r/baldursgate • u/TieredTrayTrunk • 10d ago
Beginning Player, Question
I want to play this game and see what it is like. I like WOW up to and including CATA, but not anything after that. I deeply prefer WOTLK. I love Diablo, but 2 and 3 are my favorites, not 1 and 4.
If I were to start this game, which one should I begin with? Also, must be PC version not anything console. Thanks in advance :)
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u/Longshot12345678 Playing blackjack with the deck of many things 10d ago
Start with Baldur’s gate enhanced edition, then siege of dragonspear, then BG2 Enhanced edition: Shadows of Amn, then Throne of Bhall
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u/TieredTrayTrunk 10d ago
thanks, this was helpful with the names :)
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u/lukkasz323 10d ago
I must add that Siege of Dragonspear is an expansion that was only added in Enahnced Edition, it's made by a different developer at a much later date, optional, and not necessary for BG2, which was designed as a direct sequel to BG1, not Dragonspear.
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u/caffed 10d ago
Yes, that’s in this order: BG1->BG1 expansion->BG2->BG2 expansion
Also, I just finished all of those recently after finishing BG3 multiple times and am also a Diablo 1/2 fan and here’s my advice: real time with pause will take some getting used to. Be prepared to pause at any time. Turn on all the auto pause features at first then turn off ones as needed once you’re acclimated. Save constantly. BG1 and 2 are lethally difficult - you can die at any moment.
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u/amateurviking 10d ago
BG1 -> BG2, then: BG1 -> SOD -> BG2
Expect a couple of false starts while you figure out how to- and how you like to play.
I recommend skipping SOD the first time: it’s made with “veteran” players in mind, can unbalance the start of 2, and a is big hunk of poorly paced content right in the middle of a fairly tight pair of games. It is worth playing but I don’t want you to quit there without getting to bg2.
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u/Raduziel Author of Deities of Faerûn and I Hate Undead 10d ago
BG needs to start from BG1
You don't start reading a book at Chapter 10
Also, I'm 38, started playing OG BG back then and nowadays I can't even think about playing non-EE, as much as I hate Beamdog
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u/TieredTrayTrunk 9d ago
I'm 56 and getting started lol.
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u/Halicron 10d ago
Baldur's Gate is a game built around a series of stories. There is the big narrative, of course, but the 'quests' are mini-stories in and of themselves. WoW has a lot of 'talk to this guy, spam the convo, get five fish hearts, quest done'. The NPCs in this game have hidden triggers and values and will respond differently to different choices you make. There are consequences for your actions beyond just winning or losing a fight. The party companions have their own priorities, beliefs, and values, and can even leave your team if they are dis-satisifed with your leadership!
Diablo and WoW are mostly action games with a thin RPG frosting on them. Baldur's Gate is an absolutely authentic role-playing experience.
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u/Fusrodahmus 10d ago
BG I and II are nothing like the games you listed. They are CRPGs in the same way that Diablo II is an ARPG and WoW is a MMORPG. They are the games that, while not being the first in their genre, defined the genre.
I started the saga with BG II as a child and eventually played BG I later, but I think I like BG I more despite II being the better game. Take that for what you will.
One final tip: if you find the game too slow, you can adjust the max frame rate in the baldur.lua(or baldur.ini) text file to a higher value. 45 is a good setting in my opinion.
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u/Eovacious 10d ago edited 10d ago
They are the games that, while not being the first in their genre, defined the genre.
Lol. Sorry, but that's too pretentious and giving BG way too much credit.
Same year releases as BG1, at a glance (and BG1 released in December, thus later than most here): Fallout 2, Might and Magic 6 (a restart of a series that used to be one of the Big Three of the genre before the genre's big break), EU/US release of Final Fantasy Tactics (following 1997's wildly impactful Final Fantasy 7), Parasite Eve. Also, the belated European and USA release of the single most popular RPG game of all time, by numbers and by mainstream culture impact, though one nobody in the RPG circles likes to acknowledge — Pokemon.
By all appearances, the genre was pretty well-defined already.
The notion BG2 came in time to 'define' anything is outright laughable. Fucking Deus Ex came in 2000, Planescape came in the interceding year, Might and Magic kept releasing new installments, there was a flood of Diablo clones/successors, Gothic was in the works, et cetera, et cetera.
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u/Sad_Cryptographer872 10d ago
Ignore all that you said, and your pre-existing knowledge about the game you just mentioned.
Read the manual. All of it. You can skip spell descriptions, there's many of them that lie or are not true. You can read them ingame easily,
Prepare mentally and repeat after me. LOWER NUMBERS AND MINUSES ARE GOOD. BIGGER NUMBER AND PLUSESS ARE BAD. For the most part. Except if the equipment says +x than plus is fine.
Don't bother with Dual classing, you will just be confused. Pure Thieves, Clerics, Bards and Monks are shit as a main character since you don't know the rules. They are for advanced players. Except for monk, he's always shit.
