Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition

I played this growing up, it was amazing back then it is amazing today. much better than some of the modern day trash. Old school RPG.

Love the graphics and plot. Very intuitive and easy to start

Greatest RPG ever made, in my view, when combined with the first. The modding scene makes it even better. Might take some getting used to for a modern player, but it is worth it. The journey and trying and failing is part of the experience. So many resources out there for people to learn the game, too.

Seige of Dragonspear was a miracle. Love to see them add new content. Hope BEAMDOG someday does an official extended edition trilogy and combines all the games into 1, maybe even adds some of the mod developed content or updates the sprite and backgrounds to even high levels of graphical detail. I'd pay for that again. Much like Skyrim, these games don't have a shelf life. The stories and characters are timeless, and so much better than much of the stuff being put out now.

I view BG1, BG2:SoA & ToB as one long game and I highly recommend you play them in that order. It's a continuous story where you can import your character from BG1 into BG2 and continue where you left off stats & equipment wise (which is a really cool feature). I was around when these games first came out 20 years ago and heard how amazing they were, but didn't really play them back then. After playing them properly for the first time in 2024, I'm really sad I didn't give them a shot back then as I now know I would have loved them.

These are awesome games! Yes they have flaws and bugs and are over complicated in some instances....but the overall vibe, story, gameplay and fun factor are what make these some of the greatest games ever made. They very much hold up in 2025. This is also a great introduction to the world and rules of D&D (something I wasn't super familiar with beforehand). Learning the D&D mechanics are not essential to success, you can trial and error your way through most of the game...but figuring out how the THAC0 & AC systems work will really give you an edge and does become part of the fun.

I have not played BG3 yet, but I can only imagine after playing BG1 & 2 that I am primed for everything that game will have to offer. If you're even thinking about playing theses games...just do yourself a favor and just get them.

I don't know what to say. I played this for 210 hours on my Steam Deck and am still playing the expansion pack.

This game is often praised as being one of the best RPGs ever made, and that praise is 100% deserved. The first game was good, but they hit the ground running with the sequel, it is just a straight up upgrade in pretty much every way.
It's still uses the same engine and the same modified AD&D 2nd Edition ruleset as the first game, but the gameplay is far more polished. The combat is higher level, so there is more depth and complexity to it.
It can still be a bit obtuse for people not familiar with its ruleset, or not willing to put the time into familiarizing themselves with it, but it does come with a storymode if one would rather focus on the narrative of the game.
Well worth playing no matter which way you go about it.

It's a continuation of the first game, letting you import your savefile to keep playing with the same character. The writing has been greatly improved upon, especially NPC dialogue. Story and sidequests have a lot more complexity to them, and are far more nuanced.
Irenicus is still one of the more memorable villains I've encountered in a game, with some fantastic voice acting by the late David Warner.

The companions are greatly fleshed out from the first game, with a lot more dialogue and reactivity. Depending on who you bring in the party, you can have entirely different sets of interactions in different playthroughs. Companions get into conflicts with each other, form relationships or friendships, some will despise each other and try and kill one another.
Later Bioware games and Larian's follow-up title might have bigger, more cinematic cutscenes, but the quality of the dialogue and the sheer scale of the interactions this game has to offer is far more impressive in comparison.

BeamDog did introduce their own companions with the release of the Enhanced Edition, but I would honestly recommend just steering clear of them. They're not as well written or as well integrated into the game as the original companions.

An incredible followup to a great first game, that belongs in the library of any CRPG fan.

You must gather your party before venturing forth.
You must gather your party before venturing forth.
You must gather your party before venturing forth.

Pros:
- The game has a lot more voice acting and is more cinematic than its predecessor.
- The story of Shadows of Amn is pretty good and Jon Irenicus is a very memorable villain performed incredibly by the late David Warner.
- The City feels a live with a lot of quests. Those quests have multiple choices and outcomes.
- The companions becomes more fleshed out and have a lot of banter and they can clash or leave.
- The combat gets more powers and options.
- The art direction of the locales is great and the levels are intricate and have neat navigation puzzles.
- The soundtrack is amazing and epic.
I honestly played the game for 40 hours without feeling the time and I know I left a lot of the quests untouched.

