“I grow tired of shouting battle cries when fighting this mage. Boo will finish his eyeballs once and for all, so he does not rise again! Evil, meet my sword! SWORD, MEET EVIL!” - Minsc

There was a time when games were not so shallow and easy. I am not talking about BC dates of the human calendar. I am simply talking about the 1990s and the early 2000s era, the very era that was home to the masterpiece I’m about to talk about.

It was 1998 and people were unaware of things to come for the CRPG (Computer Based Role Playing Games) genre. Of course, they were already enjoying Fallout and Diablo at the time but there weren't any other games out there that managed to give the tabletop RPG feeling to players.

That was, until a company named “Bioware” opened the door and unleashed their brand new title. Its name? Baldur's Gate.

BHAALSPAWN

The story of Baldur's Gate was immense for any fantasy fiction lover. It wasn't something new but it was probably one of the best adaptations you’ll ever see. You can still find comments about the story of Baldur's Gate all over roleplaying forums, most stating that it is even better than the modules of Wizards of the Coast. I am tempted to agree.

The player starts as an orphan, just like his friend Imoen, being raised by a mage called Gorion in Candlekeep. As time passes by, Gorion's edginess and avoidance becomes more and more absolute. Things are going wrong and it can be felt in the air. Candlekeep's isolated atmosphere protects our character from the dark news, arriving everyday from other parts of the Sword Coast. Iron shortages, monsters invading towns, bandits practically owning the roads. Everything seems to be going downhill. Of course, we have no idea about these dark things and we don't suspect it that everything is tied to us and Imoen. One day, Gorion comes to us and tells that we have to leave Candlekeep, immediately.

I know that Baldur's Gate is an old game but it is still one of the best games out there (actually, the second game: Shadows of Amn still beats today's AAA titles, except for a few, in my opinion).

What made Baldur's Gate so valuable? This is an important question, as Baldur's Gate is the game that defined Bioware and their approach to gaming, particularly of those that involve roleplaying.

LINEAR AND FREE

Today, most of the games tend to treat us as if we are incapable nerds. Level scaled roleplaying games that we can beat with our level one character, straight line-like level design, even showing us the path and monsters that we will face. Dull, cheesy stories that looks as if they are coming from the pen of a ten year old kid are more than ever becoming the norm. It is mostly about visuals. We didn't need the visuals to feel the gaming world in the past. Developers (not all, but most) have lost their passion for creativity and now, they are going for money, and money only.

Baldur's Gate had a main story, but there were so many other things to do, so many places to discover that you were able to avoid the main arc for hours. By hours, I really mean it. Here is an example: even the most detailed and rich RPG of today, filled with achievements and all, takes around 50-60 hours top. Baldur's Gate 2 had 300 hours of gameplay promised, another 150 hours coming with its Throne of Bhaal expansion. Players were also able to import their characters coming from Baldur's Gate 1 and its expansion, Tales from the Sword Coast. If you start playing from scratch, all the way to top, it was a roleplaying feast.

The game had lots of options for players like creating characters from scratch, changing their portraits, writing character biographies. There were many classes, as expected from an AD&D rule-set (the game was using AD&D 2.5 rule-set with some modifications) and playing with each one was another experience for gamers.

PARTY TIME

Today's RPG games limit us with one or two companions at any given time. Baldur's Gate had 5 companions to follow us, each with their own personality and agenda. Their romances, dialogues, fights, comments and reactions to our decisions were unique and very much in depth. To be sincere, most of today's party interaction options in games are shallow at best. Of course, Baldur's Gate was not a game that you rushed into rooms, started battles without thinking or without a plan. It was a game to play with your favorite beverage readied near your seat, some snacks to have, muscles relaxed and phone turned off.

Consider the richness of a game where you can pick party members from a pool of almost 20 characters with distinctive personalities and skills. Today, we are happy to see a NPC party member talking to another one. I believe Minsc or Edwin overwhelms today’s NPCs by far.

Equipment, class specific equipment, rare items, books, tomes, rings, amulets, helms, armors... There were many little details in Baldur's Gate universe to find out and a lore to match.

IN SEARCH OF PERFECTION

Baldur's Gate was an innovation in every sense. It turned Bioware into a big player and people were in awe to the development team. They were unaware of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadow's of Amn’s arrival though, possibly being the best RPG game available on PC to date.

The first game was an innovation, yes, but the second game was a masterpiece. As of mid-2010, the game was still ranked as 6^th highest at Metacritic. Baldur's Gate 2 had improvements over everything the first game had to offer. Better dialogue, better graphics (you can still enjoy Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn today as it features still paintings in the background, never looking old), an intriguing plot, lots of NPC and party interaction, a higher level cap and lots of spells, equipment, locations and memorable moments.

