This review is everything that is wrong about the gaming industry today

[Mungri]

http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2013/11/16/baldurs-gate-2-review/

 

- The author claims to be a hardcore gamer that has played games since the commodore.

- Has never played a Baldurs Gate game before writing this review, and I imagine no other infinity engine game either.

- Writes that BG2 is too hard, be couldn't figure out what to do, didn't read the manual, was lost from the start and that the game sucks because there's no in game tutorial or hand holding.

- Never played the original, yet writes that the game wasn't enhanced enough.

 

What hardcore games has he been playing since the commodore exactly?

[Hurlshort]

http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2013/11/16/baldurs-gate-2-review/

 

- The author claims to be a hardcore gamer that has played games since the commodore.

- Has never played a Baldurs Gate game before writing this review, and I imagine no other infinity engine game either.

- Writes that BG2 is too hard, be couldn't figure out what to do, didn't read the manual, was lost from the start and that the game sucks because there's no in game tutorial or hand holding.

- Never played the original, yet writes that the game wasn't enhanced enough.

 

What hardcore games has he been playing since the commodore exactly?

 

I'm not sure what some random review on an obscure website has to do with the gaming industry.  The guy was clearly trolling.

[Gorth]

Did they remove the tutorial in the enhanced edition?

 

Mind you, it took me 8 years to actually notice it had a dedicated tutorial (before that, I thought Chateau d'Irenicus was it).

[Mungri]

 

http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2013/11/16/baldurs-gate-2-review/

 

- The author claims to be a hardcore gamer that has played games since the commodore.

- Has never played a Baldurs Gate game before writing this review, and I imagine no other infinity engine game either.

- Writes that BG2 is too hard, be couldn't figure out what to do, didn't read the manual, was lost from the start and that the game sucks because there's no in game tutorial or hand holding.

- Never played the original, yet writes that the game wasn't enhanced enough.

 

What hardcore games has he been playing since the commodore exactly?

 

I'm not sure what some random review on an obscure website has to do with the gaming industry.  The guy was clearly trolling.

 

 

Whether its trolling or genuine, video games these days have been dumbed down to the point that everything is over simplified with hand holding tutorials and zero difficulty at the start of every game just to cater to such people that this review personifies. Im fed up of wasting 30 minutes at the start of so many games that start you off with baby difficulty content rather than plunging you right into to full gameplay experience.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Mungri

[Orogun01]

Dear heavens, someone on the Internet has a opinion different than yours. Let's lynch him!

 

You should had stopped to consider that since the infinite engine games were offshoots of the tabletop D&D games (and really crappy ones at that) and that the reviewer has never played those. Aside from that, the D&D system didn't translate well into CRPGs (constantly rolling playing games). So the fact that the game didn't offer a tutorial for newer gamers interested in getting into RPGs is a low point and it's probably why it drives so many people away. During the golden age of WRPG, whilst the IE reigned supreme those games were exclusively niche. It wasn't until WRPGs began their departure from the D&D system that they became popular.

TL;DR: Learning the D&D takes up a lot of time, it doesn't mesh well with video games and no one wants to take a course before actually playing the game.

[Mungri]

But the game does have tutorials:

 

 

Easily accessible through a big How to play button on the mainscreen:

 

 

I didnt check through them all, but the basic magic combat tutorial definitely mentions resting to replenish spells, one of the things the reviewer complained about and stated there are no tutorials for when there actually are.

 

 

 

TL;DR: Learning the D&D takes up a lot of time, it doesn't mesh well with video games and no one wants to take a course before actually playing the game.

 

The very first time I played BG1 and BG2, I didnt need to read the manuals to start playing the games. You dont need to know aything about the D&D rules in order to simply load and play the game.

Edited November 21, 2013 by Mungri

[HoonDing]

His Demonicon review is spot on, he's alright in my book.

[Blarghagh]

I was twelve when BG2 came out, I had never played BG1, and I had no idea how D&D worked.

 

I still thought it was easy - well, when I realized how Armor Class worked anyway. How can this hardcore gamer guy say it was too hard?

[Hassat Hunter]

Never EVER trust a review on the interwebs on a site.

I trust people on forums like here way WAY more than any official review.

 

I do read a paper magizine (which is payed).

[Nepenthe]

Never EVER trust a review on the interwebs on a site.

I trust people on forums like here way WAY more than any official review.

 

Eh, online reviewers are either trolling for hits or paid off by the Man. People on forums are those who would call Jesus out for not being able to swim when He walked on water.

[Hassat Hunter]

Well, I don't trust FPS or MMORPG forums of course.

But threads like 'what are you playing now?' here do offer a lot of good objective reviews...

[BruceVC]

http://www.twinfinite.net/blog/2013/11/16/baldurs-gate-2-review/

 

- The author claims to be a hardcore gamer that has played games since the commodore.

- Has never played a Baldurs Gate game before writing this review, and I imagine no other infinity engine game either.

- Writes that BG2 is too hard, be couldn't figure out what to do, didn't read the manual, was lost from the start and that the game sucks because there's no in game tutorial or hand holding.

- Never played the original, yet writes that the game wasn't enhanced enough.

 

What hardcore games has he been playing since the commodore exactly?

 

I have to be honest but this is one of the most irritating reviews I've ever read in my life. The complete laziness of the reviewer and his stupidity undermines any valid input he may have around BG2. He doesn't deserve to be reviewing games.

