Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General BG1 & BG2 worth it while waiting ?

I would 100% play them if you have not before, they remain the benchmark for RPGs, top down or otherwise. I would go against what a previous posts said and deffo play the EEs (enhanced editions) if only because as a BG1-2 noob the graphical changes, UI and zoom in and out function, and ease of installation just make them a much more pleasant experience if you are used to modern games, and the standardization of the BG2 rules into BG1 without needing to faff around with mods is good for a beginner. Sure go ahead and play the original after, if you want to see how the game has changed so much but if you've never played before I would always say go EE - there are some bugs, but the original is full of bugs too, just different ones.

I would also start out with Baldurs Gate 1:
firstly, if you are not familiar with the system, starting out with BG2 at level 7 can be daunting if you want to play a caster class while starting out at lvl 1 in BG1 allows you to learn as you go, and going through from level 1 to level 40 through the whole saga is the ultimate noob to god story - nothing has ever really come close.

secondly, the story is best experienced all the way through, and BG1 often gets a bad rap when actually it is my favorite of the two with some of the best dungeons ever designed and a really tight plot while still allowing a huge amount of exploration and dungeon crawling.

thirdly, its just a great game, different to BG2 but not any worse imo.

In regard to mods, I 100% would play without mods - you get a lot more appreciation for both the game and the mods if you are familiar with the game without mods before you start installing a bunch of stuff you don't really understand about. If you only ever play with mods you will never know what is added by a mod and what is not. banter packs and the like are an aquired taste and vary in quality and imo you want to know what is "game" and what is "mod"


I also would not discount Siege of Dragonspear offhand, because:
1. it shows how the infinity engine can really be pushed on modern hardware
2. it looks beautiful, with these really stunning environments
3. it allows you to use all those toys you picked up in BG1 to fight some huge battles.
4. It has some pretty good AI, far better than BG1 or BG2 - the developers took some notes from a popular strategy-AI-difficulty mod (sword coast stratagems) to make some enjoyably challenging battles.
5. It has some of the very best dungeons in an IE game.

It's not that it doesn't have its issues but the good parts of it are really good imo. You don't ever have to play it again if you don't like it, but I don't think opinions on the internet should deprive you of the stuff it does at god tier (see above)


imo, just pick up the EEs and give them a go as is. Play the originals and/or install mods if you find that you like them.