Worth starting?

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Hi, I have played BG and BGII for some time, and I have considered purchaseing icewind dale II.
but I would like to know something about it first.

1. Is it as good as BG or better?? and are they even a little alike?

2. How different is the interface, I have seen it shortly and from what I remember then the controls are more complex and difficult, is this true??


3. The story. Is the story worth playing?? dont tell me the story, just if its worth it.

edit: Is it a good thing to play the first Icewind dale before starting on the second?

 

1.IWD2 is different and a very good game. This one is linear , has no NPC's , has 3Ed Rules and you can create your own party!

2.In the beginning you have to get used to it , especially if you've been playing a lot of other rpg's. The most important are the keys for the different screens which are quite easy.

3.As far as I have played it the story is quite good and alot of details are revealed according to the different races/skills you use.

4.You might do that if you really want the story behind it , because the two are a bit connected. But other from that you can just play IWD2 right now!

 

k, thx

 

I played BG and BGII many times, and IWD2 was not so good in my opinion. Yes, entirely new style, you might like it. I know several people who liked BG, and did not like IWD2, however.
Well, I do not want to make you already full of prejudices against IWD2, it is simply different style.

 

The story isn't worth it at all.
Just kill all and proceed to next area. And you'll get all you want. A drow or two, duergars, undead, monks, mind flayers, dragons (awfuly weak), even yuan-tis and (!)goblins. Boring.

 

Here's the deal. IWDII is a fun game. Character cration and development is great, what with the 3rd ed rules. In that way it is supremely better than BG.

I personally prefer the interface over BG's as well. It's more compact and it's all in one place, so you're not moving your mouse all over the screen to select different characters or do different things. It's definitely different, but it'll take you all of 10 minute to get used to it. Plus, it's much more flexible than BG's interface. You can set many of the buttons up yourself, which allows quick and easy access to any spells or abilities you choose.

The storyline is decent, though certainly not the epic that the BG series is. There is no need to play Icewind Dale 1 at all. BIS did a good job of making IWDII a stand alone game. There are references to the first game here and there, but nothing important, just the occasional comment by an NPC or reappearance of an NPC from the first one. You won't know the difference for not having played the first one.

So, IMHO, interface is better than BG. Character creation and development is better than BG. Storyline isn't great, but isn't bad. All that being said, if you choose to play it (and I would recommend you do), do NOT expect the same experience you got from BG. IWDII is a fun game, but it's no Baldur's Gate. I don't know that anything will bring quite that kind of experience again.

Good luck!

 

There is a thread here on SP on making IceWind Gate.

It should be a IWDII mod that implements Baldur's Gate story into IWDII.

Maybe this will be a great thing when it's ready. I for myself would be ready to pay for a good Baldur's Gate adaptation into IWDII and so forth in 3e.

3.5 would be better.

 

I like 3rd DnD better, but no multiclassing and no monk animation in IWD2 is no good!

 

IWD2 is lightyears better in terms of combat, and since you'll be doing that a lot, this is a good thing. The rules (3rd ed) are infinitely better, and there is more variety with races and whatnots. *All* stats are now important (some more important than others depending on class) so none of this 3 intelligence stuff (although I still do this occasionally). No uberpowered wizard spell protections, no cheap contingencies or timestops. Major penalties for dual wielding. You start from scratch at level 1 (good, IMO). Spell effects are phenomenal in this game.

Story is nothing special, due to the linear nature of the game, but has potential and is good enough, ie - if they took the skeleton of the story, expanded it and gave characters more depth, it could be BG3. Lord of the Rings it's not. However, I found the villains in this game more interesting than boring old Irenicus and like I said, there was potential here.

Definitely worth getting however.

 

@ VStyle:

Actually, I think the way they multiclass here is loads better. First of all, you get loads of experience and you level up a lot quicker. Second, you get to put as many or as little levels in one class or the other as you want (multiclassing penalty NOT withstanding). Also, why wait for 100,000 exp to level up all classes when you can level up one at a time, which makes you stronger in your adventures? I prefer multiclassing in IWD 2 to the BG series, but that's just me.
In IWD 2, the game interface is much more helpful, and I enjoy what they did to the stats and stat modifiers (2 to a stat= +1). I have a better time understanding the how and the why when I am battling, etc.

 

I agree with most of the comments here. In summary, Icewind Dale II's main appeal is the infinitely flexible character options (try a group of 6 monks, or solo a dwarf druid rogue - whatever you want) whilst the main criticism is the somewhat less flexible storyline (but how many times do you want to replay a game anyway?). I rate it a 'definite buy' especially as it is quite old now so you should be able to pick it up pretty cheaply.

 

I recommend that you pick it up. The 3E rules are much better than BG's 2E, and it has the same Black Isle sense of humor and style.

The story is less than epic, but the icy atmosphere is fun. Bring on the ice and snow!