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Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (2013, Windows) Review


HAVE YOU GOT THE BHAALS?


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With the original release of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn in 2000, Bioware proved that the first Baldur's Gate wasn't just a fluke. Baldur's Gate II cemented the rejuvenation of CRPG:s and established the groundbreaking Bioware formula. Their efforts made the genre blossom into epic, yet personal stories where the player had freedom in developing the hero, expressing their personality and influencing how the story progressed.

Companions suddenly became more than just bodyguards in combat. They come with desires, quests and backstories of their own as well as unique skills and equipment. Some of them can't stand each other and will force you to choose between them. Characters like Jaheira, Yoshimo and Haer'Dalis have lots of banter with other party members. Excellent writing brings forth their wildly different personalities, with some serious flaws you might help them work through or even exploit.



While the game doesn't feel as exploratory as the first entry, the more intimate approach and impactful story choices steered the game down a more all-round engaging rabbit hole. Unlike the first title, it is a branching tale rather than an open world, and an affecting one with many memorable characters and more focus on storytelling. Since dialogue conveys almost the entire story, you constantly feel manipulated, like you're a tool in the hands of powerful leaders, all wanting to exploit your Godhood. To them, you're a means to an end.

Character creation is identical to the first game, Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, with a good number of choices regarding race, class, subclass, attributes and spells. Some choices make the game a little easier, but all are viable, at least on the "core rules"-difficulty and lower. The enhanced edition adds a few brand new subclasses, like the dwarven defender, blackguard and dragon disciple, few of which I've tried. For this playthrough I had a blast playing the shadowdancer, a rogue subclass specialized in hiding and backstabbing.



After creating your character or importing your Bhaalspawn from previous entries, the story starts you off in a jail cell of a dark dungeon. A powerful mage named Jon Irenicus (brilliantly voiced by David Warner), who is also the main antagonist of the game, enters the room. He mocks you and conducts painful experiments before leaving you a whimpering wreck on the floor. Soon, your sister Imoen appears from the shadows and picks the cell lock open. In cages next to yours, your old companions Jaheira and Minsc are trapped, and after releasing them the four of you must find a way out.

The short, opening chapter is a microcosm of the full game. It introduces the player to the mechanics, easing you into the isometric view of the board and the pausable RTS-inspired combat. You pause, issue orders, unpause and watch the action automatically unfold. Starting off at level 8-10, you have a nice selection of spells that can turn the tide, and a wise player would spend some time to get familiar with their gamechanging benefits. The strategic element is great fun to learn; how to put your tanks on the frontline and use your archers and spellcasters to rain fire from behind. Or leave an opening for a thief to sneak through and deal devastating backstabs.



For a newcomer, the combat can be downright brutal. Even for a seasoned player like myself, things can get gnarly. What I don't appreciate are some of the spells frequently cast by enemies later on. Charm, confusion, chaos, domination and their ilk are very hard to avoid. They put your characters out of comission for a time and, worst case scenario, even make them attack other party members. So many enemy spellcasters spam these attacks, and I've not found any failsafe method to prevent these for the entire party. 

The second chapter, after escaping, is famous for its quest assault. You emerge in the Persian-flavored city of Athkathla in the region of Amn. In a scripted encounter with Jon Irenicus, Imoen casts a few magic missiles, prompting an interruption by the cowled wizards, the magic regulators of the city. They take both Irenicus and Imoen prisoner. The major part of the game revolves around preparing for, and then conducting her rescue. You need to amass a large sum of gold, and doing so means accepting sidequest after sidequest for the reward money, from residents in any on the eight city districts.



This chapter is a point of contention. Some find it a major roadblock that distracts from the intriguing story, but I personally find it a fantastic smorgasbord of well-written sidequests with deep storylines. You cannot wander very long without being accosted by someone in dire need of help. And before you even reach the quest location you'll likely stumble upon a few more residents in peril.

