Icewind Dale 2

[Dark_Raven]

What were your pros and cons of this game? Was it better or worse than the first one?

 

Discuss.

[Volourn]

I found it worse than the first one.

 

 

Pros - 3E rules, subraces, the collection of spells from the various IE games incluing its own, some underrated puzzles, a few cool quests, as close to a bugless game one cna hope for

 

Cons - Boring story, unbelievable main villains (I felt no pity for them even though it was obvious you were meant to), easy combat, some overrated puzzles

[J.E. Sawyer]

nbelievable main villains (I felt no pity for them even though it was obvious you were meant to

No, you weren't.

[Judge Hades]

I did. :'(

[alanschu]

You were the lead designer for IWD2 right?

[Judge Hades]

No, J.E. was.

 

In all seriousness I did like many aspects of IWD 2 and for the most part I think it is the best 3e game currently out. Hmmm... I should make that party of halfling monks. That could be interesting.

Edited January 22, 2006 by Judge Hades

[Magnum Opus]

Pro:

 

More challenging combat than the other IE games.

 

"Expanded" history of the region: you get to see what happens to Kuldahar & the Severed Hand after the first game. Nice little bit of continuity to the setting, instead of always dashing off to far corners of the globe to see new sights. Overlapping areas can do wonders for a game's setting between one game and the next.

 

Some well integrated puzzles: Fell Wood, Dragon's Eye. Good use of setting... not quite so obviously puzzle-like as some others I've seen.

 

Cera Sumat & the Six Lost Followers. Definitely a highlight. Very nice story all told, good fight, good reward.

 

More useful druids.

 

Nice options for character creation/advancement. Much preferred over 2nd Ed.

 

Yquog. Yquog rocks.

 

 

Cons:

 

The well-integrated puzzles tend to road-block things; once you've figured them out, they become chore-like, requiring completion in order to advance.

 

Very rigid level-up and party balance scheme. Little leeway regarding when you level up. Spells are carefully rationed, too carefully, IMO... typically left my wizard "wanting".

 

A few too many areas... would've preferred a little more complexity/detail to some of the existing areas instead of the larger number of simpler areas, especially in the middle area of the game. Targos and the Severed Hand were really well done, the Ice Temple grated somewhat (both times... the layout highlighted the difficulties with the pathfinding excruciatingly well), Fell wood and the wandering village I liked, but everything after that, and before Kuldahar, seemed drawn out.

 

Monks. Don't like monks. Goofy class, that.

 

Vaguely disappointed with the Chief Bad Guys. Lots of backstory, not much there when you finally come face to face with them.

[Jumjalum]

Not as good as the first, but better than most people seem to think.

 

Pros - 3E rules! (this made a BIG difference) Some cool IE tricks. Nice VO (Peter Stormare!). Lots of areas for your money. Really nice spell icons. Good music. Great IE combat if a bit on the easy side. The opening chapter was awesome.

 

Cons - Too many white areas. Far too little music. The haunted forest puzzle required a walkthrough to get past. The drops needed more work. My least favourite storyline of all IE games.

[alanschu]

I remember playing it with 2 characters as my friend. I was a Fighter/Paladin and he was a Drow Fighter/Mage I think.

 

I just took the Fighter levels to get the weapon specialization feats though, I think he was a bit more balanced class wise.

[Musopticon?]

I felt that IWD 2's development had been awesomeness-driven.

[Magnum Opus]

Oh yeah, and the first one was better than the second, 'specially after you get it patched up with Trials of the Luremaster.

[Musopticon?]

I never found IWD, only it's expansion pack, HoW. A pity really.

[Zagor]

Pros:

 

Very challenging!

 

the first chapter is one of the best I've ever played in any game. Many interesting fights, like the bridge, war drums, and many others as well.

 

Peter Stormare doing voice-over

 

Many interesting fights, with a good mixture of enemy spellcasters, healers, and fighters. I think IWD 2 does this better than its prequel.

 

Good story (but not excellent)

 

Beautiful new spell icons and portraits.

 

As mentioned before, many more combinations when creating a party.

 

Few bugs (but don't choose the feat improved initiative, it doesn't work)

 

Cons:

 

It's a bit uneven in quality. First chapter=excellent, but some areas (dragons eye, ice temple) are a bit boring and unchallenging.

 

You don't get any experience for a long while, when fighting yuan-tis in dragons eye. I know that's how it's supposed to be by the rules (they are considered too easy compared to your level), but it's very unsatisfactoring.

 

Some of the graphics feels a bit less detailed compared to IWD1

 

While I liked the haunted forests atmosphere, I didn't like the solution to the maze-thing. I might be wrong here, but was there any logical solution to it, if you didn't have the tracking skill? It seemed like a trial and error-puzzle. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Overall, a very good game, almost as good as the first IWD.

[Musopticon?]

Wasn't there a dryad which helped you in the maze or animals or something?

[Zagor]

Yes, but the dryad only helped you a little bit. I didn't know about any animals.... Perhaps something I missed??

[Darque]

What were your pros and cons of this game? Was it better or worse than the first one?

 

Discuss.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Pros: 3.0 rules

 

Cons: Can't remember any... but then I didn't finish it (another casualty to my comp tweaking out

[Tiliqua]

I loved IWD2 and found it better than IWD (which I also really liked). It was complex, huge and a real challenge to finish. One of the reasons I prefered it to IWD was just the fact that the Infinity Engine had been improved since IWD and was more user friendly.

 

IWD was more linear, IWD2 had many more puzzles and twists. If the IE engine had been 3D I would have been a pig in mud. I can remember trying to get behind things (because I'd being playing lots of 3D stuff) and not being able to which was dull, but it certainly was graphically beautiful especially when compared to the Aurora engine.

 

I played IWD and IWD2 on a LAN over many months, every Friday night and I think that they were much better games than they were given credit for. Being asked to say which one was better is cruel because they were both so good and any new game that comes close to them will be a real achievement.

[Dark_Raven]

Big Pro, sub-races. I get to play my favorite race, drow elves. I have one that is a fighter/mage. Another one is a priest, and the rest of the party is usually composed of a human or two, a dwarf and a halfling.

[kirottu]

The haunted forest puzzle required a walkthrough to get past.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Not if you used the new skill. With my first time I didn

[Dark_Raven]

Ah yes the puzzles. I dislike puzzles and riddles, I am not very good at them. I wsh they did not have these in the game. It's a Con in my opinion.

[Musopticon?]

Eh? You think puzzles are a con? What the heck?

[alanschu]

You could use the wilderness skill to decent effect, even if you put zero skill points into it. Though you likely needed a boost with some attribute modifiers though.

 

 

It rolled a die of some sort (d20 I imagine), and even if you failed one time you could keep trying until you succeeded.

[Dark_Raven]

Eh? You think puzzles are a con? What the heck?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't like puzzles therefore it's a Con and negative towards the game.

[Musopticon?]

[Dagon]

IWD 2 was better than the first one,and puzzles was ok

the atmosphere was really cool in two IWDs and style of interface much better than it was in BG , icons in inventory looks fantastic ,I have to play through game once again