I have been gaming for a couple of decades now, ever since the days of the Atari 2600, and I consider the Baldur’s Gate series of games to be among the best role playing games ever made. When the first Baldur’s Gate game was released, I was playing D&D quite regularly with a bunch of friends, and we all jumped into the game because of its excellent party-based tactics and strong storyline. Although the game may look a little dated by today’s audio/visual standards, it still holds up well.
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Baldur’s Gate is set in the Dungeons & Dragons world of Forgotten Realms, and there was even a paperback novel released to coincide with the game. The game was made using the 2nd Edition ruleset of the D&D game, and built using the Infinity Engine that would be used on several other similar D&D-based RPG’s. It was developed by a group called Bioware and released by the now defunct Interplay Entertainment in 1998. It won Game of the Year and RPG of the Year in 1998 from several different gaming magazines and websites, including
PC Gamer and IGN.
The story begins with you playing an orphan living in a place called Castlekeep with your redhead friend Imoen. Your adopted father, Gorion, is a powerful wizard who seems to know a little more about your origins than he cares to admit. In an early cutscene in the game, Gorion is killed, and this leaves you and Imoen to go out on a grand quest in search of his killers and performing many side missions along the way. You’ll also pick up new members of your party and visit all kinds of interesting locations.
