Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale & Planescape Torment: Enhanced Edition Review (PS4)

There was no other console generation in history that was so fiercely assaulted by remasters and remakes than the current one. The publishers continue to exploit the nostalgia of the gamers in their 30s for the titles of their teenage years, using it as an easy way to sneak into their wallets. So it is no surprise that 20 years after the release of Baldur’s Gate, Beamdog is launching for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch enhanced editions of the most iconic videogame adaptations of the legendary tabletop role-playing games.

The collection is targeting mainly the hardcore players who were mesmerized by the crown jewels of the D&D video games. Unfortunately, the technical issues and the high difficulty level will turn away more gamers now, than they did back in the day, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let's start by looking at the peculiar way Beamdog packed together with the games, leaving the fans somewhat confused. Icewind Dale together with its official add-on, Heart of Winter, can be considered the most accessible titles of the lot, but they are not delivered together with Icewind Dale II, as we would have expected.

The producers chose instead to put them next to Planescape Torment, arguably the most original, but at the same time, the most difficult game from the golden age of D&D on PC. Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II are gathered in the same release, along with all the DLCs that have been added by Beamdog to the enhanced edition in 2012. The third release, which is expected to be launched in December will contain a sole game, the more recent Neverwinter Nights.

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All the games curated in these collections bring back the mechanics and features of the legendary high-fantasy RPGs. After creating your character or your entire party, you will embark on an epic journey in a mysterious world, filled to the brim with high stake quests and small errands alike, during which you will evolve from humble beginnings to epic showdowns. You can choose to explore the world as a solitary hero, but these grand tales are more thrilling in the company of a handful of other colorful characters.

The games open slowly, giving you time to accommodate to your surroundings, but then they expand quickly. The best example, of course, is Planescape Torment, where you awake in a morgue as a strange individual who though has a reach history can remember nothing of it, and suffering from persistent amnesia has to learn everything from scratch. In no time you will be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things to do and places to explore. But in each game, the endeavors are tied together so masterfully, that even if you try to deal with the needs of the townspeople of some God-forsaken place, you will not fill the annoying burden of fetch quests so typical to modern-day RPGs.

All four games emphasize their story, making you feel the center piece of the adventure. It doesn’t matter if you are trying to entangle the messy heritage of the barbarians from the north in Icewind Dale, if you are trying to save the Sword Coast from destruction by defeating a spawn of one of the most powerful gods in Baldur’s Gate or trying to solve the philosophical issues of the afterlife in Planescape Torment – even though guided by an invisible thread, your path is the one you make for yourself. Even the smallest quests will give you a sense of satisfaction and the consequences of your choices will make you believe that the world you are exploring is alive.

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Alliances will be born, friendships will shatter and by your hand, you will become a hero of the ages or an utterly infamous villain. Your chosen class dictates your ability, but your choices determine your fate – even the holiest warrior, the paladin can fall. Getting to know your companions and choosing how you will handle your fate will build up towards a grand finale, which you will experience only after dozens and dozens of hours of gameplay. Without giving any spoilers, the short intro the producers wrote for each game does a good job of presenting the story that awaits you.

Be ready for epic tales, both in length and in scope, although truth to be told nothing can prepare you for the whims and sarcastic attitude of Morte, a flying skull, which along with Minsc, the proud owner of a miniature giant space hamster, became two characters whose fame will live on forever among gamers.

Another important aspect, the battles you do throughout your adventures. Many of them can be avoided by using different dialogue options, either by trying to charm your way into the graces or NPCs or by trying to intimidate them, but some fights are unavoidable. Depending on the composition of your party you will need to learn and to apply different strategies and tactics to defeat your enemies in the turn-based battles. You will have to take into account the abilities of your companions, to equip them accordingly and to take advantage of your surroundings.

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For example, it is a bad idea to put a spellcaster with few hit points in the first line, while even the most powerful warrior can be bested by hidden traps. It is not an easy system and is definitely not friendly with newcomers, but it rewards those willing to learn it. To ease things up, Icewind Dale and the Baldur’s Gate games offer no less than seven different difficulty levels, from Story Mode, which is the best suited for newcomers, up to beyond insane, for the veterans with masochistic tendencies.

Combining the increased difficulty with the burden of choices that will affect your reputation with different factions and which can cause your most trusted allies to leave you, these titles pride themselves with a level of complexity which is absent from modern RPGs. These games were created to engulf you, they make you living and breathing the magical world of Faerûn.

Despite their excellent storytelling and unparalleled atmosphere, unfortunately, the games did not age well from a technical point of view. The most disappointing aspect is the control system along with the menus, which were clearly designed to be navigated using a mouse. The menus are very impractical and difficult to use with a controller, while the control scheme is clumsy at best.

The console versions include two different control schemes: the first uses the left analog stick to control the movement of the selected hero or party members, while the second method uses the same stick to emulate the movement of the mouse. You can choose from a faster but rather imprecise control method, or you can opt for one that is far more accurate but awfully slow. Also, the mapping of the buttons does not help at all. For example, in Icewind Dale you will use the Options button of the controller for the Active Pause feature, the Touchpad for the Options menu and the R2 trigger to see the in-game radial menu which allows you access among other tabs to your Journal, Maps, and Inventory.

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It almost feels like the control scheme was designed by someone who does play regularly using a controller and does not understand how it is supposed to work. The graphics suffer from the quirks of old age as well. Although you can zoom out until your characters look like actual D&D miniatures, keeping a more customary perspective will present blurry surroundings and pixelated objects and characters. On the other hand, the soundtrack of the games is as haunting as ever.

Those who have played the games before will instantly remember with fondness the theme songs of each game, while the newcomers will experience a weird sensation where these tunes will burrow themselves in their minds like the earworms they are. From epic battle hymns to cozy mood creating arrangements, the music of each game remains truly memorable.

The Good

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