Is BGI as Good as BGII?

Remove all ads!

Hello, all!
I recently finished BGII:SoA and ToB but have never played BGI or its expansion. Is it as good? I know that graphics and interface were upgraded for BGII, so I wonder if it would be like mastering, say, Age of Kings:the Conquerors and going back to play Age of Empires I -- boring and lame. Or is it essentially the same as BGII, but a different story and other characters -- which is what I want! What do you think?

 

Well, I didn't notice a significant downgrade in the graphics. Both games do use the same engine. BG2 is a bit better, but nothing that made me think it was lame.

As for whether it is as good as BG2, that depends on what you liked about BG2. IMHO, the storyline and general feel of adventuring are better done in BG1. However, the interactions with the party members is much, much better in BG2.

Its also important to note that BG1 covers lvls 1-8ish, so the balance of things is different. This may or may not matter to you.

I liked both games and suspect that most people would as well.

Aloha
Vormaerin

 

I just got done beating BG1 on insane difficulty (most amusing) and imported into BG2 today for my first go at it and ToB on insane. Needless to say, BG1 is fresh on my mind . It is fun to take a character through the whole saga, so I would recommend getting it. Tales of the Sword Coast, the expansion for BG1, isn't a must but is nice too.

I too played BG2 before BG1, and I love both of them. There are 26 NPC's if I can count right . Some you know from BG2, but there will be more you don't know. And the story and atmosphere is different and it does set you up for the games that follow.

 

The graphics of BG2 are a bit better, the most important reason is that the resolution of BG2 can be 800x600 instead of the 640x480 of BG, the BG2 just looks a bit more smooth. For the rest, I say BG is just as good as BG2... but that depends a bit, when you love to play with high level characters and hate to have just a normal long sword, I can imagine when you think BG2 is better.

 

I played BG1 a few times before BG2, and I really like both games.

What I think is better in BG1 is the storyline (having played BG2 spoils this a little, though), the many NPCs, the general atmosphere and the possibility to just roam the wilderness with no clear goal... It's great. Love it.

What's not as good is the NPC interactions, the graphics (but who cares, really ) and the lack of kits (not that that's overly important, anyway).

To sum it up: BG1 is in my opinion as good as its sequel, but in a different way.

 

Obviously BG2 is better not only graphics wise, but also in other technical things, like AI and having to chagne to the map or something to press the Rest button (Hey, it bugs me!).

As for the actual game, I definitely grow tired of just scanning through map after map, with random gnolls, and possibly a bandit or two saying something clichée before attacking you. BG2 seemed to be a shorter game, but more interesting while it lasted. Everything seemed much more worked through than BG1, where some areas were completely pointless for other things than XP. My fav is definitely BG2, but then, taking your character through the entire game IS fun, like Big B said.

 

i think that bg1 is just as good as bg2

Peace

 

Thank you all for your responses. Based on these, I bought it. (Stay tuned for my cool new avatar!) I love the party AI in BGII, it is one of my favorite aspects of the game. It was a big surprise to find a D&D game so funny, and so detailed (see the "depth" topic in SoA) as a story. I am relieved to hear that the killing monsters and getting treasure aspects will not be a letdown, as I have found gameplay to be in earlier editions of other games -- Star Trek, Age of Empires, MechWarrior...
So anyway, thank you for such reasoned responses. I hope soon to be schooling others on BGI in this forum.

A scene from family life:
Methylviolet:"Guess what: I just ordered BGI!"
Son of Methylviolet: "YEEAAAH!"
Daughter of Methylviolet: "aaww." (She thought my finishing ToB meant she might have a mom again, poor kid.)

 

I think BG is just as good as BG2...

 

Devaju MD

 

The city of Baldur's Gate is cool... BG1 is just as good as BG2.

 

Indeed, Baldur's Gate is cool however the wilderness area's are also cool. You might want to tells something about why you like BG so much here: http://www.sorcerers.net/ubb/Forum2/HTML/004142.html

 

Just as cool. I played it when it first came out on my P166 w/32MB of RAM. It crawled but I couldn't stop playing.
I just started again on my current system (P3 1GHZ, 512MB RAM) and am loving it even more.