r/baldursgate • u/Elf_7 • 1d ago
Original BG2 Where does the Baldur's Gate trilogy rank among your all time favorite games?
For me, it's no contest. My favorite game of all time is Baldur's Gate 2, a game I've been playing since release and it still has a lot to offer, even though I know most of the game very well. I know BG1 is well loved here and rightly so, a different game that I actually played AFTER BG2.
I was very used to BG2 so playing 1 felt weird at the beginning, I wasn't liking it too much but then it clicked and it is an amazing game too. Less depth but more freedom. TOB is also a nice epic closure of the OT but less popular in general.
Where does the OT or any of the OT games rank among your all time favorites?
51
u/ShiberKivan 1d ago
This was a very transformative experience for me. I have been playing games since I learned to walk, my father was a huge tech nerd so I grew up with Atari, Amiga 1200, Amiga CD and we were early PC adopters. My father was huge into RPG and strategy games like Master Of Orion, Populous, Dungeon Keeper, later Diablo. We used to play them together, I think I managed to get to like lvl 20 in Dungeon Keeper before I learned how to read and write.
I was actually the one who brought Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale to my father's attention, a friend from middle school invited me to his house to show me a 'real' RPG as I would not shut up about Diablo, I stayed till very late at night at his place playing those games. Turns out we already had copies at home, just didn't get around to plat them yet.
After I showed it to my dad we played them for months. We had two PCs in one room and we finished Icewind Dale together, 3 characters each. I would play backstabby sneaky thief and cheesy mage while dad was a tank and a cleric.
I played many different games since then and I love tons of them, but Infinity Engine games will always be in my top 3. I love series like Fire Emblem or Dark Souls or Final Fantasy... you know, name a classic I played it, but those IE games will always be special.
10
u/Elf_7 1d ago
One of my dreams was playing this game with another person or more people controlling one character each. Unfortunately I never found someone that liked BG as much as me (or liked it enough to do a full playthrough), I wish I could have played it the way you did with your father.
12
u/ShiberKivan 1d ago
Icewind Dale was the best for this, Baldur's Gate is better solo so you can read and do stuff at your pace, plus companions are amazing so it's a shame to run custom ones. IWD is light enough with dialog, and you make your own characters, and gameplay leans itself better for multiplayer.
My father was so mad that by the time he was done mopping up the skeletons in the tombs I have already disabled all traps and looted all treasure. I told him those undead are resistant to backstabs so my talents were wasted helping him in those fights lol.
Yeah unless you can convince a roommate or something it would be super hard to play those games together, they are a real time sink so good luck doing this as adults... but playing with 1 or 2 other people is doable, each controlling 2 or 3 characters. Just actually commiting to finishing the game in multiplayer was once in a lifetime deal for me. Even solo I have started hundreds playthroughs but could count on one hand the times I saw end game.
I just keep endlessly reinstalling the games, modding them to the gills, planning out my parties and then play for a dozen hours before I get distracted by life or something else, forget where my install folder even was, and start all over again.
3
u/SystemShockII 1d ago
You must have picked up the game late. Up untill ~2004 on GameSpy you could still find MP and RP rooms. But what i loved the most were the 1v1 pvp Duels
2
u/Elf_7 1d ago
I've been playing since release, like I already stated, but I wanted to play with friends by LAN instead of online servers.
3
u/SystemShockII 1d ago
Oooh you didnt mention that part.
Well i went online specifically because i too didnt know enough ppl who played DnD.
7
u/Think_Treacle_2348 1d ago
I loved reading this.
4
u/ShiberKivan 1d ago
Those were some good times, only in hindsight I can really apprecioate how rare and precious it was. And having my father's lvl 99 barbarian ear after I cheesed him in pvp as a necromancer in Diablo 2 is still one of my most cherished gaming accolades lol
2
u/Maleficent-Treat4765 15h ago
Did you played the Bard’s Tales series and Heroes of the Lance? Those were the games that brought me into RPG.
1
u/ShiberKivan 13h ago
Those were a little before my time! Most of the titles I actively played were made in the 90s. Stuff like Might & Magic VI - XIII. I heard of Bard's Tale but we never got our hands on it. Heroes Of The Lance looks badass but today is the first time I heard of it.
