Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear

 PC
  • Publisher: Beamdog
  • Release Date: Mar 31, 2016
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 577 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 194 out of 577
  2. Mixed: 30 out of 577
  3. Negative: 353 out of 577

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  1. MarcusSofurious
    Apr 11, 2016
    0
    I cant believe a game was released with such game breaking bugs. First of all my save file has been corrupted four times. So consider my impression of the game 4x as tiresome as it needed to be.
    I tried to slog through the resets and crashes, but the dialogue is horrendous. Characters seem to be lables and ideas rather than living and breathing. They dont fit with the setting.
    Its very    I cant believe a game was released with such game breaking bugs. First of all my save file has been corrupted four times. So consider my impression of the game 4x as tiresome as it needed to be.
    I tried to slog through the resets and crashes, but the dialogue is horrendous. Characters seem to be lables and ideas rather than living and breathing. They dont fit with the setting.
    Its very reminiscent of a cosmonaut at a dog show, aure maybe theirs a convoluted reason for him being there, but he keeps shouting russian propoganda at people and spilling vodka everywhere.

    It's trash. Not because of the constant crashes and wipes, not because of the horrible, childish dialogue, but both. I cant mindlessly ignore the dialogue due to the crashing, and I cant forgive the crashing because theirs nothing good to come back to.

    Save your money, this is not a completed game, and it shames any goodwill I had with the franchise    … Expand
  2. elManicho
    May 19, 2016
    0
    Problems:
    1) graphics seem degraded. Game looks like a cartoon now.
    2) AI is still stupid as ever. 3)some encounters are silly. Bunch of undead around a tomb (dinner table)? 4) screen scroll doesn't work nicely. 5) everything seems blurry. Like someone spilled smoke over the game. Original game was far more crispy and clear. 6) new class is supposed to dance. No animation....why? So    Problems:
    1) graphics seem degraded. Game looks like a cartoon now.
    2) AI is still stupid as ever.
    3)some encounters are silly. Bunch of undead around a tomb (dinner table)?
    4) screen scroll doesn't work nicely.
    5) everything seems blurry. Like someone spilled smoke over the game. Original game was far more crispy and clear.
    6) new class is supposed to dance. No animation....why? So hard to add some non 1pp stuff in the game? Hire that Sentrizeal guy, do yourselves a favour.
    7) while rather nice, new areas don't really look as BG. So people pls stop writing nonsense line in the course of "it feels like old BG" because it doesn't. Some may like it, some may not; but new areas have nothing to do with original, for bad or for worse.
    8) crashes. gotta love ctds.
    9) Options menu. Click a red box, I can barely tell if an option is now on or off - it's still red, just mildly less. If this is a game for handicapped people, I don't want to know what it would look like if it weren't.
    10) LUA options. Is this so impossible to implement in game, rather than keeping a seperate file that looks like this:
    SetPrivateProfileString('Game Options','Journal Popups','0')
    SetPrivateProfileString('Game Options','Classic Selection Circles','0').........................

    This is awful. Clumsy, lame, seems more like WiP than something a proper game would endorse.