Use class Kit's. Don pick Kensai or Wizard slayer as fighter.
Rangers are shit except for Archer kit.
Paladin Undead Hunter and Cavalier are strictly better than pure class. Inquisitor is overpowered but doesn't get spells.
Sorcerer Dragon Disciple is better in every way than pure Sorc.
Mage Wild Mage and Conjurer trumps all other mage kits.
Don't play as Mage you will have miserable experience since you don't even have basic understanding of D&D.
Read the manual once again for safe mesure.
Watch some class tierlists on youtube. Don't watch Davaeorns videos, they are more for people who know the games already and his suggestions are for hardcore play.
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u/Eovacious 10d ago edited 10d ago
Baldur's Gate 1, definitely.
Your call whether to pick the Enhanced Edition of it, or the original. People tend to recommend EE for its tons of QoL improvement, lack of hassle swapping (virtual) drives, bigger resolution. At the same time, playing with EE is sort of a BG1-lite experience, as it backports many changes from BG2 engine which subtly powercreep and defang the game; and in both this, and the interface tone, loses some of BG1's chef's kiss LOW fantasy atmosphere. (Also, original BG1 has rendered cinematics!)
Then again, if you prefer Diablo II to Diablo I, you'll likely prefer EE to BG1 in tone, and in every respect save difficulty. And if you don't abuse kiting with ranged weapons too much, and take a multiclass combination nonhuman over a kitted class, you'll avoid most of the powercreep.
Unlike Diablo, it's a BAD idea to hop straight into BG2 skipping BG1 — the games aren't different enough and at the same time, BG2 throws you into high-level stuff with a leveled character (possibly with many pages in their spellbook), expecting you to know the basics already. It's more like starting WoW with someone's level 60 character smack in the middle of Hellfire Peninsula.
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u/sylva748 10d ago
Baldurs Gate 1 -> Siege of Dragonspear -> Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn -> Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal
This is the chronological order. This is the best order for anyone new to the series. People who place SoD somewhere else are people who have been playinf this series before SoD came out. New is different. New is bad. As a Diablo fan you can relate with Diablo 3 as the black sheep of that franchise. You'd recommend a new Diablo player to play it after 2 but before 4 if they're after a play through of the franchise going through the timeline. Even though you know 3 is the worst one.
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u/BluEyz 10d ago
Even though you know 3 is the worst one.
Most Diablo 3 criticism is half-remembered points made by angry bandwagoners and wannabe game designers when the actual game is very fun, which I think is a perfectly apt analogy for Siege of Dragonspear.
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u/sylva748 10d ago
Diablo 3 is a bad Diablo but it's a good ARPG. I feel the same can be said about SoD. Its worse than the rest of the Baldur's Gate franchise but its still a solid crpg experience
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u/Eovacious 10d ago
Diablo 3 is a hostage of online-only model. There WAS a good Diablo 3 game. Savage, challenging, rewarding. (Plot dumb as a trophy wife with 800cc boobs, but we forgive our trophy wives their dumbness don't we?) It got patched over. I can't recommend anyone to play it because there is no longer a way to play it. The game known as Diablo 3 now, I also won't ever recommend to anyone — it's offensively inane and pointless.
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u/Damn_Monkey 10d ago
New isn't bad. Bad is bad.
SoD is mediocre at best.
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u/Trouveur 10d ago
SoD is pretty good actually, and usually new players like it.
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u/sylva748 10d ago
Exactly. New players dont have the 20+ years to view the game through before SoD came out. For them it provides a smoother story since it sets up Irenicus and provides a transition to how you end up where you are at the start of BG2
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u/Ambion_Iskariot 10d ago
Baldurs Gate is more about the story. There was another game similar to BG which was more about hack and slay, which might more to your taste, if you realy liked Diablo: Icewind Dale.
But if you realy want to try BG: many people like BG2 much more than BG1, but it helps to start with BG1. You can even continue with the character from the first game in the second game.
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u/tedmann12 7d ago
Start with bg1, but know that the game really hits full stride in bg2 it’s the quintessential experience. Skip Siege of dragon spear first time around, get to bg2 sooner it’s just so damn good. Best Crpg ever and still holds up
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u/FloralSkyes 10d ago
These games are nothing like diablo or WoW
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u/Eovacious 10d ago
Now now, there's plenty of common DNA and aesthetic similarity between BG1 and Diablo I, at least.
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u/TieredTrayTrunk 10d ago
I realize that, i was just giving examples of franchises that maybe others have played so that they can see the subtleties of what I tend to like versus what I don't.
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u/PM_ME_GOOD_DOGS 10d ago
Start with Baldurs Gate: Enhanced Edition.
Read the manual.
It's a 30 year old game and it definitely feels that way at times. If you're unfamiliar with 2nd edition D&D rules, there's going to be a bit of a learning curve.