Most of my RPG games came out around the time I played them, so Follout, Morrowind and so on. From the older games it was primordial soup of various titles mostly from Amiga, a lot of strategy games like Populous there.
1
u/Mr_FuttBuckington 7h ago
What a great memory
I played BG1 as a teenager in HS when it came out that winter, and BG2 a few years later when I was working and going to school
They weren't exactly graphically mindblowing at the time, but the art style was still extremely appealing with the hand drawn backgrounds
Also - we had one monitor in those days, and no cell phone, so smoking some weed and popping in BG2 was a dedicated experience of escape in a world that was exxtremely well realized.
40
u/Ahoymateynerf 1d ago
Ending of ToB with the cutscene and music blaring stirred something in me that no other game has come close to doing.
1 forever.
3
u/CelestialFury You katana stop me 1d ago
Good observation! The endings of all the BG trilogy have been badass.
34
31
u/Intelligent-Room-507 1d ago
Top. Maybe Heroes of Might and Magic III is in the same league.
8
u/DariaYankovic 1d ago
Haha, now we are talking!
Beside BG and HOMM3, what else is in there for you? For me, the KOTOR games are up there, too.
7
u/SystemShockII 1d ago edited 6h ago
Mass effect 1&2, Divinity II: Developer's Cut
System Shock 2, Bioshock Trilogy
Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, Fallout New Vegas
STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl.
STALKER Call of Pripyat
Dead Space
Titanfall 2
Gothic 3
Edit: Planescape:Torment, Pillars of Eternity, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer.
3
u/Ok-Distribution-3836 22h ago
My man, how come gothic 1 & 2 are absent from this list?
1
u/SystemShockII 21h ago
I didn't get around to play them ( yes I know, heresy!) I got the Gothic Universe boxset with all 3.
3
1
u/ProperTree9 6h ago
Torment isn't even really a game, IMHO. But it's probably the finest interactive computer novel ever done.
6
u/Intelligent-Room-507 1d ago
Yeah that one was great. Also enjoyed the RTS games of that era, AoE 2, Red Alert 2 etc.
1
27
u/RainbowBullsOnParade 1d ago
BG1 is my favorite game ever and it’s unlikely that anything will ever dethrone it. BG2 (and ToB) is a genre defining masterpiece.
3
3
23
u/Fantastic_Shelter_54 1d ago
BG2 is IMO the best game ever made. Followed closely by BG1 in second place. In case you're wondering for a full top 3, the 3rd place goes to Scribblenauts
25
16
10
u/ParadiseRegaind 1d ago
Baldur’s Gate trilogy is #1,
Mass Effect trilogy is #2,
Wing Commander saga is #3
2
u/Danskoesterreich 1d ago
Does wing commander still hold up today, or is the nostalgia a major factor?
3
u/RelativeRent2946 21h ago
Wing Commander 3+ still holds up, 1&2 require nostalgia but are playable ( also dirt cheap on GOG )
22
u/hollowcrown51 1d ago
It’s top 5 for sure. Other ones up there are Breath of the Wild, The Witcher 3, Dragon Age Origins and at least one Xenoblade Chronicles game (2 or 3 I think).
3
u/Zarni_woop 1d ago
I wanted to love dragon age origins, but it just didn’t happen. Is there a point where it really takes off and becomes amazing?
•
1
u/usernamescifi 1d ago
Same, I've bounced off of it so many times. For whatever reason it just does not hook me.
4
u/Steadfast_res 1d ago
Some people seem to not understand the mechanics that well and get frustrated with that, especially since it is not based on DnD or anything familiar. But are you talking about the actual story? Because that's crazy. It is pretty much the best written and voice acted RPG in existence.
→ More replies (2)1
u/Zarni_woop 1d ago
I didn’t like kotor much either. Great story, but game itself did nothing for me. Story was great though. So, it’s probably just my fault that I couldn’t get into DA:O
0
u/Steadfast_res 17h ago
This kind of comment is interesting here because these games are based on the same control scheme as Baldur's Gate. The action is real time with pause and basically a hotbar for skills. The difference between BG1,BG2, KOTOR and Dragon Age Origins is very minimal on this point. I actually prefer the choice to just make BG3 turn based, but all those older games were following the same control scheme and it is hard to see why you would dislike the mechanics of specific ones when at a basic level they really work the same.
