First, the TL;DR version:
- Read the manuals and make sure you understand the basics of D&D, and also the basics and controls of the game(like the TAB key and how magic works for example)
- Reading about the world and lore will help, but not necessary I guess
- Don't play the sequel first
- Resting a lot is okay
- Icewind Dale was awesome
Yeah that's about it, so here goes:
So, I bought BG2 about a year ago, but never finished it. And frankly, never really got into it either unfortunately. I made the mistake, as a newcomer to Dungeons and Dragons and the Infinity Engine games, to not read the manuals before jumping into the game. Hence, I didn't quite realize what I was heading into which lead to a lot of confusion and not a very pleasant experience(I think I restarted the game with a new character like 3-4 times just trying to understand it...*sigh*).
BG2 just felt too time consuming(because of the open world and the steep learning curve)for my taste at the time. And I also made the mistake of buying the sequel first. I'd heard that it was more polished and you didn't need to play the first game in order to understand the second one, but I wouldn't say it's a wise choice to skip the first one in a series, because I think that added to the confusion(I don't really know what I was thinking, I felt my time was limited I guess).
Two things that confused me the most about the combat was the magic and the resting. It took me quite some time to understand how magic works, because I haven't seen that system in any other game. And the resting was a huge immersion breaker for me, I always thought "it doesn't make sense to sleep this much...", but I eventually realized I had to look at it as part of the combat, and not part of the roleplaying and immersion.
However, I have now(just a few minutes ago)finished the Enhanced Edition of Icewind Dale, and it was great. I heard it was supposed to be more focused on the combat with a more straight-forward story whilst still providing that story and immersive experience, and it was exactly what I wanted. And this time I read both the "Mastering Melee & Magic"(not all 300-something pages but the essential parts) and "Survival guide to the north" manuals, and also read a little bit about the lore of the world, and it contributed a lot to a more immersive and pleasant experience. So in the end, it all turned out fine and I might give Baldur's Gate another go.
- Read the manuals and make sure you understand the basics of D&D, and also the basics and controls of the game(like the TAB key and how magic works for example)
- Reading about the world and lore will help, but not necessary I guess
- Don't play the sequel first
- Resting a lot is okay
- Icewind Dale was awesome
Yeah that's about it, so here goes:
So, I bought BG2 about a year ago, but never finished it. And frankly, never really got into it either unfortunately. I made the mistake, as a newcomer to Dungeons and Dragons and the Infinity Engine games, to not read the manuals before jumping into the game. Hence, I didn't quite realize what I was heading into which lead to a lot of confusion and not a very pleasant experience(I think I restarted the game with a new character like 3-4 times just trying to understand it...*sigh*).
BG2 just felt too time consuming(because of the open world and the steep learning curve)for my taste at the time. And I also made the mistake of buying the sequel first. I'd heard that it was more polished and you didn't need to play the first game in order to understand the second one, but I wouldn't say it's a wise choice to skip the first one in a series, because I think that added to the confusion(I don't really know what I was thinking, I felt my time was limited I guess).
Two things that confused me the most about the combat was the magic and the resting. It took me quite some time to understand how magic works, because I haven't seen that system in any other game. And the resting was a huge immersion breaker for me, I always thought "it doesn't make sense to sleep this much...", but I eventually realized I had to look at it as part of the combat, and not part of the roleplaying and immersion.
However, I have now(just a few minutes ago)finished the Enhanced Edition of Icewind Dale, and it was great. I heard it was supposed to be more focused on the combat with a more straight-forward story whilst still providing that story and immersive experience, and it was exactly what I wanted. And this time I read both the "Mastering Melee & Magic"(not all 300-something pages but the essential parts) and "Survival guide to the north" manuals, and also read a little bit about the lore of the world, and it contributed a lot to a more immersive and pleasant experience. So in the end, it all turned out fine and I might give Baldur's Gate another go.