Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 424 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 299 out of 424
  2. Mixed: 44 out of 424
  3. Negative: 81 out of 424

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  1. lifeofbrian
    Jun 17, 2014
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The game has only had 1 small patch in the last 7 months (and that patch came shortly after release). Basically they've been forgoing patching in favour of getting both BGEE and BG2EE on Android. I would recommend you instead buy BG2 from GoG (or anywhere that sells the original game) and use the BG2 fixpack on it. It will solve all of the major and the vast majority of the minor bugs in the original BG2 and you won't get the multitude of bugs (which can include everything from your weapon proficiencies getting wiped clean to not having access to your slayer form for more than one use, to your character getting stuck on the screen from a dragon's wing buffet) you get with the "enhanced" edition.

    The new characters they introduce are decent but nothing that is resoundingly different from the many mods already available for the game (a number of which aren't available with the "enhanced" edition). Also most of the new characters quest lines are bugged (and have been obviously for the last 7 months).

    Overall I would buy the game from GoG (or anywhere that sells the original game) for less than half the price of this release. Not only will you save money but between the fixpacks and all the available mods for BG2 you'll get far better value for your money.    … Expand
  2. XxSoULxMaNxX
    Oct 25, 2015
    6
    If you can get past the abysmal ("enhanced") graphics and total lack of community-supported, verifiable modifications, then it is an enjoyable game. The combat (in light of the visuals) can look like a cluster of various, indistinct colors interacting in strange ways...with games like Pillars of Eternity out, it is hard to justify for me a prolonged investment of time.
  3. holytaco
    Aug 31, 2014
    6
    Baldur's Gate II is the best RPG ever made. Overhaul's idea -- take a classic game, update the engine and add some content is brilliant. After all, the era of yearly computer upgrades is over and only a small set of self-described gamers buy machines solely to play games. Why not add content to a game that can run on an email and web browsing machine? Again, brilliant, right?Baldur's Gate II is the best RPG ever made. Overhaul's idea -- take a classic game, update the engine and add some content is brilliant. After all, the era of yearly computer upgrades is over and only a small set of self-described gamers buy machines solely to play games. Why not add content to a game that can run on an email and web browsing machine? Again, brilliant, right? Unfortunately, the idea is better than the execution.

    The good --

    The developers have added a nifty zoom function that allows the game to played on high resolution screens. They also added a feature they call a 'quick loot bar' that makes some of the game's mundane tasks go by quickly. After ironing out some troublesome bugs the game now runs better than ever.

    The bad --

    The new content just isn't as good as the original and the developers have taken a heavy hand in quashing criticism. The new NPC 'Hexxat', a vampire thief and lesbian love interest, was panned by all but the hardcore defenders of the company -- but you won't find these negative reviews on the official forums; the critical threads have been deleted or locked and the critics have been banned. I quickly became bored with Hexxat and never finished her storyline. Another NPC character 'Dorn', an evil blackguard, was put in to please those who disliked the heroic narrative of the original game. If your idea of fun is playing a protagonist that slaughters innocents at a wedding party then this NPC is for you -- he didn't do anything for me.

    In brief, good idea and poor execution. If you liked the original game and would like to play it again I would recommend buying it. If, however, you were hoping for a game with lots of new content you will be disappointed.

    Also note -- the developers have asked the hardcore fans to post positive reviews on this site. I would read the mixed reviews before reading the 10 / 10 and 0 /10 reviews.    … Expand
  4. zadkielmodeler
    Nov 22, 2013
    5
    Well, as a person who has always loved BG and BG2, its hard for me to write this review.

    The original content in its unchanged state is still wonderful and prizeworthy. I however will be reviewing the content added to it by Overhaul games. Not its original awesomeness. Lets talk about releasing a game. Whoever forced the deadline down the developers throats needs to be fired and    Well, as a person who has always loved BG and BG2, its hard for me to write this review.

    The original content in its unchanged state is still wonderful and prizeworthy.
    I however will be reviewing the content added to it by Overhaul games. Not its original awesomeness.