1
u/Constant_Count_9497 13h ago
I assume it's due to the visuals. Like, looking at Baldurs Gate, or Pillars o Eternity you know what the game play is going to be on first glance.
KOTOR, Origins, Jade Empire, at first glance you'd think they're 3rd person ARPG's. I can understand a disconnect gameplay wise when you're thrust right into the action but you still have to just "sit and watch" the combat play out.
1
u/Zarni_woop 10h ago
No, it’s because Kotor started a trend of rpg-lite games. Very shallow gameplay with good stories. I respect the decision as it brought the developer to a wider audience and made them more money, but it wasn’t as interesting to me.
20
8
u/illathon 1d ago
I think the ToB villain was pretty bad honestly. The build up to the end was pretty awesome, but obviously BG 1 and 2 at my top 1 games in history for me and ToB is a great addition, but I think it needed more work.
3
7
u/F3YR4L 21h ago edited 21h ago
My personal Top 5 RPGs would be like this :
1 > Morrowind + Tribunal & Bloodmoon
2 > Baldur's Gate I - II - ToB
3 > Final Fantasy VII - VIII - IX - X
4 > Knights of the Old Republic I - II
5 > Mass Effect I - II would be tied with Neverwinter Nights + Undrentide & Underdark
2
u/SystemShockII 6h ago
What about NWN2 Mask of the betrayer?. I just added it to my list because DAMN!
2
u/F3YR4L 3h ago edited 3h ago
The second NWN did not make the same impact on me ( writing / atmosphere ) , i played the main campaign and didn't even finished it as far as i recall . Back when it was released i had a lot of personal stuff going on and since then i never managed to go back to enjoy RPGs as i used to ( apart from Mass Effect --- the third was horrible though ) .
3
u/SystemShockII 3h ago
Yeah main campaing was as bad as nwn main campaihn. But mask of the betrayer was simply amazing. Reminds me of Planescape Torment
2
u/Lahnabrea 4h ago
Similar to mine, I just dont think ME2 offers the agency of 1 so just putting ME1 there.
4
u/RTCsFinest 1d ago
Bg1 was the first rpg I ever played. Got it in a bundle when my parents bought our first home pc from Gateway. Don’t know if anything can top the original first experience of that, but overall I think I enjoyed Bg2 slightly more. I would rank them both #1 if I could.
The Mass Effect trilogy (especially 1 and 2) are an easy 2nd for me, followed by the Witcher 2/3 and then Dragon Age: Origins.
Really enjoyed Avernum: Crystal Souls though, and was surprised I’d never heard of them before. Super underrated games.
3
u/wheres_ur_up_dog 1d ago
Of my top ten favroites and the games I default to, they are the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9 and10.
3
3
u/PALLADlUM 1d ago
They rank right beside Planescape: Torment
1
u/zephyr220 2h ago
I loved BG but could never finish PS:T. I just got bored and sidetracked. Maybe I'll give it another go since everyone raves about it, but TBH Baldur's Gate felt like a better game and I'd rather read an actual book than play one.
But maybe it gets real deep later in IDK.
3
u/Birdwatcher2018 10h ago
BG2 by a large margin #1 but I spent many many hours in the 90s on gold box tsr Pool of Radience.
3
u/Fright-Face 8h ago
id kill for more dnd games in the style of pool of radiance. its amazing how much more immersive those games can be in their settings than even modern games can do now
5
u/Malk-Himself 1d ago
As a series, it ends up behind Civilization I guess, but individually Bg1 takes the crown.
6
2
u/Archelaus_Euryalos 1d ago
We may be biased here, but I have not played a better game with a more fleshed-out story and I played this game when it first came out.
2
u/leekhead 1d ago
It's my most replayed non-roguelike, non-forever game. It got me into TTRPGs.
1
u/RazorFrazer 1d ago
What’s the best rogue like game?
