The Shadows of Amn

I had trouble getting excited about Torment. The story was interesting, but the combat just really turned me off. Your sister (and a handy walk-through) made it possible for me to finally finish that game after four years of aborted attempts.

The Baldur's Gate series, on the other hand, was just a perfect combination of story, gameplay, and interesting characters.

I first heard of Baldur's Gate around the time that Icewind Dale and Diablo 2 came out. I remember that because I had read the Icewind Dale trilogy by Salvatore and thought it was interesting that they'd made a game of it (I didn't realize at the time that the books and the game were only vaguely connected. The Forgotten Realms books - convincing a new generation of nerds to play D&D - were merely the backdrop for the game). I saw on the box that Icewind Dale was created by the same people who made Baldur's Gate, which led me to believe that I'd probably be interested in playing the Baldur's Gate game. I remember asking the store clerk which game (Diablo 2 or Icewind Dale) he thought I'd enjoy more (all the clerks there were close friends of mine at that point), and he recommended Diablo 2 (which was a great game but didn't leave the lasting impression that BG2 did).

Eventually, the Baldur's Gate 2 demo found its way into my grubby little hands, and I played all the way through the opening chapter (where you try to escape from Irenicus' dungeon) only to have Imoen kidnapped. And that's where the demo ended. Of course, the great secret of BG1 had been spoiled, but I was totally intrigued and picked up BG1 in the bargain bin. So while it will never win a pulitzer, I feel that the story of the Baldur's Gate series was just as important as the characters and gameplay. ;)

The combat was so fun because there were all these different classes available to you. Each had different abilities, and each party member could carry different weapons. Every encounter required a slightly different strategy to beat. Whereas, in Torment, I always felt underpowered, and then the Nameless one would die, only it felt like a cheat to just bring him back into the fray at full health after he "revived." Some people really like that, it didn't appeal to me.

The characters were cool in Torment, but you generally had to click on them to hear their story. In Baldur's Gate 2, they would initiate conversations with you and each other. They'd also interject comments into your conversations with other NPCs and leave the party (eventually) if they didn't like what they heard. I always felt like my actions had real consequences, and I loved the class specific quests.

Many of the things I liked best about Baldur's Gate are in World of Warcraft, which is probably why I'm becoming such a hopeless addict.