    Lets talk about releasing a game. Whoever forced the deadline down the developers throats needs to be fired and blacklisted. The devs did not even have the time and resources to move over the new portraits and sounds from Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition 1. There are soooo many bugs. I have had the golem in the very first scene not talk for 5 minutes till after he was suppose to do so, leaving Irenicus chattering to himself like a madman. It also left me trapped in the cage for 5 minutes, since Imoen can't break you free until the golem finishes talking. Not much further down the road you run into another bug, the Genie doesn't appear to offer you the sword in the air elemental plane.

    On the same track.. The multiplayer is broken. Not just a little broken, like crashes on gamestart, timeouts abound, unable to rejoin unless host exits and restarts and in some cases all parties have to restart BG EE2 to be able to play together again if even one of them crashes. It can even corrupt save game files on area changes. And tends to crash everyone but the host on chapter transitions Beamdog.net /their multiplayer hosting is a wreck.There is a just a list of games. No filters. They could do filters by campaign, by location, by password or not. You don't even get alphabetical sorting. If there are 1000 games and your friend is hosting. You have to scroll down and read 1000 games until you reach your friend's game.

    Black Pits 2. Well, there was some solid voice acting. Its actually funny at some points.The story line is better and more well developed than black pits 1. There are more people to interact with it does a much better job of creating the setting and feel. You can tell they put some real effort into it. It is a little short, but not as short as blackpits 1, Or at least it doesn't feel like it. .But its very challenging. This can be good or bad depending on whether you are good or bad at making parties, it also challenges you greatly to manage your income. Not a lot of new weapons and armor, mostly just reusing other stuff. If all aspects of the game were as well done as this, it would be amazing and I would give a shining stamp of approval.

    My overall thoughts are, if you are getting it for Singleplayer only, then its great. Personally I like having all of it nicely packaged together on a steam account so I don't have to keep track of all the disks. For me that has significant value. So no matter where I go or what computer I have, I will always have Baldur's Gate 2. However, that praise really goes to Steam and Beamdog, not Overhaul games. They don't get credit for that.

    If you were getting it for multiplayer, my thoughts are to wait a few months and let them release some hot fixes and patches. IF its still broken at that time then forget it. If not then buy and have some fun.

    I would also recommend getting it for addon content. Despite all of its flaws, it does have a very active modding community, with a wonderful set of support forums. If there is a bug, it is likely known and there could even be a work around. The devs got it right in creating a strong user community.

    So overall, 5/10 for the new content. For the original content 9.5/10    … Expand
  5. quartzlcc
    Nov 18, 2013
    7
    Bottom line: Good improvement/stabilization. Multiplayer actually works decently. Mediocre additions. Reasonable price. Beamdog is effective but slow, and a bit sloppy.

    Improvements/stabilization: Beamdog worked hard to make BGII run properly on new machines, and in general, just work a whole lot better without performance varying overly much between different computers. They crushed a    Bottom line: Good improvement/stabilization. Multiplayer actually works decently. Mediocre additions. Reasonable price. Beamdog is effective but slow, and a bit sloppy.

    Improvements/stabilization: Beamdog worked hard to make BGII run properly on new machines, and in general, just work a whole lot better without performance varying overly much between different computers. They crushed a whole lot of bugs, and introduced some new ones. Not unexpected. They have done a fine job of squashing new bugs, and in general I've found BGII:EE to contain minimal bugs. BG:EE had a horrible number of bugs on release, but thankfully as they are on the same engine, nearly all of the bug fixes that they worked on for the past year in BG:EE carry over to BGII:EE.

    Multiplayer works decently: Deal breaker. Baldur's Gate seems a perfect match for multiplayer, but in the original games it was incredibly buggy and prone to stop working at any given moment. Not only have they fixed most of the bugs with multiplayer, they also gave us a matchmaking feature so we don't have to manually hand out our IP addresses to people. That said, it's worth noting that they promised a matchmaking feature over a year ago, initially stating it would be in BG:EE upon release. They only recently got it working a few weeks ago. If you're jumping in now, then huzzah. But it's worth noting how slow these guys are.