2
u/leekhead 1d ago
I wouldn't call them the best but my favorite and most replayed ones are: Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, Brogue, and CDDA.
2
2
u/skrott404 1d ago
Somewhere in the top ten. Precisely where changes depended on the other 9 games and where they are at whatever moment.
2
u/Apex-Editor 1d ago
I think number 1, albeit this may be more of an honorific position. So many greats, but when I need to name one, the Infinity Engine games feel like the only true answer.
2
2
2
u/DariaYankovic 1d ago
It's up there.
I think KOTOR 1 and 2 will always be my top games.
BG 1 and 2, and NWN 1 and 2 are right there as well. In the moment, I probably liked NWN 2 the most, especially Mask of the Betrayer, but I come back to BG 1 and 2 more than NWN 1 or 2.
You could say I really like classic Bioware and Obsidian!
HOMM 3 could go anywhere up there as well. I have to play it every once in a while every year.
2
2
u/DJfunkyPuddle 1d ago
Somewhere in the top 10. It would be impossible for me to actually put numbers to games so that's as good as it gets.
2
u/Fangsong_37 Neutral Good 1d ago
It's way up there. I'm not going to lie and say I've played more BG than other games, but I was 14 when I got the game and have played it a ton ever since.
2
u/Barkpung 1d ago
I'd still say that Baldur's Gate 1 is my all time favorite game, even playing it again after all these years fills me with joy, I just never enjoyed 2 as much.
2
u/Ceronnis 1d ago
The thing about those games is that they were game changing DURiNG the golden age of PC gaming. RPG in America were ok, but mostly Japanese rpg. Some action RPG like Diablo, but nothing was close to what Baldurs gate was bringing to the table.
I never get tired of.playing Baldurs gate
2
2
u/J_Quailman 1d ago
It’s the only Game I play on any platform consistently.
Like you, played BG2 before ever playing BG1(I eventually did).
Started playing in the early 2000s and came back to it in 2020. I’m so glad I did.
I’m not a big gamer, but BG2 introduced me to rpgs and that world. BG2 runs are simply the best video game I’ve ever played since and it doesn’t get old for me doing 1 run a year.
2
2
2
u/CockroachNo2540 1d ago
Top 5. Civilization, Kerbal Space Program, Skyrim and Fallout round out the five.
2
2
u/Accurate-You-3688 8h ago
IWD, BG1, BG2. Including DLCs
2
u/Fright-Face 8h ago
if iwd was a decision here thatd by my answer tbh. only reason iwd2 isnt my preferred one is because of the 3e ruleset
2
u/Fright-Face 8h ago
bg1. generally dnd is just better balanced for lower/mid levels, and a lot of bg2 just becomes a constant-buffing, constant-pausing clusterfuck piled ontop of varying rng if you play above normal difficulty. theres a reason people often recommend newcomers to download some sort of overhaul/rebalancing mod for it, and theres also a reason why the genre-defining qualities of it are mostly defined by the story.
but bg1 is generally rather well balanced i find, all things considered. its more open too, and generally more convenient to b-line to where you know you want to go on subsequent runs, whereas much of bg2’s scope is either limited or streamlined in comparison. bg2’s companions are generally better, but i do prefer bg1’s more niche companion “slot-fillers.” people you scoop up because they serve a functional niche that a player or custom character cant quite replicate
1
u/GamerGarm What would you have me do? 2h ago
Yeah, I really love BG1 and prefer to replay it over BG2.
2
1
1
u/J_E_R_Q 1d ago
I have played all DG game with my old man and we make it a tradition to try and replay them every few yesr when we can so the seriers as a whole hold a a special place in my heart. And with the new bg3 game I play that with my partner, and I have when going through the og games with her, so it's #1 in my book
1
1
1
1
1
u/DragonHeart_97 1d ago
I'm curious to know since I'm still getting through BG1, is Throne of Bhaal really long enough to qualify as its own entry? I know from reading up on the original games that it was based on what they had planned originally for a third game. As far as DLCs are concerned, my main experience is with Fallout. So as an analogy, would it be comparable to Fallout 3's Broken Steel that provided a storyline to conclude the game, or New Vegas's DLCs that added their own distinct story arc?
