Is it just me, or is Icewind Dale relentlessly sucky?

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Since when do you have to have a Bard?
I´ve played IWD about 20 times or so, and not one time have I even created a Bard.

Cadderly > I like D2 aswell, not as much as BG1, 2 or IWD1 and 2 though. But it´s still a good game.
Dont understand how you could get tired of the BG games though...

 

I never play bards (not till IWD2 anyway). Having one of my characters sitting in the back singing a song bores me. What's the Jedi War Song anyway, I assume it's a cheat?

 

The War Chant of the Sith (if you don't know why that's the Jedi song, ), gained at level 11.

It regens your party along with various other nice effects.

 

@ duke eltan

the reason i get tired of them is because i long for interaction with multiple people in games, and also because i am tired of trying to find a character that is compatable with myself, as such i can never create a good evil character, halfway through i go soft and don't kill people who an evil character would kill, or i do nice things because i forget im an evil character, thus playing the good role can lose its potency, and I LOST DISC 2 OF BG1, im so pissed off, ive searched everywhere and im about ready to go throttle someone, but when i find it im gonna solo bg1 again, that always makes me wanna import the character into bg2 and wreak some havoc, btw sorry for going off topic.

 

Jedi War Song = War Chant of Sith: . I don't know why that connection never occured to me. Anyhoo, I didn't have the expansion so I couldn't get to level 11. And it would still entail a character sitting in the back and singing.

OK, that's all OT. I'm curious if the original poster gave up on his impression that IWD was a pool of suckitude. A small part of me actually enjoyed it more than the BG series for its tactical challenges and cool dungeons.

 

Although I enjoyed IWD overall, I have never played a game that aggravated me so much in my life. Dragon's Eye was SUCH A LOAD OF SH**. Once you move past Dragon's Eye, things start to pick up, and the expansion is cooler IMO. Although I had fun eventually, it's a much more stressful experience than BG series, and it offers nothing more than brutal and tiring combat. The damn lizard men, orcs and neo-orcs just kept coming....Pretty stupid.

 

IWD was my first d&d game and I remember being quite shocked at how difficult the combat was. I had a fighter-based party, but still spent more time with my face in the dirt than anything else. Hell, I even sent my first party out of Easthaven with NO ARMOR, wondering why a handful of orcs decimated us in seconds. But I learned. The game is one of my favorites -- maybe because it was my first exposure to this type of gaming. I've played it many times since, and to me it's all about battle strategy and tactics (the gaming is STILL difficult at early levels)...and the music is the best of any other d&d game out there. Does it compare to BG 1 and 2? Nah...the games are way different. The BG series gaming experience is more well-rounded - story/NPCs/combat. It's like comparing apples to oranges. If I'm in the mood for really tough combat gaming, I reach for IWD though every time.

As far as IWD 2 goes, I definitely enjoyed it -- all except for the Ice Castle. :/ And the music was truly exceptional - especially that Targos song - "Skeleton of a Town" (one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard) and the "Barbarian Battle", which so aptly fit that camp battle.

Anyways....hope you change your mind about the game and give it another chance.

 

Icewind Dale was indeed my first D&D computer game, i recieved it at christmas eve '00. However, being a total n00b to D&D ruleset (My first rpg was in fact Diablo II) coupled with a difficulty higher than the average rpg quickly bored me. After a time again i tried it, and: IT rocked! I could progress farther than the third level of Dragons Eye! I could finally do in Yxunomei! etc etc

Yes it's true, if it's a story that can rival Baldurs Gate and it's sequel you're after, get away as fast you can... it doesn't try to be deep in story, it's appeal is D&D dungeonhack.

 

But its just mindless kill after kill, in BG you were a Bhaal spawn so it was understandable that you could defeat so many dragons and monsters and demi-gods, but in IWD your just some random band of adventureres. And another thing - what is up with the selection of portraits!?, there are about 2 or 3 elves and the rest of it is plaqued with halflings!! and they have a really lame string of voices (with an exception of male_fighter_5 and male_mage_1) then about halfway through dragons eye you have to fight an actual army of undead!? - the worst thing though is that theres no party interactions which is partly one of the greatest things about BG. Personally I agree with Sandstar but that dosn't mean I think people are stupid for liking IWD

[ March 24, 2004, 14:16: Message edited by: Lethis. ]

 

IWD was great, I thought, especially if you play through all of the expansions, too.

IWD2 was not as good, but its still pretty good.

Anyway, I got frustrated with it at the start, too, you just have to keep going until the game balances out a bit more.

The art and sound keep it interesting, too.

 

The only time IWD really sucks for me is 2 places. 1)The entrance to dorns deep. All those myconids and etins really get on my nerves. 2) Outside on the glacier with all the damned snow and ice trolls.

 

one of these days I'll have to finish that game.

I enjoy stomping around and developing my characters in a Mighty sort of way instead of a RP sort of way. But I, too, remember getting kinda bored...

 

Sucky? Not at all. It's not even comparable to BG, because they are completely different game conceptions. BG saga points strongly to character interaction and roleplaying, while IWD is more Combat-oriented. The main plotline is great,thus compensating the lack of side-quests, a thing which by the way, makes IWD less absorbent and time-consuming-and hence, easier to play with-And you say you don't want to play with low level spells and characters? then BG1 sucks all the way around, because of the low level limit, lower spell limit, huge empty spaces and other limitations, and is still a great among the greatest D&D games of all time. IWD has two big advantages to me: It allows you to base your strategy around a party entirely generated by yourself without missing all the fun by not choosing pre-generated NPCs, and it makes the hell of a combat tutorial for BG: After playing IWD no enemy has stood in my way not in BG1 nor in BG2, and without using the so-called "Combos" with spells, weapons and characters. I have beaten up BG1,TOSC, Bg2 and ToB with the worst eligible characters,all thanks to the tactics learned throughout IWD. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but is the hell of a game.
BTW-I agree with Taluntain: Cure light wounds cure 8 hp per spell, AS STATED IN THE AD&D 2nd edition OFFICIAL RULES' PLAYER'S HANDBOOK in case you haven't noticed. Get a copy and check it-Actually is a D8 hitpoints, and the game always heals the maximum. Just as BG does.

 

It is, like mentioned above, not sucky. The combats are amongst the coolest in like every game I've ever played. Just like that, strenght of one and Haste are as useful as they'll ever be. I had my mages/cleric cast them trice a day. Go party.

 

I've just recently started Icewind Dale after going through BG I and II and TOB.

They're different games, but I like both of them.

One thing I can't find out, either on the PDF format manual or by searching the boards, is a detailed description of the effects of bards song at various levels, other than the regeneration at level 11. Does anyone know where I can find that?

Wow, messing around with the bard song button I just figured out that by right clicking on it you can select the different songs. I'd never used a bard before, so I didn't know that.

[ May 08, 2004, 16:07: Message edited by: Scot ]

 

IWD was also my first D&D pc game. I liked IWD2 a lot too, because it had extras like dual-welding and sub-races. I just hated that damn Ice Fortress!!!! Relentlessly Sucky? It just has some slow parts.

 

I'm playing Icewind Dale 1 over again, and damn it's fun. It's no classic like PS:T, but it sure has some cool battles.