Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear
15 years later, Baldur’s Gate expands.
As a historical artefact, Baldur’s Gate is important. As an RPG, it’s huge and expressive. But as a moment-to-moment experience, it can be something of a chore. Siege of Dragonspear is an expansion for Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. As an add-on – albeit one that takes the form of a full length campaign – it’s forced me to reevaluate if Baldur’s Gate is actually worth expanding.
The D&D ruleset feels awkward and restrictive. Melee combat involves watching sprites wave weapons at each other until invisible dice register a hit. Detecting traps requires walking a few paces in a dungeon, stopping and waiting to see if your Thief signals danger. If she doesn’t, take a few more steps and repeat. If she does, disarm it. Then take a few more steps and repeat. There are a lot of traps.
It seemed fine in 1998. It even worked in the Enhanced Edition, where, despite the frustrations, it felt important to hold true to the original experience. But as a campaign released in 2016, the rougher edges feel more pronounced. As much as I loved the Infinity Engine, that style is being replicated more smoothly in Pillars of Eternity and Divinity: Original Sin.
Modern sensibilities aside, how does Siege of Dragonspear work as a new Baldur’s Gate chapter? Pretty well, for the most part. The story fills in the gap between the first and second game, opening with a dungeon filled with Sarevok’s remaining followers, then moves on to you — the Hero of Baldur’s Gate — out to stop Caelar Argent, the Shining Lady, who’s leading a crusade in the north. While your path is somewhat restricted, Siege of Dragonspear works well as an RPG. I found numerous opportunities to talk my way out of fights, or engineer interesting solutions to quests. That said, the dialogue options feel more restrictive than in Baldur’s Gate proper. Many responses fit into three categories: good, neutral and evil, where evil really means being a bit of a dick. Overall, though, the writing’s quite good.
There’s a greater sense of spectacle, too. This is the most populated Baldur’s Gate has ever felt, with huge crowds gathering on the streets. That also manifests in combat. Individual encounters feature a greater number of enemies, and focus is more on crowd control than systematically clicking on enemies in order. It can feel like a battle of attrition but I appreciate the chance to try new tactics.
The Enhanced Edition’s reworked interface is barely fit for purpose. Simply navigating through the different menus is a pain and the new journal seems less intuitive than the old one. And, while an effort has been made to pretty up the graphics – mostly by zooming the camera out to an absurd level – there’s no hiding the fact this is a 15-year-old engine.
As a Baldur’s Gate adventure, Siege of Dragonspear works well. While the tone isn’t entirely consistent with the original series, it does a good job of inserting itself into the middle of the story without feeling like sacrilege. As a result, though, it requires that you still be invested in that story. The fact is, a decade and a half later, there are much smoother, more enjoyable RPG experiences available. Phil Savage