Baldur's Gate II: A Retrospective Review

A retrospective review of Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, developed by Bioware Corporation and published in September 2000 by Black Isle Studios. Examines the context in which the game was developed, how it compares to the original, some of the mods available, and also differing perspectives on its place in the history of computer roleplaying games. Feel free to take breaks between chapters or just skip around using the timestamps if you're only interested in a specific topic. Sorry for the stuffy audio at times - I'm definitely considering changing mic. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys it! Next video will be 1998's Descent to Undermountain. 00:00 Opening 01:18 Chapter 1 - Introduction and Overview 09:40 Chapter 2 - Behind the Scenes 10:07 2.1 - Making Baldur's Gate II 32:05 2.2 - Pre-Release Response 37:43 2.3 - The Throne of Bhaal Question 50:48 Chapter 3 - Gameplay 51:07 3.1 - Gameplay Basics and Overview 1:13:00 3.2 - On Combat and General Gameplay 1:45:26 3.3 - On Pacing and Exploration 2:00:21 3.4 - On Quest Design, Interactivity, and Throne of Bhaal 2:11:40 3.5 - Final Thoughts on Gameplay 2:16:17 Chapter 4 - Art and Sound 2:16:36 4.1 - Graphics and Art Direction 2:30:04 4.2 - Voice Acting, Sound Design and Music 2:40:24 4.3 - Playing BG2 Today, Alternate Versions 2:48:58 Chapter 5 - Story and Roleplaying 2:49:17 5.1 - Background Lore and Story Overview (Minor Spoilers) 3:03:45 5.2 - On Story and Setting (Mild Spoilers) 3:29:15 5.3 - On Roleplaying and Alignment (Mild Spoilers) 3:37:43 5.4 - On Companions and Continuity (Minor Spoilers) 3:52:12 5.5 - On Romance and Final Thoughts (Minor Spoilers) 4:03:00 Chapter 6 - Mods and User Content 4:03:18 6.1 - Mods and Modding Overview 4:20:25 6.2 - Classic Adventures 4:29:40 Final Thoughts 4:39:22 Acknowledgements