Info about Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition: Official game description: The Legendary RPG Returns ------------------------- Originally released in 2000, _Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition_ is the legendary Dungeons & Dragons RPG— freshly updated for modern adventurers. Customize a party of up to six heroes and venture across the icy tundra to battle monsters, plunder dungeons, and uncover secrets of the frozen wastes. Original Campaigns & Unseen Quests ---------------------------------- The Enhanced Edition includes the classic campaign, two official expansions, plus quests cut from the original 2000 release. * Original Icewind Dale Campaign * Heart of Winter Expansion * Trials of the Luremaster Expansion * Quest content cut from the Original Game Customize Your Party -------------------- * 30+ New Character Kits & Adventuring Classes * Upload characters from previous playthroughs * Dozens of new Spells & Gear for your Heroes * New Magical Armor and Weaponry Classic Gameplay ---------------- * 2-D isometric graphics * Real-time-with-pause combat * Adapts 2nd Edition Dungeons & Dragons Rules Enhanced for Modern Adventurers ------------------------------- * Updated Interface and New Quick-loot Bar * Upgrades the original with scores of bug fixes * Cross-platform Multiplayer for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android & iOS Evil Stirs in the Frozen North ------------------------------ In the northernmost reaches of the Forgotten Realms lies the region of icy tundra known as Icewind Dale. Journey deep into the Spine of the World, a harsh and unforgiving territory settled only by the hardiest folk. Encounter fearsome beasts that have learned the cunning ferocity needed to survive among the snow-shrouded peaks. Confront an evil that schemes beneath the carven glaciers to wreak destruction upon the face of Faerun. This is the world of _Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition_! Release date: Oct 30, 2014 Categories: Tactical Real-time with Pause, Character Customization, Dungeon Crawler, Party-based Combat, Isometric Action-RPG, Multiplayer, Mod Support Feature scans: - Wiki: score 50; verdict: High Dependency on External Resources; summary: The analysis of user feedback reveals significant reliance on external wikis and walkthroughs to understand complex game mechanics and avoid missing critical content. This dependency is primarily due to the game's intricate mechanics and the presence of missable quests and experience points. Additionally, language barriers were noted as a challenge for non-native speakers, necessitating the use of external resources. Despite these issues, there is positive feedback regarding the game's soundtrack, composed by Jeremy Soule. - Steam Deck: score 30; verdict: Playable with Minor Tinkering; summary: The analysis of user feedback for 'Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition' on the Steam Deck reveals a mix of experiences. While some users faced challenges with control configuration and ease of access, others praised the game's visual performance, stability, and compatibility with the Steam Deck. The default controller layout was noted to work well, reducing the need for additional adjustments. Overall, the game seems to offer a positive experience on the Steam Deck, with some minor issues that may require tinkering. - Hardware Profile: No data Feature extractions: - Community Price: - Community fair range: $15.00 - $20.00 - Reasoning: The evidence suggests that the community generally finds the game to be of good value at around $20 USD. Some users mention that the game is worth the price despite its flaws, while others indicate that it is often on sale, making it more accessible and affordable. The frequent mentions of the $20 price point and its value for money suggest that the community considers this to be a fair price range. - Playtime Metrics: - Game completion: 51.0h - Story completion: 34.2h - Session length: N/A - Endgame: N/A - Reasoning: The evidence provides several data points regarding playtime. The first quote mentions a total playtime of 34.2 hours for the base game and two expansions, indicating a typical completion time. The second quote suggests a much longer playtime of over 117 hours, but this includes multiple playthroughs and time spent on achievements, which is not typical for a single completion. The third quote provides a playtime of 51 hours for completing the game under difficult conditions, which is closer to a typical completion time. The fourth quote suggests a range of 60-90 hours, which seems to be on the higher end of typical playtime estimates. - Time-to-fun: - Summary: The game starts slow and can be tedious initially, but becomes more enjoyable after a few hours or levels as combat and progression improve. - Stance: Fun after initial grind - Anchor: Progressing through the first few levels - Time to anchor: 2h 0m - Friction: Slow pacing; Tedious combat; Steep learning curve - Unlock drivers: Progressing through initial levels; Getting accustomed to game mechanics - Conditions: Understanding the game's rules; Appreciating tactical combat; Enjoying customization options - Player Archetypes: - Veteran Tactician (buy) - Motivation: Mastery and challenge - Playstyle: Strategic and experimental, focusing on character builds and tactical combat. - Experience: veteran - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: veteran; tactician; min-maxer - Reference games: Baldur's Gate; Dragon Age: Origins; Neverwinter Nights - Novice Explorer (sale) - Motivation: Learning and exploration - Playstyle: Cautious and guided, relying on external resources to understand the game. - Experience: newcomer - Purchase stance: sale - Labels: newcomer; casual gamer - Reference games: Baldur's Gate; Neverwinter Nights; Planescape: Torment - Build-Crafter Grinder (buy) - Motivation: Character optimization and tactical combat - Playstyle: Focused on character creation and tactical combat, often engaging in repetitive playthroughs to refine builds. - Experience: familiar - Purchase stance: buy - Labels: builder; grinder; tactician - Reference games: Baldur's Gate; Dragon Age: Origins Below are summaries of things people say about the game per category. Each point is assigned a weight that represents how often it is mentioned across all reviews. What players like: - Immersive atmosphere and visuals (weight 0.41): The game features top-notch artwork, beautiful environments, and an immersive atmosphere, enhanced by excellent graphics and sound design. - Inclusion of expansions (weight 0.29): The Enhanced Edition includes expansion packs like Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster, adding compelling tales and more content to the original game. - Freedom in party creation (weight 0.23): The game offers full freedom in creating and customizing your party, allowing players to have complete control over party development. - Classic dungeon crawling (weight 0.23): The game is noted for its well-designed dungeons and engaging dungeon crawling gameplay, making it one of the best dungeon crawlers. - Detailed character creation (weight 0.22): Players appreciate the extensive character creation and customization options, including detailed backstories. - Enjoyable gameplay mechanics (weight 0.15): The game is praised for its solid and enjoyable gameplay mechanics, providing a fun and challenging experience. - Excellent soundtrack (weight 0.15): The game features a magnificent soundtrack composed by Jeremy Soule, enhancing the overall gaming experience. - High replayability (weight 0.11): The game is noted for its incredible replay value, offering a good amount of replayability for players. - Co-op and multiplayer support (weight 0.11): The game includes cooperative gameplay and multiplayer support, allowing players to enjoy the campaign together. Common complaints: - Inferior to Baldur's Gate (weight 0.49): The game is frequently compared to Baldur's Gate and found lacking in various aspects such as story depth, roleplaying elements, and overall content. Players feel it is shorter, less immersive, and less engaging. - Weak storyline (weight 0.32): The story is criticized for lacking depth and being fairly weak. Players find the narrative simpler and less engaging compared to other games like Baldur's Gate. - Difficult combat system (weight 0.31): The combat system is described as extremely fiddly, overwhelming, and having a steep learning curve. Players find it difficult and unrewarding. - Pathfinding and AI issues (weight 0.27): The game suffers from significant pathfinding problems and poor AI behavior. Players report that pathfinding is often not optimal and AI targeting can be problematic. - Outdated mechanics and graphics (weight 0.24): The game is criticized for its outdated mechanics, concept, and graphics. Players feel it has not aged well and looks old by today's standards. - Limited roleplaying elements (weight 0.21): The game lacks significant roleplaying elements and has a thin plot. Players looking for a stronger emphasis on story and role-play may not enjoy it. - Weak expansion content (weight 0.11): The Heart of Winter expansion is criticized for being weak and short. Players feel it does not add significant new content. - Lack of voice acting (weight 0.1): The game is criticized for its lack of voice acting. Players feel the absence of voice acting detracts from the overall experience. - Occasional bugs (weight 0.09): The game has occasional bugs and glitches. Players report encountering various bugs during gameplay. - Confusing UI (weight 0.07): The game's user interface is described as confusing and difficult to navigate. Players struggle with the GUI. - High price (weight 0.06): The game is criticized for its high price. Players feel the price is too high for the content offered. - Unpleasant randomized loot (weight 0.06): The game's randomized loot system is criticized for being unpleasant to work with. Players find the loot system unrewarding. Gameplay feedback: - Turn-based tactical combat (weight 0.32): Combat is turn-based with tactical elements, including real-time-with-pause mechanics for strategic planning. - Character creation and customization (weight 0.27): Players can create and customize characters, with options for character progression and party building. - Party creation and management (weight 0.24): Players can create a party from scratch and manage team formation strategies. - Dungeon crawler elements (weight 0.23): The game features dungeon crawling and exploration, with a linear progression and party-based RPG mechanics. - AD&D rules implementation (weight 0.2): The game uses Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition ruleset, providing a classic D&D experience. - Similar to Baldur's Gate series (weight 0.18): The game has a combat system and overall feel similar to the Baldur's Gate series, but with some differences. - Strategy and tactics (weight 0.16): The game is tactically difficult, offering a range of tactical possibilities and requiring strategic planning. - Isometric RPG design (weight 0.15): The game features