    11) Portraits. Where to begin? What happened to Imoen? Did Sarevok beat her up ? there were supposed to be some new ones. I found 2 male and 2 female, both of fairly low quality looking as they just arrived from Arcanum of Steamworks; a quick google search will net you several dozen better ones.
    12) LoB mode is nothing more than a very simple mod can do - unlike the game implementation, mod actually works properly.
    13) Most importantly, it's linear. No BG game is so linear as SoD.
    14) The devs begging for positives reviews in their forums was hilarious and just sad.
    15) Deleting negative reviews, really? I'll keep posting, it just shows how corrupt these guys are.    … Expand
  3. MRGamer
    Apr 14, 2016
    0
    Beamdog, all you had to do was treat the original game with respect, and any reasonable attempt at an expansion would have sold hand over fist day one. Instead, you had the nerve to "fix" what was not broken, and add unnecessary elements that detract from the game and change beloved core characters from the original. When you reflect on this as a business decision, realize that you lostBeamdog, all you had to do was treat the original game with respect, and any reasonable attempt at an expansion would have sold hand over fist day one. Instead, you had the nerve to "fix" what was not broken, and add unnecessary elements that detract from the game and change beloved core characters from the original. When you reflect on this as a business decision, realize that you lost sales, not because of the supposed political drama and shortcomings of customers' worldviews, but simply because you deviated from an original IP that was a sure thing. In my case, I am a long time fan of the original games, and hold them in such esteem that I will not suffer an expansion that is not true to the original. I chose to get a refund on Steam for this reason. I had modest expectations for this expansion, and would gladly have purchased it, but Beamdog could not leave well enough alone and just take my money.… Expand
  4. Badgerbeer
    Apr 20, 2016
    0
    Very poor game experience underpinned by many short comings in the story, dialogue options and a myriad of game breaking bugs. This is particularly damming as it was the story line and NPC personalities that made the original so great back in the day. The voice acting was also poor in comparison to the memorable lines delivered in the original back in 1998. Many of the new additions do notVery poor game experience underpinned by many short comings in the story, dialogue options and a myriad of game breaking bugs. This is particularly damming as it was the story line and NPC personalities that made the original so great back in the day. The voice acting was also poor in comparison to the memorable lines delivered in the original back in 1998. Many of the new additions do not fit into the story line at all such as new character classes and races and the new NPCs are exceptionally poor and forced upon you at times. One could be forgiven for thinking that the new development team / writers had not actually played the originals? Unnecessary changes were also made to fondly remembered original NPCs that did not match their character at all.

    Multiplayer did not work, but that may be a positive as there is little content or replay value to actually warrant me and colleagues to play this together.

    Overall I would recommend any fan of the original game from 1998 and its sequel to NOT play this expansion or the enhanced editions for that matter, as this is a very poor product hiding behind the Baldur's Gate name and there is certainly nothing here to warrant the title of "enhanced"

    I should also bring to your attention that Beamdog actively encouraged their "fans" to artificially boost review scores were possible, in response to the negative reception the expansion received.    … Expand
  5. Originald
    Apr 23, 2016
    0
    While no game is perfect, when Baldur’s Gate (BG) was originally released in 1998 and subsequently followed by a sequel in 2000, I was blown away. The narrative was compelling, the dialogue witty and intelligent, fantastic villains, excellent voice acting, spending time worshiping the ground my Drow Goddess Viconia DeVir walks upon.... oh wait I digress.... but the list of positives couldWhile no game is perfect, when Baldur’s Gate (BG) was originally released in 1998 and subsequently followed by a sequel in 2000, I was blown away. The narrative was compelling, the dialogue witty and intelligent, fantastic villains, excellent voice acting, spending time worshiping the ground my Drow Goddess Viconia DeVir walks upon.... oh wait I digress.... but the list of positives could go on and on. Sure games have moved on since then, with the likes of Dragon Age, Mass Effect, The Witcher, Dark Souls etc. but the original BG series will always be among the RPG greats.

    Hence when four years ago it was announced the games were being revamped with the possibility of new expansions or sequels I was very excited.

    Alas these enhanced editions have been nothing more than severe disappointments and the new expansion Siege of Dragonspear continues the trend of mediocrity one has come to associate with Beamdog products.

    The game was found wanting in almost all areas, including but certainly not limited to:
    Numerous game breaking bugs with clear evidence of lack of QA
    Exceptionally poor writing, dialogue, lackluster character development, lack of insight into how interactions should work
    Spelling and grammatical mistakes
    New party NPCs which are uninteresting, lack charisma and in some instances have no genuine reason for actually being in the game.
    New classes and race specialisms that are completely unrelated to the plot or setting
    New areas that are completely out of place and do not serve any purpose other than to say, hey look its new content!
    A stark contrast in the sense of humour used in the original, the new material lacks any sort of emotional impact
    Unwanted changes to the personality of old party NPCs
    Lack of understanding of D&D lore
    Lack of respect for the original game material
    No new challenges and a watering down of difficulty
    Failed to address balance issues by importing BG2 mechanics into BG1
    Performance issues even on high spec machines
    NPCs are forced upon you in a failed attempt to bring some sort of cohesion to the plot
    Things which are supposed to be Easter Eggs or Jokes (I assume) but achieve nothing but break the game immersion
    Attempts at doing multiplayer did not work
    Importing saved games resulted in crashes almost like malware
    No innovation or creative flair

    The list could go on and on but as there is a word limit here I have kept it succinct.