1
1
u/Joulurotta 1d ago
1, 2 or 3, depending on day, either Baldur’s gate 1 through Throne of Bhaal, Icewind Dale or Pillars of Eternity. Each one lives rent free in my head.
1
u/Valkhir 1d ago edited 1d ago
Very high for BG1 and BG2. My gut feeling is BG1(EE) in the top 5 and BG2(EE) in the top 10. But I find it difficult to assign numeric rank between games, and I find it especially hard to compare games I played during my formative years and have replayed many times for more than 25 years against recent games. Nostalgia, familiarity and comfort are a non-zero factor in how much I love some games, and that very much includes the Infinity Engine games. And I played those games so early in my gaming journey that they shaped my preferences in a fundamental way only a few other games/series have.
(I don't know where BG3 would rank, but not that high. It was a decent game that did some things very well, but also disappointed me in many ways and felt like a slog towards the end)
EDIT: I realized you count ToB as a third game on its own...it's objectively not, it was released as an expansion to BG2 and these days it's part of BG2EE. But if I were to rank it as its own game, I would rank it very low. Not sure it would make my top 30, maybe top 50.
Other games/franchises that would likely go into my all time top 10: the Super Smash Bros franchise, the Dark Souls series (especially 1 and 3), Elden Ring, modern open world Zelda (BOTW/TOTK), Neverwinter Nights, the Pillars of Eternity series, Skyrim.
I think Elden Ring would be my top spot (for my tastes, it does almost everything right and almost nothing wrong...the worst thing it did was end) but a lot of the reasons I love Elden Ring trace straight back to BG1.
1
u/300_20_2 1d ago
Got into the infinity engine and infinity engine adjacent games recently because of Warlockracy and I'd say BG would rank pretty high. I haven't finished yet but somewhere near Fallout 1/2
1
1
u/usernamescifi 1d ago
In no particular order among the tiers.
The highest tier: Mass Effect Trilogy (I count them all as one game), BG1&2, BG3.
In-between the highest and the next tier: Horizon Zero Dawn & Forbidden West.
Next tier: Dead Space 1 & 2, Gears of War Games, Halo games, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Dark Souls 1→3, Armored Core 6.
Games that make me feel nostalgic but aren't necessarily my favorites anymore: Fable 1 & 2, Elder Scrolls Games (Arena → Skyrim).
1
1
1
u/SignificantCareer258 1d ago
Easily within the top 10 and that is for all time. Its that damn good.
Throne of Bhaal is a little underwhelming but the first two are gaming perfection.
1
u/Schwarz_Technik 1d ago
It's hard for me to rank my all time favorites but it is for sure in the top 5.
- Baldur's Gate Sage
- Baldur's Gate 3
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein
- Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
- Factorio
1
u/Kindly-League-4695 1d ago
BG2 was a game that when I finished, I actually missed my npc friends. It hit me hard that it was over.
1
u/Omega_scriptura 1d ago
First, I have replayed it countless times. I could do so many more. It combines the elements of freedom found in other games such as Skyrim, Morrowind and Breath of the Wild with a strategic element arising from the need to manage your party. A true masterpiece.
1
u/Etrigone 1d ago
Story-wise? Hard call. Within easy reach of the top but hard to say. It's like finalists in Master Chef; so close its the tiniest of details between.
Playfeel? Possibly top, especially BG1. Something special about that sandbox.
Mechanics? Middle plus, cuz I grew up with that system so as weird as it is, nostalgia.
In this group I put at least 2-3 of the Ultimas including Underworld and 7, Neverwinter Nights and a few old school rpgs like Eye of the Beholder and even as far back as Dungeon Master.
1
1
u/Environmental-Can421 1d ago
BG2 was a life-changing experience and I enjoy it to this day. I bought BG1 only a few years ago, but I do not really like it -- most of the game seems like a chore.
