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- Beamdog
- Beamdog
- Beamdog
- Beamdog
Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
Released On: Mar 31, 2016
77
3.8
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
77
57% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
36% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 14 Critic Reviews
77
57% Positive
8 Reviews
8 Reviews
36% Mixed
5 Reviews
5 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Via this new expansion pack, Baldur's Gate awakens after many years in hibernation. Even though it will not prove so sensational in the current era of kickstarted RPGs, it still succeeds in finding its place among contemporary epics, such as Pillars of Eternity and Divinity: Original Sin. Siege of Dragonspear may be a bit late to the party and not flawless, nonetheless it's a faithful installment in the series.
Beamdog’s expansion embraces both the past and the present. The adventure is inconsistent, ragged and the script could be a lot better, but at its best Siege of Dragonspear captures the essence of Baldur’s Gate - even if fleetingly. [May 2016]
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 586 User Ratings
3.8
33% Positive
196 Ratings
196 Ratings
6% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
61% Negative
356 Ratings
356 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 586 User Ratings
3.8
33% Positive
196 Ratings
196 Ratings
6% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
61% Negative
356 Ratings
356 Ratings
Although this game has poor writing, I must say it has the spirit of Baldur's Gate and tries its best at being an interlude between the two classics. When I treat it as a big modification to Baldur's Gate it is just fine, but when I think how much it costed on launch, it just makes me sad.
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PC
I am gonna level with you. I'm still playing through the "Baldur's Gate" portion of the game, with a new character, and I can review that part. It's pretty good. I like the new UI, for the most part, and the new options. Baldur's Gate will always be inferior to its sequel, but it's a good, technically-proficient translation.
But it's not a ten. That ten's there out of spite, for all the people making this game the next battlefield in their pointless little war.
Screw all of you.
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PC
Returning home to Baldur’s Gate makes Siege of Dragonspear one of the most enjoyable RPGs that I have played in a long time, both for the nostalgia factor of revisiting an all-time favorite and for the impressively designed and involving narrative that captures nearly everything that fans love about traditional D&D. Even though the engine creaks in spots, the overall experience is everything that a hardcore D&D fan could ask for, and a superb expansion of one of the most legendary franchises in all of roleplaying game history.
Will it please every purist? Of course not. As with any beloved series, passions run high and nostalgia’s a hell of a drug. There are bound to be those who wish Beamdog had stuck to a purely conservationist role. But Siege of Dragonspear won me over, and I’d like to see what the team does next. Go for the eyes, Boo.
As a Baldur's Gate adventure, Siege of Dragonspear works well. While it's not entirely tonally consistent with the original series, it does a good job of inserting itself into the middle of the story without feeling like sacrilege. As a result, though, it requires that you still be invested in that story. The fact is, a decade and a half later, there are much smoother, more enjoyable RPG experiences available.
Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear is a good expansion pack, with more content than what we expected.
It's a different sort of game when compared to its brothers, but it works very well in the space it occupies. It's unfortunate that there are quite a handful of technical issues, because otherwise this is a great excuse to head back to the Sword Coast.
Loved the inclusion of a transgender character, especially considering Black Isle always did have progressive writing especially being known to have the fallout series with a lot of **** characters.
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PC
It`s a descent enough expansion to beloved game series but it isn`t nowhere as good as main entries in the series.
+nice graphics
+good voiceacting
+good amout of conent at very low price
+pretty epic at times with big battles
-story while beign pretty interesting at its core gets trivialized quite often by bad,ifantile dialogue writing (more then once I felt writing was out of character and didnt fit in baldurs gate game).
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PC
Beamdog, creators of this expansion have compared it to Throne of Bhaal.
Also I have to consider fact, that both beginning and ending of the game are pretty well defined by original games.
Having that in mind I installed the game expecting a solid chunk of linear story with some interesting characters along the way.
...I got exactly that.
Story: It's good, sometimes fantastic, but sadly not very replayable. It's a single ride thing that should give you a good time while it lasts. Dialog choices are much more Mass Effect than Baldur's Gate to be honest (be a saint/jerk or make a joke) and they don't affect the plot in any meaningful way. I found myself always looking for more informative options for often interesting background. Also sidequests... not a lot of them, mostly good, couple ok'ish.