    While it was good to see some old voice actors return e.g. David Warner reprising his role as the villain Irenicus, Jim Cummings as Minsc, it was sad to see such talented people wasted on this expansion through its poor writing and execution. Even such talented individuals can only perform as well as the script they are given unfortunately.

    As for Beamdog, well for reasons unknown over the past four years there are individuals at Beamdog who decided to alienate a large section of the fan base of the original games by adding unwanted features to the enhanced versions, not listening to constructive feedback, changing things which did not need changing and so on, making promises on game content and translations to encourage pre-orders that were subsequently broken.

    Many genuine fans of the original BG games and D&D have been silenced, banned, discriminated against, trolled upon and subsequently discredited on their official forum over the years, so it comes as no surprise that when Beamdog finally released a new expansion it has failed so miserably to impress the target audience of such a game, the majority of whom do not actually use the official Beamdog forums.

    The lack of professionalism permeates Beamdog's ranks is not only confined to its own forum though, as evidenced when Beamdog actively encouraged individuals to give artificially high review scores in attempts to circumvent the barrage of negative criticism received for the poor quality of their
    products. Unfortunately for Beamdog they cannot silence people on metacritic, steam, YouTube, twitter and other social media as they have done within the confines of their own forum.

    Beamdogs main achievement with this expansion is to merely undermine the original games legacy once again with another below par release.

    In comparison to more modern game titles available in 2016 or even if one prefers retro style games, one cannot recommend investing any time or money in this expansion.

    Final Verdict: All those responsible for this substandard game expansion, and for that matter the "enhanced" versions of the BG games, should be banished indefinitely to the Nine Hells of Baator!!    … Expand
  6. DickTracy
    Apr 8, 2016
    0
    I already knew the writing from Beamdog is weak and sub-par from the previous EE games, so I have low expectations before playing this expansion. My concerns are about gameplay.
    Aside from a barely functional UI, I encountered an incredible amount of bugs in singleplayer of which I'll mention:
    - Localized BG:EE content should not be missing from the SoD build as this expansion is    I already knew the writing from Beamdog is weak and sub-par from the previous EE games, so I have low expectations before playing this expansion. My concerns are about gameplay.
    Aside from a barely functional UI, I encountered an incredible amount of bugs in singleplayer of which I'll mention:

    - Localized BG:EE content should not be missing from the SoD build as this expansion is supposed to bridge between BG1 and BG2
    - Pathfinding issues
    - It should not be possible to cast arcane spells from quick slots while wearing armor
    - Inventory item icons should not have a distorted shadow effect
    - Character AI choices should be remembered after a load
    - Elves should not have access to all mage specializations
    - It should be possible to load an old save game
    - Legacy of Bhaal stats should not be reset to normal for creatures in the area a game is loaded in
    - Proficiencies should not be ignored for the off-hand weapon if you have a weapon with both a ranged and melee function in the main hand
    - Story Mode and Nightmare mode should not randomly activate and deactivate
    - Character record should display the active weapon style bonuses
    - Archer opponents should not attempt to run away while entangled
    - You should be able to trigger the coalition camp attack
    - Neera's quest items should not disappear
    - Romance should end after dialogue with Glint
    - Legacy of Bhall difficult reset randomly
    - Petrified Dynaheir
    - Khalid and Neera should not be killed at the Bridgefort...

    and 50+ more bugs that I logged in the forums, Spoilers and lack of space to mention here.
    As of right now the multiplayer is simply unplayable.
    Until these is fixed updates and patches that allow for a smoother gaming experience, I consider this game inherently broken. This is simply not acceptable.    … Expand
  7. jprepo1
    Oct 1, 2017
    2
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Poorly written, very, very buggy, and pretends to be a socially conscious by writing characters in the most token way possible, inadvertently being disrespectful.