As a 20+ years gamer, as a journalist and as a roleplaying lover, I still rank Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn as one of my all time top 5 games. Seems like this is the case for many other gamers. Of course, things were less casual back then.

Baldur's Gate 2 continued the story of Baldur's Gate 1. Players were able to import their characters from the first game and continue their adventure through the second campaign. This was a great implementation. Nowadays, it is some kind of a standard for Bioware games, unless their story dictates otherwise.

The gameplay of Baldur's Gate 2, if you tried to do every quest, wander in every hole you found, would take around 300 hours to complete. Of course, I have played Baldur's Gate 2 more than 50 times with many different characters and party sets. If you do the same, it takes around a life time to finish the game. After the initial main campaign, Bioware also released Throne of Bhaal, an expansion pack coming with another 150 hours of content, lots of new items, spells, locations as well as a new NPC that we can add to our party. That particular NPC was a real surprise for the players and I still remember my shock when I first bumped into this particular character. As you may have noticed, I am trying to avoid spoilers as best as I can. I believe anyone who played Baldur’s Gate 1 would be in shock.

LAMENTATIONS

After the success of Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, rumors of Baldur's Gate 3 started to be heard around websites, magazines and forums. The series were quite successful (considering that casual gaming and gaming in general was less famous at the time) and it was expected to see a 3^rd game. However, due to various issues in between Black Isle, Interplay, Atari and all involved parties, Baldur's Gate 3 was canceled. Instead, Interplay released a different game for consoles under the name “Dark Alliance”. Two games of DA received “OK” response from the community. At the time, Interplay was facing with lots of issues and they eventually ceased to exist. As of today, Atari owns the rights to Baldur's Gate series and it is rumored that they have plans about the future. However, no matter how it will be, it will be different from the original one, that is for sure. Even though the fate of Baldur's Gate and Interplay was a downfall because of Interplay's terrible business decisions, gamers acknowledged and loved two companies throughout the Baldur’s Gate era: Black Isle and Bioware.

Even if they were only the publishers for Baldur's Gate series, Black Isle was still important for RPG lovers with their Fallout and Icewind Dale franchises, near to their all time biggest hit – Planescape Torment. When Interplay ditched the studio and discontinued Baldur's Gate series because of their internal and corporate level problems, a new studio was born from its ashes: Obsidian Entertainment.

Baldur's Gate was such a big name that it involved Bioware, Black Isle Studios, Interplay and Atari, near to the original developer of tabletop sets, Wizards of the Coast. Bioware and Obsidian Entertainment continued their releases based on Forgotten Realms with Neverwinter Nights, after the fall of Interplay. Neverwinter Nights and its sequel, Neverwinter Nights 2 received positive response from gamers and critics. However, everyone agreed that they were not another Baldur's Gate. As you may know, Bioware still tries to market Dragon Age franchises as “spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate”.

GOOD TIMES, OLD TIMES

Baldur's Gate series used Infinity Engine with a 3^rd person, isometric look. It is a low tech engine for today's standards but still, due to its background still art, the game – especially the second one – looks great. Today's market trend tends towards simplicity and ease of use rather than a challenging game environment and I wouldn't dream of thinking that another Baldur's Gate in similar vein succeeding in such a competitive market. Still, if you are interested in RPG settings and would like to discover why Baldur's Gate is a milestone, I suggest picking the 2006 box set release, consisting of Baldur's Gate 1, Tales from the Sword Coast expansion, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal expansion. After all, prior to that box set, in an environment where we didn't have XBLA, Facebook, Twitter, PSN (even if seeing this online is a miracle nowadays) and such, this series managed to exceed 5 million sales as of 2006. What can I say, if you see yourself as a roleplaying lover, these games should be in your archive, no matter the cost.

I REMEMBER YOU

What I loved about Baldur's Gate;

• Minsc and Boo! (Mass Effect 2 players may want to learn more about that space hamster back in their captain's quarters).
• Music – Michael Hoenig and Inon Zur did a fantastic job. One of the best soundtracks ever.
• Gameplay – Challenging but not hard. If you feel comfortable, you can always go for harder difficulties which are REALLY hard.
• Story – Amazing story and lots of (literally, LOTS OF) quests.
• Graphics – Warm, welcoming hand drawings and colorful backgrounds. Play Baldur's Gate 2 for a while and then play one of the newer games like Neverwinter Nights 2, you will see the dullness of newer “3d” style of games.

NOW PLAYING

• Michael Hoenig – Baldur's Gate Main Theme

Written by Oganalp Canatan

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