Is IWD world map freely explorable?

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Before buying the game I wanted to know if IWD world map is freely explorable (like in BG1 and Fallout) of linear (BG2). This is very essential for me. Answet to this question is also answer to the question "Will I buy IWD?".

 

Sorry, but the Icewind Dale map is not explorable like the Baldur's Gate map. In IWD, you follow through different areas, and complete it before travelling to a new. There are no areas that just are there with bears and stuff to kill. You have to complete one area before you can go on to the next all the time too.

 

Dont players think this sucks a lot?
I think this freedom makes half a game!

 

No, they do not think this sucks a lot.

IWD is a well balanced game in which the monsters get tougher along with your party. There are a great number of tough battles in the game but nothing is impossible. Unlike the "freedom" in BG2 of having a low level party wander upon a lich before they are ready to face one, simply because they wanted to fully explore the city gate area before they left the city. It's also unlike the "freedom" in BG1 where you wander around the contryside with 90% of the quests you're doing have nothing to with the main plot, but need to be done to ensure that your party is properly equiped and high enough level to finish the game.

Don't get me wrong I love all three games, but I prefer the pacing of IWD the most. In IWD you're given a goal and every step you make leads you towards that goal.

 

I have to disagree with ya, Bowie... for me, the sense of freedom and being able to do whatever I want, whenever I want (and poor me if I can't handle it - that's what reloads are for, right? *grin*) is what makes an RPG for me. That's why I loved BG1 so much and even built myself a new PC when it came out just so I could play it.

Some people prefer linear gaming, and more power to them. It's just not for me (that having been said, I still purchased and played through BG2, IWD, and HoW). Probably because I'm an old-school tabletop D&D player.

 

Well, I guess I'm still new to these games and have a very limited knowledge of AD&D (I played a few "munchkin-fests" with my friends in the 80's without any of us fully understanding the rules) so it takes me about 20+ reloads before I finally realize that my party has no right to be trying to win a certain encounter at that point.

I still have the idea in my head that if I'm given a quest at a point in the game, I should be able to solve that quest without needing to level-up elsewhere. Also, I tend to have the mentality that I should "clear out" any area I reach in a game before I move on. Of course doing that in BG2 only gets me in trouble, which is why I tend to prefer IWD.

I can see how others prefer the freedom factor. But just because they like the freedom doesn't mean that a game with less freedom "sucks a lot", hence my defensiveness in my previous post.

 

Freedom is good in a roleplaying game, but Icewind dale is NOT a roleplaying game. It is an "action" game using the ad&d rules and setting.

Some might disagree, but for me, a roleplaying game involves character interaction, both between the pc's and the npc's.

Icewind dale is still a good game, and the linear structure is quite fitting for a hack'n'slash type of game. Bottom line, it's the thinking man's Diablo.

 

I can't say I missed all those areas to explore when I played IWD. Other great stuff is added. You will not think about it.

 

No, IWD is definitely not a roleplaying game in the purest sense of the word; but as CRPGs go, I found Baldur's Gate to be the closest approximation available.

That having been said, I enjoy IWD for what it is, as someone said above, "the thinking man's Diablo." Character development and interaction is all well and good, god bless all roleplaying, but sometimes you just want a nice crunchy hack-fest. If that's what you're looking for, IWD is the way to go, no arguments there.

 

I have to agree with Bowie.

I'm playing both BG2 and IWD/HoW at present, but I find myself gravitating back to IWD. I'm just having more fun with it.

"Long Live the Dale"