Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

If you're looking for story driven, BG2 will fit the bill in that aspect. The characters you interact with and utilize in your party add much more to the story. For example, you may or may not add a certain character to your party. If you do, somewhere down the line, he'll begin to open up telling his backstory and eventually you'll be involved in a quest revolving around his/her story. Also, depending on your characters alliance(good, evil, nuetral), it'll create tension or comradery among your party. If you add a evil character to a mostly good party, eventually tempers will flair, arguments will start followed by some random fight to the death that can pretty much happen at any time.

As far as the story is concerned, its actually not to linear at all. Its open ended to a point till you need to go to the next chapter. For the most part however, you can go to any city and do any mission whenever you feel. Its almost like Oblivion in a sense but with more restrictions in place. (ex. some cities will be darkened so you cant visit them until you advance futher in the game).

As for gameplay, BG2 is much more micromanaging than Oblivion. In Oblivion, you take care and control 1 person whereas in BG2, you're responsible for taking care of a party of 6, yourself included. Plus there are more characters down the line that you may want to add and will have to manage them as well. Your stats are pretty basic compared to Oblivion but there is so much more hidden variables in BG2 thanks to the D&D ruleset. A battle can last as long as 30 minutes with all the things that can go on. You really have to think in terms of how your party is designed, the weapony and magic provided and the placement of enemies to be sucessfull. Add that along with your character stats and penalties, you really gotta use your noggin.

Graphics are great in BG2 for a 2D game. The artwork in the game is genious full of detail, realistic shades and depth. Once you walk into certain areas, such as mansions, tombs, cities, cabins, whatever, you will appreciate the art design because of the detail. The detail in the characters and magic spells are good as well.

I know it sounds like I'm tryna sell BG2 on you but you really need to give it a shot. You already played Oblivion and may not have liked it much but I love BG2, Oblivion as well as Morrowind. BG2 gets the nod for a more thoroughly indepth experience. Hell, the instuction book for BG2 is like a mini-novel. The D&D rules are something that you really need to learn if you want to get the most out of the game. You said you're a fan of Ultima, Wizardry, etc, you shouldn't have a problem with this game.

BTW, I still play BG2 from time to time. Last time was probably 2 weeks ago. I'm stuck because 2 of my party members hate eachother and often fight till I kick someone out my party. Now I gotta go back and add another member after I've already equipped and level grinded to a comfort zone. Damn D&D ruleset!

Thanks Graphik! It is funny, I have played a lot of rpgs but I don't know a damn thing about D&D rulesets. I just fire the game up and play. I haven't gotten that far in Oblivion, but it seems to be a good game. But lately I have been reading so much about BG2 that I had to ask what is so magnificent about this game(it got a 95 on metacritic, it is one of the highest rated games on just about every site I go to.). I will give it a shot and see how I like it. The version I purchased did not come with a manual, I will do the in game tutorial to get me familiar with the game. I will probabyl play Oblivion at the same time, it is a beautiful game. I forgot, I played Morrowind as well, I stopped after I visited the Dunmer city, I didn't get very far. I hated how the elves looked in that game. I think I traded it in, I will look and see if i have laying around somewhere. I am determined to play a good rpg.

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

The story is probably the biggest diffrence in the two. To tell the truth, BG2 actually feels more like LoTRs than any game I've ever played. While questing to get to the next missions, you get a better understanding for your party members as all of them have their own minds and ultimately have a deciding factor in whomever your interact with. For example, if you assign an evil character as the leader of your party, the responses your get from NPCs are totally diffrent than what you'd get if you lead with a Good or heroric character.

During conversations with NPCs, your party members will chime in from time to time if they agree with the quest or not. You can pretty much tell that a evil character doesn't care much for good deeds. So if you continue doing good deeds and quest, he'll get angry and eventually threaten to leave your party.

During random parts of your travels, your party mates will just start talking about their life and their history. Pretty cool stuff because you get a better understanding for your mates personality as if you guys really are adventuring together. Some have agendas. Some people you'll favor more than others. Other people, you wouldn't rescue them if they died in battle based off their personality. All this I'm explaining is just the character aspect of the game. The story is just a entire diffrent thing altogether. So just imagine being in LoTRs fighting alongside Aragon, Legolas and Gandolf. The characters are pretty similar style wise.

This sounds like the rpg game I have been looking for! I will have to try and find some kind of manual to help me along with this one. It is a shame they don't make good story lines to go with today's modern day graphic engines. From all accounts, it seems that Oblivion is good to look at but the main story is kind of uninspiring.

[jfsolo]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Graphik pretty much said all that really needs to be said about BG2, but I'll add my two cents. BG 2 is the Michael Jordan of RPG's Everyone keeps waiting for the next one, but nothing ever measures up.

When it comes to story driven, party based, RPG's There are 3 PC games that IMO are in a class of their own.

Planescape Torment

The Complete Ultima VII

Baldur's Gate 2

Now while I may like Torment and U7 better(for story reasons) than BG2 I will say that BG2 is a more well rounded game then the other 2.

I would argue, and thousands of other would too, that BG2 was the last PC or console RPG that actually had difficult combat.

As much as I loved Jade Empire, KOTOR 1 and 2, and the Neverwinter Nights games story wise, the combat was ridiculously easy.

The combination of story, combat, sidequests, party interaction, villains, romance(yes believe it or not romance), and gameplay length puts BG 2 in a class all by itself.

No game released since has been the total package like BG 2.

People are hoping that Bioware's next PC RPG, Dragon Age(probably due out in 2008 or 2009) will finally be the game to take the mantle of GOAT from BG2.

[taylor34]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

This isn't even close, BG2 in a landslide. Have both, beat both of them. Baldur's Gate 2 is incredible, the best game I've ever played. There's nothing even close RPG wise.

Both have a ton of side quests, but the side quests on BG2 are MUCH more rewarding. For example:
In Oblivion, you do a quest, you might get a little money, weapon, etc, 90% of the time it seems like a waste of time.
In BG2, you can get additional party members, awesome weapons, cool battle sequence, etc. They never seem like a waste of time.

BG2 is a lot more challenging, some of those battles against Dragons are ridiculous. But it's also the most fun I've ever had in a game.

Taylor34

[Defel]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Yeah, these games are totally different. BG2 is great while I don't care for Oblivion at all. Even though I beat it back in 2000, it's still installed on my PC because the modding community keeps it alive. There have been other RPGs that I've preferred, but I don't think any RPG has ever topped it gameplay-wise.

I wouldn't call the combat micromanaging; I prefer to call it "strategic."

[Graphik]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Yeah, these games are totally different. BG2 is great while I don't care for Oblivion at all. Even though I beat it back in 2000, it's still installed on my PC because the modding community keeps it alive. There have been other RPGs that I've preferred, but I don't think any RPG has ever topped it gameplay-wise.

I wouldn't call the combat micromanaging; I prefer to call it "strategic."

Yea, strategic is a much better word. I've lost battles to the simplest of creatures and people because I've fallen asleep at the wheel so to speak during combat. Placement of your party is crucial because if your party is bunched together, one spell from an enemy can do serious damage to everybody. Especially if its a silence or beserk spell. Nothing beats watching 4 of your party members go beserk and just start hitting each other or wander off. Its comedic gold. There's been times when I've underestimated a group of ememies, charged in swinging and died immediately because I failed to equip myself properly before the battle.

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Hey Graphik. I have the version that includes the Throne of Bhaal. What is the bonus disc used for, do I really need to install that as well?

[Graphik]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Hey Graphik. I have the version that includes the Throne of Bhaal. What is the bonus disc used for, do I really need to install that as well?

Naw, you dont have to install it till you beat the original BG2. I got Throne of Bhaal as well but I highly doubt I'll ever get to it as long as the game is. Its just an expansion to the original. I got lucky. I only paid for BG2 used at EB but he included the expansion by mistake.

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Naw, you dont have to install it till you beat the original BG2. I got Throne of Bhaal as well but I highly doubt I'll ever get to it as long as the game is. Its just an expansion to the original. I got lucky. I only paid for BG2 used at EB but he included the expansion by mistake.

Oh, ok. I will go ahead and get started on this bad boy tonight. I cannot stress how much I like a good rpg, with a good story. It is like playing a good movie almost.

[Graphik]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Oh, ok. I will go ahead and get started on this bad boy tonight. I cannot stress how much I like a good rpg, with a good story. It is like playing a good movie almost.

This game overwhelmed me like when I first got into Morrowind. Unlike Morrowind though, the game starts off quick. You're pretty much hoisted right into action from the jump. Oblivion was pretty much like that too except they didn't really fill you in on the story until your got past the tuturial parts.

I need to start BG2 over though. I'm about 20-something hours in and my character sucks. He's the weakest link in my party. You have to do alot of thinking while creating a character in the beggining. Or the game can always pick your class, etc.

[joshuar9476]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

i'm not sure if it's too late, but make sure you get on over to

http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index.php

and

http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

to download some of the many, many great mods for this game.

also, if you can find it, you really should play BG1 to get the back story. i played BG2 first then went back and played BG1 and it really opened up BG2 once i played it again.

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

This game overwhelmed me like when I first got into Morrowind. Unlike Morrowind though, the game starts off quick. You're pretty much hoisted right into action from the jump. Oblivion was pretty much like that too except they didn't really fill you in on the story until your got past the tuturial parts.

I need to start BG2 over though. I'm about 20-something hours in and my character sucks. He's the weakest link in my party. You have to do alot of thinking while creating a character in the beggining. Or the game can always pick your class, etc.

Since we are on the subject of Morrowind and such, how is that game compared to Oblivion? I have read that M has a better story than O, and that it is much more fun to play if you can get past the reading of dialogue. I played M for all of an hour and never got back to it. The reason I am asking is because many reviews and accounts of O seem to say that the story in O is not really that good, and that O is really about sidequests. How do the side quests in M fit in to the over all feel of M?

