Baldur's Gate 2 - Shadows of Amn is an incredible game. With its ambitious storyline, sprawling locations, complex quests, memorable characters and chess-like battles against a wide array of enemies (beholders, drows, mindflayers, werewolves, vampires, dragons...), it is a classic RPG.
Following the events of the first game (which I loved, but the sequel surpasses it), mysterious wizard Irenicus captures the protagonist and his companions. After escaping from Irenicus' dungeon, the hero and his friends find themselves in Athkatla - still the best city in any RPG in terms of scale and scope.
Character customization is rich and varied. There are different races and many possible classes/sub-classes (assassin, bounty hunter, beastmaster...), each with unique perks and limits. Depending on your class, halfway through the game you will also get a stronghold (a castle for warriors, a temple for clerics...), which will become a source of income and unique quests.
And those battles... purists may have issues with real-time-with-pause combat, as it is arguably less subtle and tactical than turn-based one; however, the amount of different party combinations, spells and enemy variety is just staggering.
But it's not like all you do is fighting (that would be true for the disappointing expansion, Throne of Bhaal). Among the astounding number of quests you can pursue while hunting for Irenicus you will have, for example, to visit an underground city of Dark Elves, face the vampires haunting Athkatla, free a companion from prison, stop a serial murderer... The amount of content is huge, but what's impressive is how there are no shallow fetch quests: every sidequest is fairly elaborate in both gameplay and narrative.
Following the events of the first game (which I loved, but the sequel surpasses it), mysterious wizard Irenicus captures the protagonist and his companions. After escaping from Irenicus' dungeon, the hero and his friends find themselves in Athkatla - still the best city in any RPG in terms of scale and scope.
Character customization is rich and varied. There are different races and many possible classes/sub-classes (assassin, bounty hunter, beastmaster...), each with unique perks and limits. Depending on your class, halfway through the game you will also get a stronghold (a castle for warriors, a temple for clerics...), which will become a source of income and unique quests.
And those battles... purists may have issues with real-time-with-pause combat, as it is arguably less subtle and tactical than turn-based one; however, the amount of different party combinations, spells and enemy variety is just staggering.
But it's not like all you do is fighting (that would be true for the disappointing expansion, Throne of Bhaal). Among the astounding number of quests you can pursue while hunting for Irenicus you will have, for example, to visit an underground city of Dark Elves, face the vampires haunting Athkatla, free a companion from prison, stop a serial murderer... The amount of content is huge, but what's impressive is how there are no shallow fetch quests: every sidequest is fairly elaborate in both gameplay and narrative.