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Version used for review: 32.0.

Baldur’s Gate 2 is a game largely celebrated for its characters and companion interactions. With personal quests, unique relationships, and many things to say, each companion feels like a living person that belongs in the game’s world. Baldur’s Gate 1, back in 1998, had many companions who sported the barest amount of characterisation — it was supposedly BioWare’s intent for you to swap characters in and out of the party as necessary throughout your playthrough, but players tended to stick with a singular group of five for the entire game, resulting in a new approach in writing for the sequel.

The BG1 NPC Project is a mod that initially released in 2004, taking inspiration from the beating heart of BG2’s companion system to attempt to apply the same depth to BG1’s companions. The NPC Project implements conversations between the player and every joinable NPC, banter between NPCs, interjections, romances, and optional music tracks to give each character their own theme.

A massive list of creative, dedicated people contributed to the writing and coding of this mod, and it stands as one of the greatest accomplishments that this community has put together since the release of the games.

However…

I, personally, do not enjoy using the NPC Project. I don’t use it when I play through the game, and replaying its content for the purpose of this review was an exercise in frustration. Given that this mod is approaching 20 years old, many people will already have established opinions on it. I won’t try to change your mind — I always encourage people to enjoy whatever pieces of media or art they please. This review, having been rewritten several times now, is both a piece of entertainment and a plea.

A plea to stop recommending this mod to new players, and a resource for new players to make an informed decision on how they want to experience these old games. Given that the Saerileth review is consistently the highest performing page on this website, I can only assume that the readers of these writeups are fiends for controversy. Today, I am here to feed you, you goblins.

As always, remember that this review is not the end-all be-all of what is good or bad. It is simply the opinion of a player who loves these games.

My biggest problem with the BG1 NPC Project is the one thing that you can’t avoid by simply not playing it. That problem is the perception of many that it makes Baldur’s Gate better. It does not make it better, it simply makes it different. Whether it is different in a positive or negative way is subjective, but I think it is inarguable that it adds a mountain of bad content that strays wildly from BioWare’s original design philosophy.

There’s also plenty of good stuff sandwiched between the bad, and I think that the mod is absolutely worth playing at least once, as long as it’s not your first playthrough. Why? To try and put it succinctly, it overcompensates for the lack of interaction in Baldur’s Gate by bloating the game with the writing of over 30 different people — all with different levels of skill in writing, and different ideas of how characters act and how content should be designed.

While playing Baldur’s Gate with the NPC Project for this review, I couldn’t help but feel as though the entire project lacked a cutting room — someone to reel back the writers and flat out tell them when something doesn’t work; when dialogue goes on for too long, when quests barely make sense, the entirety of Safana’s character, or when something should simply be removed for the sake of consistency. Like all of this:

Ahem… anyway, it’s practically impossible to have consistency when you have so many people working on such a massive project in their spare time. The NPC Project lacks consistency within itself, but more importantly (to me), it lacks consistency with the game it seeks to improve.

Let’s look at the first few bits of new content a player will encounter when playing with this mod. Upon having started a new game, the player will leave Candlekeep, witness Gorion’s death, and likely follow the path east, whereupon they will meet Elminster.

Back in 1998, players who were familiar with D&D and Forgotten Realms lore would have likely recognised him immediately. It was as subtle a meeting as you can have with a famous wizard wearing a pointy red hat, and you don’t narratively find out that this is Elminster until later in the game. There’s even a letter in the previous area from Elminster on Gorion’s body. This is BioWare using the wonderful art of ‘show, don’t tell’. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Not an infallible philosophy, but important nonetheless.

The way that the NPC Project changes this scene in the presence of Imoen throws this idea out the window. Imoen name-drops Elminster to his face, seemingly clueless, and then Elminster gregariously “smiles from behind his mustache”. As I said, the scene wasn’t exactly subtle in the first place, but any sense of that subtlety has now vanished entirely.

People who grace these reviews with their presence often enough may know that I have a particular disdain for the type of descriptive text that Baldur’s Gate mods often employ. I believe that you can effectively imply the actions of a character simply by using dialogue, and doing so results in a more engaging text overall. If you need examples, see Baldur’s Gate I & II.

Descriptive text has its place in the modding scene, and I view mods that use them as fun ways to shake up the game every now and then. For whatever they add to they game, though, they detract from it as well. Baldur’s Gate I & II have a very delicate aura of immersion. A distinct writing style, a beautiful world, great music, and ambient background noise all contribute to this sense of immersion, and content that feels out of place compared to these things will very easily shatter that immersion. This is not something we want for a mod that is said to improve the game.

