Please read my review on Baldur's Gate I: Enhanced Edition first as that details the general stuff about the Baldur's Gate series. This review features two specific parts: Shadows of Amn and the expansion, Throne of Bhaal. Additionally I'll give my overall experience having played both of these.

Shadows of Amn
You start off captured as a prisoner* in a dungeon underground by an unknown individual whom you have never seen before and he is basically torturing you in your cell for some unknown reason which will ultimately become apparent as you progress through this game. Only thing that will be apparent at the start is that he seems to be trying to bring out some unknown power you have. All of a sudden the dungeon itself is attacked by an unknown group, forcing your capturer/the torturer to teleport out of the dungeon allowing another prisoner who somehow escaped from her cell (gee I wonder how she did that?) and she reveals to you her name: Imoen. After a discussion about what the torturer did to you and her, she springs you free from your cell, and from there, your immediate objective at that point, is to not only escape the dungeon, but to find anyone that is currently in the dungeon to join your party to make the escape a little easier, but you can attempt to escape on your own if you wish, having others with you just makes it easier. Once you finally escaped from the dungeon (you'll end up in Waukeens Promenade which is essentially a place within the City of Amn or rather "Athkatla"), your torturer, sounding particularly happy (and evil) commends you for escaping the dungeon, the exit of which collapses behind you after escaping. Imoen who had also been tortured by that guy demands to be released and launches a magic attack against him, he retaliates with a magic attack of his own, causing half-a-dozen hooded figures to teleport in to stop it and attempt to arrest him, and after the torturer resists both the hooded figure attacks and Imoen's own attacks, they ultimately arrest both the torturer and Imoen on grounds of using magic in a place (which is later revealed to be Amn) which is prohibited. From that point you'll have two primary objectives, find and rescue Imoen who was captured and settle the score with that torturer.

Additionally in this game, among the outstanding number of quests you can undertake, you'll have class-specific quests to take on too, so for example, if your protagonist is primarily a fighter, you'll be tasked by a kind-hearted noble, with clearing monsters infesting a huge Keep and killing their leader and if you succeed you'll get a chance to become head of the Keep which you can use as your own home to manage as you see fit.
Also for example, if your protagonist is primarily a Mage, you'll be tasked by a ranger to help him defeat his ancestor Lavok in what is known as a "Planar Sphere" located in Amn. That sphere will be yours if you defeat Lavok inside of it.
Those types of quests depend upon what your protagonist's class is. Something worth keeping in mind.

Throne of Bhaal
After you have successfully completed your final objective in Shadows of Amn, it is revealed that a certain prophecy describes children (including yourself by the way) of a tainted godly blood, that will cause a wave of massive destruction destroying all in existance including each other. in order to fulfil a certain purpose. You are urged by an Elven Queen to visit a sacred grove to discover some answers as to why this prophecy is even relevant to you and what part you will likely play in it. After you have visited the grove and listened to the prophecy spoken (which also states that there is a person you may encounter at some point on your journey, who has "the face of an ally", but has "the mask of a foe"), you are ambushed by what is revealed to be a "Bhaalspawn" (that's right a Child of the dead God of Murder, Bhaal) and her troupe, whose main objective is to kill you as a Bhaalspawn yourself. Once you have disposed of her and her troupe you get teleported into what is called a "Pocket Plane" which is essentially your sanctuary for you to rest and take up challenges and even upgrade certain weapons you have into powerful items via the imp Cespanar. At that point, you are visited by a familiar individual whom you had killed in the past, after vowing to never betray you if you let him join you, he gives you intel about the Pocket Plane you are in and states that it doesn't take you to where you want to go, it takes you to where you need to be: Saradush. Once you teleport to Saradush, which is under heavy enemy attack from outside its walls you meet up with a nice woman who is trying to save the people of Saradush, which ultimately becomes your objective as well, however it doesn't just end there as there are many quests to undertake after that, which may involve you ultimately battling other Bhaalspawn that will also seek your death among others etc.

My personal experiences in playing both Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal
Both of these games provide a super thrilling challenge the likes of which no other rpg strategy game is likely to provide, because among other familiar enemies, you'll even encounter monsters/creatures you have never fought before. In my particular case, I always enjoy the thrill of battle, so doesn't matter how hard an enemy may be, I'll always rise up to the challenge. Some will be easy, others will be hard to kill depending on how you have built your protagonist, let alone your own party members.

Nothing as yet, about either of these games has frustrated me personally, but that isn't to say these two games do not have faults of some sort. If nothing else though, I would've appreciated Beamdog implementing more fleshing out of the SoD story ending, to better transition into Shadows of Amn or even towards Throne Bhaal if it needed to be so late, namely regarding a quest of some sort about getting the "Soultaker Dagger" that the "Hooded Man" had on him and bringing it back to baldur's gate to prove the protagonist's innocence, even if it meant still being declared "exiled" due to being a "spawn of bhaal".

*Please be advised, that if you have imported your character from a BG1:EE game or from having played this previously, unless you have figured out the trick to keep your items, you'll lose them all at the start, so just a heads-up about that.

