic is a lot of fun but a little repetitive

    Drakmathus on
  • CherrnCherrn Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Demon Stone and Dragonshard are both completely worthless. I guess some people enjoyed Demon Stone, but I just couldn't stand it.

    ToEE is like the most bittersweet game ever. It has one of the best, most deep combat systems in any CRPG ever made, but there is very little *game* in the package, plus it's buggy as hell. There are some fan patches out there, but they don't really elevate the quality of the non-combat sections that much. Man, I wish someone would do something with that engine; it's too good to go to waste like this.

    Cherrn on
    All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
  • FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

    BALDUR'S GATE 1 AND 2

    Fiaryn on
    Soul Silver FC: 1935 3141 6240
    White FC: 0819 3350 1787
  • XagarathXagarath Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Baldur's Gate 2 is the best thing ever.
    The. Best. Thing.

    Xagarath on
  • BurguBurgu Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Don't play Baldur's gate first. After you play it, all the other games will just seem not as good.

    Its ruined so many games for me, the exception being Planescape: Torment

    Burgu on
  • RookRook Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Falx wrote: »
    Rook wrote: »
    Baldurs Gate 1 + 2

    Baldurs Gate 2 with it's expansion wasn't a game...it was a fucking life experience.

    "Do you still think I'm beautiful without my wings?"

    No Aerie, I think you're a fucking annoying bitch who won't shut the hell up about yourself, you attention seeking whore. If you were this annoying it's no fucking surprise that someone cut of your wings, and I'm half tempted to stick some on you, just so I can cut them off again...

    "...Of course"


    Hey, you're right, that is just like real life.

    To be fair, she improved somewhat in the expansion.

    Does the expansion only change the end game, or is it something I would play with on a first time through. I still have my BG2 discs and think I probably ought to give it a second shot.

    Rook on
  • Walrus PeteWalrus Pete Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Rook wrote: »
    Falx wrote: »
    Rook wrote: »
    Baldurs Gate 1 + 2

    Baldurs Gate 2 with it's expansion wasn't a game...it was a fucking life experience.

    "Do you still think I'm beautiful without my wings?"

    No Aerie, I think you're a fucking annoying bitch who won't shut the hell up about yourself, you attention seeking whore. If you were this annoying it's no fucking surprise that someone cut of your wings, and I'm half tempted to stick some on you, just so I can cut them off again...

    "...Of course"


    Hey, you're right, that is just like real life.

    To be fair, she improved somewhat in the expansion.

    Does the expansion only change the end game, or is it something I would play with on a first time through. I still have my BG2 discs and think I probably ought to give it a second shot.

    Throne of Bhaal adds three new chapters after the end of Shadows of Amn. It also adds a new dungeon that can be accessed in SoA or ToB, and some interface improvements.

    Walrus Pete on
  • MahnmutMahnmut Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    BG2 is one of my favorite games. Play that.

    You're lucky to find such a collection, by the way. Very nice indeed.

    Mahnmut on
    Steam/LoL: Jericho89
  • FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Throne of Bhaal is highly advised Rook. It gives a very nice conclusion to the Bhaalspawn Saga, and is in general just awesome. It's also pretty decently lengthy for a mere expansion, if you count the mega huge "optional" dungeon.

    (Optional, ha, only crazy people don't go there. The loot. THE LOOT.)

    Fiaryn on
    Soul Silver FC: 1935 3141 6240
    White FC: 0819 3350 1787
  • chamberlainchamberlain Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Cherrn wrote: »
    Demon Stone and Dragonshard are both completely worthless. I guess some people enjoyed Demon Stone, but I just couldn't stand it.

    ToEE is like the most bittersweet game ever. It has one of the best, most deep combat systems in any CRPG ever made, but there is very little *game* in the package, plus it's buggy as hell. There are some fan patches out there, but they don't really elevate the quality of the non-combat sections that much. Man, I wish someone would do something with that engine; it's too good to go to waste like this.

    A thousand times yes. I really liked ToEE. It felt like I had much more control over the combat then other RPG before or since. And I was lucky, it only crashed once per play session, not every few minutes.

    Troika - great ideas, piss poor programming. May they rest in peace.

    chamberlain on
  • Sappy113Sappy113 Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    BG2 is the best RPG of all time. It fucking is! Goddamnit, I'm still playing through The Witcher (which placed itself in my personal top3 of alltime greatest RPGs), and I want to start Lost Odyssey as soon as I'm done with it, but now I'm thinking starting a new round of BG2 is the way to go.