    The game is extremely linear, with almost no choices to actually be made, removing a lot of player agency.

    It also goes back and rewrites some characters, such as Safana, for being not PC enough, which is pretty disrespectful to the source material.

    Oh, and they're begging for good reviews on their forums, which, as you might expect, should be a huge warning sign.

    Has potential, but the developers need to fix their bug and get a whole heck of a lot less preachy.    … Expand
  8. WombatSock
    Apr 7, 2016
    0
    The UI is a mess (black boarders and poor arrangement of buttons). The voice acting is terrible. The character development is as interesting as a potato. The cell shading looks silly. Multiplayer doesn't work... and why do my saved games keep getting corrupted?!!

    Baldur's Gate is suppose to be epic and awesome... why does it have to suck now?
  9. Gulskjegg
    Apr 13, 2016
    0
    I played Baldur's Gate when it was released back in 1998, and remember it fondly. I still have images of the original installation CD's plus the Sword Coast expansion. Ultimately, Baldur's Gate set the standard by which all RPG games would be measured. Unfortunately, this latest release is not only bug ridden, but also badly written, and reflects poorly on the quality the developers. To beI played Baldur's Gate when it was released back in 1998, and remember it fondly. I still have images of the original installation CD's plus the Sword Coast expansion. Ultimately, Baldur's Gate set the standard by which all RPG games would be measured. Unfortunately, this latest release is not only bug ridden, but also badly written, and reflects poorly on the quality the developers. To be blunt, this game is an insult to the BG legacy, not an enhancement. Do not reward inferior programmers that are far more interested in pushing their kooky social agenda than they are with creating smooth, bug-free games.… Expand
  10. wallfrog
    Apr 11, 2016
    1
    Pros: Its Baldur's Gate, kinda... I guess? Combat hasn't changed too much, so that helps a bit.

    Cons: Oh Gawd, the writing... much of it isn't just fan fiction quality, its BAD fan fiction quality. I was writing stuff at this level in middle school ffs. Its like they're being bad on purpose. What else..., oh bugs galore. Crashes, slow downs (didn't they swap to a new engine?),    Pros: Its Baldur's Gate, kinda... I guess? Combat hasn't changed too much, so that helps a bit.

    Cons: Oh Gawd, the writing... much of it isn't just fan fiction quality, its BAD fan fiction quality. I was writing stuff at this level in middle school ffs. Its like they're being bad on purpose.

    What else..., oh bugs galore. Crashes, slow downs (didn't they swap to a new engine?), disappearing NPCs (or teleporting, they come and go at times), borked quests, and my personal favorite, missing save files. Thanks so much for wasting 7 hours of progress, Beamdog. Much    … Expand
  11. rarest_pepe
    Apr 8, 2016
    0
    Pros:
    Technically, it's slick, the graphics are nice and the game engine makes the fights and character development enjoyable.
    Cons: Very glitched to the point it's unplayable. The characters are poorly written, I really felt like playing an amateur self-insert fan-fiction mod. Super cringy. The plot is EXTREMLY railroaded. Basically, it's not a Baldur's Gate game, and it's not a    Pros:
    Technically, it's slick, the graphics are nice and the game engine makes the fights and character development enjoyable.

    Cons:
    Very glitched to the point it's unplayable.
    The characters are poorly written, I really felt like playing an amateur self-insert fan-fiction mod. Super cringy.
    The plot is EXTREMLY railroaded.