 

But he definitely doesn't represent the gaming journalist fraternity, he is just really bad at his job. There are many excellent, reasonable and insightful gaming journalists out there who provide valuable reviews of games. But he isn't one of them

[BruceVC]

Guys if you want to see someone getting flamed you need to read some of the comments to his "review". I was going to comment just to show my annoyance at his opinion but after reading some of opinions you almost feel sorry for him...almost

[Althernai]

You should had stopped to consider that since the infinite engine games were offshoots of the tabletop D&D games (and really crappy ones at that) and that the reviewer has never played those. Aside from that, the D&D system didn't translate well into CRPGs (constantly rolling playing games). So the fact that the game didn't offer a tutorial for newer gamers interested in getting into RPGs is a low point and it's probably why it drives so many people away. During the golden age of WRPG, whilst the IE reigned supreme those games were exclusively niche. It wasn't until WRPGs began their departure from the D&D system that they became popular.

Except that the game did offer a tutorial. The review is hilarious because when I first played BG2 (at the age of 15 or so), I was in the exact same position as the reviewer: I had not played BG1 and had absolutely no idea what D&D was. Yes, a lot of the details took some time to sink in (I distinctly remember discovering the utility of Stoneskin and thinking "Why wasn't I using this all the time before?!"), but the game was neither incomprehensible nor very difficult. The reviewer is either trolling or he did not make any attempt whatsoever to learn the rules (i.e. he did not look at either the in-game tutorial or the manual).

[Mungri]

Guys if you want to see someone getting flamed you need to read some of the comments to his "review". I was going to comment just to show my annoyance at his opinion but after reading some of opinions you almost feel sorry for him...almost

 

Yea but then the problem is that games get dumbed down so much because of such opinions as those in the review.

[Orogun01]

 

Guys if you want to see someone getting flamed you need to read some of the comments to his "review". I was going to comment just to show my annoyance at his opinion but after reading some of opinions you almost feel sorry for him...almost

 

Yea but then the problem is that games get dumbed down so much because of such opinions as those in the review.

 

Dumb down mechanics(someone should really come up with a less offensive term) are the result of play testing not of reviews that happen after the game is completed.

[Guest Slinky]

Dumb down mechanics(someone should really come up with a less offensive term)

Streamlining?

 

Doesn't really matter what it is called to me, they all have that "suitable for drooling comatose, brain not required" ring to them.

[Mungri]

Obviously I meant that future games are dumbed down because the average yokel finds them too hard, e.g. DAO > DA2, TES3 > 4 & 5.

 

Every successive game keeps getting simpler and easier because of people like the guy that write this review, this is a fact of pretty much the entire last decade.

[Humanoid]

I'd totally dock a game points for not offering a printed manual, even if digitally distributed. Being able to read up what you need to when not in-game represents genuine usability gains, and this should be reflected in reviews.

 

You may think it extreme, and it's true that the impact of such an omission depends on the nature of the individual game, but it's potentially gamebreaking. Falcon 4.0 with its 1000 page manual? Totally happy to give it five stars. Without manual? I'd struggle to say two stars. BG2? Ehhh, down from four to three.

[Gorth]

Just an opinion (so please take it as that), "streamlining" is not about reaching a specific target audience, it's about reaching as large an audience as possible. It's the good old quantity versus quality debate. Do you have a specific vision that you are itching to realize or do you have a burning hole in your wallet that needs fixing.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

Eh review is a 0/10. Way too obvious.

[Sandro G Meier]

...Is it very hard to getting start BG2? I start BG2 with little knowing of the control and no idea of any of D&D rules, never played BG,as well. But it's just take a few moments to getting start. IMO, everyone knows how to play RTS games should've known how to get on it(just a little bit different in controling, rules? oh, I not mean that...).

 

By the way, that guy should just play the games that fulll of "dadada...""papapa....""Ahhhh......."

Edited November 22, 2013 by Sandro G Meier

[Mungri]

I'd totally dock a game points for not offering a printed manual, even if digitally distributed. Being able to read up what you need to when not in-game represents genuine usability gains, and this should be reflected in reviews.

 

You may think it extreme, and it's true that the impact of such an omission depends on the nature of the individual game, but it's potentially gamebreaking. Falcon 4.0 with its 1000 page manual? Totally happy to give it five stars. Without manual? I'd struggle to say two stars. BG2? Ehhh, down from four to three.

 

But 

 

[Humanoid]

Does it make the manual appear out of my DVD drive tray?

 

 

 

EDIT: Yes, I'm being facetious, but usability is something that should be rated. Accessible isn't the same as conveniently accessible. And if it seems I'm being unfair because every company does it now, well, I'm marking down every single company. It's objectively a worse experience regardless of logistics.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Humanoid

[BruceVC]

Does it make the manual appear out of my DVD drive tray?

 

 

 

EDIT: Yes, I'm being facetious, but usability is something that should be rated. Accessible isn't the same as conveniently accessible. And if it seems I'm being unfair because every company does it now, well, I'm marking down every single company. It's objectively a worse experience regardless of logistics.

 

Humanoid I hold you to such a high intellectual standard that I really wouldn't think that accessing a soft copy of a manual would be an issue? Also you can always print out the manual if you prefer the tactile and usability experience