Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 Getting remastered has been rumored since the first game launched in 2021. Fan support for that must have been enough to relaunch this as well. It’s great to be able to play this action RPG again and on modern consoles without the need for emulation or old systems.
However, there are some problems with Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2, namely that this is hardly a remaster. The only thing that seemed to have been updated was the in-game graphics. It’s a nice coat of paint to make it look more appealing to a new audience, but the game also needs a lot of features that will be added in future patches.
8 The character selection screen
CG cutscenes were once the coolest thing about a video game. Final Fantasyfor example, constantly broke new ground when it came to the CG cutscenes and extended storytelling. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 didn’t have much CG, but what little there was looked good in 2004.
These movies were not updated at all, which is common for a remaster. They now look like hazy nightmares, and the same goes for the character selection screen. Of the two problems, the character selection screen must be resolved first.
7 Choose class genders
This would take a lot more work and change the game significantly. However, adding a way to change genders between classes would go a long way. Part of the fun of a dungeon crawler RPG like this is customizing a character. It would be even better if classes could be completely customized, from hair to accessories like eye patches. However, a gender switch option would be enough to diversify the playable classes more.
6 Add Online Co-op
Being able to play couch co-op in a 2022 game, even with just a remaster, is a big deal, as that’s not a widespread mechanism anymore. As fun as two-player co-op can be, this game could be even more fun with a few minor tweaks.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2s PS2 cousin, Champions of Norrath, not only had four-player co-op, but there was also an online option. Even if this game can’t increase the number of players to four, an online option would be good to have. These are still uncertain times when online co-op is as important as ever.
5 Store anywhere
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 uses an old-fashioned loyalty points system that is arguably the most outdated thing in the game. There is no autosave function, which is a shame. The other quirk is that players can’t save wherever they want. It’s understandable why these were limitations on the PS2, but a game remaster should always include at least autosaves. One or both features should be added to the game in the next patch.
4 Loyalty Point Upgrades
If the developers can’t add autosave or the ability to save anywhere, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2, then there is another route they can take. As they upgrade the save points, players may be more willing to forgive the serving limitations. Loyalty points can replenish health and mana, for example. Saving points also allows players to quickly travel between checkpoints. Both features would make the game more accessible as an RPG.
3 Increase speed
The movement speed leaves something to be desired as there is only one speed for all characters in the game. Tilting the stick a bit allows characters to walk, but probably nobody wants that in a dungeon crawler.
There is a spell, Sprint, that can give characters a quick speed boost. The monk starts with this ability, which is nice, but it’s not enough. The normal speed should not be as slow as in the first place and it would help to increase this speed. Another option would be to add a fast-forward function. This is common in many remasters like most recent ones Final Fantasy titles.
There are two ways to look at the map in Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2. Players can hit the D-Pad left, in front of the controller on the Switch, and bring out a mini-map that nestles in the top right corner. Tapping this button again will enlarge the size and place the map on top of the player in the center of the screen. While this increase in size is helpful, it would also be helpful to see a more detailed map in the menu. The developers could add something like that to the character menu or the pause menu.
1 Fix the attack button
Most dungeon crawlers of this caliber, such as Diablo 3, have players hold down the attack button. This keeps the character attacking as if they were programmed to be on autopilot. That option does not exist in Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 right now, but it should. If this was a standard action RPG with more combos and a third person camera angle, no auto-attack option would be understandable. However, this feature not featured in this game is really mind boggling. It doesn’t ruin the game in any way, but tapping the button is more annoying.
Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance 2 was re-released as a remaster on July 20, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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