The list is long. A serial killer is on the prowl in the city. People entering a circus tent are never seen again. A "Cult of the Unseeing Eye" is terrorizing the sewers. A girl from a castle outside the city needs help against invading trolls. An old companion from the first game needs help in rescuing his friend, who's another old companion, from a secret Harper hold in the Docks district. On it goes. Some quests are harder than others, and you get no level recommendations. This becomes a serious flaw when a couple of them deny you the option of backing out of the quest - you must complete it.

Some quests introduce you to recruitable companions, looking for aid in a current predicament. Once you've solved their quest, they can join your party permanently, unless they clash with some other party members. They all have extended dialogue at set intervals, either with each other or with you. Baldur's Gate II also introduced the infamous Bioware-romance. Some might fall for you, if you're of the right sex and race, and if you don't downright dismiss their advances.



The quest list is long, and all are deep, challenging and intriguing. Some might provide you with a personal stronghold, depending on your character class. Chapter two and three feels like being part of a long Dungeons & Dragons-campaign consisting of smaller, full-fledged evening sessions. Your party advances through the levels, and each quest prepares you for darker times ahead. Eventually, you need to rescue Imoen, from whereon the game becomes much more linear.

From chapter four onward the game loses some of its free-spirited luster and turn into a monster-mashing dungeon crawler. It's a good one, with some intriguing characters and quests, particularly after you've rescued Imoen. But it also involves a mandatory detour I feel is poorly motivated storywise. The overall enjoyment drops a little. It also introduces some fairly impossible, classic D&D-monsters that can be rough on the unprepared adventurer. An observant adventurer can find a way to cheese some of these, but they would need the foresight to have purchased a special item in Athkathla, which you cannot return to at that point.



Looking for special loot is one of the hidden delights of the game. Potions, scrolls and wands provide timed benefits or devastating attacks. Item descriptions detail possibly gamechanging properties. For instance, one particular helmet allows you to create a duplicate of yourself, with all your spells and abilities, once a day as an extra party member. One two-handed sword is animate and can start a conversation. One shield reflects arrows back at the attacker. On it goes, and Bioware even includes a brief history about the item's creation in its description.

This enhanced edition, released twelve years after the original Baldur's Gate II, provides a number of quality of life-improvements. Higher resolution is supported, and you can zoom the camera in and out of the action. One of the best new features allows you to pick up items in your vicinity without stepping on them. Sizes of item bundles are increased. meaning you can now fit, for instance, 80 arrows into a single inventory slot instead of the previous 40. And, of course, it's easier to get running on modern systems.



However, it also comes with some downgrades. A handful of new companions, all significantly worse written than the original crew, force their way into the narrative. You can skip their quests, which I'd recommend - unless you actually want to recruit them - since Beamdog cannot match the original quest design. For this playthrough, I completed half of the wild mage Neera's and the vampire Hexxat's quest and they were both stinkers. Bad map designs full of traps and aggravating dialogue made these sessions the low point of the game.

But the base game delivers an equally atmospheric setting as the first game, albeit in a different way. City dwellers yelling and blacksmiths hammering create the ambience of a bustling city. Trees in the forest creak in unnatural ways, as if they're alive. The dungeons are dank and dripping. All throughout it all, darkness prevails. The music is downplayed, and the visuals create a grim tone, more befitting the philosophical maturity of the storytelling. You have the blood of a murderous God in your veins. How will you use that power?



These stories reek of rowdy taverns, a fragrance of pipesmoke and ale, of people eyeing you from dark corners. Merchants yell from their stands, their gaze fixed on your bustling purse. Some people know of your heritage and treat you with distrust. Going from district to district entails a risk of being ambushed by slavers or muggers. And in dungeons, the eerie silence makes every sound an intrusion, as it might be the snapping sound of a trap being sprung, or the war cry of a Drow raiding party.

Baldur's Gate II remains one of the most inspiring games I've played. Just writing about it makes me want to replay it again, fuelling my inspiration to experiment with different character classes to act as a different kind of leader. I think about different party setups to see what sort of banter I can wring out of clashing personalities. I fantasize about finding more obscure quests or finally tackling optional boss fights against dragons I chickened out of this time. Playing Baldur's Gate II again only proves it is one of the evergreens.

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