    Anyhoo. Play BG. Play the first one first, though. It's still a game full of win and in order to get the entire story, you'll need to play through 1 before 2.

    Throw away Demon Stone and Dragonshard. They're terrible.

    Sappy113 on
    People are bastardcoated bastards with bastard filling
  • corin7corin7 San Diego, CARegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Cherrn wrote: »
    Demon Stone and Dragonshard are both completely worthless. I guess some people enjoyed Demon Stone, but I just couldn't stand it.

    ToEE is like the most bittersweet game ever. It has one of the best, most deep combat systems in any CRPG ever made, but there is very little *game* in the package, plus it's buggy as hell. There are some fan patches out there, but they don't really elevate the quality of the non-combat sections that much. Man, I wish someone would do something with that engine; it's too good to go to waste like this.

    A thousand times yes. I really liked ToEE. It felt like I had much more control over the combat then other RPG before or since. And I was lucky, it only crashed once per play session, not every few minutes.

    Troika - great ideas, piss poor programming. May they rest in peace.

    I loved the graphics in ToEE. I <3 Troika so much, rough edges and all. I will miss them till the day I day.

    corin7 on
  • DemerdarDemerdar Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    BG1 & BG2 with the same character. Nothing was more satisfying than starting out as a wimpy little level 1 mage with 4 hp into a level 20 time-stopping meteor-summoning death machine. Truly an experience. Though it took me roughly 2 years to get through it cause I stopped playing for a while.

    Demerdar on
    y6GGs3o.gif
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Dissent! Play NWN and the expansion packs first. Don't play a rogue.

    Baldur's Gate games are tedious and slow. They show promise at first but then you find a vacuum where your time should be.

    EDIT: How can I get my BG2 to actually run on XP without looking like ass?

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
  • FiarynFiaryn Omnicidal Madman Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    NWN1 is Diablo with D&D rules and a ho-hum plot. Why would you bother with the campaign?

    HOTU was alright, but even then. It's still shlock.

    Now player made content, THERE you can find some good stuff for NWN...

    Fiaryn on
    Soul Silver FC: 1935 3141 6240
    White FC: 0819 3350 1787
  • Tim JamesTim James Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If you're not a completist, skip the rest of the original campaign for NWN and just play Hordes of the Underdark. You can come back to the rest if you're bored, but you're not missing much. I guess if you're almost done with the campaign, go ahead and finish it.

    Then play Temple of Elemental Evil. It's relatively short, but well done with the fan patch.

    Now it's time to go through the Baldur's Gate saga. It will take a long time, but you've gotten a few short games out of the way first.

    If you still love the Infinity Engine, play Icewind Dale for more of the same mechanics, but less character development and story.

    Tim James on
    sig.gif
  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    So does anybody else dream about Bioware doing Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 in the Mass Effect engine, but with the original gameplay intact? Maybe shifting to 3rd edition rules? I would happily pay lots of monies for that game, especially with online co-op.

    DoctorArch on
    Switch Friend Code: SW-6732-9515-9697
  • MahnmutMahnmut Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    harvest wrote: »
    EDIT: How can I get my BG2 to actually run on XP without looking like ass?

    Elaborate? I don't think there are any XP compatibility issues. Make sure you have it fully patched, I guess, and crank up the resolution as high as possible.

    Mahnmut on
    Steam/LoL: Jericho89
  • DaenrisDaenris Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    harvest wrote: »
    EDIT: How can I get my BG2 to actually run on XP without looking like ass?

    Elaborate? I don't think there are any XP compatibility issues. Make sure you have it fully patched, I guess, and crank up the resolution as high as possible.

    Yeah there's shouldn't be issues. When you run the config program I think you have to check a box to "Unlock experimental resolutions" or something like that before choosing the highest resolution (probably 1280). If you have a widescreen monitor, there is a fan-made widescreen patch out there, but I don't know much about it since I don't use a widescreen monitor.

    Daenris on
  • ApostateApostate Prince SpaceRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I would aslo strongly recommend the fan patches for TOEE. There's one out there that is very nice and adds some cut content back in as well as fixing most of the bugs.

    I don't remember what it's called off the top of my head but it was pretty easy to find with Google IIRC.

    Apostate on
  • harvestharvest By birthright, a stupendous badass.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Daenris wrote: »
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    harvest wrote: »
    EDIT: How can I get my BG2 to actually run on XP without looking like ass?