1
1
1
u/asimovs 1d ago
I see people mostly have rpgs in their top list here which makes sense, but as someone mostly into multiplayer and competitive games in my teens the bg series is still top3, def top1 single player, and of the few single player games i could pick up and play for hours until this day
But of all games it shares the top with starcraft and quake3(i just put so many hours into those games) and dark age of Camelot, first mmorpg i played and it felt like bg but with real people(i know they are nothing alike but the fantasy element)
1
1
u/eternaladventurer 1d ago
I can't choose between them, so I tie 1 and 2 for #1. BG3 is next on my list, incredible game but it doesn't have the same nostalgia factor. Maybe Deus Ex is next, or Witcher 2-3.
1
u/Barl3000 1d ago
Pretty damn high. The release of BG2 happened around the same time I was getting into tabletop rpgs through an afterschool "club". The people I played with there was raving about BG1 so I quickly got into it, but never managed to complete it as I had very little idea what. Also, as said BG2 released shortly after and drew my attention instead. That game I manged to complete as I had a slightly better understanding of the system (and used cheats if things got too difficult).
Now that I think about it, I never completed TOB either. I really should go back and do a complete playthrough some day. These game was an important part of my early adolescence and helped shaped my nerdy interests.
1
1
u/Mr_FuttBuckington 1d ago
Top 3.
ToB was exactly what it should have been - the expansion pack to BG2, in the vein of expansion packs of that time.
My list is crowded with games like XCOM 2012 being at the top, as well as the JRPG masterpieces of the 90s, but Baldurs Gate 1/2 are so good that they easily find their way through the fray
They're just incredible
1
1
u/lazutu 1d ago
Number one game for me, baby. Above Heroes 3, Fallout 2, Witcher 3, Half-Life series, and so on (even though all of these get 9.2-9.8+ from me). I only play the vanilla games, I refuse to accept added bg:ee crap from JB and his team (dont ban me here as well, its an opinion). Tactics + Ascension + Insane to go.
1
u/HerculesMagusanus 23h ago
Definitely in the top ten. And I realise I may be in the minority here, but I'd say BG1 actually ranks one spot ahead of BG2 for me. There's just something about the low-level nature of the first game that really clicks with me
1
u/Glandyth_a_Krae 23h ago
1, together with StarCraft 1. Those were the games i used to play teenage.
1
1
u/AloneAddiction 23h ago edited 23h ago
It's certainly in my top RPGs but that's because on PC there are so many fantastic examples of the genre to choose from. That's even without counting Eastern, Japnese and console RPGs.
Fallout, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Deus Ex, KotOR, The Witcher, Pillars of Eternity, Divinity, Vampire: Masquerade, Wasteland, Ultima, Pathfinder, Might & Magic, Dungeon Master, Planescape: Torment, Morrowind, Gothic, Geneforge, Avernum, System Shock... So many great games.
We're genuinely spoiled for choice, and not one of them is shitted up with microtransactions, battle passes, season passes, lootboxes and all that other horrible predatory crap "modern games" are inflicted with.
1
u/Th-Upsetter 23h ago
My two favourite games that i have played most are baldurs gate 1 and morrowind
1
1
u/rolanddes1 23h ago
I cant make a sorting order. Because what was happenning in my life during the time I played the game has a huge impact on the memories of the games. Neverthless, Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment, Fallout, Diablo, The Elder Scrolls are my top games along with Age of Empires and Half Life series.
1
1
1
u/VargasIdiocy 23h ago
For me is Ultima 7 and 8, divinity 2, baldurs 2 and 3 , vampire redemptio, kingdom com are the best ones so far.
1
u/mischiefismyname 22h ago
Shares no1 spot with Skyrim.
no2 is probably HoMaM franchise (including M&M games)
no3 is Albion (bonus points if you know which game that is)
1
u/MrSilverstrings 22h ago
The two first at the absolute top. Nr three is good. But not at all equal in my opinion.
1
1
u/VoiceTraditional422 22h ago
Bg changed my fucking life. When i was 13 years old i didn’t have my own personal computer yet. I used to run to my neighbors house to hang out and watch him play lol. I didn’t even play. Just watched.
When i was a freshman in high school i saved up enough money to buy a decent computer of my own. It led me down a long road of hacking and turned into my profession for the last twenty years.
The only reason I saved up to buy that box was so I could play BG on my own campaign and my own machine. Fucking love it.