Characters: I found Shining Lady to be an interesting and charismatic adversary. She brought certain moral dilemma with her that I won't spoil... suffice to say, it works.
Supporting cast sadly is a mixed bag, especially your old time crew mates. Writing for some of them seems inconsistent compared to what we know and love about them. It's worst for Viconia and Edwin which feel completely misinterpreted. On the bright side, all NPCs have much more voiced dialog, often voice their opinions and have small side quests to pick your interest. Some of the new additions are also a welcomed sight. On technical level gathering strong party isn't hard.
The controversial background character many people focus on in their critique is absolutely ignorable.
Gameplay/Combat: Ah yes... this feels much more like Ice Wind Dale than Baldur's Gate. Often huge amounts of trash monsters will force you to use your AoE spells. Some of them have an interesting behavior and AI seems better than in old titles. It keeps you on your toes especially on higher difficulty settings.
The UI changes are great. Every page seems clear and more informative. Key Bindings for camera movement is something we've been waiting for ages and completely changes the way you do micromanagement (good key binding makes everything faster). The UI color palette could be better, but it didn't detract from my experience.
Graphics: Remembering new maps from BG:EE 1 and 2 I had big concerns about the look of the game. Fortunately here, the maps are absolutely stunning. Well done for art director. Quite often I stopped to look at things in awe. They really pushed the infinity engine to its limits. Many locations can easily rival and beat Black Isle creations. The resolution could be better, but then again, it keeps things running on my aged potatoe laptop.
Music: It's great, it fits, it has everything it needs. Sounds like old but new Baldur's Gate, recorded on fresh equipment which gives it this clear feel (yeah, music from BG 1 and 2 is kinda rusty).
Mods: not many of them, some work, some have no reason to work. I suggest checking out Big World Setup for easier time.
I wish Siege of Dragonspear had bigger impact on story and characters in BG:EE2 (it has none because you know... reasons) but I guess we have to leave it to modders.
So, coming from someone who goes through whole Baldur's Gate once a year for nostalgia (every time with different mods) I give it solid 7/10. Good time, flawed but definitely not wasted.
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PC
If you plan to make a sequel of one of the most iconic and beloved RPG of all times you have to be at least respectful with the original source/characters, the fanbase and deliver a solid product. Sadly Beamdog blinded by their political radical view did exactly the contrary and delivered a poorly written, linear, woke to the bone and full of bugs game.
Currently after many patches some of the most insulting parts (like Minsc's gamergate reference or the trans character dialog) have been either removed or modified, now the trans char gives you that "critical" piece of information as a "reward" for his quest. Also the game is less buggy although it still crashes a lot (completed in Ps4), much more than the BGEE.
Nevertheless the terrible Amber Scott's writing is way beyond repair, all feminine characters have the same SJW "strong, independent, no-nonsense and superior" attitude making them all alike and 95% of masculine chars are either just dumb, malicious or under a strong independent woman. The personality changes on classical chars like Jaheira or Safana are brutal and now Minsc is just a buffoon. The only interesting new character is the **** gnome but it's not enough to compensate the damage on the other chars and the plain new ones.
Story wise it's too predictable, it resurrects characters killed on BG and opens storylines that will never be closed on BGII. The ending is also too abrupt.
The overall game reminded me much more to Iced Wind Dale as to a BG due how railroad it is, map after map that you can not revisit once completed.
On the positive side the OST is really good and the colourful new levels are full with NPCs and sidequests with different resolutions. Also some encounters are epic but sadly full of thrash mobs that must be killed with AOE spells.
Summary: if it would be a new RPG franchise IMO it would be mediocre but as a Baldurs Gate it's simply bad.
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PC
Summary Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear adds a new chapter to the Bhaalspawn saga. The events occurring between Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II are at last revealed in this 25-hour expansion pack for Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition.
Platforms:
- PC
Initial Release Date: Mar 31, 2016
Developer:
- Overhaul Games
Publisher: Beamdog
Genres:
