Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Ah, here we are with the second game in the series, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn.

The second game added several new features including: class kits, the Half-Orc, several new spells, and an increased level cap. The GUI was also enhanced for a cleaner feel. One is capable of bringing over their character from the first Baldur's Gate and using it to continue the Bhaalspawn Saga. This allows for a more connected feeling to the previous game. Several characters from the first game also make an appearance.

Beware, for I will be spoiling most of the story in the next few paragraphs.

The game starts in a laboratory. A strange wizard walks up to you, and he knows you're a Bhaalspawn! He does several experiments on you until he is carried away with other matters. After he leaves, Imoen comes to rescue you! She's looking rather worse for wear from her last appearance. She tells you that you need to get out of there as quickly as possible. You have the option of picking up Minsc and Jaheira from a couple of cages in the same room if you wish.

During the escape, you learn that your captor is named Jon Irenicus. He talked of unlocking some sort of potential within you, but obviously this is probably not a good thing. Eventually, your party escapes into Waukeen's Promenade in Athkatla.

The place is a mess as Irenicus has destroyed a large chunk of it while fighting a group of thieves. After killing a few more, a bunch of wizards show up declaring the show an unsanctioned use of magical energy. Irenicus doesn't like this. He blows several of them to smithereens, before finally deciding to allow them to take him prisoner, on the condition that they take Imoen as well. They take her and teleport away.At this point, there isn't much to do, besides solving a problem at the local circus, if one wishes. Eventually, however, you must head to the slums.

Upon arriving, you meet a man named Gaelen Bayle who offers a way to retrieve Imoen and find Irenicus to boot. There's one problem: It's gonna cost you 20,000 gold pieces. Unless you've been cheating, this is pretty much impossible to have at this point, so you'll have to leave, do some side-quests, and come back.

This is the point of the game that allows quite a bit of freedom. There are several ways you can earn the money you need, and it really doesn't matter how much time you take. While earning said money, you can also meet several new party members and get all sorts of goodies in the form of magical equipment, spells, and experience points. I tend to take forever just attempting to get super-powerful before leaving to find Imoen. This is probably my favorite portion of the game.

After getting 15,000 gold, you'll be visited by a shady character offering the same deal that Gaelan was, but for only 15,000 instead. After this, you'll be informed by Gaelan's informant that the same deal has just been offered to you. Either way will get you to Imoen, but one path is certainly quite a bit darker. You'll finally reach the island of Brynnlaw which holds the asylum of Spellhold, where both Irenicus and Imoen wait.

When you reach the asylum, you are greeting by a thinly veiled Irenicus, but of course, your character isn't smart enough to notice that it's him. He captures you, steals your soul, and reveals to you a revelation: Imoen is also a Bhaalspawn! He then let's his "sister" Bodhi, a vampire, play with you while you regroup with Imoen. During this point, your character will have a few dreams and eventually be capable of turning into the Slayer, an avatar of Bhaal that is packing quite a bit of power. You eventually get out of the asylum, and depending on a choice you make, can either go on a detour, or go straight to the Underdark.

The Underdark is not a nice place. Anyone who knows anything about the Forgotten Realms can tell you that. While here, you meet up with a silver dragon named Adalon. She's had her eggs stolen by drow, and she's not happy. She tells your party to go get them back and disguises you as drow. You eventually get on the "good" side of one of the drow who is in charge of the eggs. Depending on yet another choice you make, the outcome of this can differ quite a bit, but let's assume you take the eggs back to Adalon. She then teleports you to the exit to the Underdark.

You meet a large group of Elves. They inform you (sorta) that Irenicus was working with the drow in order to lay siege upon Suldanessellar, where the Tree of Life resides. He wishes to become one with the tree in order to become a god. After retrieving Imoen's soul and destroying Bodhi for good, you made your way to the ruined city. Once there you must gather a few artifacts to awaken an avatar of Rillifane who quickly dispatches the siege. You must then make your way to Irenicus.

You find Ellisime, the queen of the Elves. She instructs you to kill parasites that are destroying the tree. After this, Irenicus gets pissed and you fight. After this, thinking you have won, you wake up in a sort of Hell. Irenicus has dragged you here with him! After receiving several Tears of Bhaal, you fight Irenicus for the final time. This is where the game ends. But, this is not the end for the Bhaalspawn. The Bhaalspawn Saga ends in the expansion pack Throne of Bhaal.




I will explain Throne of Bhaal in the next installment. Sorry for the extreme lack of detail at points.