I’ve finished Avowed, and am going back to Baldur’s Gate 2, which I had put aside for it.
I liked Avowed well enough, though it is far from perfect. I would have preferred a classic CRPG like its predecessors, but it was fun to see the Living Lands in 3D - and the graphics really shine at night. It is absolutely gorgeous after sunset. And I loved the ending, although it seemed a bit too positive.
In BG2 I’m only in chapter 2. I just found Mazzy and am continuing to explore the dungeon she’s in.
I was enjoying Avowed a lot but got a bit disappointed after reaching the second area/city, lost a lot of steam and haven’t picked it up again in a while.
I was trying to roleplay a certain kind of character, one who didn’t like the idea of messing with soul essence and agreed with the empire about disallowing it, only to be forced to accept it and take in an expert on the the topic to help her perform experiments. Really dampened my experience.
The companion system is definitely a weak point. The companions themselves are fine, but you can’t refuse any and have very limited choice in party composition.
You can disagree with them at some points, and you can influence their story, but the gameplay impact is pretty much nothing.
The impact your choices can have on the world are definitely bigger - and visible in the game itself. I won’t spoil it, but there’s a pretty huge consequence not long after meeting Giatta.
Ooh, I absolutely adore BG2. Probably the most formative game of my youth, it’s both the game that got me hooked on RPGs and the game that introduced me to modding. I still hold it as the best Baldur’s Gate game, and Irenicus as one of the best video game villains of all time.
I haven’t decided on a final party yet. In BG1 at one point I noticed I had an all female party, except for one guy - so I gave that guy a certain belt…. I was hoping to get an all female party going again, but I don’t know if it’ll be feasible.
Right now I have my sorcerer, Minsc, Aerie, Jaheira, Nalia, and I just replaced Valygar by Mazzy.
You can for sure do an all female party, Mazzy, Nalia, Jaheira, Viconia, Aerie are all available - it’ll be somewhat challenging though. You’d need to micromanage reputation to keep it neutral so neither Viconia nor the good characters leave (unless you modded that out), you also probably need to boost thief skills with potions and/or items regularly. Viconia also has some downsides to keep in mind, like the low Con, single classed Clerics being pretty mediocre and not getting Holy Smite due to alignment. She does have base 50% spell resistance though so there’s that, and can get to 100% with the right gear. There is also Neera and Hexxat, but I don’t enjoy the EE companions much.
I will say for a first playthrough I tend to recommend people bring Yoshimo, as he has some ties into the main quest and also various sidequests around Athkatla. Not a female though.
Viconia is the best party member in BG2, especially if you also recruit… a paladin. I may be biased and my phone SMS notification back when those were a thing was, “trust is for the foolish…”
Mechanically Anomen with his grandmastery capability outshines Viconia imo, whether you go the Flail of Ages classic on him or even Slings and play him back row.
As a character however then yes, Viconia is probably my favourite character in the game and probably the most well written of the bunch.
I’ve finished Avowed, and am going back to Baldur’s Gate 2, which I had put aside for it.
I liked Avowed well enough, though it is far from perfect. I would have preferred a classic CRPG like its predecessors, but it was fun to see the Living Lands in 3D - and the graphics really shine at night. It is absolutely gorgeous after sunset. And I loved the ending, although it seemed a bit too positive.
In BG2 I’m only in chapter 2. I just found Mazzy and am continuing to explore the dungeon she’s in.
I was enjoying Avowed a lot but got a bit disappointed after reaching the second area/city, lost a lot of steam and haven’t picked it up again in a while.
I was trying to roleplay a certain kind of character, one who didn’t like the idea of messing with soul essence and agreed with the empire about disallowing it, only to be forced to accept it and take in an expert on the the topic to help her perform experiments. Really dampened my experience.
The companion system is definitely a weak point. The companions themselves are fine, but you can’t refuse any and have very limited choice in party composition.
You can disagree with them at some points, and you can influence their story, but the gameplay impact is pretty much nothing.
The impact your choices can have on the world are definitely bigger - and visible in the game itself. I won’t spoil it, but there’s a pretty huge consequence not long after meeting Giatta.
Ooh, I absolutely adore BG2. Probably the most formative game of my youth, it’s both the game that got me hooked on RPGs and the game that introduced me to modding. I still hold it as the best Baldur’s Gate game, and Irenicus as one of the best video game villains of all time.
What’s your party composition?
I haven’t decided on a final party yet. In BG1 at one point I noticed I had an all female party, except for one guy - so I gave that guy a certain belt…. I was hoping to get an all female party going again, but I don’t know if it’ll be feasible.
Right now I have my sorcerer, Minsc, Aerie, Jaheira, Nalia, and I just replaced Valygar by Mazzy.
You can for sure do an all female party, Mazzy, Nalia, Jaheira, Viconia, Aerie are all available - it’ll be somewhat challenging though. You’d need to micromanage reputation to keep it neutral so neither Viconia nor the good characters leave (unless you modded that out), you also probably need to boost thief skills with potions and/or items regularly. Viconia also has some downsides to keep in mind, like the low Con, single classed Clerics being pretty mediocre and not getting Holy Smite due to alignment. She does have base 50% spell resistance though so there’s that, and can get to 100% with the right gear. There is also Neera and Hexxat, but I don’t enjoy the EE companions much.
I will say for a first playthrough I tend to recommend people bring Yoshimo, as he has some ties into the main quest and also various sidequests around Athkatla. Not a female though.
Viconia is the best party member in BG2, especially if you also recruit… a paladin. I may be biased and my phone SMS notification back when those were a thing was, “trust is for the foolish…”
Mechanically Anomen with his grandmastery capability outshines Viconia imo, whether you go the Flail of Ages classic on him or even Slings and play him back row.
As a character however then yes, Viconia is probably my favourite character in the game and probably the most well written of the bunch.
I am also very fond of Haer’dalis though.