Larian Banner: Baldur's Gate Patch 9
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
Joined: Jun 2004
Adraeus Offline OP
stranger
OP Offline
stranger
Joined: Jun 2004
How different is the remastered version from the original? I'm not sure I want to shell out US$40 for the same game with a new graphics engine.

Joined: Nov 2010
Location: UK
member
Offline
member
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: UK
The main things that come to notice Adraeus are the graphics, which are brighter, sharper and run smoothly, other things are dialogues, quite a few of them seem to have changed or have been added too, I think that the sound effects has had a overhaul as well.

The game now feels polished.

Last edited by Paris; 05/11/10 09:03 PM.

D2ED + More D2ED + A happy ending = A winner
Joined: Jun 2004
Adraeus Offline OP
stranger
OP Offline
stranger
Joined: Jun 2004
Are there any non-cosmetic changes (e.g., more quests and new choices, more items and character customization options)?

Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Canada
Support
Offline
Support
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Canada

The flying fortresses were changed. Enemy placement and loot were also changed (particularly in the fjords), though we don't know what exactly was changed with the loot. Most of the shield puzzles were removed. I don't think there were any character customization options added.

Joined: Nov 2010
J
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
J
Joined: Nov 2010
Do enemies respawn in the ED areas?

Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Canada
Support
Offline
Support
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Canada

Probably not. I asked about that after the German FoV release, but didn't get an answer.

Joined: Nov 2010
J
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
J
Joined: Nov 2010
that was FoV, this is DKS their balanced differently.

Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Canada
Support
Offline
Support
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Canada

It was previously stated that there wasn't any significant difference to the FoV section of the game between D2:ED+FoV and DKS, and in the discussion of changes in the remastered version, nowhere was it ever mentioned that respawning was added to the D2:ED section of DKS.

Joined: Nov 2010
Location: Gent(Belgium)
stranger
Offline
stranger
Joined: Nov 2010
Location: Gent(Belgium)
I just played through DKS and alot of armor serts have been added to the original game. You even have several sets in the broken valley area. Also in the flying forts the chests no longer contain all pieces for the sets(Archmage, Scorpion, ...) Some of them are still their others have been distributed in the orobajas fjords to some creatures and chests. But the graphic improvement is the major change i think.

Joined: Nov 2010
stranger
Offline
stranger
Joined: Nov 2010
I've only played the demo of D2:ED and that was a while back. I don't remember the character model looking as good as what is shown in the screenshots. Was that been updated in the base game? What about character movement animations? Those look updated too.

Thanks.

Joined: Nov 2010
stranger
Offline
stranger
Joined: Nov 2010
One of the biggest changes I've noticed (360 version) is the change in difficulty early on. Not sure how it will be later, but it's less of a grind to get anywhere. It may well ramp up later, but the enemies at the beginning take and deal way less damage than they used to. In my opinion this is a good thing. Combat lock on and evasion seems tighter, making jumps and rolls less haphazard. They seem to have listened to the criticisms of Ego Draconis and got the gameplay spot on

Last edited by Baishy; 06/11/10 09:55 AM. Reason: Typo
Joined: Aug 2006
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Aug 2006
30-40 second load times are awful on the 360 version even when installed to the hard drive. especially considering the amount of times you enter and exit buildings in towns.

eg. enter small one room building in broken valley - takes about 6 seconds.
exit back to broken valley- takes about 30-40 seconds.

game doesnt seem to store anything in memory at all no matter how small the new world space that loads actually is. resulting in the whole of broken valley having to be reloaded again when you exit the old world space.

poor.


Last edited by brandysnap; 06/11/10 10:50 AM.
Joined: Nov 2010
Y
stranger
Offline
stranger
Y
Joined: Nov 2010
Originally Posted by brandysnap
30-40 second load times are awful on the 360 version even when installed to the hard drive. especially considering the amount of times you enter and exit buildings in towns.

eg. enter small one room building in broken valley - takes about 6 seconds.
exit back to broken valley- takes about 30-40 seconds.

game doesnt seem to store anything in memory at all no matter how small the new world space that loads actually is. resulting in the whole of broken valley having to be reloaded again when you exit the old world space.

poor.



On my pretty crappy PC (3 yrs old) the transitions between levels load in about 2 seconds. So... err... I think you need to upgrade your 360. :P

Joined: Nov 2010
stranger
Offline
stranger
Joined: Nov 2010
I know that load times can be frustrating, and could possibly have been optimised, but I think it's a small price to pay for the depth of this game. With so many RPGs being 'streamlined' and dumbed-down for consoles, I would rather wait 40 seconds for this gem of a game to load, than have a linear experience like Gothic 4: Arcania or Fable.

I think us console owners really need to show our support for games like this, otherwise they'll soon become a thing of the past, as everyone assumes that all we want are QTE filled, on-rails shooters.

