Just finished a play through of both games and did a little bit of ToB (just joined up with Sarevok).

But frankly I'm suffering from a bit of fatigue with the game, with the desire for closure with Irenicus being my main motivator. So I was just curious how much people personally enjoyed ToB. The story looks pretty basic compared to the actual games but obviously I haven't played too far into it.

I liked it, myself. It's definitely more combat-intensive than the two main games, but at the same time, it gives the series a sense of closure that it needed. You've spent two games coming to terms with who you are - now it's time to confront what that truly MEANS, both for you and the Realms. (Besides, if you're as attached to your party members as I was by the time I got to that point, you absolutely need to see the epilogues.)

I didn't like ToB. Short, linear, the combat's cheesy and overdone(even though it would make sense for one such as the Bhaalspawn, it's just not my thing), etc. SoA is the real deal.

It's okay. Saradush and Watcher's Keep are particularly well-done, and are really quite interesting, and good. It can get a little tedious towards the end, though, since yes the combat can get a little cheesy, especially in the drow zones. And the Draconis fight is a chore, especially compared to Abazigal himself who is a pushover by comparison. I think it suffers some from APPEARING like a third full game in the series, when it's really just an expansion. If you treat it like an expansion instead of "Baldur's Gate 3" you'll enjoy it more.

One of the negatives is that the combat *has* to be cheesy, because D&D as a system wasn't designed for super-high-level stuff, it was designed to be balanced up to 20ish but not past that. Monsters get lots of attacks and will hit anyone and everyone very consistently unless they've got an AC of -15 or better, so it becomes sort of a race of who can heal the fastest, rather than the more strategy-oriented battles in BG1 and SoA.

Another of the negatives is that the party interactions are a LOT slimmer compared to SoA. Party members have things to say, but as a whole it's pretty bare, especially in the romance department. You've moved out of the area where most of the NPCs made their homes, so they're basically just tagging along for the ride... none of them have any quests in Tethyr. The game is also a lot shorter, but it's an expansion so that's really to be expected.

The positives are that it's pretty atmospheric, and the weapons are really neat, even if you have to do a bit of hunting to get them assembled. A genuinely useful club? AMAZING! It's also good to get closure on everything, like the epilogues and your destiny and even Saemon Havarian or the pantaloons.

Another of the bonuses is the increased level cap and the HLAs. They add a LOT to the game, and if you're running solo or with a small party, they can make a huge difference even while you're still in SoA. Mages actually being able to cast 9th level spells and druids not being useless are even better. They can unbalance (or rebalance) the classes a bit, though. Thieves and bards will reach level 40 at around 6.5 million XP, but they'll get lots of traps to set to make up for the "lost" XP. Mages won't get to level 40, but mages in D&D are powerful enough that it's not really a big deal... except that they only get extra spells, they don't get cool extra stuff like Use Any Item. Fighters, which traditionally have lots of trouble competing with casters at higher levels, can take as many Whirlwhinds as they want. Clerics are kind of in the same boat as mages, but they'll generally have enough 7th level spell slots to actually USE all of those neat bonus spells.

tl; dr: It's good, but it's not quite as good as SoA.

If I recall, I didn't like it all that much. Felt like unnecessarily dragging the storyline just a bit further.

I'd probably like it a whole lot more on a second playthrough, combat oriented stuff goes like that.
Just like I'm now on my second go of BG1 and like it better (although partly because I tutu now).

When there's anxiety to reach the end, you don't tend to appreciate the story going on and on..

I rarely see ToB through to the end, I get sick of constantly setting up all the buff spells.

The best part about ToB is the ending, without ruining it too much, the prologue goes through each of your characters and what happens to them after the game, and it is based entirely on how you played the game and interacted with them. It gives a better sense of closure than any other game I have ever played.

ToB is a bit too linear in general for my taste (though I believe the Ascension mod makes it a little less linear) and the setting (desert) doesn't suit my taster, but its still enjoyable to me.

In all fairness to the game, as it's not exactly an expansion pack, it's a step down from Shadows of Amn.

I enjoyed it, still play every so often for the memories, and it still does a fair few things right. I'm generally one to be very picky, maybe it's the rose tinted glasses, but I still find it more mature in some areas that later titles from a certain company. Never mind the cities felt like it.

That I give it credit for, as well as giving me an ending I respect. I didn't need to know more because it was too vague, it gave me enough to laugh, cry both from sadness and happiness at the same time.

I haven't played these game since they were new, but I'm just downloading and reinstalling them now. I can't remember what was SoA and what was ToB so I can at least say there was no obvious difference in quality to my 17-year-old self, though that isn't necessarily saying much. Am I right in remembering it as ToB being when you have a pocket dimension or something like that? That's about the only thing I can say that's ToB to. And your choices change how it looks, or how you look in your more monstrous form?

Yep, ToB is the one with the pocket plane.

It's not long at all, so don't worry about that part. It's not so much a part of BG2's story as it is the conclusion of the BG series as a whole. I'd recommend it, myself.