Cons:
- The combat can get messy especially Throne of Bhaal power creep and it had a ton of encounters.
- Some pathfinding issues for the companions and sometimes it's hard to visually discern the intractable items even with zooming all the way in.

Character voices very limited and of poor quality, and they removed for some reason most of the voices from the first one, character portraits are the same like in the first one with a few new of lower quality. I feel forced to play with characters from the first game, it makes me feel bad for playing with a party of my own, and I don't like that. I know that fighter or ranger with the hamster is cool and all but I don't wanna play with these characters and I keep seeing them because the story revolves around them, whatever, the downgrade in character portraits and voice of characters made me quit 10 minutes after I started. Is easy to mod some cool character portraits but with audio I just found it harder and I just quit.

10/10. This game is extremely fun and has aged incredibly well.

I have about 1500 hours in this series pre-Steam.

If you find low level adventuring tedious and you want to get around to stopping time, contingency-casting chain lightning or beating a dragon to death with your bare hands, this is your game.

Beamdog's characters have a distinctly different "tone" to them. I don't find any of them to be as endearing, memorable or well-written as the original characters, although they provide more options for evil characters.

Some of the characters and their development moved me deeply, like Minsc's development (from what happens in BG1 to him finding a new witch) or Keldorn's arc (try not to cry when the ending text for Keldorn starts scrolling), others were hilarious (Edwin's antics).

Highly recommended if you like old school CRPGs and don't know it yet for some reason.

While not quite as captivating as the original (At least for me) this is still a fun classic dungeon crawler. The art style was changed for this one and doesn't feel as natural for this environment as the art in the original did. But that is just a personal complaint. Other than that, the gameplay and story is fantastic and worth playing through to get the complete Baldur's Gate experience.

i have seen some people say BG2 is one of the best games of all time. i can totally see why people would say that, however this game is best experienced after ample time spent with the first game so you get a better understanding of the rule set and game mechanics at work here.

BG1 is a lot more streamlined than BG2, so while BG1 is something you can speed through once you know what you're doing, able to skip tons of areas if you deem it unworthy of your time, etc. but BG2 is a massive expansive world that is a lot more difficult to navigate. it also runs a lot longer than BG1 does. because you'll be a higher level than in BG1, you also spend more time micro-managing rounds & high level spells which can definitely be intimidating as well as frustrating, especially if you struggle to grasp how the game's combat works.

i feel like the game runs a good 20-30 hours too long, and it should've been a bit more comparable to the first game. you are constantly being bombarded with new side quests, companions, companion quests, etc. and i struggled to settle in and get to know all the characters (this very obviously suggests that multiple playthrus are almost necessary at a point to experience everything the game has to offer.

also, BG2 has one of the all time greatest villains and that alone makes it a classic just like it's predecessor and successor were/are

Sequel to one of the best RPG's and it only got better! can't get enough of this series

I have played a lot of classic cRPGs but man this game makes me feel stupid, or I'm just being old and impatient. That’s what I tell myself anyway.

Just like its predecessor, Baldur's Gate 2 is a great role-playing game. The rich world of the Forgotten Realms is presented in a new light in this game. From the well-known Sword Coast, we went to the Lands of Intrigue - Amn and Thetyr were open to us. We were given the opportunity to visit new locations, meet new people, and renew relationships with well-known characters. Each of them, just like our protagonist, struggles with the demons of their own past. It is up to us whether we will support them in this, or perhaps our twisted, divine blood will force us to be indifferent to their pain. The Throne of Bhaal expansion adds a new, more epic dimension to the gameplay. Thanks to it, we have access to skills unavailable in the previous version.
And finally we can decide what fate awaits our Bhaalspawn, their 'siblings' and the existence of Bhaal - the god of murder himself. The Enhanced Edition once again rose to the occasion, refreshing the visual part of the game as well as its gameplay. Thanks to this renewal, we also got a new companion - one of my favorites, a vampire lady named Hexxat. If you want to find out what happened on the Sword Coast and the Lands of Intrigue before we got Baldur's Gate 3, definitely check out this game. You will meet some familiar faces who, over a hundred years later, will still visit Baldur's Gate, telling stories of their past adventures.

