Date Beaten: July 15, 2021
Time to beat: ~30 Hours
Platform: Switch

This is probably the best game Bioware's ever made. It's got most of the open-ended exploration and crunchiness of the first Baldur's Gate, but with a hearty injection of what would become Bioware's signature style for the next 15 years.
The first half of this game is the closest they've ever come to matching what Obsidian/Black Isle has managed to do with their engines lmao, in that it's novelistic and asks interesting, truly interesting questions. Chapter 2, if you take the opportunity to deal with as many sidequests as you can (you should), is as close to perfect as a Bioware game has ever been, in pacing, in writing, in combat, even in dungeon design. It's so much fun, and when I replay this game I'll be spending most of my time here, doing as much as I can. The rest of the game falls a little flat comparatively, especially chapter 5 for me.
Chapter 5 throws hordes of the scariest DND monsters (Mind Flayers, Beholders, etc) at you and just expects you to deal with it in stride. I... couldn't deal with them at all in those numbers, and ended up switching to story mode (your party cannot die or be affected by statuses) for the rest of my playthrough, and it kinda soured me on the end of the game. I'd really been enjoying the crunchiness and the dungeon-crawly-ness, and then it just felt like I'd hit a brick wall. Despite this, I still liked the end of the game, just not quite as much as the beginning? Plus I bet spending more time in those early game sidequests would make dealing with mind flayers and beholders MUCH easier.
One other thing I'll say is that the last bit of chapter 7 (aka the end of the game) finally brings the story writing up to the level of the best sidequests in the game, and maybe even on par with some of the best scenes in planescape and KOTOR 2!!
Also, the companions have been monstrously fleshed out this time. This is another area where I can see the beginnings of what Mass Effect would be known for with it's companions, but... the writing is so much better here. And Mass Effect (1) has Great writing!! But damn, what's on display here really is Bioware's best work.
Anyways, I don't really have much else to say. I wish easy mode was actually easier and not just "the enemies take slightly longer to kill you", I wish the game was a little easier in general, and I wish ch5 felt a little more connected to the rest of the game plot-wise, but that first half is straight perfection.
For the record, my fav sidequest was Valygar's, and the more I think about it the more I think it might be because it reminded me of the general vibe of Tides of Numenera? Weird comparison, I know.
Anyways yeah it's good and if you like crunchy well-written rpgs it's amazing, just don't be afraid to play with that difficulty slider when things get frustrating for hours on end :)

Oh also the art? fucking DOPE AS HELL

also also it seems like the switch version of bg2 is not the most stable game, mine crashed a couple times (including right as it was loading the ending cutscene so i'm not gonna do throne of bhaal rn hahahahaha)

5/5
The game does so much right and good that it's hard to describe just how amazing the game is. I could write a super in-depth review but I wouldn't know when to stop and there would be a whole bunch of rambling. Playing through this game was like re-experiencing Dragon Age Origins for the first time. I don't know when we will get another high-quality CRPG like this but I'm contempt. The game is not perfect, but it is a masterpiece and a phenomenal work of art. I can't wait to see what Larian does next.

The only con to this game is the endings. Larian has never been strong with the last 15 minutes of their games and this is no different. Hopefully, with the next project, they can wrap things up better.

Starting my Backloggd with my 4-5th play-through (haven’t yet finished any of them). This is a complicated one. Really dug the first Pathfinder game but did not finish on account of bugs. Wrath shows a nice evolution in many aspects although I prefer the story and tone from the first. Never really connected with the whole demon centered theme but it has been slowly growing on me.

Notes for now:
Good:
- one of the best CRPGs available.
- impressive choices and consequences.
- very in depth character customization.
- good story. Nice characters.
Not so good:
- inconsistency in presentation: some parts are really impressive, with good animation and voice acting, while other parts fell unfinished and lacking.
- setting segregates some choices in character creation, prioritizing ones specialized in dealing with demons.

An excellent finale to a story that has been built up for a long time. Glad I played this and Shadowbringers back to back as I feel like it enhanced the experience. As someone who thinks a lot about the future and why we are here in the first place the story really hit home for me, so many moments where characters would say something and it would make my eyes teary, I dont think I have ever experienced something with the power to do that so many times with just WORDS. FF14 as a whole just has some of the most beautifully written dialogue that its going to change my perspective on how I view dialogue going forward. Fantastic game.