berov: I don't understand the Bitter Crusade some people are trying to pull off here.

Hasbro own the rights to the game so they can do whatever they want with it. This includes brushing it out and repackaging it for a newer generation of gamers. If you have paid attention this is a pretty common trend nowadays even for games made less than 10 years old.

Sure removing the original game as a separate item from GOG is a strategic move to force people to pay for the EE.
This might suck for people that missed buying the original version but who would these people really be?
And how is this personally hurting you Stig79? Did you missed buying the original game on some of the multiple sales on GOG for cheap since what it is ... march 2014? Calm down a bit. If you really believe that Hasbro own you something and you want to be a social warrior fighting to preserve this masterpiece intact and sold at a low price, contact them. Offer to Hasbro to buy the rights for the game and if they agree to sell them to you, be free to decide in what shape and for what amount of money the game should be sold. I only hope you won't overprice it either.

As for my own impressions of the game... I think it is pretty much the same masterpiece as before with the inclusion of some nice interface improvements as in all of the other EE. Yes, some of these improvements were achievable by installing multiple mods and they all work really nice. I would argue that these mods are partially responsible for keeping the gamers interest focused on these classic games which lead to the inception of the Enhanced Editions. They paved the way so to speak. A side note... we all enjoyed these mods for free because some generous people decided to waste their time creating them. Keep that in mind and ask yourself in what way you personally deserved this generosity? Back to the topic. I have to say that I generally like what Beamdogare doing with the EE. The games have retained their value through the years and are now put again to the table to be appreciated by a whole new generation of people, some of which would otherwise not bother to patch an 18 years old game. BTW I have still not played the expansion they made for BG and have no opinion on it. (I bet Stig79 already gave his verdict on that one and it is probably 0/5 stars).

My only complaint about the EE is that I'm missing the right-click menu from the original game.
It might be hidden somewhere in the options not really sure. It is true that it was obscuring some portion of the screen in the original game, but I think it would have been better to keep it as an option to in the EE. In the original game on a right click press, the game was pausing and the menu was conveniently popping right next to my cursor. In the EE I have to constantly move my pointer up and down the screen to click the new buttons, which is a bit annoying.

Is this simply an overpriced mode which robs us of the chance to experience the original version in all its glory?
As you might have guessed I would say - certainly not. It is the same game and sure I admit that the price is certainly higher than what the original version was priced at but as a game its worth the play.
If you have missed buying the original version and you don't want to pay for this one, wait for a sale.
Currently, all the other EE are selling for 4.79 euro per game which is more than fair.

berov: I don't understand the Bitter Crusade some people are trying to pull off here.

Hasbro own the rights to the game so they can do whatever they want with it. This includes brushing it out and repackaging it for a newer generation of gamers. If you have paid attention this is a pretty common trend nowadays even for games made less than 10 years old.

Sure removing the original game as a separate item from GOG is a strategic move to force people to pay for the EE.
This might suck for people that missed buying the original version but who would these people really be?
And how is this personally hurting you Stig79? Did you missed buying the original game on some of the multiple sales on GOG for cheap since what it is ... march 2014? Calm down a bit. If you really believe that Hasbro own you something and you want to be a social warrior fighting to preserve this masterpiece intact and sold at a low price, contact them. Offer to Hasbro to buy the rights for the game and if they agree to sell them to you, be free to decide in what shape and for what amount of money the game should be sold. I only hope you won't overprice it either.

As for my own impressions of the game... I think it is pretty much the same masterpiece as before with the inclusion of some nice interface improvements as in all of the other EE. Yes, some of these improvements were achievable by installing multiple mods and they all work really nice. I would argue that these mods are partially responsible for keeping the gamers interest focused on these classic games which lead to the inception of the Enhanced Editions. They paved the way so to speak. A side note... we all enjoyed these mods for free because some generous people decided to waste their time creating them. Keep that in mind and ask yourself in what way you personally deserved this generosity? Back to the topic. I have to say that I generally like what Beamdogare doing with the EE. The games have retained their value through the years and are now put again to the table to be appreciated by a whole new generation of people, some of which would otherwise not bother to patch an 18 years old game. BTW I have still not played the expansion they made for BG and have no opinion on it. (I bet Stig79 already gave his verdict on that one and it is probably 0/5 stars).

My only complaint about the EE is that I'm missing the right-click menu from the original game.
It might be hidden somewhere in the options not really sure. It is true that it was obscuring some portion of the screen in the original game, but I think it would have been better to keep it as an option to in the EE. In the original game on a right click press, the game was pausing and the menu was conveniently popping right next to my cursor. In the EE I have to constantly move my pointer up and down the screen to click the new buttons, which is a bit annoying.

Is this simply an overpriced mode which robs us of the chance to experience the original version in all its glory?
As you might have guessed I would say - certainly not. It is the same game and sure I admit that the price is certainly higher than what the original version was priced at but as a game its worth the play.
If you have missed buying the original version and you don't want to pay for this one, wait for a sale.
Currently, all the other EE are selling for 4.79 euro per game which is more than fair.

Stig79: Wrong. Beamdog got the rights from Hasbro to do the EE versions. Hence why Beamdog are the ones selling the EE versions (on their own website too). Hasbro owns the rights to the franchise, since they own D&D. After Beamdog's "leasing-contract" is over, another company can try and get the rights to BG, IWD and P:T, and so on.

Same thing when Bioware had the rights to do the Kotor games.

Sha_n_Dra: Sorry to hear, and for debugging purpose I would recommend to report the failure.... Here on Windows 7 (Pro) x64 on a T410 Lenovo it is all working fine (just a few drawbacks with the language it is using per default - taking it from the System, I would prefer EN per default and not my GER/DE System one)

4St4rs: It came @ 22:30 CET so not much time to try it but so far the feeling is good.
This enhanced version brings a real comfort compared to the old version and I don't see any flaw so far.
As I said not much time to play but so far I would recommend it.

What do you think?

waltc: Not trying to be difficult...but your thread title says "first impressions" but then you don't actually post any impressions of *anything* except to say "the feeling is good"--and "it's a real comfort" whatever that means. Did you mod out the original version? How's the resolution--is the game pixellated, etc.?

Could you be more specific, maybe? You aren't alone, btw...;) There are a number of posts here that claim "first impressions" and so on that don't actually say anything at all...;)

TO get started, you say you'd recommend it--why? Etc. Try and actually say a bit of something...;) Don't be shy--this is not an exam. I am interested and I'd surely read it...;)

Wulf2k: But those really are "impressions".

Not detailed analysis.

Impressions.

Wasphone: go confront something that actually matters.

waltc: Problem is that my king-sized goose-down comforter on my bed also "is a real comfort" and "feels good", too...;) Just doesn't tell me anything about the game, though, does it? Look, the request is simple enough. Why would he recommend it?--seems a straightforward question. If he can't answer it then perhaps he shouldn't have recommended it, eh?
waltc: Well, thanks for at least letting me know that you don't think the game matters...;) Sheeeesh...got some touchy folks around today...;)

Hellsteeth30: So I'm getting the impression that Beamdog have left the game alone with no frivolous additions this time?

I can hardly play BG 2 EE without a nice trip to the desktop whenever the mood takes it, I hope that's not a thing with this one?