1
1
u/Blackthorne75 22h ago
Sharing the top of the podium with the Classic Collection of Fallout games; they're so on par for me I just can't shift either of them down :)
1
u/Sarge701 21h ago
The Baldur's Gate series is the love of my life – and forever my number one. Incidentally, it now comes with a huge nostalgic bonus, as I've known it for over 25 years and play through it from time to time.
1
1
1
u/Robin_Gr 20h ago
Base BG2 is my favorite section of the story. Overall, its easily top 3 favorite series for me. I'd have to think about it more. But honestly most series can't seem to get through 3 entries without taking a mistep these days. As a trilogy I think it has a really great average level of quality.
1
u/Leather-Flatworm-882 20h ago
It’s number 1 for me. My favorite is 1, then 2 (close call, they are both excellent). ToB enda the saga nicely, but it’s imo not as good as 1 & 2.
1
u/SuperMessy 20h ago
Maybe number 1, but BG2 is definitely in my top 5 alongside Final Fantasy Tactics, Metal Gear Solid V, Red Dead Redemption 2, Super Metroid.
1
1
1
u/Real_J_Jonah_Jameson 19h ago
Top 5
1 original halo trilogy.
2 original ratchet& clank trilogy.
3 Balder's gate trilogy.
4 ratchet& clank future trilogy.
5 gears of war trilogy.
1
u/Rusty-Knife 19h ago
I've compared every RPG to Baldur's Gate 2 since it was released and been disappointed most of the time.
The only games that even comes close for me are KOTOR and Fallout: New Vegas.
BG3 is just a different game. Great but it isn't BG2 great.
1
1
u/Fading-Ghost 17h ago
For me, I have played Baldur’s Gate 1&2, Ice wind Dale, Planescape torment way back when. For nostalgia, they sit firmly in the top 5. Baldur’s gate 3 is top
1
u/Zekiel2000 16h ago
Right at the top. BG1 was the first crpg I ever played (in 1999) so it was an incredible experience. Shadows of Amn was an astonishingly impressive sequel that is my #1 GOAT.
(I was comparatively disappointed with ToB since it misses most of the aspects I thought made SoA so great)
1
u/KingofBrass327 16h ago
As a series it is #3 but game by game BG1 is #5 of my top ten games, SoA and ToB are a two-in-one game for me to together I rank them at my #2 spot of favorite game of all time.... The build up was phenomenal, both Irenicus and Amelyssan were fantastic villains that made me itch to fight them... And don't get me started on the companions..
1
1
1
u/Defiant-Dare1223 14h ago
Planescape Torment is #1 for me
Then BG1
Then BG2
But all 3 are epically good
1
1
u/Anonymouswhining 13h ago
I started with baldurs gate 2 as a little kid. My dad and I never played 1.
It was one of the first major RPG games I ever played and it's got a special place in my heart. Id look up tutorials with my dad on game banshee. I got the freedom to pick my character and class. It was so well made and well done.
1
1
u/Rafael_Luisi 13h ago
In the category of isometric RPGs (games going from Baldurs gate, to KOTOR, to Dragon Age, etc) it's on top of the list. I played many of those, and Baldurs Gate 2 is my favorite of all.
It's one of my earlier experiences of playing an actual game that wasn't a flash game. I played it first when the EE edition wasn't even out yet, in a pirate version my brother had installed in a shitty notebook, when i was less then 10. I did not go far the first time, but I remember very well my first ever bg2 run. I years later installed the game again (also pirated) and played the whole thing many times.
I don't have an emotional attachment to bg1, since I only played a few years ago, but I dumped over 600 hours on it. And I played bg2 when I did not have steam yet, so I probably played over 800 hours of it.
Very important game for me, bg2 in particular, had lots of good memory's of it, and is definitely on my top 10 games I played.
1
u/NewAdhesiveness6007 10h ago
BG2 + throne of bhaal must be the all time top 1 for me. Oh the memories. Played it trough like 10 times.
1
u/Mycenius Montaron! I . . . I never loved you! 7h ago
Talking computer games in general?
1 no question for BG 1 & 2
2 is Planescape: Torment
3 is original X-com (UFO Defense) 1 & 2
If CRPG specifically then for comparison #3 probably Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2, or maybe Arcanum or Fallout 1 & 2.
