[ Download Link ]

Mod author: Acifer

Version used for review: 1.5.

“For thousands of years, the magical light of the Sea Tower of Irphong has been a steady guide for sailors making their passage through Asavir’s Channel – until now. There have long been rumors of pirates using the island as a hideout, as well as Dragon Turtles and Kraken that have made the shallows around the island their home. You must sail to the island and search for the cause of the extinguished beacon.“

Dark Tidings is a small adventure that packs a lot into its 1-2 hour runtime, with charmingly written dialogue, interesting plot hooks, and beautifully put-together environments exclusive to this mod. The mod seems to do its best to stick to the style and pacing of the original game, while honing in on lore and worldbuilding that are largely canon to the Forgotten Realms.

Back in 1999, Tales of the Sword Coast did its best to introduce island adventuring into the Baldur’s Gate experience with the Isle of Balduran, an occasionally maligned quest that involves some awkward railroading and difficult battles. Dark Tidings’ own Irphong Island, where the mod is entirely set, seems to take everything that worked from that quest and stripped it of everything that didn’t.

Irphong Island is small, which allows for more thoughtful design in regards to the environment, which is on-brand for Baldur’s Gate II. It manages to impress with the density of content within the small island while not feeling overloaded — there are dark forces at work here, but this was also once a place with a practical purpose, and that much is evident from simply exploring.

You will be encouraged to explore Irphong by a mage named Thalass, a representative for the Council of Six. The magically lit lighthouse has gone out, and he’s looking for someone unwitting enough to mosey on over and solve the problem. Of course, he doesn’t mention the supposed curse on the island, nor the rumors of the giant dragon turtle under the island or the kraken that currently lives in its waters. Thalass is a smarmy politician through and through, and his business pitch serves as a perfect introduction to Dark Tidings. The interaction blends into the base game well, which is what I’m all about.

Of course, once you get to the island, the sailors that brought you there are immediately killed, and you have to fight off several sea trolls. Even the sailors that are killed off within two minutes of being introduced have lines that are unique enough that they feel as though they belong in the world. Dark Tidings is constantly trying to do more with less, which is an approach to design that isn’t easy to pull off.

There are a plethora of books and notes for you to read in order to parse what’s going on behind the scenes here, and since this review was put up, they’ve been edited to be a lot easier to read and slimmed down to more relevant content. I think that reading all of this material is enjoyable in of itself now, and there’s a great deal of foreshadowing the true events taking place on the island.

Don’t worry, though, for there is more to find than just books here. We have some fun and unique new items to use, as well. There’s not a single item in Dark Tidings that I don’t like.

I really enjoy these items. They’re fun to use, and the rewards you gain from the quest are great for a mid-level party. I’d also like to note that the descriptions above have been changed as of update 2.0. and they fit in much better with the item descriptions seen in the base game.

Considering the amount of lore research that went into the creation of this mod, I have to applaud the fact that it isn’t too heavy-handed with the majority of its exposition. The main antagonist of the mod is a lesser known evil being from Forgotten Realms lore, but there’s no great history lesson to be had here. It’s not needed, and it wouldn’t be particularly relevant or interesting anyway. All that matters is that there’s a cult on the island and, now that you’re here, they’re about to meet their end.

Yes, there’s a cult, and they’re largely operating out of a version of the island located in the Plane of Shadows, accessible by completing their ritual within the lighthouse’s base. Baldur’s Gate mods seem to really enjoy their ‘shadow versions’ of locations, don’t they? This alternate version of the island is even more visually striking than the actual island itself, though. It was a treat to walk through, though it suffers from a small issue in that it can be somewhat difficult to know where exactly what is walkable ground and what isn’t. The island itself suffers a little from this as well — in both cases, you may find yourself having to spam left-click over an area in order to find where to go. It wasn’t too serious to break my enjoyment, but it was noticeable enough. It’s certainly very pretty, though!

Despite the fact that this all sounds rather dangerous, Dark Tidings isn’t too much to handle early into Shadows of Amn. It’s clear that care was put into the combat encounters, and they’re challenging enough that even veterans of the game will have to take a moment and strategise. That is if you’re not coming at this at too high a level, since this mod is designed for a lower-mid level party. I played with a modestly equipped party of level 10, and it was a fun challenge. Each combat encounter broke up the puzzling and exploration in just the right spots, and I have to commend Dark Tidings for its pacing.

Things happening too fast or too slow can make or break the experience, and it’s a difficult thing to get right without a team of people saying things like “I feel like there should be an extra step before getting into the lighthouse,” or “I think one more small explorable area would help flesh out the island”. Dark Tidings hits a very nice balance with its exploration-based puzzles, its combat, and its dialogue. Everything that you accomplish feels like it takes an appropriate length of time and application of effort to do, so it all comes off as quite rewarding. It’s not necessary to do every little thing on the island, but you’ll probably find yourself wanting to anyway, just because of how rewarding the little things feel. It’s a great feeling to have in an RPG.

Dark Tidings is an excellent mod that I don’t think anyone who’s even remotely into the modding scene should overlook. It accomplishes much in its relatively modest playtime, and it’ll stay with you for a while after the fact. It’s not perfect, but considering the scope of the mod, I would say that it’s certainly more enjoyable than TotSC’s Isle of Balduran, which is a quest that I actually like a fair bit. Even I have to admit that Dark Tidings does the whole island side-quest thing better, though. I would not at all be surprised if it worms its way into my installations from now on.

Thanks for reading.