    Basically, it's not a Baldur's Gate game, and it's not a very good game altogether.    … Expand
  12. CommonBe
    Apr 27, 2016
    0
    Dozens of gamebreaking bugs
    Exceptional poor narrative and woeful writing
    Very poor in comparison to the original games

    Not worth buying in 2016 with so many better RPGs now available
  13. LarsWS
    Apr 5, 2016
    0
    A garbled mess of sub-par writing that falls well below that the original Baldur's Gate series. I played and loved those back when they first came out. They are some of my favorite games ever. Siege of Dragonspear does not reach the knees of those games and should be avoided by anyone who wishes to retain their fond memories. I wish I would have never played this.
  14. TrueGamer81
    Jun 17, 2016
    1
    I understand a lot of people are taking exception to the "SJW" agenda perceived in the game. The problem is I've heard some gamers use "SJW" and "leftist" almost interchangeably. Well I want to clear something up: I'm a leftist, I am an actual leftist and despise SJWs and their divisive, self-righteous, identity politics laden, petty bourgeois rhetoric. Just thought I'd point this outI understand a lot of people are taking exception to the "SJW" agenda perceived in the game. The problem is I've heard some gamers use "SJW" and "leftist" almost interchangeably. Well I want to clear something up: I'm a leftist, I am an actual leftist and despise SJWs and their divisive, self-righteous, identity politics laden, petty bourgeois rhetoric. Just thought I'd point this out because I don't want people to associate true left-wing politics with little crybaby liberals, and I certainly don't want the political left associated with this awful, awful game.

    That is all.    … Expand
  15. Saber-Scorpion
    Apr 6, 2016
    2
    Pros:
    - Some of the old voice actors are back.
    - The gameplay is still pretty much Baldur's Gate, which is of course fine. Cons: - Most of the other new voice actors are pretty bad, and every line is voiced now for no reason, unlike in any other Baldur's Gate game. - There are quite a few bugs, and many previously-working mods are currently broken. - Many changes to the user    Pros:
    - Some of the old voice actors are back.
    - The gameplay is still pretty much Baldur's Gate, which is of course fine.

    Cons:
    - Most of the other new voice actors are pretty bad, and every line is voiced now for no reason, unlike in any other Baldur's Gate game.
    - There are quite a few bugs, and many previously-working mods are currently broken.
    - Many changes to the user interface and graphical style are unwelcome. Some can be disabled in the options, but most cannot. Many of them are there to hold the player's hand, and feel distinctly out of place.
    - The storyline plays fast and loose with established lore and characters, at best. At worst, the writers use it as a soapbox for political commentary on modern themes like gender politics and the refugee crisis. And the iconic character Minsc now gets to spout Internet memes. How wonderful.

    This feels more like fan fiction than a genuine entry in the classic Baldur's Gate series. It wasn't needed. I recommend just playing the original games as they were meant to be played.    … Expand
  16. KrekkaBlade
    Jun 9, 2016
    0
    I could look past all the technical issues and questionable design choices, but the writing is simply horrid.

    Safana's "transformation" of character is, simply put, retarded and inconsistent, the game is very linear (unlike true Baldur's Gate games), sometimes the Chaotic Evil characters aren't offered dialogue options that suit their alignment and on top of all these glaring issues,    I could look past all the technical issues and questionable design choices, but the writing is simply horrid.

    Safana's "transformation" of character is, simply put, retarded and inconsistent, the game is very linear (unlike true Baldur's Gate games), sometimes the Chaotic Evil characters aren't offered dialogue options that suit their alignment and on top of all these glaring issues, they have the guts to mock their own playerbase.

    This is not Baldur's Gate, as you might've guessed reading the other reviews. If Beamdog wants to force their agendas in a game, they should do it in a series of their own. I hope WotC takes their rights to the BG franchise back, because Beamdog has neither the skill nor the knowledge of how to do a proper fun, well-written RPG.    … Expand
  17. NoBadGames
    Apr 7, 2016
    0
    This game is completely broken in it's current state. My save got corrupted and I had to restart all over again. To add insult to injury multiplayer flat out doesn't work and the writing is bad fan fiction tier (that is being generous). Do yourself a favor and skip this one. I wish I had.
  18. karmasleeper
    Apr 11, 2016
    3
    Linear gameplay, few consequential choices, restricted travel, bugs everywhere, terrible UI with awful arrangement, lame story, bad writing with shoehorned "vibrant" characters, and my save games got corrupted.