1
1
u/ProperTree9 6h ago
It's this or the Fallout Series. (FO, FO2, NV, FO3 w TTW: not necessarily in that order.)
Other worthy contenders include Stalker of Chernobyl, the Operation Flashpoint series, and Civ II. (I'm old.)
1
u/Random___Precision 6h ago
I love these games. BG2 was such an epic, unrivaled video game for it's time. I can't even tell you how many times I played through it as a kid. Absolutely fantastic
1
u/Archezeoc 3h ago
Easily 2nd place
Favorite Video game franchise of all time: THIEF, its the only Stealth Game that appreciates STEALTH (what I mean by that is that you can make it through the entire series (except the reboot) on the hardest difficulty without the use of magic, tricks, or carnage.) Patience and strategy can have you pick a manor clean without so much as a servant or guard going "huh?" or a single candle doused to betray that you were ever there. Other games like Dishonored require at times that you either kill, or use special abilities to distract or circumvent, takes the "by the sweat of your brow" aspect out of the game
Second favorite: Baldur's Gate From Tales of the Sword Coast all the way to Baldur's Gate III, it is probably the most perfect RPG series of all time, there ARE some drawbacks in the original games, but its a series that rewards both Good and Evil, you are not railroaded into being a good person, like Dragon Age: Origins, nor are you made to feel like you are breaking canon for being evil, like The Witcher III, you can play the game a dozen times and except for a few encounters (and especially early dungeons), you can genuinely feel like each character is 100% different from the rest, even if a few of their decisions overlap. Your creativity MEANS something, as there are choices I have made that werent even included in the Primagames Walkthrough books that tell you about every little secret you missed in your first playthrough.
•
u/Yakob_Katpanic 58m ago
Pretty high. If you were to go on persistence, then definitely near the top. Along with the Street Fighter Alpha games and Capcom's D&D brawlers there isn't much else that I play as regularly for so long.
I would say there are always games ahead of it, but they age out.
1
u/Vadernoso 1d ago
It's definitely up there, it's hard to give it a top 10 slot. But they are all games I can regularly replay which is a rarity. For cRPGs I prefer owlcats games and nwn1 over BG.
1
u/nhvanputten 1d ago
Rank? There is no rank. You have a favourite game and it’s the Baldurs Gate trilogy. You can rank the other games you also like.
1
u/Mumbert 1d ago
BG1 - probably in my top 3 all time
BG2 - probably in my top 5 all time
ToB - not even top 100. Sorry but I can't stand it, I just think it's so bad in sooo many ways. It's horrible. I wish ToB was just some ill-made mod content rather than an official expansion.
ToB even taints SoA! It lets you go past SoA's original experience cap and use the stupid broken OP HLAs. It's ridiculous and makes the end of SoA completely trivial. I don't understand why the original 2.95m SoA exp cap was removed when installing ToB. But I'm just getting annoyed thinking about it so I'll stop here.
2
u/CelestialFury You katana stop me 1d ago
TOB also brought in a ton of engine improvements that were and are awesome. However, you don't have to use TOB related content until after SOA. You don't have to use HLAs early if you think they're too OP. And you know, we have mods that adjust all that anyway.
1
u/Mumbert 1d ago
I'm aware of all of that and it doesn't change a thing for my ranking or impression of the game. I'd much rather have seen ToB be the mod than require mods to fix things.
ToB is bad in so many ways that the few ways it was positive drown in an ocean of badness, for me. I could easily list 100 games that I think are better, I think ToB is just a bad game in many more ways than I've already mentioned.
0
u/bluedragggon3 1d ago
Oof I'm going to go against the grain here. It's top 100-50 probably. Possibly ranking in the low 100s. Keep in mind that's not all RPGs and I've played a LOT of games. So being up there means it's pretty big.
Sekiro, Kingdom Hearts 2 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided are pretty much tied in my mind at the moment as #1. And I'm ready to be roasted for thinking BG3 isn't far behind. Being a KH fan, an immersive sim junkie and obsessed with anything Fromsoft really bloats those numbers.
79
u/ForTheGloryOfAmn 1d ago
Number 1