I have the original game (BG II) but I was looking to purchase the EE Version. (I noticed that the Original Game doesn't seem to be on sale at this site anymore).
I did not enjoy BGI EE as much as the Original. Question is, is the BG II EE, as a good version of BGII. Good defined as either a better version of BG II or an equally good but different enough version to justify buying it.
Thanks.

No. There isn't enough changed to justify it.

I myself played the original BG Saga years ago. Only once, and start to finish took me over a year to complete. Best damn year of my life! Favorite game of all time, yet only played it once. Always think about playing it again, with all these runs planned out in my head. But now with kids and everything, it would be a daunting task for me right now. Someday.

Now these "Enhanced Editions" are out now, and I ain't got nothin' against them, but they seem to me to be... unnecessary. I have no desire to play anything other than the original versions as the original developers intended (with perhaps a widescreen mod). And God forbid if someday I ever play the original versions so much as to require them to be spiced up, then there seems to be a strong modding community with stable enhancements readily available... with seemingly better enhancements than what the "Enhanced Editions" seem to boast.

But mind you, I have no ill will towards the "Enhanced Editions". On the contrary, I'm appreciative that they've re-shined a spotlight on my favorite set of games of all time.

So I'm curious, macAilpin (or anybody else): why did you not enjoy BG1 EE as much as the original?

I started BG EE 1 when it first came out. I remember when I played the BG Original for the first time and I had to figure out how to stay alive on the First Map, I thought I am going to like this game. And BG Original rarely disappointed. (Those little Jungle Creatures always seemed pointless.) So when I began EE, it felt too easy. But I realize that--- having liked the first one so much and knew it well--- it may have been just an unfair reaction. But I stopped playing BG EE 1 pretty quickly.

I guess I should be fair and give BG II EE a shot.

The only thing I like is that they were able to port it to mobile devices.

However, I also bought the EE on GOG if only to play the original version. My complaints with the EE mainly stems from the fact that it doesn't look and play like it did back in '98. Beamdog's GUI looks ugly and a quick job (especially the main menu!), the additional characters and storylines stick out like a sore thumb in quality (maybe they didn't want to feel guilty being paid for reselling a game that they didn't even develop), and I dislike that it uses BG2's engine and all its assets because I like seeing the improvements in BG2 when I get to it, like any other game in a series/trilogy. This also made BG1 EE a lot easier than the original.

Even if the original's low resolution is brutal on modern monitors, I still think the originals look and play better if you weigh the pros and cons. And I didn't like paying the price Beamdog wanted me to pay, just to play the original version anyway.

That said, their Planescape EE looks much more respectful to its original appearance. And I think it's because they contacted some of the original developers for advice. I would have played their version if I didn't already play the original a couple years ago. Too bad they didn't put the same effort into BG series.

That's the point of a remaster. It should feel more modern than in the years it was released. Some people are complaining that Beamdog didn't make enough changes to justify releasing the game once more. And now I read that the changes are too big. That's very interesting. Again I have to disagree. The UI in BG1 EE looks better than in the original. It has BG2 style of course, but the original interface looks bad these days. I agree however that it's controversial whether BG2 EE UI is better than BG2 original one. In my opinion Neera, Dorn and Rasaad fit the original game quite nice. The only problem with them is that they're much more developed than the original NPC's. They resemble BG2 companions in terms of dialogues and interactivity, but I don't find this a problem. Baeloth on the other hand is a little too grotesque and has trouble fitting to the rest of the game. This is purely a matter of preference. A lot of people played BG1 on BG2 engine via BG Trilogy or BG Tutu, so I think that's an advantage of the EE. New class kits are also fine. They expand the game beyond what was available in the base BG2. I don't know if it's a lot easier, but it's easier. But you have this little slider in the menu that gets rid of this problem. Currently I'm finishing my playthrough of EE on insane difficulty level and I find it just right. It could be even more interesting without loads on a failure. And then there's the Legacy of Bhaal mode. Try it and I bet that you won't complain the game is too easy. One of the biggest advantages of the EE is zoom. It worsens graphics quality, but makes the game playable on modern resolutions. It still looks better than the original in 640x480.

- The people who are saying they didn't make enough changes to warrant reselling the game are correct, even if most of these changes are free through mods. That said, I'm part of a smaller group of people who prefer the way the original looked and played, aside from the low resolution. I'm glad you find that... interesting. - The only pro to the new UI is the fact that it is available in a higher resolution. Otherwise, I just think it's ugly. Compare that to Planescape EE's UI, which is very well done and blends in very well compared to the original UI. The color scheme, style, etc. is as close to the original as possible while supporting higher resolutions. Personally, I can get past the 640x480 scaling on a modern display. You may not. As for BG2 EE, the UI is closer to BG2's UI, however the differences are still enough for me to care: http://neptunegames.it/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Baldurs-Gate-II-Enhanced-Edition-comparison-6.jpg Call me picky. Much more interactive, but not nearly as interesting, at least in 2. That leads me to ... Your grasp of the obvious is inspiring. Want to know what the bigger advantage is? Modding the original game to get these changes for free (except for the story content of course). Don't know if they changed this, but on mobile devices, you had to pay for the new characters. You'd think with the price tag they set for a game, 98% of which they didn't develop, that microtransactions wouldn't be necessary. Difficulty encompasses more than just an enemy's strength in BG. It also involves skills and gameplay mechanics. In BG1 EE, that little slider doesn't change the fact that you don't have to come fully prepared for a battle because the game pauses when you go into the inventory screen. This is a welcome addition in BG2, a breath of fresh air, but this goes back to my comment about wanting to see how it evolved when you finally get to 2. On top of that, you get to learn to adapt to the changes in 2, which is fun for some people, rather than already knowing it in BG1 EE. Sure. This was really useful on my iPad when I first played it. As I've said, I thought the best thing about this was the port to mobile devices. This is easily the best game on mobile platforms. Don't really see how this is as useful on monitors though as they have more screen space.