    Black Isle Studios is no more. The golden age of RPGs has passed us by. This game may look the part, but it's a modern piece of trash through and through.
  19. Medowin
    Apr 4, 2016
    2
    The graphics for the game somehow managed to be WORSE than the original due to terrible line filters on the sprites. The length of the campaign is extremely short and the characters are so terribly written that it's cringeworthy and is completely irreverent to established characters.

    If you were hoping this campaign would revive the Baldur's Gate franchise, think again. What a terrible    The graphics for the game somehow managed to be WORSE than the original due to terrible line filters on the sprites. The length of the campaign is extremely short and the characters are so terribly written that it's cringeworthy and is completely irreverent to established characters.

    If you were hoping this campaign would revive the Baldur's Gate franchise, think again. What a terrible insult to a once great game.    … Expand
  20. titmo71
    Apr 8, 2016
    0
    This game is trash. Do not waste your money, time, or effort on this debacle unless your into junior high level fan fiction and have an affinity for game breaking bugs.
  21. lman03
    Apr 19, 2016
    0
    This game is bad. I read all these reviews that said it was the most amazing thing ever, but they lied to me. The graphics are bad, the story is bad, the gameplay is bad, the UI is bad. I don't know how it got a good rating and good reviews from the game news sites.
  22. FreedomFromCrap
    Apr 9, 2016
    0
    I rarely rate a game 0, but this one deserved it. Not only was the writing and dialogue among the worst that I have ever seen, but my save corrupted several hours into the game. I was forced with either quitting or restarting from the beginning. I had no motivation to replay the content that I had already played, because to be honest, the game is just not good... I rated this 0 becauseI rarely rate a game 0, but this one deserved it. Not only was the writing and dialogue among the worst that I have ever seen, but my save corrupted several hours into the game. I was forced with either quitting or restarting from the beginning. I had no motivation to replay the content that I had already played, because to be honest, the game is just not good... I rated this 0 because with frequent save corruption it's nearly unplayable. If the save corruption was fixed, then I would rate this at about 3.… Expand
  23. Stikbomma
    Apr 6, 2016
    0
    Game has tons of very annoying BUGS. The open-world adventurous feel of the original is gone.. The writing (outside of the SJW stuff) is just plain corny and amateur, and not in the same vein as BG1 at all. And yet, the developers are attacking the fan-base of the original game for being disappointed about all the game's problems. Seriously, who does that??? If they had just come out andGame has tons of very annoying BUGS. The open-world adventurous feel of the original is gone.. The writing (outside of the SJW stuff) is just plain corny and amateur, and not in the same vein as BG1 at all. And yet, the developers are attacking the fan-base of the original game for being disappointed about all the game's problems. Seriously, who does that??? If they had just come out and said "look, we apologize, the game has a bunch of issues, but we're working asap to fix them" then that is how you respond to this situation, but instead, they imply we are all liars and bigots and racists, when in fact most of us are just complaining about all the bugs in the game and not a trans character. Marketing 101 Beamdog, if you alienate your brand champions, you are DONE. And even on that note (the SJW stuff), yes the original games flirted with some LGBT ideas you could say, but never forced them down your throat. It's just wrong on so many levels.… Expand
  24. paulrevere
    Apr 16, 2016
    0
    Would you like a new Harry Potter novel in which Ron would be rich and Hermione would have an average intelligence level to not discriminate anyone? Would you like a new Tolkien novel where hobbits were taller to not discriminate anyone?

    Most likely NO. If you add to an existing series - in this case Baldur's Gate - stick to the lore. If you don't want to stick to the lore, create    Would you like a new Harry Potter novel in which Ron would be rich and Hermione would have an average intelligence level to not discriminate anyone? Would you like a new Tolkien novel where hobbits were taller to not discriminate anyone?

    Most likely NO.

    If you add to an existing series - in this case Baldur's Gate - stick to the lore. If you don't want to stick to the lore, create your own IP and leave the original untouched.