an isometric perspective and design, typical of classic RPGs. - Character builds and progression (weight 0.13): The game offers extensive character builds and progression systems, including inventory management. - Cooperative and group-based gameplay (weight 0.13): The game supports cooperative gameplay, with a focus on group-based problem-solving and cross-platform play. - Infinity Engine and classic D&D gameplay (weight 0.13): The game uses the Infinity Engine and provides a classic D&D RPG experience. - Difficulty settings (weight 0.13): The game offers adjustable difficulty settings, including an insane difficulty mode for challenging gameplay. - More combat-focused than Baldur's Gate (weight 0.11): The game is more combat-focused and less magic/spell centric compared to the Baldur's Gate series. - Pre-staged encounters (weight 0.1): The game includes dungeons and pre-staged encounter zones, adding to the tactical combat experience. - Final boss challenges (weight 0.08): The game includes challenging final bosses, adding to the difficulty and tactical combat. - RPG and roleplaying elements (weight 0.08): The game includes various RPG features and roleplaying elements, typical of classic RPGs. - Equipment and spell variety (weight 0.08): The game offers a variety of spells, abilities, and equipment, adding to the character customization and combat experience. - Challenging encounters and boss fights (weight 0.08): The game features difficult encounters and boss fights, requiring strategic planning and tactical combat. - Dungeons & Dragons-based RPG (weight 0.08): The game is based on the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset, providing a classic D&D style RPG experience. - World-building and setting (weight 0.07): The game features a rich D&D world setting, adding to the immersion and exploration. - Map design and exploration (weight 0.07): The game features well-designed maps and exploration elements, including secrets to discover. - New class variants (weight 0.07): The game introduces new class variants and rules, adding to the character creation and customization options. - Classic CRPG game (weight 0.07): The game is considered a classic of the CRPG genre, offering a nostalgic experience for fans of old-school RPGs. - Loot system (weight 0.07): The game features a loot system, adding to the combat and exploration experience. - Story and narrative (weight 0.07): The game includes story and narrative-driven elements, though it is less emphasized compared to combat. - AI behavior (weight 0.07): The game includes companion AI behavior, affecting gameplay and tactics. - Multiplayer and mod support (weight 0.07): The game supports multiplayer and modding, adding to the replayability and community engagement. - Various classes and races (weight 0.07): The game offers a variety of classes and races, adding to the character creation and customization options. Performance notes: - Improved graphics and visuals (weight 0.32): Players have noted significant improvements in graphics, animations, and visual effects. This includes enhanced spell effects and better environment textures. - Stable performance on various systems (weight 0.23): The game runs smoothly on modern systems, including GNU/Linux and Steam Deck. Players appreciate the stable performance and lack of loading screens. - Steam Deck compatibility (weight 0.13): The game plays well on Steam Deck, with players noting good performance and the ability to configure controls specifically for the Steam Deck OLED. - Resolution and widescreen support (weight 0.13): The game supports various resolutions, including ultrawide and widescreen formats. This enhances the gaming experience on different types of displays. - Game crashes and stability issues (weight 0.1): There are reports of the game crashing during gameplay, which can be a significant issue for some players. This includes crashes during multiplayer sessions. - Pathfinding and optimization problems (weight 0.07): There are reports of pathfinding issues and optimization problems, leading to lag and other performance issues during gameplay. - Pixelation and graphical issues (weight 0.07): Some players have reported issues with pixelation, particularly when zooming in on character sprites. This can detract from the overall visual experience. - Inventory and UI issues (weight 0.07): Players have noted problems with inventory management and general UI issues, which can affect the overall gameplay experience. - Save game issues (weight 0.04): Some players have experienced issues with saving their game progress, which can be frustrating and disruptive to the gaming experience. - AUTOHDR support (weight 0.04): The game supports AUTOHDR, although some players have noted that it is not particularly special or impactful. Recommendations: - Recommended for classic CRPG fans (weight 0.49): This game is highly recommended for fans of old-school CRPGs, particularly those who enjoy medieval aesthetics, classic Dungeons and Dragons, and Infinity Engine games. It is also suggested for those who appreciate tactical combat and challenging gameplay. - Fans of Baldur's Gate series (weight 0.23): Worth experiencing for fans of the Baldur's Gate series, including those who have played Baldur's Gate 1, 2, or 3. It is recommended to play the Baldur's Gate series first for a fuller RPG experience. - General recommendations (weight 0.17): The game is generally recommended for fans of the genre and those looking to expand their horizons. It is also suggested for those who enjoy playing with others. - Nostalgia