Baldur's Gate returns!

[MLP]

Only four hours to go until we find out:

http://baldursgate.com/

Any guesses? Badur's Gate III was cancelled in 2003...

[RealMikeBob]

HD rerelease was what I heard.

Hopefully not Baldurs Gate 3. The story was kind of finished. Although I'd still buy it.

*edit* Should have clicked the link first. Thought there was still a while left on the timer.

[Bubble Ghost]

Dragon Age was Baldur's Gate III (although its po-faced, sci-fi-style world building wasn't up to the vibrant standards of the Forgotten Realms material, it pushed all of the same buttons). Probably just as well that "Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition™ and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition™ will feature a re-forged version of the Infinity Engine with a variety of modern improvements." I will be giving them money for this, assuming I can actually play it on my rapidly falling apart PC. Been far too long since I played BG1, but I just can't face it now with the combination of only one quick weapon slot and no pause on the inventory screen. I have no idea how I got through it the first time.

[eldargal]

Oh, my god.

[Urgat]

Yeah! Always wanted to try them

[marv335]

Sounds good, I was always a fan of BG.

[Damocles8]

I'm definately interested, I missed out on the Baldur's Gate series, wouldn't mind trying it, did love Dragon Age (except for the gameplay of DA2, I didn't mind the story so much).

[Wyrmwood]

I've spent many hours on Baldur's Gate, and I think this is a great idea. With any luck, they'll port it to consoles as well.

[Urgat]

I'm definately interested, I missed out on the Baldur's Gate series, wouldn't mind trying it, did love Dragon Age (except for the gameplay of DA2, I didn't mind the story so much).

Wasn't the gameplay that bothered me, but the fact that there wasn't a quarter of the freedom of the first one (which I did love too, and as BG is like that ten times I hear, well... )

[Freak Ona Leash]

I'm definately interested, I missed out on the Baldur's Gate series, wouldn't mind trying it, did love Dragon Age (except for the gameplay of DA2, I didn't mind the story so much).

Same here, though I actually prefer just about everything in DA2 over Origins. But, I am a Freak, so my screenname tells me

[Satan]

Same here, though I actually prefer just about everything in DA2 over Origins. But, I am a Freak, so my screenname tells me

I guess there's a number of peeps like you out there. The thing is though, that if, like me, you played the BG series some 12-14 years ago and DA: Origins and DA 2 after that - you'll realize why some people are so whiny - because in a lot of respects it's like the game design hasn't evolved at all since the BG series and in certain cases even keeps a lower standard. Which is baffling considering you're paying more for games today which obviously aren't even finished upon their release.

It's not just about the tech - because obviously BG can't compete with the graphics of DA, Skyrim, etc. It's about the gaming experience as a whole - where individual aspects of the BG series (like combat and spellcasting) worked very weel in that context at the time, whereas DA 2 is a stinkin' pile of boring, useless trite in that same regard. That said, I love Skyrim, but the combat aspect isn't that interesting after 50hrs there either.

The BG series might've been a bit hardcore in this regard, but you needed to be smart and utilise all types of resources at your disposal, which was gratifying - without having access to the vast production/design teams of today and the technology - which doesn't appear to have added much to later games in these regards.

[eldargal]

I loved DA2 for its story (a world where everything doesn't revolve around the protagonist and she can't boss two factions hell bent on each others destruction around? Blasphemy!), but its implementation was certainly flawed compared to DA:O, let alone BG. The DLC remedied it somewhat, the stuff with the Warden prison was utterly brilliant in my opinion. I've played Skyrim for 100 hours and I'm utterly bored with it.

The excuse I've been given is that the hardcore CRPG market isn't big enough to justify a traditional CRPG with all the modern bells and whistles. You have to compromise between gameplay and RPG elements, exemplified by Biowares approach, to maximise sales.

[Satan]

I loved DA2 for its story (a world where everything doesn't revolve around the protagonist and she can't boss two factions hell bent on each others destruction around? Blasphemy!), but its implementation was certainly flawed compared to DA:O, let alone BG. The DLC remedied it somewhat, the stuff with the Warden prison was utterly brilliant in my opinion. I've played Skyrim for 100 hours and I'm utterly bored with it.

The excuse I've been given is that the hardcore CRPG market isn't big enough to justify a traditional CRPG with all the modern bells and whistles. You have to compromise between gameplay and RPG elements, exemplified by Biowares approach, to maximise sales.

I think the story elements in DA 2 are alright, good even. But the gaming mechanics aren't. In some respects they're sub-standard when compared to BG, and I suppose the same might be said of DA:O and Skyrim as well. I think that's why DA 2 suffered more than anything - it's just not a good game.

I don't know about market size, but nostalgia can certainly be a powerful business factor - the problem as well as the providence of the gaming industry of today is that due to the size of every production a game has to sell very well if a major publisher is involved in order to make the investment. This can lead to fantastic results, but unfortunately some very bad ones as well, of which I consider DA 2 to be a prime example.

