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08-09-2013 11:43 PM

Borodin

Quote:

Originally Posted by LordOfMagic

What I also found impressive was the writing. It is placed in Raymond E Feist's Midkemia, but Feist had nothing to do with it. Basically just licensed Dynamix to go nuts. They managed to write a story that felt perfect within the setting. I had never read a book from Feist, but this game inspired me to do so.

Exactly. Feist accepted a fee for the use of his setting and characters, but he had no involvement in the writing or the world. When he did get involved, with Return to Krondor, it turned into a pretty routine, average lookalike RPG with a standard template of AD&D-style magic spells you auto-chose from as you leveled up. There's no leveling in BaK, as you know: instead, your skills increase as you use them, and if you highlight specific skills, they'll increase faster. The catch is, the more you highlight, the slower that extra boost becomes, since it's spread out.

I recently started it up, again. Still played damn well. And the little in-jokes--like the Inn called The Green Cat--are fun to catch, too. I remember asking the chief developer if he was a Fritz Leiber fan (novel called The Green Cat), and he laughed, and said I'd got him. We were both Leiber enthusiasts.

06-09-2013 08:58 PM

LordOfMagic

The thing that most impressed me about the game is how much they added for you to find on your own. Most RPGs drag you around by the nose. BaK actually lets you go almost everywhere and do almost anything. If you just go and follow the "main" plot directly, you miss out on over half of the side quests and stories.

Though its combat system is not totally unique, it is far from common. A tile based, 2d isometric, turn based combat system was done very, very rarely.

What I also found impressive was the writing. It is placed in Raymond E Feist's Midkemia, but Feist had nothing to do with it. Basically just licensed Dynamix to go nuts. They managed to write a story that felt perfect within the setting. I had never read a book from Feist, but this game inspired me to do so.

19-07-2013 06:44 PM

DSpector1966

Awesome game!

I remember how excited I was buying this game when it was brand new!!! Great story, awesome graphics (for the time)

13-08-2012 03:24 AM

Borodin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironlion

Oh, this makes me feel so good.

12-08-2012 11:50 PM

Ironlion

This is a fantastic game! Most of the complaints are probably due to its age, more than anything. I think a vast majority of people who didn't try it when it was current weren't even born yet when it was new.

But it was truly a wonderful game, and a classic. It is not action-oriented, so if you want your FPS with an RPG veneer (I'm looking at you, Bethesda), then just keep on walking.

What it does offer is an incredible story line in a fully-fleshed-out world. It is easily on par with other classic PC epics such as Albion. It beats far better-marketed and better-selling games, at least of it's time.

I found no better RPG until the days of Baldur's Gate came and then all other RPGs from that day forward would be compared to it and be humbled; but still I remember this one as a real gem. It's a shame that it hasn't aged as well as it's contemporaries.

11-08-2012 10:06 PM

Borodin

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capo

Pg at 1 hp dont heal sleeping, the only way is a temple but i havent found any.

There should be a list of temples in the GameFAQs strategy guide. I remember one being in the north-south road leading from your starting position to the capitol. Once you find additional temples, always be sure to go in and click to speak to the leader. Choose the teleport option, but don't teleport--just do it, to get a look at where the various temples are that you already know.

Quote:

Is a bad game ? I've started it and look pretty cool

BaK? No, it's great. I reviewed the thing when it first came out, and its two successors. It was innovative in several respects.

1) First genuine 3D RPG. The third dimension wasn't for anything other than visuals, but still.

2) The wordlocked chests. No other development team has thought its player base intelligent or literate enough to spend time figuring these out.

3) The trapped land system. Very clever, and also something that I don't recall seeing much of, subsequently.

4) A series of mini-plots that actually move ahead on their own, chapter by chapter, whether you become involved in them, or not.

5) A magic system that fortunately avoids all the AD&D cliches. That's not innovative, but it's nice.

6) Plots within plots, and for once, evil types who really aren't selfishly evil, but simply want the best outcome by standards that differ from your own.

As a sidenote, the development team got into a really heated debate with the Sierra VP appointed to oversee their project. The day after the game was released, they were literally all fired by him. He in turn was fired soon after he reasoned that anybody could make a similar game, appointed a few programmers to lead Betrayal at Antara, and it was treated by press and players alike (for good reason) as a bomb.

09-08-2012 12:04 PM

yoga

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunvagy

Which as many times discussed on the GoG forums, was for a limited time, and only from certain sources. It's by no means freeware anymore.

BoK was my first love,
till i met Morrowind and Oblivion.
I am surprised to know that some well respected gamers of AB
name this game - crap.!?
I strongly recommend BoK to every dedicated fan of RPG.
..and beware of some unfriendly fat gentlemen who raised from the earth..

09-08-2012 08:45 AM

hunvagy

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironlion

Though this game is for sale at GoG, a certain version of it is actually freeware; Sierra gave it away free way back in the late 90's, to promote their new, "amazing" sequel, "Betrayal at Antares".

There is a version ~10mb, and that is entirely free and legal

(should go on AR).

Which as many times discussed on the GoG forums, was for a limited time, and only from certain sources. It's by no means freeware anymore.

09-08-2012 07:11 AM

Ironlion

(should go on AR).

27-08-2011 03:34 PM

Capo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Borodin

I see what you mean. Didn't save before your last fights? Not enough food to rest up in the open and regain your party's health?

Pg at 1 hp dont heal sleeping, the only way is a temple but i havent found any.

Quote:

Think! You have a future, friends, youth. Don't throw it all away by such a...desperate move.

Is a bad game ? I've started it and look pretty cool

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