Remember that you can simply skip the new content by refusing to take any new characters to your party. In this case the new content will be limited to the opening dialogue when you first meet new companions. EEs have a lot improvements compared to the originals. Right now I can't even imagine going back to the originals. But I'm in minority here unfortunately. :)

Yes, you are right, it is kind of stupid of me to condemn all the changes just because of the characters when I can just skip them or mod them out. Still, I think I am generally in favor of playing the original games just to make sure you're getting the designers' original vision.

Sure if you burned a CD with the mods you used back in the day, you can get an authentic experience to that, but I think you're being dishonest if you claim the people who say the Enhanced Editions are inauthentic and that the originals with mods are authentic are compromised mostly of people who done that.

Also, EE is totally inauthentic to the original game, but somehow browsing the web through the wayback machine is authentic?

True, but I never claimed it was. I just claimed the modded setup most people play Baldur's Gate with (which is usually even with BG1Tutu) isn't either.

Um, if you're playing unmodded BG1, how are you so sure how authentic the experience of a modded BG1 is?

No one's disputing the authenticity of playing unmodded BG1 (though if you download it via GOG you are forced to install TotSC). I'm not sure why, if you like playing BG1 that way (like I do) you're so eager to debunk my argument where I basically say that's what you need to do to get any level of authenticity?

That is totally false. Both of these games are just as a confusing mess as they were in their original release. The entire tutorial doesn't even teach how to play the game in the slightest.

In BG EE: nothing in the entire how to play section explains how to do anything actually game play related, that matters and helps the player actually play such as how to set and cast spells, how to open inventory, equip weapons, attack with them. If there are 4 enemies, how to target one, which one is targeted, and how to know it's targeted.

BG II EE
I cannot even get out of the first room in BG II EE. I also keep getting killed by bats because the player isn't explained if combat is even possible never mind how to actually do it.

Both of these games have no interface breakdown as to what anything is, and how to use anything, it doesn't even explain half the things it's talking about and uses words and phrases that confuse an mystify the player. Example WTH is a character doll? Why does it use that phrase and not even bother to simplify it nor show what the hell it's even talking about. It even says something about the quick bar or whatever the heck it is and starts saying to do all this stuff and never once explaining anything to what it's saying to do.

Pure sophistry.

You want a movie, son, not a game.

[1] There are three practice encounters in the tutorial level.
[2] Are you really saying that you didn't expect combat in a video game?
[3] Really? You can't make the leap from the little doll-like item on the interface to the conceptual character for purposes of equipping items?
Why should developers spend time teaching you basic comprehension skills? Should they begin with how to use a mouse and a keyboard, too?

Hint: play something else. Oh, right, then you couldn't complain and trawl the forum to make yourself feel good by hating everyone who likes the game. Feel better now? No? (Hint: you never will, give it up. ;)

Stop infesting your idiocy in this thread due to your inability to play this game just because you're just too lazy to learn in the first place. Go back to your own safe space thread.

Alright, enough of this arguing. Question: how does this compare to the original now? Still bad?

Nothing changed since that topic was opened. What do you mean still?

It would help if we knew what you considered to be bad about the EE's. Pricing? The shift to using the BG2 engine in BG1 and IWD? The new content? In any case, as far as I know there hasn't been any new update or changes to the EE games, although the games worked fine when I played through them (Windows 7 PC). I enjoyed the walk down nostalgia lane.

I will probably always play the original versions of BG1 and BG2. I dig the original developer's original versions of these games just fine.

If I ever get to the point where I've played them so many times that they feel stale (which'll probably never happen, as I don't play as often as I would like), I would install community mods that just add focused new content (such as NPCs or stand-alone quests) that (according to reviews) fit seamlessly into the original, but other than that leaves the game in its original form.

With that said, I am grateful to the Enhanced Editions. They shine a spotlight on my favorite games of all time, and bring them back into relevancy.

That's just me. I'm not sure why folks get so emotional over the EEs. We all have great lives if this is what we get uptight about.

Personally I always prefer the classic versions. But for those of you that dig the EEs better, cheers!

Likewise, I can appreciate both the original and enhanced versions of Infinity engine games with the exception of the EE of Planescape: Torment, since I haven't bought it yet. The only thing I didn't like about the EE versions of BG 1 & 2 are the exclusive NPCs that I didn't care about at all.

The only reason I bought the EE of BG1 & 2 and IWD was the discount and the bugs that were more or less addressed later on.

There's also a mod that removes the new companions from the EE's if you prefer not to see them at all too. :)

https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/here_is_a_mod_to_remove_beamdog_companions

This might actually be the best mod ever, removing all that (not so) woke lgbt crap.