Either way, the question still remains. Why do I have to buy Beamdog's EE just to play the original? I think you already know the answer, and it starts with 'G'.

Alright, but do you get the original with EE or not? I don't think it's a problem that you like an older version for whatever the reason. I like retro games as well. I also understand that someone could get frustrated when the EE were sold at a much higher price than the originals, but now their price on sale is very good. So you get more for basically the same price. If you don't like the EE, you can always play the classic version. That's what it's for. It has BG2 style, but with different colors. So if you like the original UI from BG2, it's hard for me to understand why you consider BG1 EE interface ugly. Yes, it has some unique changes on character screen and inventory, but these are very useful and don't spoil the game design in my opinion. Really? Most of the original NPC's have a very scarce personality. There are no deep dialogues with them, their creation relies mostly on a few loudly spoken phrases and are very simple in design. BG1 one was a pioneer in this variation of RPG genre, so this is understandable, but why criticize the efforts to add more flavor to the game? Personally I think that not everything relies on personal preference. There are some objective opinions that are not susceptible to sensible discussions. You can get comparable results when modding the originals, at least in most areas. This doesn't include zoom, UI improvements and new characters, as you pointed. Also keep in mind that not everyone has the desire, abilities, nor time to mod the game. It's a different situation than playing "out of the box". As I said before, if someone wants to see the evolution of the series, there are still originals shipped with the EE. I like to play BG1 on BG2 engine, because the game is more consistent this way. Nothing beats the feeling of playing through both games with the same character, preferably with a class added in BG2. When you launch the original on 1920x1080, the game objects are tiny even on a decent screen size. This makes it almost impossible to precisely give orders to your characters. Zoom solves this problem. That's the trade agreement between Beamdog and (probably) Hasbro. Frequently when a remaster gets published, the older versions are put out of sale. It's quite normal. You can still find disc editions of BG1 and BG2 though.

- You already said you understood why people are frustrated they are paying a higher price for a game. The originals were around $10 CAD back before the EE? Now I have to pay over double that just to play the original. I don't want "more" than what I want, I just want what I want. It's a greedy business practice. The excuse that I "can always play the classic version" really doesn't forgive this.

- More than the colors are different from the image I linked, sadly.

- I said "at least in 2."

- There's no such thing as an objective opinion. If an opinion becomes objective, it becomes a fact.

- That's like prebuilt PCs, where they charge an excessive amount for something you can do yourself. That's up for people to decide. But clearly, I made my own decision.

- Too bad it isn't sold separately.

- I wasn't talking about the original in this quote, I was talking about the EE. EE zoom feature is less useful on a monitor compared to a mobile device's screen. Bigger screen = less reason to zoom when the game supports high resolution compared to a mobile device where there is very little screen space.

- Too bad most people like myself don't have optical disk drives in their PC anymore. It's pretty obsolete for gaming in 2019.

- How the hell are you able to quote different sections of my post? Is this a browser-version only thing?

The sale price is usually very good. I don't see a reason why someone who wants the game shouldn't wait for a price cut. I got my BG1 EE and BG2 EE for $2 and $4 respectively.

And I still think that it looks a lot better than BG1 original interface.

A fact is an objective opinion. I don't see a problem in using these two phrases as substitutes. This doesn't change the fact that it's purely a matter of preference if one likes more the retro style of BG1 engine rather than BG2. I suppose you're in a minority on this.

I don't deny it's more useful on mobile devices. But I find it very useful on PC as well. The originals didn't have this feature and this complicates things when playing on higher resolutions using widescreen mod.

I find it useful mostly for reinstalling system. I use it very rarely to install classic games. But it happened a few times last year, so I'll keep the drive for now. I bet that you can copy BG discs and get them working with virtual drives however.

You have to use the quote tag and end it properly. Check the screenshot.

Thanks one and all. Went with EE. Had to crank it above Core Rules quite a bit to get combat right and I don't play by Iron man rules. But I now lose if I make a mistake.
I never went from BG I to BG II immediately until now. But when you do you realize how much the developer's improved an already great game. Like going from High School to College. Which I guess makes Planescape: Torment a Master's degree. In abnormal psychology.

Thanks again

I assume you already played PS:T :)
Enjoy :)

Risible.

https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2017/08/Baldurs-Gate-2-Changes-and-Additions.html
https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2019/01/Throne-of-Bhaal-Retrospective.html

Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal are inferior to the original BG.

As are the EEs.

Your determination to insult people to be able to spam your blog is admirable. Especially if you really think that BG2 is technologically inferior to BG1.