Put me in the camp of people who prefer BG1 to BG2, albeit with the BG2 engine tweaks. I'm just a fan of the open world survival setting rather then the city slicker setting.

I'm interested in EE if only for the improved MP. Getting BG to work MP can be quite the hassle. An the three new NPC's don't sound half bad either.

The iPad version has been released.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/baldurs-gate-enhanced-edition/id515114051?ls=1&mt=8

I got to tell you, free exploration in BG1 was quite cool. I would enjoy it much more even, if not respawning enemies ;_;

And bless people for writing 5-star reviews when they obviously haven't played the game yet *facepalms*. You got to dislike people like that - for all we know, it's still buggy and a poor port and all these folks are doing, is deceiving people.

I have never actually played the games before, and I know that is a sin.

I am looking forward to the Android release of it though, would be cool to play it on my tablet.

*Flashbacks of the Firewine Bridge Ruins*

Oh damn.... ;_; I hated also the place where you rescued that Minsc fav witch.... But gnolls were fairly easy to kill. But yeah, Firewine... DAMN....

The spawn points will only create new monsters if there's nobody nearby, but then spawn monsters once when someone leaves the immediate area and again every time the game is loaded. Once you discovered where the spawn points are, you can park a character within viewing range of them, which will prevent respawns until they move. (This especially helps if you save and load a bunch of times, as it prevents 50+ gnolls/kobolds from showing up in the same spot.) The whole thing is just dumb, though, and I'm not sure whether it's due to bad design or bad scripting or both. BG2 is substantially improved in that regard.

Tales of the Sword Coast is indeed included in the EE, although now that you mention it I'm pretty sure that it must have crossed their minds to sell it as a DLC :)
More monies, you know...

If you would be able to play it though it's an entirely different matter. From what I hear, playing that game seems to be a challenge. And not intended kind.

The Firewine Bridge Ruins were one of those early formative experiences in cRPG-ing that taught me that sometimes its not worth the grief of investigating and cleaning out every nook, hollow, cranny and dungeon of a game. Sometimes, the stress isn't worth the lawnmower approach. XP can always be found elsewhere. Same with money, items, and all that other rot.

I was much happier saying "Fuck This" and only visiting the place briefly from the secret cellar backdoor in the halfling village Gullykin, long enough for a boss battle, then back out.

I didn't like Durlag's Tower either, at least past the first level. Also, those mazey endless corridors in the thieves' guild that led you to the underground "dead" city where Sarevok and his lackeys were hiding out. I just rendered my whole party invisible, sent the thief ahead to disable any traps, then silently walked them through that interminable maze until we reached the Undercity. I hate hate hate cramped quarters strategic fighting, and being forced to do this in the Cloakwood mines was bad enough.

The pathfinding engine didn't exactly help either.

'nother review 8.5.

http://www.destructoid.com/review-baldur-s-gate-enhanced-edition-239662.phtml

TL:DR

Baldur's Gate was, is, and always will be an RPG classic. The writing is full of wit, the characters and their interactions are exceptional, and the tried-and-true D&D gameplay is deceivingly complex. Sure, there are some minor issues like character AI/pathing, overly chatty and intrusive party members, and the occasional crash, but they fall short of detracting from the overall RPG euphoria.Whether you've run through the game multiple times or have always wanted to, it's as easy as ever to recommend Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition to anyone.

Think I'll still wait a bit.

I bit. Just ordered it.

The UI improvements are enough to make me want it. The bugs right now I hear about aren't enough to scare me away. They have to stick around and fix this up/add in comprehensive modding support if they ever want to do BG2.

Can you let me know how long it takes to d/l please? I heard people complaining about it being slow.