DavesGaming

I probably should have just called this “Baldur’s Gate 2”. But I wanted to emphasize that I consider this all one game. An epic no doubt.

This is clearly a continuation of the same game and story from BG1. But this 2000 release has several new features. It added a more sophisticated weapon proficiency system (that looked a lot more like what I used in my own PnP games).
It also added several “Kits” for characters, this a collection of more specialized skills that can be added to single class characters only. The idea is from the PnP 2E rules, although in such a game the kits are more about pure roleplaying. In an IE game, the kits add quite a bit to a single class character. In some cases (the Paladin – Cavalier kit comes to mind) they make the original unkitted characters practically redundant.

The biggest addition is just the possibility of much higher levels. BG1 ends with your main character a local hero (errr, sort of), a major player in issues between cities and kingdoms. As BG2 unfolds the player character will become a global power, ultimately playing games with the gods. I find this so much fun to go from using care when facing a wolf, and stay away from that bear! To taunting dragons. What a blast.

But I think the single most revolutionary aspect of the game was how the NPCs interact with you. They will provide insight on things going on, express opinions you may not want to hear, and develop friendships and quarrels with each other. Even some romantic relationships may develop. When I first played this game, it was sort of a jaw dropping moment, almost like I was sitting around a table playing D&D with friends. These characters were ALIVE! This has become a normal part of game design, I think its easy to take for granted how shocking this was when it was new.
At this point, the whole saga can be upgraded to this standard. The new characters added by the EE versions all have this sort of interaction. SoD came later and is designed this way. And the “NPC Project” mod for BG1 makes the characters there all act this way. But to me, this is a very key ingredient to the magic sauce that makes the Baldur’s Gate saga extraordinary.

As before, I use the EE version of the game. And as before, the EE version includes the original expansion “Throne of Bhaal” plus several new characters and their associated adventures. In addition, the EEs make all the Infinity Engine games play with the same level of technical detail as BG2.
I use Tweaks mod again, I also consider this a big thing for every IE game.
And Voices mod. Apart from just providing a lot more to choose from, it makes it possible to use the same voice set for your hero all the way through the saga.
A huge mod to me, I won’t play without now, is “Skie: Cost of One Girl’s Soul“. This directly addresses the murder you were framed for at the end of SoD. In some ways it might be too perfect of a fix, but I was pretty bummed by that ending and I like having a chance to set some things right.
All told, that’s not a heavily modded game. I will mention in individual write-ups if I change this. There are a few other mods I’ve considered, so you never know…

And again, as I post write-ups, those will simply be tagged as “Baldur’s Gate”. I consider the whole saga to be one game.