/vr/ - Retro Games

I really do prefer BG1 to SoA.

SoA throws mountains of quests at you if you so much as take a walk around the city. You can lose two or three party members at the same time that way, to major quest events (Jaheira gets cursed, Nalia's ass of a fiance, etc.). At some point it also becomes Mages: The Game, where combat takes a shift towards protecting your spellcasters while whaling on theirs.
BG1 might start slow, but it's much more even-paced, and the consequences for your actions are both less forced and more dire. The party members are also somehow less insufferable. And while Sarevok may be an overall inferior villain to Irenicus, he was still very, very good.

The only complaints I have are that there's no real high-level content in BG1, and ends roughly at level 8. Tutu helps, though going to Watcher's Keep at level 8 is a death wish.