IWD Complete vs IWD Enhanced Edition

[Lector87]

I picked up Icewind Dale Complete awhile ago on GOG, never got around to it. I see the Enhanced Edition is out now - is it worth it to buy the EE, or are the differences insubstantial enough that Complete is good enough?

[Winthur]

You get BG2 kits (that really don't fit in IWD and make it much easier, since they were just slammed in, and IWD doesn't have an SCS-equivalent that would revamp encounters to accomodate the fact that you now get access to broken class kits with blanket immunities with no noticable downside) and BG2 proficiencies (which are kinda limiting in the context of a game that dispenses loot semi-randomly), gain stuff that resident Beamdog employees will tell you require Epic Arcane Magic to mod in while in reality it's mostly like a coffee break's worth of time and research.

You also lose the Character Arbitration button - it wasn't implemented to the EE - which allowed you to remodel your party at any point if you decided that one of your team members is no longer valid, or you need someone else for a given situation (like a Bard), or if you're playing an Iron Man variant and someone gets chunked to death. That's kinda a big deal in a game which emphasizes combat and party composition.

According to esteemed IE analyst, Lilura (https://lilura1.blogspot.com/2016/12/Icewind-Dale-Enhanced-Edition-Review.html), I'd say give it a pass:

Thus, I prefer to stick with the original CD or GoG Complete version. Afterall, it runs just fine on my Windows 8.1 laptop, there are fewer bugs, better performance, and I value game balance and in-built party recomposition more than Beamdog's additions. Plus, if I really want to overhaul IWD I could just install the G3 Fixpack, Tweakpack, Unfinished Business and Item Upgrade mod, myself, and that's good enough.

I think that Cheesegear from GiantITP forums has the biggest IWD boner around, and at the very least I can quote his multiple contributions (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18373403&postcount=36) to the fact that BG2 additions break IWD. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=18370590&postcount=25)

Of course, you might not care - but I know a lot of people who miss the point of IWD and then drop it because they don't like combat emphasis. Well, in IWDEE, the combat can end up, like, half as engaging when you have kits that become immune to most status effects at will or permanently in exchange for stuff like "cannot throw darts", while dual-wielding.

[Lector87]

Very good to know, thanks a lot!

Looks like it's time for an alternative to Imgur...

[Cheesegear]

What's so 'Enhanced', anyway?

New Items: All of which are garbage. Adding in Katanas and more Scimitars doesn't exactly fix the game. Ammo Bags and Scroll Cases and the like were already modded into the game a long time ago. Nothing good here, carry on. None of it even matters, because getting loot is still random. Just 'cause Katanas are in the game, doesn't mean that you're going to get the magical ones.

Extra Spells: Break the game.

Extra Classes, Races and Kits: Dual-classing your characters was already God-mode, especially as you get to make all six characters exactly how you want. Giving Dual-Classers access to Kits only breaks the game. The big **** up, however, comes from BG2's Proficiency system. IWD was not designed to have every single Character you own, start Dual-Wielding.

Restored Content: Mods already did it.

Difficulty Setting: Yeah, 'cause you've broken the game. Of course Beamdog had to implement this. Also, is Heart of Fury mode not enough?

Improved UI / High Res: Mods already did it.

Look, Icewind Dale has a **** story. Go there. Kill boss. Go to next place. Kill boss. Get Thingy. Kill Boss. Kill five more Bosses. Kill Boss. Etc, etc. The only thing IWD has going for it, is the gameplay. Except all's the Enhanced Edition does, is trivialise the gameplay, by making the difficulty way too easy (so much that they had to make a new setting for the game). So, if you've got the EE, you get the **** story that you would get anyway, but also the gameplay is ****. So what are you even doing?

The Complete Edition, is what the designers of the game actually wanted. Play that. Don't play the edition where the acquirers said "Make it like BG2, people like BG2."

In return, you lose Character Arbitration. Which is the ability to drop in, drop out characters at will, because you don't get the loot you wanted/needed, or you need to reset one of your Characters because they don't have the right Proficiency for a really powerful weapon you found. If you Power-Game, you already know what all the fixed loot is, so you just build around that. Any bonus items you get - which are usually better than the fixed loot - is just a bonus, 'cause you're already proficient in that particular weapon, anyway. But yeah. For your first time going through the game, or in a game where you aren't loot fishing, the Character Arbitration button, matters.

[Lector87]

What's so 'Enhanced', anyway?

Thanks for the rundown! I'll save my money.