You can always enchance your expierience with many, MANY mods available out there. I can honestly recommend Lava's mods, which give the impression that they were made by the official creators of the game (find them here -> https://www.weaselmods.net).

Pros:
- Classic isometric cRPG, for hardcore and new fans as well.
- The rich world of the Forgotten Realms, shown in a new light.
- A colorful group of companions - something good (or... bad) for everyone.
- Did I mentioned romances (if you're into that)? Yeah, romances.
- A captivating story that gives a closure to this particular Bhaalspawn protagonist.
- Many different gameplay styles to test.
- An extensive modding community, adding a lot of fresh, new elements to the gameplay.

Cons:
- Outdated graphics, that may discourage new players for whom the visual aspects must be on par with current technical capabilities.

Final score: 10/10

Yes. Good old classic bioware goodness.

Good Story. A lot of stuff to do. This game sees a lot of replay despite being a long game. Plenty of characters from the first game show up in this one too... including your own. Just like the first game it also uses Second Edition rules with minor tuning for balance on PC.

Lost charm of first game, buggier than first and feels both bloated and linear at once. SoA's villain in Irenicus is its only saving grace.

I played the original Baldur’s Gate many years ago but never got around to starting Baldur’s Gate II. It wasn’t until I completed the massively successful Baldur’s Gate 3—twice—that I felt compelled to go back and finally finish the second game. I was particularly interested in revisiting the storylines and trying to remember (or discover) some of the characters that appear in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Baldur’s Gate II is a very enjoyable experience, but keep in mind that it’s a decades-old game. The graphics, understandably, don’t hold up to modern standards, and the gameplay can take a bit of time to adjust to. That said, the storyline is excellent, and the game offers countless hours of engaging entertainment.

Don’t expect to breeze through all your enemies without effort. You’ll need to pay attention to quest logs, experiment with strategies, and figure out what works (and what doesn’t). The game can be challenging, especially if you’re unfamiliar with D&D mechanics, but there are plenty of excellent guides online to help you along the way. You don’t need to min/max your characters to succeed, but I highly recommend taking a balanced party to handle a variety of challenges.

If you’re a D&D fan and don’t mind playing an older game, Baldur’s Gate II is absolutely worth your time. It’s a classic that still holds up as one of the best RPGs ever made.

No demon children you have to defend. No love affairs with gay vampires. No Mexican Orcs or gay Dwarven bakers. Just pure sweet adventure, combat, and loot, with good vs. evil, or you can BE evil, if you want, just like D&D used to be and hopefully will be again. I've played through this maybe seven times in the past, and playing through it again. I don't think I have any cons for this game except maybe the graphics are slightly dated by today's standards. But if you let that put you off this game, you a missing one of the greatest epic quest adventure stories in gaming history.

I've had this game since inception and I had the OG beamdog launcher version before it crapped out,
do not let the low hours fool you, I've had this game in one shape or another since 2000 in fact I still prefer 1 and 2 over 3.
Not that 3 is bad mind you, just a more personal connection to the character I made.
My favorite RPG of all time, and my second favorite game of all time, next to Mechwarrior 2 being my number 1.

