Baldur's Gate II (Boss Fight Books) Paperback – June 22, 2015

If you've ever loved any videogame, you should probably read this. If you're a fan of good creative nonfiction, then you should probably read this. What's most interesting is not the description of the game's narrative, or the battle system, etc. (I'm not fully aware of how D&D works), but the way that it relates back to Matt Bell's life. I read this not because 'Baldur's Gate II" was on the cover, but because "Matt Bell" was on the cover. This doesn't disappoint if you're a fan of his. Do not come into this thinking it's simply a review of Baldur's Gate II, because while Bell explains the game well enough for any layperson, it's not about that. I thought this was a really fascinating longform essay. You can probably get through it in one sitting if you really want to.

Good writing overall, but focused more on the writer's memories and experience than on fun facts from the game's production (which I expected it to be).

I enjoyed learning about the game, Baldur's Gate II. But even more, I enjoyed learning more about my own son, who wrote the boy.Thanks Matt Bell for 'putting yourself out there."

Fantastic essay. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

To start things off, I can't say enough good things about Boss Fight Books in general. They're putting out books on really interesting games and exploring great topics within those games. I'm sad to say that Baldur's Gate 2 doesn't quite hit the mark that other Boss Fight Books have in the past.Usually with a book in the series, you tend to get a nuts-and-bolts examination of the game's finest details (like Darius Kazemi's wonderful, detailed account of Jagged Alliance 2), or a deeply personal story told against the backdrop of the game in question (much like Anna Anthropy's introspective and wonderful book about ZZT). Baldur's Gate 2 tries to be both, and doesn't really rise to the level of either of the previously mentioned books. The author tries to make some good points about how the game world doesn't move unless the player takes action, but that's not something really unique to Baldur's Gate 2, that's pretty much how most video games work.On the personal introspection side, the book falls even flatter. The author seems to have gotten the gig writing this book because he wrote a novel, The Last Garrison, in the D&D universe. The personal stories he tells in it feel like an extended foreword to the novel, something that he probably wasn't able to put into the novel itself. By the end, when he's thanking his coauthors and editors for making the other novel possible, I was done.

Your enjoyment will depend on your memories and experience of the game in question. That goes without saying for this series of books. For me, BGII was an "800 pound gorilla" according to PC Gamer (I think?) which I respected and played but never even got close to finishing. This was around the time when I was becoming hip to the benefits of video game sales. In those days PC games came in boxes on store shelves and that inventory needed to be marked down eventually. It became easier than ever before to assemble my aspirational library of games that mostly would never be finished.I will echo another review who hoped for a more compelling tale of how the game was made. There are allusions to research done, a reference to a developer interview, but it's never more than a tease. I hoped for more too. If a game warrants a book treatment I feel like the people who made it deserve to be included. This feels more relevant in an era where working conditions for the developers is becoming a more central concern. What was it like to be at the seminal producer of PC RPGs in the late 90's? There's an angle there.There's a story of becoming okay with yourself and your nerdy tastes mixed in with the talk of the game and the authors experience learning about writing while under contract for a D&D novel. Like discussion of what it was like at Bioware, the developer, I get a hint of the life of a writer and want more.The interesting parts of this book are spread too thin and cry out to be fleshed out. But the game is a worthwhile object of attention, being responsible for elevating the visibility of PC RPGs and the sheer breadth of a game. This was a nice light read to pull up on my phone in between sessions of heavier books.

I bought this book hoping to know more about what happened behind the scenes, what went in the making of one of my favorite games, and ended up reading about the author's life and discover of video and roleplaying games.The writing holds up, but the topics discussed did not hook me for a second, sadly.

I'd played Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn last decade but never got to finish it. Be that as it may, it was incredibly fun and there was never a dull moment. And then I saw this book and decided to give it a chance. It's not a making-of book but it discusses the author's experience with the aforementioned game and his own personal commentary. It's like he brought up all of his memoirs while playing the game. If you're a fan of the game, or if you like reading about those who play them, try this one. If you're new to Baldur's Gate, this may have some spoilers. But just enjoy it.

Second review on a book of these publishers so i'll make it short and lazy this book was as good as the last book i read(Jagged Alliance 2)and that was a really good book too.

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