    Mediocre additions: The areas in BGII:EE look great and pretty true-to-the-original, which is excellent since the new environments looked very much out of place in BG:EE. I find the characters very disappointing, however. While Baldur's Gate always blended the world of the Forgotten Realms with the rhetoric of today somewhat, Neera goes over the line. She very much feels like apart of our world and seems out of place in the Forgotten Realms setting. That said I do enjoy her personality, but it's worth noting she's terribly Western Hemisphere. Unfortunately her voice acting seems uninspired, this time around. While she sounded very bubbly in BG:EE she sounds a little bored in BGII:EE. I'm not sure why. Hexxat is game-breaking, a complete box of contradictions, basically existing purely to throw Evil Partiers a bone. Oh, and probably to convince iPad users (who will have to download the characters as DLC) to buy her once they Google her stats. She feels very much like one of the NPC add-ons that a modder added to the game, not like she was written by a professional. Dorn stands as wasted potential; what could've been an incredibly interesting character is just a flat, one-dimensional character instead. According to his stats he has a 15 Wisdom, which is fairly high, and yet from his actions and words he seems to be one of the least wise characters in the game. Game director Trent Oster bragged that he was an "unapologetically evil" character, and I'm sad to say that he was quite right. Dorn has absolutely no conscience, not semblance of honor or restraint in any situation. Not only is that gratuitous, but it is also bad characterization, boring, totally inhuman and unrealistic. I had high hopes for Dorn, perhaps too high. It would seem though that Beamdog is incapable of analyzing human nature and understanding the existence of evil, and as such, they will never be able to write a realistic and relatable evil character. A shame. If you have never played BGII before, I would say to instead seek out Viconia, Edwin, and a certain Throne of Bhaal exclusive NPC if you wish to witness genuinely interesting evil characters. Indeed, it would seem that the Sun Soul Monk Rasaad is the only character who actually fits in to the established universe in Baldur's Gate II.

    Reasonable price: The only people saying that the price is unreasonable is those that already own Baldur's Gate II. Yeah, of course you think it's overpriced at that point; all you're looking at in that case is an upgrade. For those who have never played however, $25 is a steal. Since there is no real way of deciphering between those who own the original and those who do not, it is $25 for us all. Besides, Beamdog needs the money so that they can expand and perhaps stop doing such slow and somewhat sloppy work.    … Expand
  6. Zubacz
    Dec 4, 2013
    5
    This is Baldur's Gate, so it is bound to be awesome, however this Enhanced Edition is a much worse experience than the original. Apart from the technical improvements, the game has diminished in quality. The new characters are mostly boring, especially the new to BG2- Hexxat. She is boring in her normal interactions but her romance is just ridiculously flat. A collection of singleThis is Baldur's Gate, so it is bound to be awesome, however this Enhanced Edition is a much worse experience than the original. Apart from the technical improvements, the game has diminished in quality. The new characters are mostly boring, especially the new to BG2- Hexxat. She is boring in her normal interactions but her romance is just ridiculously flat. A collection of single sentences pretending to be a dialogue. Dorn is unrealistic, a terribly created evil character, that does not even compare to the genius of Edwin, Viconia, Sarevok or even Korgan. Neera's story is predictable but at least has some depth to it, despite the ridiculous quests. I am told Rasaad is slightly more interesting, bu I haven't tried him.
    Overlooking the quality of the writing though, the game is so bugged it's just unpleasant to play. New content is terribly buggy- missing monsters, dialogue triggering out of nowhere making little sense, looping character comments, that break the game and so on.
    Buggy new content can be understandable though, however the whole game bugs really often now. Randomly added stats on character creation, missing dialogue, game getting stuck for no reason. It is just unpleasant to have to use the console and third party programs to fix the bugs or create work-arounds for glitches.