I like that it follows (mostly) 2nd edition rules, which brings back fond memories, and is the main (if not the only) reason I have installed it in the first place in 2024. Unfortunately, it cheats like there is no tomorrow (on normal difficulty), no idea why. Example: Ice Memphis encounter, where the AC of the attacked creature is HIGHER than my main charecter's THACO, and my characters still manages to miss 4 times in a row (later landing a hit every now and then, so it is not immunity, which would be a different thing of course). F**k that, pardon my french. Played 4 hours, noticed a pattern (insane amounts of misses, across the board, even with goblins, ffs), checked the stats, realised I'm taken for a ride, uninstalled. Maybe it is a great game, and an all time classic, but this amount of...hmmm...."inbalance" is not something I want to spend my free time with.

I've been playing this game since purchasing the original back in the 90s. It's hard to say any game I've been playing for 25+ years isn't great, but this is one of my personal favorites. Between playing as different classes, playing solo without a party, making different game choices, and exploring things like romances, this game has tons of replay value. I own it on Steam, Mobile, GOG, and my original version. This version is my favorite and the cloud saves keeps it so I can play when I want to, take a break when I want to, and keep my different games going even on new computers. After 25+ years, I still have things I haven't played but want to, and still discover new things every time I play through.

There's not many games out there that do sequels just as good as their original counter part and there's not many games out there that do it better and improve on the story line, then you have that once in a trillion sequel that comes along that offers the same magical experience as the first one and makes you feel you are playing it for the first time and at every corner, every fight, every dialogue, side quest, every piece of lore you come across, you are "wowed" into the game.

BG2 follows through as if its first masterpiece, as if its 1998 and you are experiencing it all over again the game is absolutely fantastic.

BG2 offers one of the most solid story lines for the genre it follows the D&D rules down to a T and its absolutely fun to play on any difficulty level.
Make sure to save often, saving is King and while doing so, choose different dialogues/actions to change the outcome of not only the game but with your posse also.

The graphics (for the time) are great, the UI is spot on, inventory and items are so easy to figure out and use, assigning hotkeys etc, (every developer needs to learn to make is simple and productive like BG), the game play oozes with fun, its challenging and rewarding, do it wrong and it will hurt you especially on harder levels but hey that's how RPG's should be played, then comes the music, absolutely brilliant, buying the soundtrack is so well worth it, you will find yourself at times just listening to the music and loving it.

BG2 is a must for not only the avid RPG fan but for everyone that appreciates the classics. Get in there and explore and immerse yourself into the world of D&D!

A very dated RPG with a clumsy, sometimes painfully buggy game engine that's more inventory management software than anything else.

It's also still one of the best RPGs I've ever played.

One of the greatest RPGs of all time, even to this day. It set the stage for ALL modern western RPGs that came after. If you played Baldur's Gate 3 and have not played Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 out of respect, you are an embarrassment, don't talk to me.

I liked it less than the first Baldur's gate but I use it to learn languages nowadays because I know the story and can better deduct the meaning of the words without actually searching in a dictionnary.
The best tool to learn... I upgraded my German and Italian with his Game and probably going to use it for Russian next,

This is a tentative recommend. Mostly for the same reasons I tentatively recommended BG1.

This is an old game.
There are many things which a modern player might find difficult and even more they might find unacceptable. So if you are not into retro games probably best to give this a miss.

The good
The story is great.
Hearing David Warner's voice acting is chef's kiss.
You can skip all the splash screens and intro videos.
There is a quit to desktop option in the in game menu.

The not good.
Active pause is a terrible mechanic. You really need to love micro.
The RTS style controls often made me want to uninstall the game.
The AD&D SE rule set is really really bad.

There is a charming nostalgia to playing this and if you can persevere through all the frustration with early 2000's PC gaming there is a lot of fun to be had.
If you have no nostalgia for this series or retro games then I do not think you will enjoy this.

Might be one of the best RPGs of its time. But certainly does not match up to DOS or DOS II imho.

Still much better than pillars of eternity. A low bar I know.

Still one of my favorites after all these years!

Playing the extended edition some 20 years after my first time around with BGII. So much has changed in video games in the interim, but it still delivers a compelling experience.

A great classic, I remember playing this as a kid. It was so formative an ground breaking at the time. The Enhanced addition def adds some much needed quality of life updates. I never was able to finish it back in the day, here's hoping I find the time to be able to finish it now.