Prior to the encounter with Elminster, if we decide to head North and visit our dear dead dad’s body, then Imoen will spark up a conversation that leaves a fairly good impression on the player. Imoen’s dialogue is well written, and she’s a pretty believable character.

Imoen’s a fairly easy character to get right, but what bothers me about this conversation are the options presented to the player. They often have spotty grammar, are written to be wildly over the top, or simply have things that no sane person would say. The normal, level-headed responses become less and less frequent as the game goes on.

There are some well written interactions between NPCs, though. Personally, I think most of Shar-Teel’s banter is written very well. Unfortunately, Shar-Teel’s romance does not maintain that quality. Montaron’s inflections are a bit overdone, but his banter is entertaining and often quite funny. The interactions between Minsc and Dynaheir are easy to praise as well, but the sheer quantity of dialogue results in many conversations that drag on for too long and don’t really have a point.

Upon inducting Jaheira into the party, she will eventually begin a conversation with Imoen about the player’s Bhaalspawn heritage, and it once again feels like a slap in the face to the subtlety of Baldur’s Gate. We don’t need to be told that there’s something up with the player character — we already know, if we’re paying attention.

These types of conversations add nothing of value to the game. It is simply talking for the sake of talking, and not in any sort of meaningful or interesting way. It’s unfortunate, because Jaheira’s banter with Khalid is pretty good, for the most part.

It may seem like nitpicking, but this is what I meant when I said that the NPC Project is overwritten. The mod fills the game with little quirks like these, and I can’t help but feel that it detracts from the overall experience.

I think the worst piece of writing in the entire mod comes from Xan’s quest. Admittedly, I’m not the biggest fan of how Xan is written in this mod nor in his BG2 continuation, but the quest encapsulates everything I dislike about the NPC Project.

You will stumble upon a chance encounter with three mysterious men in Mutamin’s Garden, who you can either attack or let go. It doesn’t matter which you choose, because you get the same end result anyway.

If you let them go, a white deer will appear, and Xan states that you should follow it. The party will then instantly be transported to the area north of Mutamin’s Garden and be confronted by a few mercenaries transporting some elven slave girls.

The dialogue options that we receive here are… quite something. The NPC Project seems to have an obsession with titles (“You have my sword, moonblade wielder” / “I… I think I saw her in my dreams, ranger”). I suppose if you want to roleplay as someone who is awful at remembering names, then this is the mod for you.

And of course, we get a line that might enter my list of (least) favourite things to come from the Baldur’s Gate modding community. “Women… and not whores? Elves and their peculiarities… I am so tired of that! … *spit on ground*”. Following the “three whores” dialogue line lets us imply that we want to sexually assault the women, so that’s… bad. It’s also an option only given to the men.

It’s commonly agreed that this is the worst quest in the mod, and while some of the writing rivals it, there is nothing outright worse than it.

The other quests are generally a low point in the mod, but they’re not meant to be the highlight of the experience.

Garrick has a quest that barely relates to him as a character. You’ll meet a historian in Nashkel Carnival who gives him a book, which tells of a ghost near the Ulcaster School ruins. Go there, kill the ghost… get some chainmail armour for Garrick. You can also upgrade it with the Golden Pantaloons, but I’d hardly say it’s worth it.

Jaheira’s quest takes her to the Shadow Druid’s base to, basically, kill everyone and save two druids from Seniyad’s circle. It’s pretty inconsequential and unoffensive for the most part.

Coran’s quest involves some actual choice and consequence, but none of these choices reward you in any meaningful way, and the outcome of the quest doesn’t affect Coran, so we are simply questing for the sake of questing. It gives me the vibe of a draft for a Tales of the Sword Coast side-quest.

Tiax receives a backstory in his quest, which I feels makes him a less interesting character, which is a shame, because his writing in the NPC Project is a standout for the most part.

Kivan encounters a lackey of Tazok who has his bow, and they then have one of the most incomprehensible conversations I’ve read yet.

Between the spotty grammar and shallow dialogue, all I can surmise is that Imanel is a character that has very little motivation or personality. You can side with her and turn on Kivan, but then Imanel simply thanks you and leaves. It’s boring in every way, and Kivan’s bow is barely even worth mentioning from a gameplay perspective.