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

i'm not sure if it's too late, but make sure you get on over to

http://www.sorcerers.net/Games/BG2/index.php

and

http://www.pocketplane.net/mambo/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

to download some of the many, many great mods for this game.

also, if you can find it, you really should play BG1 to get the back story. i played BG2 first then went back and played BG1 and it really opened up BG2 once i played it again.

I have looked for BG1 but can't seem to find it. I read though that you really don't need 1 to play 2 so I just said nevermind.

[Graphik]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

Since we are on the subject of Morrowind and such, how is that game compared to Oblivion? I have read that M has a better story than O, and that it is much more fun to play if you can get past the reading of dialogue. I played M for all of an hour and never got back to it. The reason I am asking is because many reviews and accounts of O seem to say that the story in O is not really that good, and that O is really about sidequests. How do the side quests in M fit in to the over all feel of M?

I haven't beat O so I can really speak for it. I stopped after some time because I'm currently out of my gamer phase at the moment but I'm sure I'll get back into it later. My only comparions for both is that Oblivion was a more streamlined version of Morrowind. Oblivion does have some better gameplay mechanics than Morrowind such as sneaking and lockpicking as well as building up your skills, it was more fun doing it in Oblivion than in Morrowind.

Morrowind was more deep in the aspect of the game world. I cant really call it but for me, it seemed as if Morrowind's world had many more cities and a more diverse enviorment. You had sections of the map that were completely diffrent from each other. With diffrent cultures, diffrent architecture and diffrent agriculture. In Oblivion, it seemed as if you were ethier in a city, cave, ruin or one of those gates. The landscape was pretty much identical throughout so it didn't really seem like you were anywhere special whenever you traveled. Although most of the major cities in Oblivion were visually diffrent from one another, they seemed to be identical as far as interior and exterior design.

As far as the story goes, Oblivion's story was decent but it was nothing that captivated you to finish the game. Some people say the diffrent factions were more involving than the actual quest. Morrowind was kinda the same story wise but the entire mystique of the world made it feel more lifelike IMO. Nothing beats the overwhelming feeling when you first travel to this city called Vivec in Morrowind because its so large in structure and full of diffrent factions, its easy to get sidetracked just exploring. Most, if not all the places in Morrowind seemed that way. In Oblivion, I often found myself completing a mission and never really sticking around to explore the city I'm in.

The main thing with both games are the sidequest so the story usually takes a backseat in most instances. You can go hours and hours without even doing any of the main story in both games. The way the sidequest in Morrowind fit into the story is that you need to join guilds in most instances to get sidequest and depending on what guild(s) you join, it strenghtens or diminishes your relationships with other guilds so by the time you get to certain situations in the main story, it'll make scenarios easier or harder to complete. Oblivion is the same now that I think about it but Morrowind has about 2 times more guilds and factions than Oblivion.

[NovaStar]

Re: Baldur's Gate 2 or Oblivion

I haven't beat O so I can really speak for it. I stopped after some time because I'm currently out of my gamer phase at the moment but I'm sure I'll get back into it later. My only comparions for both is that Oblivion was a more streamlined version of Morrowind. Oblivion does have some better gameplay mechanics than Morrowind such as sneaking and lockpicking as well as building up your skills, it was more fun doing it in Oblivion than in Morrowind.

Morrowind was more deep in the aspect of the game world. I cant really call it but for me, it seemed as if Morrowind's world had many more cities and a more diverse enviorment. You had sections of the map that were completely diffrent from each other. With diffrent cultures, diffrent architecture and diffrent agriculture. In Oblivion, it seemed as if you were ethier in a city, cave, ruin or one of those gates. The landscape was pretty much identical throughout so it didn't really seem like you were anywhere special whenever you traveled. Although most of the major cities in Oblivion were visually diffrent from one another, they seemed to be identical as far as interior and exterior design.

As far as the story goes, Oblivion's story was decent but it was nothing that captivated you to finish the game. Some people say the diffrent factions were more involving than the actual quest. Morrowind was kinda the same story wise but the entire mystique of the world made it feel more lifelike IMO. Nothing beats the overwhelming feeling when you first travel to this city called Vivec in Morrowind because its so large in structure and full of diffrent factions, its easy to get sidetracked just exploring. Most, if not all the places in Morrowind seemed that way. In Oblivion, I often found myself completing a mission and never really sticking around to explore the city I'm in.

The main thing with both games are the sidequest so the story usually takes a backseat in most instances. You can go hours and hours without even doing any of the main story in both games. The way the sidequest in Morrowind fit into the story is that you need to join guilds in most instances to get sidequest and depending on what guild(s) you join, it strenghtens or diminishes your relationships with other guilds so by the time you get to certain situations in the main story, it'll make scenarios easier or harder to complete. Oblivion is the same now that I think about it but Morrowind has about 2 times more guilds and factions than Oblivion.

Hmmm. Yeah, I think I will definitely go ahead an concentrate on BG2, then. I figure by the time I finish it, maybe a good rpg will come out that focuses more on the story than sidequests. I mean, sidequests are fun but I feel that the main story should drive every rpg.