Yeah, look. I will blame the game for a fair amount of things, the writing is certainly one of them.
But not having enough things to do? Most certainly not.
Also, 'we must compare it to previous titles'
That puts Baldur's Gate, the first game with the ruleset at a level cap of Level Seven. Nine, with TotSC. Twelve, with the Siege of Dragonspear thing.
Icewind Dale had a cap of thirty, but only attainable through NG+, otherwise you're facing Behlifet at level twelve, too. Which is fitting, considering you're fighting the same guy in the end as in Siege of Dragonspear.
[Fun fact, BG2 had an experience cap, whereas IWD had a level cap, meaning you could technically attain levels [a 30/30/30 F/M/T for example through multiclassing that you couldn't in Throne of Bhaal]
And frankly, that ruleset is way more about numbers than it is about the things that actually happen. A level 30 fighter or a level 1 fighter do the *exact same thing*, just more times and with higher numbers. There were no combinations, no true builds, just levels and numbers. The only 'building'you do in classic Baldur's Gate is rolling for stats and picking a weapon proficiency. Yeah, picking spells on a Sorcerer. Otherwise, the progression is exactly the same for everyone of the same class. And yes. Wizards and Sorcerers had more options, but there too, the options in what you could viably pull off were severely limited. More than half the spells in Bg2 had no real use.
I may sound like it to you, but I dare say I know the classic Infinity Engine games better than most, even the few - and have played them religiously for over 20 years. But there is no contest in things you can do, and the variety of encounters between these games. Speaking with animals/corpses, environmental shenanigans, barrels and bombs, improvised weapons, flying, light and darkness, verticality, fun class /race combinations that actually change what you can do.
Last edited by rodeolifant; 05/09/23 11:18 AM.
