[Zondark]

@ GawainBS:

I agree to a certain extent. PS:T has the greatest story, characters, and setting of any game, in my opinion, and I'll often find myself gawking in amazement at just how original and well-written, not to mention emotionally involving, it truly is. However, my gripe with PS:T is that it relies too heavly on dialogue to move the game forward, neglecting the combat and other gameplay aspects in the process. I can understand why the average gamer would be turned away when s/he is forced to read an entire novel before even leaving the first building (I'm exaggerating, of course).

BG2, on the other hand, manages to balance the combat, story, and other gameplay elements almost perfectly. There's also greater flexibility when it comes to creating, levelling, and generally customising your character, and the exploration of the game's world is much less restrictive than PS:T's. The story, characters, and setting are pretty damn great, too, though nowhere near the level of PS:T, admittedly.

Regardless of my comments above, BG2 and PS:T are both fantastic games in their own right, and they occupy the top two slots on my all-time list. I just happen to believe that BG2 works better as a video game and therefore, is the better game of the two.

@ sonny:

Icewind Dale is a pretty enjoyable series, yet it fails to meet the standards set by the aforementioned games, if you ask me. It's much more battle-oriented and... it's still a good series, don't get me wrong. Just don't set your expectations too high.

Oh, and remember to download the Heart of Winter update (v1.42) for Trials of the Luremaster (I thought this little side story was better than actual expansion itself!).