I’d also like to point out the fact that almost every new NPC inserted into the game has a portrait, regardless of whether or not it fits with the art style of the game. Anyone familiar with my NPC reviews will know this is a particular pet peeve of mine.

There are a few other tiny quests here and there, and a few others that come with whatever romance you choose to pursue, if any, but the most substantial quest introduced by the mod is Dynaheir’s, because it kind of has plot relevancy?

Upon saving Dynaheir from the Gnoll Stronghold, she will mention that she lost her diary when she was taken. If the player has met Drizzt, then he will approach the party again with a page from the journal in tow. He will want to search the area with you for some gnolls from whom the page came from. Exactly a day later, and you’ll chat with some gnolls and get the journal back — they’ll mention an ‘Old One’, a name for a powerful Thayan.

This Thayan turns out to be none other than Winski Perorate, Sarevok’s mentor in all things Bhaalian, though this will only be revealed early if you are pursuing Dynaheir’s romance path. Dynaheir’s romance path is… not bad, but Winski’s part in it seems a little shoehorned in. He just appears once and tries to kidnap Dynaheir, then you meet him again and he has some exposition for you before dying.

It’s very clear that the author behind Dynaheir’s romance was a dedicated Forgotten Realms fan — the romance is full of discussions of history and the lore of the world, and the romance requires a lot of dedication to see it through to the end. The player is granted three different types of romantic responses: that of a noble, lawful good scholar who speaks with much the same inflections as Dynaheir herself (although there are a few instances where her ye olde talk is used incorrectly), a simple man making his way through Faerûn, and a kind-hearted bard who wishes to distract Dynaheir from her worries.

These choices aren’t necessarily deep, and there are very few times where you’re required to think all that much about what you wish to say, but I’m sure that Dynaheir’s romance will be enjoyable for many. It’s often inlaid with tired tropes and there is certainly some spotty writing here and there — the detail that Minsc is Dynaheir’s step-brother and they are forbidden to travel with one another is… quite odd — but for the most part it is a serviceable addition to the game, if a romance with Dynaheir is specifically what you’re looking for.

Other than Dynaheir, men get two other romantic options: Branwen and Shar-Teel. Women also get three options in Ajantis, Coran, and Xan. Dynaheir’s is the only one I could bring myself to play all the way through. I attempted a few others but found Coran’s and Xan’s more exhausting than fun. Shar-Teel’s romance just reminds me of that one Cowboy Bebop meme.

I think the romances are the worst part of this mod, though I can’t say that I enjoyed the rest of it much more. I’m sure there are many people who enjoy these romances (Xan’s in particular) but they’re a bit too melodramatic, unfocused, and dare I say… heteronormative for my tastes?

I hear a lot from people saying that the NPC Project isn’t perfect, and that it sure is better than having mute companions. If that’s what you think, then power to you. But I could not disagree more.

The companions of Baldur’s Gate are rather one-note. They are not complex characters, but they are clearly defined. You can thank the professional voice actors, the talent of Mike Sass, and the writers of BioWare for that. I don’t need any more than that. I don’t think Baldur’s Gate needs more than that, because that’s not how it was designed.

To me, Baldur’s Gate is more than a game. That’s the nature of nostalgia, isn’t it? There’s always more. Indescribable more. Untouchable more. What Baldur’s Gate is to me becomes tarnished by the NPC Project. Wandering through the wilderness never ceases to give me a sense of beautiful solitude — the calming but encouraging music, the beautiful art of the world, the ambient sounds of birds, rain, wind, footsteps, and water. All of it is tinged with a sense of tension, like things could go sour at any moment. The music can turn brutal and you might be fighting for your lives in the blink of an eye. That is the soul of Baldur’s Gate, in my opinion. That is my nostalgia.

And the BG1 NPC Project takes from it without giving back. Playing with the mod for this review has alleviated my suspicion that the problem was me — that I was too afraid of change, that I’m too biased to have a worthwhile opinion. We’re all biased. Everyone’s opinion is worthwhile (though forgive me if I don’t have time to stick around and listen to yours…)

The BG1 NPC Project is absolutely worth playing through at least once, but that’s something to do on a second playthrough, not the first. Because as much as I love mods, it’s all just fan-fiction. And fan-fiction is great — the writers of this particular one have my infinite respect. It’s an invaluable piece of modding history that many enjoy to this day.

When fan-fiction is being inserted into the source material, though, you have to consider how much of the game you’re playing is Baldur’s Gate, and how much is just an interpretation of Baldur’s Gate.

Thanks for reading.

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