    Siege of Dragonspear is a total failure. I wish it would have never been released. It befouled my beloved Baldur's Gate.    … Expand
  25. Zarthos
    Apr 16, 2016
    0
    This is my first ever game review, and the writing and story to this game are outrageous. The story deviates from the norms of Baldur's Gate, with added, unnesaccery political ideology.
  26. AnduinX
    Apr 5, 2016
    0
    This game is extremely buggy and crashes frequently. If you dare to brave this game, I would suggest having MANY backup saves so you do not have to restart from the beginning. Multiplayer is non-functional. The personalities of well known characters like Jaheira have been changed to conform to some kind of political agenda by the writer. All in all, this is one of the worst games that IThis game is extremely buggy and crashes frequently. If you dare to brave this game, I would suggest having MANY backup saves so you do not have to restart from the beginning. Multiplayer is non-functional. The personalities of well known characters like Jaheira have been changed to conform to some kind of political agenda by the writer. All in all, this is one of the worst games that I have ever attempted to complete, and the injection of politics into the game only makes it worse.… Expand
  27. Bansai
    Apr 6, 2016
    0
    The game just doesn't work properly, it's buggy, multiplayer practically doesn't work, and there are some worriesome changes to some characters personalities that are not canon with the series, which is weird considering it's a bridge, not a sequel/prequel.
  28. Fawks
    Apr 20, 2016
    0
    The writing is not even fanfiction worthy. I still can't believe what they did to Safana. How Beamdog's genius writers can explain her sudden personality shifts between first and second games.
  29. coconner
    Apr 8, 2016
    0
    Its just bad. I had to restart three times because of game breaking bugs. The writing is on the level of poor fanfiction. Established characters have had their personality changed, multiplayer support is non-existent.
  30. Vordrak
    Apr 5, 2016
    0
    This is a difficult one.

    I played the original Baldur's Gate back in the late 90s / early noughties, when I was still at University. It is a game I have never forgotten - in fact, even today nearly 20 years later I still have saved character files from the original CD-ROM version of the game. Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition was an opportunity to allow fans to relive a great game, but    This is a difficult one.

    I played the original Baldur's Gate back in the late 90s / early noughties, when I was still at University. It is a game I have never forgotten - in fact, even today nearly 20 years later I still have saved character files from the original CD-ROM version of the game.

    Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition was an opportunity to allow fans to relive a great game, but sadly it has added little to the franchise whilst there have been many complaints of bugs.

    Even so, I decided to give the new expansion Siege of Dragonspear Keep a fair try as it was on offer. After buying and installing the game, I fired it up. My first concern was that I still cannot import my characters from the original Baldur's Gate. A casual forum search reveals that this is by no means an uncommon problem and has been known about since 2012. For a product that owes so much to nostalgia, that is no minor flaw.

    The expansion coincides with the 2.0 patch for the 'Enhanced' version of the game. Unfortunately new settings introduced for animated characters are, to put it kindly, unaesthetic. Users have described this as making the game look worse, although it should be noted that the settings can be turned off.

    Finally, the writing in Siege of Dragonspear is clumsy in the extreme compared to the original. The game's writing includes a certain amount of political comment - not in itself unwelcome in any artistic genre. However, the heavy-handed preachiness is unwelcome as is the impression of an unfamiliarity with the game's setting. There is a jarring disconnect between the original game and the new DLC.

    As I already own a copy of the original game, I am left with the feeling I have gained nothing from my purchase other than wasted time and annoyance.    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Most Discussed PC Game of 2016
79
#79 Most Shared PC Game of 2016

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
  1. CD-Action
    Jun 29, 2016
    75
    Living up to such legacy seemed impossible but Beamdog understands Baldur’s Gate and created a game true to the original. Unfortunately along with the party you need to gather a band of patches, because bugs are crawling all over the place. [06/2016, p.40]
  2. Games.cz
    May 18, 2016
    70
    Decent expansion to the classic RPG, which -in addition to the inevitable technical limitations- suffers mainly due to the uneven quality of the script. All in all, it is a very good excuse to once again venture into the world of Faerûn.
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  3. Pelit (Finland)
    May 9, 2016
    80
    Beamdog’s expansion embraces both the past and the present. The adventure is inconsistent, ragged and the script could be a lot better, but at its best Siege of Dragonspear captures the essence of Baldur’s Gate - even if fleetingly. [May 2016]
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