A perfect sequel with an even more intricate plot, great twists, and an awesome cast of characters.

As a lifelong D&D fan, it's always a joy revisiting Faerûn. It's also impressive how solid these old games were—they still hold up even 20 years later and keep you hooked. The outdated graphics don’t matter because the storyline and gameplay shine.

An engaging adventure topped off with a fantastic soundtrack.

Just make 1 character, recruit no companions, and solo the game. It's the most fun way to play it B)

baldur's gate II is my favorite all-time rpg. the enhanced edition, incredibly, has made it even better.

Awesome Story! Better graphics than Crysis. Gives me 2000s nostalgia. yeeeah

There's some jank and outdated mechanics in the game since it's so old but the writing I felt was absolutely superb. It's an epic adventure from tortured prisoner to godhood in the high fantasy world of the forgotten realms. Every location was done with a themes and tone in mind. Every party character is unique and interesting with their own background and development. I also loved the romance and the music that plays during those dialogue moments that I saved it as my ringtone.

This game is an absolute masterpiece! The additions from the enhanced edition are pretty good too. Definitely worth picking up if you've never played this.

Aged and not as visually appealing but still one of the, if not the best DND style role playing game out there.

Playing this reminded me of playing D&D with friends when I was kid back in the 80's & early 90's. Very addictive!

I've written fairly comprehensive reviews of BG1 and Siege of Dragonspear, and most of these points apply to this game, as well.

BG1 Review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/s-gorman/recommended/228280?snr=1_5_9__402
SoD Review: https://steamcommunity.com/id/s-gorman/recommended/385970?snr=1_5_9__402

This game brings the adventure of Gorion's Ward to it's grand finale. Your character saves can be brought across either directly from BG1, from SoD, or you can create a new character and start the game as a standalone.

The story is good in this, if not quite as compelling as the first game (in my honest opinion.) I still very much like the storyline of BG2, but BG1 holds a special place in my heart from the amount of times I've played the original game through. There are loads of interesting new characters, and some old friends have been changed dramatically following the events of the first game, which really adds a layer of depth to their character arcs.

All in all, another fantastic game, which sees your once pitiful character amass grand power, and hold the fate of the realm in their hands.

A damn good time. A game that not only holds up decades later, but is still an exemplary example of what CRPGs can be.
Companions actually have personalities and conversations now! I was taken aback when I heard the party banter after the silence of BG1. Well written and iconic, they're characters that make the whole experience better.

My only qualms are to do with the mechanics of AD&D. Gaining high levels feels very unrewarding, but it is what it is.

Buy with no hesitation.

Took me forever and numerous tries to get into this game, but it was worth it in the end. Great game, great story, loved travelling around taking on quests and discovering things. Though the graphics are old, they still managed to capture a great atmosphere and aesthetic in the game. The thing I hate most about this game is the combat and that aspect is what made it so hard to get into. Some people really enjoy it, but it has never really been for me. This is especially an issue in the Throne of Bhaal where you are pretty much fighting hordes all the time and being given little additional story, so I ended up breezing through that. As a whole though, i really liked it and highly recommend. There is clearly a great deal of content if you want to spend hundreds of hours running around to see things.

This is the best RPG ever made and what could I say ? nostalgia, good writing, best NPCs with some quite funny lines ( Jan Jansen I love you lol )
If you are a new player, just be strong and get over the graphics, the game is immense and good !

Despite the poor pathfinding algorithm problem and old-fashioned display, it's an engaging game.

Baldur's Gate II is an good dark fantasy RPG that stays true to the spirit of Dungeons & Dragons. Even today, it offers an immensely enjoyable experience thanks to its deep storytelling, rich character interactions, and complex quests. The game stands out with its lack of modern conveniences like map markers and hand-holding hints, pushing players to explore, think critically, and make impactful choices.

Good game but doesn't quite hold up as well as the first did.