    Elaborate? I don't think there are any XP compatibility issues. Make sure you have it fully patched, I guess, and crank up the resolution as high as possible.

    Yeah there's shouldn't be issues. When you run the config program I think you have to check a box to "Unlock experimental resolutions" or something like that before choosing the highest resolution (probably 1280). If you have a widescreen monitor, there is a fan-made widescreen patch out there, but I don't know much about it since I don't use a widescreen monitor.

    The issue is there are big squares of the screen separated by a one pixel wide border, so it looks like tic-tac-toe. And the font gets all blurry.

    harvest on
    B6yM5w2.gif
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If ToEE had multiplayer and the ability to create your own modules it would be KING!
    KING I SAY!

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • Walrus PeteWalrus Pete Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    harvest wrote: »
    Daenris wrote: »
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    harvest wrote: »
    EDIT: How can I get my BG2 to actually run on XP without looking like ass?

    Elaborate? I don't think there are any XP compatibility issues. Make sure you have it fully patched, I guess, and crank up the resolution as high as possible.

    Yeah there's shouldn't be issues. When you run the config program I think you have to check a box to "Unlock experimental resolutions" or something like that before choosing the highest resolution (probably 1280). If you have a widescreen monitor, there is a fan-made widescreen patch out there, but I don't know much about it since I don't use a widescreen monitor.

    The issue is there are big squares of the screen separated by a one pixel wide border, so it looks like tic-tac-toe. And the font gets all blurry.

    I've played lots of BG2 on XP and I've never seen or heard of that. Disabling 3D acceleration has been known to fix odd video glitches, though.

    Walrus Pete on
  • AxenAxen My avatar is Excalibur. Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    harvest wrote: »
    Daenris wrote: »
    Mahnmut wrote: »
    harvest wrote: »
    EDIT: How can I get my BG2 to actually run on XP without looking like ass?

    Elaborate? I don't think there are any XP compatibility issues. Make sure you have it fully patched, I guess, and crank up the resolution as high as possible.

    Yeah there's shouldn't be issues. When you run the config program I think you have to check a box to "Unlock experimental resolutions" or something like that before choosing the highest resolution (probably 1280). If you have a widescreen monitor, there is a fan-made widescreen patch out there, but I don't know much about it since I don't use a widescreen monitor.

    The issue is there are big squares of the screen separated by a one pixel wide border, so it looks like tic-tac-toe. And the font gets all blurry.

    I've played lots of BG2 on XP and I've never seen or heard of that. Disabling 3D acceleration has been known to fix odd video glitches, though.


    I had the same problem myself. I think its caused by widescreen monitors. At least I never noticed the problem until I upgraded to widescreen.

    There is a way to fix it, but I cannot remember what it was.

    Axen on
    A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
  • tofutofu Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Question about Baldur's Gate:
    I think I'm at the end of the mines but for the life of my I can't kill the kobold shamans, the rest of the dungeon was fine though. Am I doing something wrong or do I need to go out and level up first?

    tofu on
  • MundaneSoulMundaneSoul fight fighter Daehan MingukRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Apostate wrote: »
    I would aslo strongly recommend the fan patches for TOEE. There's one out there that is very nice and adds some cut content back in as well as fixing most of the bugs.

    I don't remember what it's called off the top of my head but it was pretty easy to find with Google IIRC.

    http://www.co8.org/forum/

    <3 Circle of Eight

    Not only have those guys added a mugload of original content to the game (the original only let you go to level 10, they've pushed the cap to 20 with fully implemented spells and feats, etc) but they're almost finished with a complete Borderlands on the Keep mod that looks amazing.

    MundaneSoul on
    steam_sig.png
  • MundaneSoulMundaneSoul fight fighter Daehan MingukRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Demerdar wrote: »
    BG1 & BG2 with the same character. Nothing was more satisfying than starting out as a wimpy little level 1 mage with 4 hp into a level 20 time-stopping meteor-summoning death machine. Truly an experience. Though it took me roughly 2 years to get through it cause I stopped playing for a while.

    Oh man. OH MAN OH MAN. You have officially given me Insane-Crazy BG Fever. I must play through again. And it's going to be totally ridiculous trying to do so in the midst of my current runs of Lost Odyssey, Vampire Bloodlines, and ToEE.

    There is not enough time, I tell you.

    MundaneSoul on
    steam_sig.png
Sign In or Register to comment.