Depth of Play
Although smaller in physical size, Shadows of Amn will feature an expansive story which will take more than 100 hours to complete. There will be many interesting areas as described in the story section. The plot of the first chapter is linear, while the second chapter involves a large money-making expedition. In the third chapter, the main plotline becomes more apparent and the paths branch widely. To keep people on track, the journal entries have been improved. There will be more puzzles to solves: riddles, items, item-based, mechanical, trap- related, logic, mathematical, AD&D related, etc.
For comparison, in BG2, there are over 3900 lines of recorded dialogue, twice of that in BG. The number of words in dialogue has increased to 800,000 from 500,000 in BG. In BG, the main plot took 50-60 hours while everything took around 150 hours; in BG2 these are 50-60 hours and 200-300 hours, respectively. The class-specific subplots (stronghold quests) alone make up over 50 hours of gameplay.
Over 170 new spells, including 9th level mage spells and numerous reversible and multi-mode spells, are being added to bring the total to over 300. The artificial intelligence of enemy spellcasters has been improved to allow them to take advantage of their power. A few of the new spells that have been mentioned can be seen on the Wizard Spell List and the Priest Spell List. You still will not be able to target such spells as Magic Missile at multiple foes. Summoning spells now summon less monsters (but more powerful individually). When summoning more powerful monsters, you will need to succeed in a contest of wills to gain control of the creature. Your success is based primarily on your wisdom.
Although there will only be sixteen NPCs that can join your party, their scripting has been greatly increased such that one has as much scripting as all twenty-five from Baldur's Gate. Ten of the NPCs are single-classed, while the other six are dual- or multiclassed. The alignment of six of them is some sort of neutral. Five of these NPCs will be returning from Baldur's Gate although others can be met as cameos. For instance, the bard Garrick was busy trying to impress a lady with whom he was enamoured. They may even remember being party of your party in BG, although currently you have to establish this during your initial dialog with them. Because of the increased scripting, the NPCs will have more interaction with the main character, the party and the other people around them. They may have romances with main character or betray him or her. During dialog, NPCs are now aware of your sex and race. Intelligence, wisdom and charisma can also affect dialog choices. Also, each NPC has at least some banter with every other possible NPC and this may develop over time as Jan's continous quest to steal Boo.
Some of the banter is laugh-out-loud
funny and much of it adds a real...I don't know...a really different feeling
to the game. I was walking in the slums portion of Athkatla today
(playtesting) and was talking to a poor peasant, who suddenly asked Minsc
if he could buy his rat, because it looked delicious. Minsc, naturally, was
rather offended. [David Gaider, Designer]
Once they leave your party, the NPCs won't just stand where they were left; they will take more proactive measures. For instance, they might tell you where you can find them, although they might not rejoin your party right away if you ask them to. Some of the NPCs will initiate conversations with the player.
There are over 1,800 NPCs (600 more than BG and TotSC combined) that you can talk with. Some of the NPCs will have class kits. Drizzt Do'Urden will be returning, and if you killed him in BG, you may not want cross him again. Apparently, he has a friend with him this time. It may be possible to meet Elminster again.
While Baldur's Gate had about 60 unique monsters, Shadows of Amn will have around 130. These can be much bigger as the engine now supports bitmaps of 512x512 pixels, which can even be combined for larger monsters. These monsters will accurately reflect their special abilities from AD&D such as level draining for some undead. (The effect is semi-permanent as it will not wear off and must be removed with a Restoration spell. Experience will continue to be gained in the background, but you will not be informed of your current status. No levels will be gainable until you are properly restored.) Characters cannot have psionics but some foes like mind flayers will. Familiars will keep some characters company such as imps for mages or an animal like a moose, chipmunk or wolf for rangers. Familiars will be able to cross area boundaries with the party and can act as scouts. Finally, mounts, such as horses, will not be allowed in Baldur's Gate II.
The monsters will have improved artificial intelligence and are more likely to work together as groups and come to the aid of compatriots. Monsters can also follow you between maps. More enemies in the game will use magic items; especially one-use items like scrolls and potions. That way if you kill them quickly enough you'll get some extra potions, but if you take too long they will be all used up.
There are over one thousand items already in the game. Hundreds of new items have been added including a paladin's Holy Avenger, Harpin Pin, Mace of Disruption, Figurines of Wondrous Power, Sunblade: Daystar, full plate Armor of the Heart and the Staff of the Magi. There is one ultimate weapon for each weapon type. Many of the items from Baldur's Gate will be useable, although some will be weeded out during your prison stay. There will be no magical tomes, and other items that permanently increase abilities are also unlikely. There will be some new weapons like the katana and hand crossbow. The katana and bastard sword will continue to be one-handed only items. Bucklers will still work as in Baldur's Gate, no wooden shields have yet been added, and no changes are planned for equipping shields.
Several features will increase the replayability of the game: the increased number of character possibilities with the introduction of kits, the different strongholds, and greater complexity of the scripting and dialog to give multiple endings for many quests. Furthermore, to access every plot in the game, you would need to play each basic class/alignment combination. There are also more plots and items for evil characters than there were in Baldur's Gate I. Most quests will have good and evil methods for completing them. They have also tried to reward people for taking a peaceful instead of a violent path. More randomness will be introduced to treasures, but the important items will still be placed.
As easter eggs, the names of several message board inhabitants are in the game for NPCs: Lanfear, Draconis, Gromnir, Justarius Winterhawk and Mencar Pebblecrusher, to name a few.
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