Please read my review on Baldur's Gate I: Enhanced Edition first as that details the general stuff about the Baldur's Gate series. This review features two specific parts: Shadows of Amn and the expansion, Throne of Bhaal. Additionally I'll give my overall experience having played both of these. [u][b]Shadows of Amn[/b][/u] You start off captured as a prisoner* in a dungeon underground by an unknown individual whom you have never seen before and he is basically torturing you in your cell for some unknown reason which will ultimately become apparent as you progress through this game. Only thing that will be apparent at the start is that he seems to be trying to bring out some unknown power you have. All of a sudden the dungeon itself is attacked by an unknown group, forcing your capturer/the torturer to teleport out of the dungeon allowing another prisoner who somehow escaped from her cell (gee I wonder how she did that?) and she reveals to you her name: Imoen. After a discussion about what the torturer did to you and her, she springs you free from your cell, and from there, your immediate objective at that point, is to not only escape the dungeon, but to find anyone that is currently in the dungeon to join your party to make the escape a little easier, but you can attempt to escape on your own if you wish, having others with you just makes it easier. Once you finally escaped from the dungeon (you'll end up in Waukeens Promenade which is essentially a place within the City of Amn or rather "Athkatla"), your torturer, sounding particularly happy (and evil) commends you for escaping the dungeon, the exit of which collapses behind you after escaping. Imoen who had also been tortured by that guy demands to be released and launches a magic attack against him, he retaliates with a magic attack of his own, causing half-a-dozen hooded figures to teleport in to stop it and attempt to arrest him, and after the torturer resists both the hooded figure attacks and Imoen's own attacks, they ultimately arrest both the torturer and Imoen on grounds of using magic in a place (which is later revealed to be Amn) which is prohibited. From that point you'll have two primary objectives, find and rescue Imoen who was captured and settle the score with that torturer. Additionally in this game, among the outstanding number of quests you can undertake, you'll have class-specific quests to take on too, so for example, if your protagonist is primarily a fighter, you'll be tasked by a kind-hearted noble, with clearing monsters infesting a huge Keep and killing their leader and if you succeed you'll get a chance to become head of the Keep which you can use as your own home to manage as you see fit. Also for example, if your protagonist is primarily a Mage, you'll be tasked by a ranger to help him defeat his ancestor Lavok in what is known as a "Planar Sphere" located in Amn. That sphere will be yours if you defeat Lavok inside of it. Those types of quests depend upon what your protagonist's class is. Something worth keeping in mind. [u][b]Throne of Bhaal[/b][/u] After you have successfully completed your final objective in Shadows of Amn, it is revealed that a certain prophecy describes children (including yourself by the way) of a tainted godly blood, that will cause a wave of massive destruction destroying all in existance including each other. in order to fulfil a certain purpose. You are urged by an Elven Queen to visit a sacred grove to discover some answers as to why this prophecy is even relevant to you and what part you will likely play in it. After you have visited the grove and listened to the prophecy spoken (which also states that there is a person you may encounter at some point on your journey, who has "the face of an ally", but has "the mask of a foe"), you are ambushed by what is revealed to be a "Bhaalspawn" (that's right a Child of the dead God of Murder, Bhaal) and her troupe, whose main objective is to kill you as a Bhaalspawn yourself. Once you have disposed of her and her troupe you get teleported into what is called a "Pocket Plane" which is essentially your sanctuary for you to rest and take up challenges and even upgrade certain weapons you have into powerful items via the imp Cespanar. At that point, you are visited by a familiar individual whom you had killed in the past, after vowing to never betray you if you let him join you, he gives you intel about the Pocket Plane you are in and states that it doesn't take you to where you want to go, it takes you to where you need to be: Saradush. Once you teleport to Saradush, which is under heavy enemy attack from outside its walls you meet up with a nice woman who is trying to save the people of Saradush, which ultimately becomes your objective as well, however it doesn't just end there as there are many quests to undertake after that, which may involve you ultimately battling other Bhaalspawn that will also seek your death among others etc. [u][b]My personal experiences in playing both Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal[/b][/u] Both of these games provide a super thrilling challenge the likes of which no other rpg strategy game is likely to provide, because among other familiar enemies, you'll even encounter monsters/creatures you have never fought before. In my particular case, I always enjoy the thrill of battle, so doesn't matter how hard an enemy may be, I'll always rise up to the challenge. Some will be easy, others will be hard to kill depending on how you have built your protagonist, let alone your own party members. Nothing as yet, about either of these games has frustrated me personally, but that isn't to say these two games do not have faults of some sort. If nothing else though, I would've appreciated Beamdog implementing more fleshing out of the SoD story ending, to better transition into Shadows of Amn or even towards Throne Bhaal if it needed to be so late, namely regarding a quest of some sort about getting the "Soultaker Dagger" that the "Hooded Man" had on him and bringing it back to baldur's gate to prove the protagonist's innocence, even if it meant still being declared "exiled" due to being a "spawn of bhaal". *Please be advised, that if you have imported your character from a BG1:EE game or from having played this previously, unless you have figured out the trick to keep your items, you'll lose them all at the start, so just a heads-up about that.