We analyze the final versions of Baludr's Gate and Baldur's Gate II on their arrival to consoles, specifically in their version for Nintendo Switch.
Surely do not be too bold to say that we owe Obsidian and his great success in Kickstarter with Pillars of Eternity this new taste for the classic RPG of zenithal view. The almost 4 million dollars raised in the crowdfunding platform, in times of bonanza, made it clear that there was a hunger to recover a way to play a role that had been lost in pursuit of a more widespread formula, or if it means another way, more accessible to the average player. Thanks to that, Wasteland 2, Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel, Tyranny and of course, the compilations of great classics that arrive this consoles will arrive, including the one that occupies us, the one that brings Baldur's Gate together and Baldur's Gate II.
The first installment would mark a milestone more than 20 years ago, moving Bioware with great success the rules of dice, pencil and paper of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons to the keyboard and the mouse, with an extensive adventure set in the universe of the Forgotten Realms that He delighted fans. Two years later, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn would consecrate that proposal with a less arid and more accessible game, but equally profound, both becoming legends of the genre, legends that would be resurrected by Beamdog in 2012 with their respective editions "Enhanced" , improved with respect to the originals and that now come to consoles in a conversion with their pros and cons, and it is clear that these games are originally designed to be enjoyed on PC.
Western role legend
The zenith perspective is not the best companion of the visual spectacle, not being the greatest virtue of both games, but Bioware wanted to focus on other aspects that would enrich its work more, as it is a great depth with everything that has to do with the role . Except for the character editor, from which we can only choose class, appearance of the head and the color of the clothes, from there we find a lot of decisions to make, unexpected consequences, plots, subplots, main and secondary missions … The amazing thing about this is when we put it in the context of 1998 and 2000, and we discovered how Bioware was able to offer such complexity more than two decades ago. The world of Baldur's Gate is rich in detail, and requires large doses of patience to read a huge amount of text -in perfect Spanish-, which in the Nintendo Switch version, the one analyzed for this occasion, has a somewhat small font size under our impression, especially if we compare it with what is seen in the port of Pillars of Eternity for example. Nothing especially serious, anyway.
Another of Balud's Gate's credentials is freedom, since despite not offering an immense open world, it is easy to get lost in your environment to carry out one of the multiple side missions that arise spontaneously by talking to an NPC, being convenient From time to time to get some experience. And be careful, getting lost can be something literal, since when we open the map we will not find any indication that gives us facilities to discover the location of our next objective, having as only clues what we can get to the characters of the game or what is written down in our newspaper, a document that we will resort to on numerous occasions.
The game also gives freedom to make mistakes, in the end, and also in combat, a section that of course is at the same level of complexity as the others, and if we hurry, a little point above in terms of difficulty and demand. The tactical pause will soon be essential, and combats that can be solved at the beginning of the game by simply ordering to attack all the members of our group will become a challenge that must be thought carefully and planned in order to carry out. It is necessary to have a balanced group in terms of classes, and at the same time to have warriors and archers who can inflict physical damage, have magicians and support characters, completing a combat system that hurts certain chaos that is presented with too many protagonists on the screen and do not fool ourselves, the control with pad -o Joy Con in this case-, which is far from adequate. In fact, if we get even more exquisite, the game fails to pretend to anticipate the enemies, making it practically impossible to avoid a confrontation for two reasons mainly: one, and once again, control, and two, and above of everything, the environment visible on the screen, scarce and that makes when we realize the presence of enemies, it is too late.
In general, the control scheme in Nintendo Switch is very well planned, and it is intuitive, since we verify that soon after starting the game we already quickly access the radio menu, map, inventory, etc. But it is in some specific actions where it is evident that with a keyboard and mouse these would be much simpler, also needing extraordinary precision, as we said before, at the time of combat, something that fortunately can be made easier by zooming in the image – However, this is not possible with leisurely action. We can choose, yes, between a direct control of the characters or do it by point & click, less simple with joystick but more in line with what the game demands.
On a visual level, as we said before, neither Baldur’s Gate nor its sequel are brilliant games – although they are notable in the artistic section – but it is not their intention to be at all. Of course, from the technical point of view we find an impeccable performance in portable and dock, being the Nintendo hybrid perfectly capable of moving both without disheveled, obviously. It is in the sound section where the solvency of not only its soundtrack, but of its dubbing, with many lines of text in the most important conversations is surprising, despite the repetition of some clicks of some of the group members when they receive our orders.
In terms of content, to the – many – dozens of hours already offered by the two deliveries, we must add the Siege of Dragonspear expansion of the first, something unusual since it was created by Beamdog 17 years after the original game, plus the additional campaign The Black Pits. Meanwhile, Baldur’s Gate II features Throne of Bhaal expansions, a succession of dungeons to which more challenging, and The Black Pits II: Gladiators of Thay.
CONCLUSION
This pack that includes Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II, in its version for Nintendo Switch, is not the best way to play them but it is one that we did not have until now, and it is portable. However, it is not something that can be attributed to the hybrid, but simply, its playability is designed to be enjoyed with a mouse and keyboard, but despite this, the work carried out in relation to its control scheme is remarkable. The years are noted, more than 20 specifically, but from the perspective of time or not, we continue to face two outstanding RPGs, with dozens-hundred, in fact-of hours of content, deep and demanding that represent a great opportunity to discover two gender clasicazos.
THE BEST
- Both games remain two fabulous RPGs
- Depth, complexity, requirement
- Tens of hours of content
- Translated into Spanish
WORST
- Pad controls are not ideal to enjoy
- Some perspective problems, mainly distance
- Technically unambitious
Good
It meets the expectations of what a good game is, it has quality and does not present serious failures, although it lacks elements that could have led to higher levels.
