How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG • Hacker News Board

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#91

Post by PavlovsCat » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:36 PM UTC

the_af wrote: post #30

gameswithgo wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Enhanced edition universally hated? Might you be looking at the new baldurs gate game they made recently? Enhanced edition is just easier to run on newer pcs

The hate for the new Baldur's Gate seems misplaced, too. If you check the reviews on GOG and elsewhere, it seems to be thinly disguised "GamerGate" anger :/ (with some genuine complaints, to be fair)

I read 4 pages of comments on GOG and found not one that matches your description, at all. On page 2 I saw this:

> After seeing how the devs treat customers I'd highly recommend a pass on this and the expansions. There are legitimate issues with the game, but anyone pointing out issues with multiplayer, buggy UI tweaks, game crashing, characters and saved games being corrupted are being called transphobes and having their legit issues deleted. The devs have also gone begging for good reviews and are currently trying to create drama where they should just admit they screwed up. I wouldn't touch this game with a 50' pole. Stick to the originals avoid anything Beamdog has touched.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#92

Post by vegardx » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:44 PM UTC

Completely unrelated, but... The story was ofte a little hard to follow when I was a kid, but using a dictionary I was able to not just understand and progress throughout the game, but I also learned a lot of English in the process.

It all started with Transport Tycoon Deluxe, then Age of Empires. But it was with Baldur's Gate things really started to make sense. Because of these games I was reading and sort of speaking English before we even started having any English classes.

Good times.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#93

Post by albertgoeswoof » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

Oh to be a kid again. I've tried a dozen or so RPGs since my childhood and I can't get into any. It's hard to sink deep enough into a world when I have responsibilities. As a kid, the Christmas break or summer break was this magical time where I could do this. My hope is that when I retire I can become re acquainted with crpgs

Why not take off 1 day a week to play?

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#94

Post by ulzeraj » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:45 PM UTC

eclyps19 wrote: post #4

If you want to play a modern game that takes you back to Balder’s Gate, definitely check out Divinity Original Sin 2. I never played the first, and I was skeptical about it living up to BG 1 and 2, but after the first couple hours I was hooked. It is very much worthy of the comparison.

Why nobody mentions Tides of Numenera from a team comprised mostly of the original Planescape Torment team?

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#95

Post by ulzeraj » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:47 PM UTC

goodbyehorses wrote: post #45

Baldurs Gate was really good, but I think people give it too much credit. Fallout 1$2 and Planescape Torment showed what really is a narrative-driven RPG game, they deserve more attention.

Well I’ve played Torment and BG games. While Torment had a superior story the immersion and worldbuilding factor of BG and BG2 were a different beast.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#96

Post by ulzeraj » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:51 PM UTC

ArrayList wrote: post #79

Anyone remember Neverwinter Nights? That was my "thing". Also, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete was a high point in my childhood.

NWN Hordes of Underdark and NWN2 Mask of the Betrayer were fantastic. It had that “magic of the outer planes” flavor that reminds me of Planescape Torment.

Weirdly enough the main character of HoTU was the one from Shadows of Udrentide (did I spelled right?). I remember meeting the ghost of one of the antagonists of the original game in hell and my character having her as a ghost girlfriend for the rest of his life.

Ah... I miss those fantastic stories.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#97

Post by Waterluvian » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #93

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

Oh to be a kid again. I've tried a dozen or so RPGs since my childhood and I can't get into any. It's hard to sink deep enough into a world when I have responsibilities. As a kid, the Christmas break or summer break was this magical time where I could do this. My hope is that when I retire I can become re acquainted with crpgs

Why not take off 1 day a week to play?

It's hard to take a week off being a parent. Work is actually the easier part. I'm retiring when my kids are moved out.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#98

Post by Al-Khwarizmi » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:54 PM UTC

OK, so in 1995 there were few computer RPGs. True. In fact I distinctly remember myself at that time, as a huge CRPG fan, thinking that they were bad times for PC RPGs, and hoping for better times.

But 1996 was the year of The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, one of the best RPGs of all time (IMO, way better than Baldur's) that would later continue into a saga that is still top notch today. In 1997, Fallout came out. I'm not personally a big fan of this saga, but its enormous success and influence in CRPGs is undeniable. In 1998, apart from Baldur's Gate, we had Fallout II and Might and Magic VI: The Mandate of Heaven, a great game that renewed the legendary Might and Magic franchise with a new engine.

So no. You may like Baldur's Gate a lot (IMO it's a good game but way overrated) but it didn't save anything, and the image given by the article of being the first brave developers who dared publish a CRPG after a draught is just plain false.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#99

Post by ulzeraj » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:55 PM UTC

ReptileMan wrote: post #27

Nope. It just slowed the decline. Good RPGs with high production values are extremely rare. We have witchers, divinity and pillar/tides(maybe) . Dragon age 1 was the last true Bioware RPG... Fallouts lack stories (except new vegas which mostly lacks sequesls).

Dragon Age suffered EA-fication along with Mass Effect. Even then I never thought it was even close to Baldur’s Gate. Part of it about being too edgy and tryhard but I did played it. My favorite part was the underground exploration part specially having Shale on your group. That was immersive AF and I did completed it in one go.

Re: How ‘Baldur’s Gate’ Saved the Computer RPG

#100

Post by ulzeraj » Fri, Dec 21, 2018, 5:57 PM UTC

bmurphy1976 wrote: post #43

Waterluvian wrote: post #22

Oh to be a kid again. I've tried a dozen or so RPGs since my childhood and I can't get into any. It's hard to sink deep enough into a world when I have responsibilities. As a kid, the Christmas break or summer break was this magical time where I could do this. My hope is that when I retire I can become re acquainted with crpgs

It's still possible. I have 3 kids a full time job and a 1 hour driving commute each way. Despite this in the past 6 years I've still managed to play through Ultima VI, Baldur's Gate 1&2 Planescape Torment, 1/2 of Icewind Dale (finally burnt out on infinity engine), Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity, Torment, Fallout 3, Fallout 4, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Zelda a Link to the Past, Zelda Wind Waker, Hyper L…

I wish I could do that. I probably could if I didn’t had an MMO sucking a portion of my soul. But I confess I can do these things because my work is basically sprint and rest kind of job.