Joined: Oct 2010
M
apprentice
Offline
apprentice
M
Joined: Oct 2010
So Baishy you have the same load times too?
I have them as well, however a dev team member told me it was unexpected and unusual.
Looks like it's not.

I am sorry but content depth has nothing to do with optimization.
Yes, the game is well written, and everybody acknowledges that.
But it doesn't have to be a trade off, where I tolerate 40 second load times when I get out of every building in exchange for interesting quests. I'm willing to make an effort but that's too long.

In Fallout New Vegas, which apparently uses the same engine, load times are also pretty noticeable. But for instance when you visit a small building and get out, there is no load time to return to the outdoor zone.
Not that Fallout NV is all that well optimized itself, as it freezes and glitches rather often, but at least in the conception of the game it looks like they tried to find tricks to work around the engine's limitations in terms of load times.
I know that Bethesda/Obsidian and Larian don't have the same ressources.
I accept that the two games are different and the same tricks might not have been workable in Divinity II.
But after one more year of dev time, the fact that it's gotten worse is just disappointing.

I should have bought the PC version but I don't like to play 3rd person perspective games with a mouse and my rig would have had issues playing the game.

Last edited by masa2009; 06/11/10 02:52 PM.
Joined: Aug 2006
journeyman
Offline
journeyman
Joined: Aug 2006
Originally Posted by Baishy
I would rather wait 40 seconds for this gem of a game to load, than have a linear experience like Gothic 4: Arcania or Fable.


you cant much more linear than this game. want to travel as far south as you can when you first start dragon knight saga? well you cant. its blocked off until the game deems it necessary for you to go that far.

just like gothic 4. but at least gothic 4 didnt have loading screens and you could go back to previous areas without loading.
just try going back to broken valley from the fyyords section without it loading.


Joined: Dec 2009
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2009
Originally Posted by brandysnap
you cant much more linear than this game.


Played Final Fantasy XIII recently?

Dragon Knight Saga isn't that linear. It may not be entirely open but it's hardly you must stay on this path forever. Dragon Knight Saga is hardly the first game to restrict areas until you're ready to enter them. Borderlands is another example.

Oh well can't please them all. smile

Anyway back to the subject at hand.

They changed the interaction button to LB. It used to be on A which often ended up making you draw your weapon and attack uselessly for no reason when interacting with stuff. Glad they changed that.

Overall the graphics looks alot better.

It feels like enemies drop loot less often than before.

Overall enemies seem a bit easier to deal with on normal difficulty. On Ego Draconis I would struggle with some of the bosses in Broken Valley at level 2 but now they're a cakewalk. I think this is largely due to missile attacks not homing in anymore on the player.

The user interface is in general better.

Haven't gotten into dragon combat etc yet so can't see how that has been changed yet.

Overall the game is much better than Ego Draconis. Not perfect but it's definitely a large improvement. I'm really enjoying it.

Last edited by Unreal Warfare; 06/11/10 06:25 PM.


Joined: Nov 2010
G
stranger
Offline
stranger
G
Joined: Nov 2010
So just how linear is the Dragon Knight Saga? I never played Ego Draconis because the story got panned, and there were some issues, so I have nothing to compare DKS to except for other games.

I'm not necessarily talking about open-endedness. Does the game hold you by the hand?

Do the quests have to be done in a very specific order?

Is there only one way to finish them?

Are large and important areas locked out until you complete certain missions?

What happens if you choose not to do a "main story line" quest?

Can you backtrack at all (eg. in case you forgot something or want to pick up a side mission)?


Joined: Oct 2010
enthusiast
Offline
enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2010
Originally Posted by Grunk
So just how linear is the Dragon Knight Saga? I never played Ego Draconis because the story got panned, and there were some issues, so I have nothing to compare DKS to except for other games.

I'm not necessarily talking about open-endedness. Does the game hold you by the hand?

Do the quests have to be done in a very specific order?

Is there only one way to finish them?

Are large and important areas locked out until you complete certain missions?

What happens if you choose not to do a "main story line" quest?

Can you backtrack at all (eg. in case you forgot something or want to pick up a side mission)?



The main story (for Ego Draconis) is linear with one story path. Some areas will not open up till you get far enough in the main quest, and sometimes after a major point in the game you will not be able to go back (in Ego Draconis this would be when you get your dragon form and entering the final dungeon). Once an area is open you can go anywhere within it and do any quest (unless it has another as a prereq or you do a quest that excludes it). Some quests have more than one way to complete them. The only thing that limits exploration within an 'open' area is the stregth of enemies, which can vary through out an area.

Joined: Nov 2010
G
stranger
Offline
stranger
G
Joined: Nov 2010
Thank you, that was helpful.

Prerequisites and a couple of "points of no return" are understandable. No problems there.

So it sounds like it's not as linear as the guy above suggested...?

Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Bvs, ForkTong, Larian_QA, Lar_q, Lynn, Macbeth, Raze 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5