The beginning is overwhelming with the amount of events that take place and stuff to do be done rather than starting you off in a focused direction which gradually branches out and is fun right from the beginning to the end. In this you're thrown into this massive city off the bat with tons of people to speak to, quests to collect, conflicts to resolve etc, which detracts heavily from the pacing of the first. Also the main quest is extremely linear and has a habit of getting you locked into these very long chapters. The pathing is also somehow way worse than first game's too and outright frustrating at times.

The game has a ton of dialogue and it's not very good for the most part, party members never seem to shut up with their constant inane attempts at humour or boring you with their feelings, worries and emotional dribble, they really overdid it I feel.

With all that out way, it's still a very fun and endearing game once it gets going, the dungeons are neat and the encounters are challenging - requiring you to use every spell/tool at your disposal to progress past them and also it's damn beautiful to look at, the art, audio and atmosphere are incredible and definitely a major highlight of the overall experience.

It's not all just flashier production. Since BioWare was developing both a game and engine with BG1, they had time to pour into only the game itself this time. It's great. Your companions are given roles worth paying attention to, where their every personal quest carries the momentum of adventure that the main questline does. The maps are ripe for exploration, with supporting characters who never have interchangeable personalities, instead each one offering a bit of new lore and nuance to the atmosphere of the world they inhabit. Every sidequest given by them is its own dark fantasy short story for you to explore the world through. There's a surprising lack of filler here.

The villain is so much more compelling, not just for his expanded gravitas through his performance compared to Sarevok, but because the why of his motivations is more on focus throughout rather than the what of their actions (which is the same reason why he's better than the TOB expansion villain). Their connection to you becomes much more personal as a result, giving you room to influence what makes you who you are in the process. Each encounter with them and their lackeys is so rich in personality, informed by their history with you and others. Not to mention the supporting villains being basically a complete coming together of classic D&D encounters, and most of them being possible to understand in their motivations, if not come to an understanding.

The combat is a more complicated side. Thankfully it's spaced out with more dialogue to run through, as you rarely begin a questline fight without proper buildup in the tension between parties. But I'm still not convinced of the RTWP aspect, and probably never will be. I can admit the flexibility it allows in your approach, but the look and feel of it just doesn't create tension. As soon as you unpause, things become a blur of sprites that you pause again to micromanage according to the text box, which often needs manual tweaking mid-way due to how weird the pathfinding for the AI can get. This doesn't help the case of the TOB expansion/sequel, which is mostly a series of "go kill this" quests. I wouldn't be so bothered if the companions were given more screentime here, or the ultimate villain wasn't so boring in their predictability, or there was simply more room to go wrong with your choices, and yet.

Sometimes it felt like those issues were going to kill the momentum eventually, being they last throughout the game. Ultimately, though, nothing can. All of it is held together by a core tale of challenged fate. Its a story of being swept away by the winds of consequence, holding on by the skin of your teeth. Your main character must answer for their bloodshed. Its world is in the endtimes. Every corner of it will open up to your eyes as it all unfolds, challenging your morality at each turn of the wheel. Its prophecies have been spoken long since. What remains of them is now in motion. The chaos is inevitable, but exploitable. You're at the center of it, and nothing can dampen the excitement of being in the eye of the storm.

8/10

Its a classic game (read bad graphics) but the story and flexibility make up for it.

I've been playing this game since release in 2000. Started playing it with my dad and we played for ages until he passed 5 years ago. This game is amazing and will always remind of my old man. The story telling is great. The DnD base it provides translates so well to even current editions. This game is worth the 3000+ hours and even more.

Epic sequel adventure that lead to a lot of endless hours of playing through with different styles of play. Doesn't have as epic of a story as BG3, but I still love the rule set from this period and prior.

Does have a few annoying bugs but nothing to bad and if needed there is some command prompt entries to fix them such as party AI issues and a 3rd party program you can use to fix or get around some of them other ones. But I rarely run into anything but the AI issue that occurs after importing your party from BG1.