But I found the story of BG1 better and also liked Sarevok better than Irenecus, even if way less powerful. His visuals, his voice, the fact that he kills your father, you finding out that he's your brother. Everything is more personnal in BG1. While BG2 story is really good too, it is basically just a very powerful guy and his sister trying to steal something from you.
I don't have anything against Sarevok himself, but I felt we don't see enough for him to really leave an impact. Similarly, the bhaalspawn reveal comes a bit too late into the story to be properly explored in terms of it's impact on our character.
As such, while our heritage might be a McGuffin for Irenicus it is not for us. And our relation with our heritage is explored further. As we get to see Irenicus act throughout the entire length of the game, he is properly set up, his character development foreshadowed, explored and payed off. As such he made a far more engaging villain with his own tragedy and motivation, while his actions allowed for our character to be explored (and he very much pushes our character to do so). Pressure Irenicus puts on the protagonist is far more substancial. I found capture of Imoen far more impactful then death of Gorion - afterall, Gorion's only job is to die, while Imoen is a party member, and returning character. As well as seeing what Irenicus is capable off and seeing his plans proceed was more effective to me, then dude in armor slashing grampa to bits and then disappearing for the majority of the game.
Again, none of it is a problem, as both games put side by side make a good continuation. Maybe pacing in BG1 could have been a bit better, but then again - debiut title. It seems to be an issue in nearly every freshman RPG - even by more experienced studios then Bioware was at the time.
