Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

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Description

Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition is an enhanced re-release of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and also includes the content of Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal (plus the two bonus merchants from the Collector's Edition). It carries over all technical changes introduced in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (support for higher resolutions, cross-platform multiplayer, the ability to zoom in, a quick save button in the UI, new kits and various engine bugfixes) but drops the new cutscenes. It also adds a quick-loot button which opens up an additional bar showing all near items on the ground. This edition removes the external configuration tool and the tutorial.

This edition adds four new NPCs (plus a fifth easter-egg character without special content). Dorn, Neera and Rasaad are already known from the predecessor; the evil thief Hexxat is new. All four NPCs have two questlines (one in Shadows of Amn and another in Throne of Bhaal) with a scope comparable to major sidequests from the original game, e.g. the planar sphere. Each questline features completely new areas and sometimes optional sidequests of their own (although these are fetch quests which Baldur's Gate II usually avoids). The characters have dialogue with the main character, banter with other NPCs and romances; for the first time in the series there is also a gay and lesbian romance available. Besides bugfixes, there are no changes to the original content.

Also back is the Black Pit game mode which is a straight continuation from the same story of the predecessor: after escaping the Underdark, the group is captured by a powerful group which forces them into another area in Thay. The player can either use a predefined group (including custom behaviour scripts) or create new characters. The basic procedure is the same as before: this a series of arena fights; between fights players receive money to buy new gear from traders. However, this time the environment is bigger, has more story elements and non-trading NPCs to talk to.

Screenshots

Promo Images

Trailer

Part of the Following Groups

• Baldur's Gate series
• Gameplay feature: Auto-mapping
• Gameplay feature: Dating / Romance
• Gameplay Feature: Pickpocketing
• Graphics Engine: Infinity Engine

User Reviews

There are no reviews for this game.

Critic Reviews

Hardcore Gamer Magazine	Windows	Nov 17, 2013	4.5 out of 5	90
Destructoid	Windows	Jan 10, 2014	8.5 out of 10	85
Gamereactor (Sweden)	Windows	Nov 22, 2013	8 out of 10	80
Gry OnLine	Windows	Nov 19, 2013	8 out of 10	80
GameStar (Germany)	Windows	Nov 25, 2013	80 out of 100	80
411mania.com	Windows	Jan 25, 2014	7.6 out of 10	76
PC Games (Germany)	Windows	Nov 22, 2013	67 out of 100	67

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Trivia

Controversy (Hexxat spoiler!)

The new character Hexxat caused a big controversy in the official forums because many members could not handle a lesbian NPC without a romance option for male characters. Another hot topic was Clara (white skin), the NPC which is originally introduced as Hexxat and dies after the player finds the real Hexxat (dark skin); some players were very unhappy with this story arc.

Shortly after release the official forums were dominated by threads about Hexxat - mostly frequented the expected vocal crowd - and therefore Beamdog felt forced to ban those discussion topics altogether.

Related Web Sites

• Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (official website)
• Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (Official website)