Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear Reviews
Beamdog has proven they can continue the Baldur's Gate story. In doing so, they replicate the antiquated nature of the Baldur's Gate games.
Baldur’s Gate gets an impressive expansion in Siege of Dragonspear, a new D&D epic that fills some blanks in the original saga after nearly 20 years.
With Siege of Dragonspear, Beamdog has come on a long way. It’s not perfect, either at matching the style or being a great new RPG in its own right, and future games will need some heavy QA loving. But, as the company’s first big attempt to both follow in BioWare’s wake (the presence of former BioWare people notwithstanding), it’s a good start and at least a good first step to one day giving us that Baldur’s Gate 3 we’ve been waiting so long for – another nostalgia trip, but with a slightly more practiced eye on the future.
Baldur’s Gate: Siege of Dragonspear fills in some of what happens to the Child of Bhaal between saving Baldur’s Gate and saving your soul from Irenicus, and it’s a hoot to revisit this world, using the old D&D rules from the 1990s. But Siege of Dragonspear hints at more — a studio that’s done with just enhancing older games and ready to carve out a place among the top storytellers in the RPG sector. Beamdog’s first effort at original storytelling is a good start, and I’m excited to see more in the future, even if it’s in the world of Baldur’s Gate.
Still though, while I can’t find a reason for Siege of Dragonspear not to exist, and while it completely entertained me throughout its unbelievable 30-hour run time, it comes off more as wholly unnecessary.
It's a different sort of game when compared to its brothers, but it works very well in the space it occupies. It's unfortunate that there are quite a handful of technical issues, because otherwise this is a great excuse to head back to the Sword Coast.
A good game plagued by many issues, Siege of Dragonspear is an uneven RPG in terms of writing and presentation; a trait it shares with the original Baldur's Gate.
New journey, old friends. I don’t know what possessed Beamdog to make Siege of Dragonspear an expansion to the original game, nor do I know what devil’s pact coerced them into making it thirty-odd hours long. It’s insanity.
If you want to play a Baldur’s Gate expansion, I would suggest getting the original un-enhanced editions and installing both games along with the BGtutu mod. After that, you can download the fan-made Dark Side of the Sword Coast, which is infinitely better than what Beamdog has created here with Siege of Dragonspear.