    If you are new to Baldur's Gate 2, do not buy this version. Get the original and download the resolution and widescreen mods. It might sounds hard, but the time you will spend in Enhanced Edition searching for console commands or ways to approach glitches will definitely be longer than installing the mods for the original BG2+ToB.
    If you are a veteran BG player, I'd wait a year or so, before getting this. BG1:EE only became worth paying for after patch 1.2, which came out almost a year after release. In it's current state the game is just unpleasant.    … Expand
  7. Irishpride1960
    Nov 21, 2013
    5
    Usually fighting bugs is confined to the start of an RPG, but bugs remain a constant enemy as the game progresses, there is a patch in the works, but hold off until it's implemented to see how well it works. BG2 EE is a great idea, but badly executed. The price may be a sticking point for some, but for others that don't want to mess around with mods, its a fair price, but not worth payingUsually fighting bugs is confined to the start of an RPG, but bugs remain a constant enemy as the game progresses, there is a patch in the works, but hold off until it's implemented to see how well it works. BG2 EE is a great idea, but badly executed. The price may be a sticking point for some, but for others that don't want to mess around with mods, its a fair price, but not worth paying until its well patched.… Expand
  8. Fikthenig
    May 9, 2018
    7
    I think this is a pretty good rpg and I recognize it to be an influential game that has also impacted so many rpgs after this. However, I would think that the enhanced edition would at least kink out some of the bugs that plagued this wonderful game. I am not going to criticize anything with the gameplay or it's story because there is nothing to criticize over. It maintains its own styleI think this is a pretty good rpg and I recognize it to be an influential game that has also impacted so many rpgs after this. However, I would think that the enhanced edition would at least kink out some of the bugs that plagued this wonderful game. I am not going to criticize anything with the gameplay or it's story because there is nothing to criticize over. It maintains its own style that elevate the rpg style it tries to imitate. However, the bugs were just horrendous with making this gameplay as awsome as it should be. Good Luck and Merry Adventures!!… Expand
  9. Thejodjeremie
    Jun 5, 2020
    6
    A solid sequel that is pretty much more of the same. The characters and story are interesting from what I played.
  10. BenzoSt
    Jul 12, 2022
    7
    The story, characters, and locations in this sequel are more interesting and exotic than those in the first Baldur's Gate game. Indeed, this game excels in these regards. Unfortunately, the combat and inventory management components of the game are burdensome, with an excessive amount of time devoted to necessary pre-combat buffs and mid-combat pauses. Furthermore, there are some gameThe story, characters, and locations in this sequel are more interesting and exotic than those in the first Baldur's Gate game. Indeed, this game excels in these regards. Unfortunately, the combat and inventory management components of the game are burdensome, with an excessive amount of time devoted to necessary pre-combat buffs and mid-combat pauses. Furthermore, there are some game balance problems because some spells and advanced abilities (such as Greater Whirlwind) are so powerful that they utterly invalidate other strategies.… Expand
  11. jorge1102
    Aug 21, 2023
    6
    只推薦給喜歡D&D的玩家，遊戲從職業到各種裝備，都有詳細的文字去說明故事背景，神兵利器的文字解說，更是精彩絕倫。遊戲劇情的對話讓玩家自由選擇與回答，當然選擇也會伴隨著各種後果，喜歡角色扮演的玩家，不能錯過這款遊戲。
  12. Magical_Viktor
    Apr 30, 2023
    6
    Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»Существуют просто Зло и Большое Зло, а за ними обоими в тени прячется Очень Большое Зло. Очень Большое Зло, Геральт, это такое, которого ты и представить себе не можешь, даже если думаешь, будто уже ничто не в состоянии тебя удивить. И знаешь, Геральт, порой бывает так, что Очень Большое Зло схватит тебя за горло и скажет: «Выбирай, братец, либо я, либо то, которое чуточку поменьше»

Awards & Rankings

80
#80 Best PC Game of 2013
62
#62 Most Discussed PC Game of 2013

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 34 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 34
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 34
  3. Negative: 0 out of 34
  1. Everyeye.it
    Feb 14, 2014
    90
    It's a great chance for all the fans out there to relive history of western RPG. Enhanced graphics and interface make this a great remaster of an immortal classic.
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  2. God is a Geek
    Feb 3, 2014
    80
    There’s no doubt that Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Edition is a product of its time, but there’s also no doubt that it’s an absolute classic of the RPG genre.
    Read full review
  3. PC Gamer
    Jan 31, 2014
    84
    Doesn't do enough to be the uncontested definitive version, but provides a fresh perspective on an exceptional RPG. [March 2014, p.72]
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