trip for old fans (weight 0.16): The game is recommended for those seeking a nostalgia trip, particularly fans of the original Baldur's Gate games. However, some reviews suggest skipping it if you're only looking for nostalgia. - Purchase on sale (weight 0.13): Several reviews recommend buying the game only when it is on sale, suggesting that it is worth trying if you can get it at a discounted price. - Start with Baldur's Gate 2 (weight 0.07): New players are recommended to start with Baldur's Gate 2 for a better introduction to the series. - Useful tips for gameplay (weight 0.07): Players recommend saving after every encounter and using guides for character builds to enhance the gaming experience. - Mods and patches available (weight 0.06): There are mentions of installing patches from Gibberlings' Tweaks Anthology and exploring mod forums for additional content. - Enhanced Edition features (weight 0.06): The Enhanced Edition is recommended for features like quickloot, and it is highly recommended along with other enhanced editions of the game. - Consider other classic RPGs (weight 0.03): Some reviews suggest playing other classic RPGs like Kotor 1/2, Planescape: Torment, and Fallout 1/2 instead. - Skip for new players (weight 0.03): Some reviews recommend skipping the game for new players, suggesting it might not be the best starting point for those new to the series. Other player notes: - Cloud saves across devices (weight 0.04): Players appreciate the ability to save their game progress on the cloud and access it from multiple devices. Emotions: - Nostalgia (weight 0.2): Players experience nostalgia due to memories of playing the game in their childhood and its impact on their fascination with CRPGs and TTRPGs. The classic D&D gameplay, comparisons to other classic games like Baldur's Gate, and the enduring fun of the game after many years also contribute to this feeling. - Frustration (weight 0.13): Players feel frustrated due to high difficulty levels, game crashes, and bugs that disrupt gameplay. Issues with AI behavior, opaque mechanics, and the need for save-scumming also contribute to this frustration. - Satisfaction (weight 0.13): Players are satisfied with the well-balanced and stable gameplay, as well as the freedom to build their party and customize pacing. The strategic depth, variety in gameplay, and challenging content also contribute to this satisfaction. - Disappointment (weight 0.09): Players feel disappointed due to the lack of narrative ambition, repetitive gameplay, and dull combat. The game's lack of remarkable features compared to its contemporaries and the weak storyline also contribute to this disappointment. - Excitement (weight 0.08): Players are excited about the engaging story, challenging gameplay, and the variety of enemies. The extensive character creation and customization options, as well as the tactical combat, contribute to this excitement. - Enjoyment (weight 0.07): Players enjoy the tactical combat, medieval aesthetic, and detailed character creation process. The well-written text, interesting encounters, and the game's cool and enjoyable features also contribute to this enjoyment. - Appreciation (weight 0.05): Players appreciate the game's focus on hack-and-slash mechanics, detailed artwork, and atmosphere. The beautiful graphics, combat mechanics, and the efforts of the development team in the remastered edition are also appreciated. - Enthusiasm (weight 0.05): Players are enthusiastic about the positive aspects of the game, including its story, mechanics, and atmosphere. The deep customization options, tactical combat, and challenging gameplay contribute to this enthusiasm. - Positive (weight 0.03): Players have positive feelings about the game's design, loot system, maps, enemies, and storylines. The customization options, addition of orcs, and the inclusion of an expansion pack also contribute to these positive feelings. - Admiration (weight 0.02): Players admire the game's narrative, audio, atmosphere, and music. The game's depth, mechanics, and engaging gameplay are also praised. - Joy (weight 0.02): Players experience joy from the beautiful 2D graphics, engaging and satisfying gameplay. The game's music, landscapes, and monsters also contribute to this joy. - Amusement (weight 0.02): Players are amused by the sarcastic voice of the Priest, funny dialog options, and humorous dialogue and characters. Overcoming difficult challenges also adds to the amusement. - Frustrated (weight 0.01): Players feel frustrated due to poor game design, teleportation mechanics, and bugs that make the game unplayable. These issues significantly hinder the gaming experience. - Boredom (weight 0.01): Players feel bored due to the repetitive and unengaging nature of the game. The lack of interesting content makes the game feel like filler from start to finish. - Mixed feelings (weight 0.01): Players have mixed feelings due to enjoying certain aspects like combat and ambiance, while criticizing others such as the story, maps, and linearity. The game has both positive and negative points. - Criticism (weight 0.01): Players criticize specific issues with the expansions, the game's performance, AI issues, and optimization problems. These criticisms highlight areas where the game falls short. - Anger (weight 0): Players feel anger due to bugs not being fixed and the high price of the game. These issues lead to a negative experience and frustration. - Challenge (weight 0): Players feel challenged by the game's difficulty and old D&D rules. These aspects provide a tough but engaging experience.}