In some regards the gaming industry suffers from the "hollywood syndrome" - by this I mean that the investment in stuff behind the scenes is sometimes ludicrous for stuff that the consumer doesn't even get to see or notices in a film or game. For films this can be props for example, and for the gaming industry it can be aspects of motion capture, music or cutscenes (the latter was ridicolously expensive to produce last I checked).

You think I'm joking? Who here has heard about the game called "World in Conflict", made by Massive Entertainment?
For the production of this game they flew in a team of former spetznas soldiers to a rented facility where they had them running around doing motion capture. This also had to be clread with the national security police IIRC. TBH I haven't played the game myself, but you've got to ask yourself whether such an extravagance is alltogether necessary for the production of a game?

I agree with Eldargal that you have to compromise, but that you shouldn't do so if it leads to a bad final product.

[shelfunit.]

Oh, my god.

I'm Shelfunit, and I heartily endorse this comment. An enhanced version (preferably one that works with Windows 7 or whatever microsoft decide to release next...) will empty my wallet quicker than a throw tomatoes at Tom Kirby charity auction.

[asphodel]

I don't know how I feel about this reboot. If it uses the same story and whatnot of the original game, I don't see the point. I probaly spent hundreds of hours playing BG and BG2 in my early teens, so I don't think I'd be able to get back into it. It kind of bugs me really, I mean - why not do something new? Revamp the Inifinity Engine and introduce a new storyline or something, rather than re-releasing the same old game. I'm not going to hold my breath, but I'll keep my eyes peeled to see what comes out of this.

[eldargal]

Well, I'm more about story than gameplay so I can forgive a lot in that regard. So long as the gameplay isn't bad or boring (I didn't find DA2 to be either myself) I'm happy if the story is well told. I certainly would say DA2 was not as well implemented from a gameplay and graphics perspective as DAO.

Shelfunit, I'm hoping they do a Collectors Edition just for that extra bit of wallet emptiness capability. Not that mine would be emptied, bu you know, it is the principle of the thing.

Asphodel, I really don't agree. In my opinion the BG series was as close to perfect as you will get with an RPG. Keeping the gameplay and story the same (minus a few gameplay tweaks like inventory pause and better toolbars) while bringing the graphics up to a 2012 standard is all that is needed.

[Still Standing]

Asphodel, I really don't agree. In my opinion the BG series was as close to perfect as you will get with an RPG. Keeping the gameplay and story the same (minus a few gameplay tweaks like inventory pause and better toolbars) while bringing the graphics up to a 2012 standard is all that is needed.

This. gggggggggggggggggggggg

[Damocles8]

I think the story elements in DA 2 are alright, good even. But the gaming mechanics aren't. In some respects they're sub-standard when compared to BG, and I suppose the same might be said of DA:O and Skyrim as well. I think that's why DA 2 suffered more than anything - it's just not a good game.

I don't know about market size, but nostalgia can certainly be a powerful business factor - the problem as well as the providence of the gaming industry of today is that due to the size of every production a game has to sell very well if a major publisher is involved in order to make the investment. This can lead to fantastic results, but unfortunately some very bad ones as well, of which I consider DA 2 to be a prime example.

In some regards the gaming industry suffers from the "hollywood syndrome" - by this I mean that the investment in stuff behind the scenes is sometimes ludicrous for stuff that the consumer doesn't even get to see or notices in a film or game. For films this can be props for example, and for the gaming industry it can be aspects of motion capture, music or cutscenes (the latter was ridicolously expensive to produce last I checked).

You think I'm joking? Who here has heard about the game called "World in Conflict", made by Massive Entertainment?
For the production of this game they flew in a team of former spetznas soldiers to a rented facility where they had them running around doing motion capture. This also had to be clread with the national security police IIRC. TBH I haven't played the game myself, but you've got to ask yourself whether such an extravagance is alltogether necessary for the production of a game?

I agree with Eldargal that you have to compromise, but that you shouldn't do so if it leads to a bad final product.

World in Conflict was one of the best games I've ever played, the SP was engrossing, the MP was ground breaking, people still play it. Wargame: European Escalation took World in Conflict and went into a deeper game, both are awesome strategy games (and they ARE strategy games, unlike the Starcraft style RTS), I'm looking forward to hearing more about this BG reload. I do hope they keep it close to the original for people like me, who missed out on the series the first time around.

[Still Standing]

Sounds very much to me like it will simply be a BG:Tutu. All of the games running on the Throne of Bhaal engine... Not that that is a bad thing, simply that it is already freely available.

[Arnizipal]

I'm Shelfunit, and I heartily endorse this comment. An enhanced version (preferably one that works with Windows 7 or whatever microsoft decide to release next...) will empty my wallet quicker than a throw tomatoes at Tom Kirby charity auction.

I think the image below describes my feelings perfectly