A Thorough Look at Baldur's Gate
Video Statistics and Information
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Channel: Noah Caldwell-Gervais
Views: 790,789
Rating: 4.7237015 out of 5
Keywords: Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2, Shadows of Amn, Throne of Bhaal, Beamdog, Bioware, Siege of Dragonspear, Tales of the Swoard Coast, Review, Critique, Retrospective
Id: DjWWuUDtSaE
Channel Id: undefined
Length: 110min 10sec (6610 seconds)
Published: Wed Aug 31 2016
Please note that this website is currently a work in progress! Lots of interesting data and statistics to come.
Steam achievements aren't the best way to gauge how players have progressed through the enhanced editions, especially for BG1, because they were added in way after the initial release of them.
His insights into the game and into DnD as a whole is great, really introspective and very interesting, especially the idea of the cruelty of DnD rules usually applied with a human's insight, a very astute observations I've never considered before.
However hearing him talk about "story mode" can't help but depress/frustrate me, since that's the exact thing that used to be so routinely mocked (the wish some people have for a button to fastforward through gameplay and get back to story).
THAC0 and AC are definitely confusing, they're something every person I've introduced to BG has struggled with, but ultimately when you remember that the game does all the calculations for you, they're not THAT bad.
You want your AC as low as possible (you can see this for yourself by taking off your armour and then putting it on. More armour lowers AC, okay, odd but easy enough).
You want your THAC0 as low as possible too (again, you can see this by equipping a better weapon or one you're proficient in).
The idea of "Oh my THAC0 is 13 and his AC is 5, so I need an 8 or above to hit him" is definitely a complex one, but it's not something you're ever forced to think about as a player.
I jumped straight into BG2 when it came out with absolutely zero idea about DnD mechanics above what was discussed in the manual (not much) and I was able to pick up how it all worked for the most part without huge difficulty (honestly, the more confusing question was what things like Str or Dex actually DO, which turns out to again be a little counter intuitive by today's logic, Str makes you more likely to hit and to do more damage, so thieves want a lot of it).
It is a little confusing, but with the game taking care of most of the calculations there's really not much you need to know beyond "is it better if this is higher or lower?"
Honestly, the biggest issue with BG1, exactly as he pointed out, is that you spend way too much time just swinging and missing.
EDIT: It's also rather frustrating to see him addressing troll arguments against Dragonspear instead of actual arguments. Anyone familiar with the internet and especially with the places he's drawing this controversy from knows that there's a LOT of people who drum up angry reactions as a way of pissing people off, stirring the hornet's nest.
That's not the issue. The issue isn't about having someone like that character in the game. The issue is that when you handle that character with literally zero nuance and just have them talk about it in such a blatant, pandering way, then you blow the player out of the experience and have them just sit back and go "Oh I see, that's the token X, included because this game was made in 2015."
That's the problem.
I have literally never seen a complaint about the characters in Catherine or Persona 4, yet I've seen countless complaints about how hamfisted the characters in ME3 and SoD are. There's a difference between doing something for an agenda and doing something for a character, something that very few people seem to want to address, because it's not as simple a narrative, and it's also why the Beamdog writer is so incredibly wrong- because having a character there just to have them talk about who they are, is fucking shit.
A funny memory I have about Baldur's Gate is that on release there was a general snarky consensus on newsgroups (comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.rpg), that the much-anticipated BG was disappointing and dumbed down compared to the 'classic' gold box series of DnD games. They took the removal of purely turn based combat hard.
If anyone's interested, Noah's also started to get written work lately. He wrote a review for Obduction around a week ago. His writing style is very similar to his videos, which isn't that surprising I guess.
I totally agree with the statement that the long time it takes to get really powerful makes it so much more rewarding casting those imba ninth grade spells etc.
I hate to say it, but I wish Noah would step up the production of his videos.
I love the videos and their content, but they seem like they were put together quickly. I've noticed that almost every one of his videos has audio problems, vocal hiccups, or poor camera quality.
I love him and his content, I just wish he would put a bit more work into the technical aspects of his videos.
Maybe it's just me, but I felt that Baldur's Gate is a lot more bearable to deal with, especially on Enhanced Edition. True, I still prefer playing on story mode now because I've played the games already and have no desire for further challenge, but even vanilla old-school Baldur's Gate was decent. I think this has to do with the fact that I played Planescape: Torment first, which is in a league all on it's own when it comes to jankyness. Seriously, I'd love to see a Planescape: Torment remastered version just to renew and polish up the engine, because boy is it rough.
Has anyone played Baldur's Gate 1 and/or 2 on iPad? I've been thinking about buying it, but I don't know how good the port is.
I started my first BG playthrough about a year ago and was totally engrossed. Amazing game but my god it's brutally hard. I couldn't get passed the 4th act for the life of me. I have been meaning to start BG 2 but I just feel guilty for not ever completing BG1 =(