Baldur's Gate

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About

Baldur's Gate is a series of role-playing video games set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy campaign setting and based on the gameplay of Dungeon & Dragons tabletop game. Released in 1998 and 2000, the first two main installments of the game, developed by BioWare, received widespread critical acclaim and are considered to be among most influential computer role-playing games of all time. On June 6th, 2019, the third main installment of the series, developed by Larian Studios, was announced.

History

On December 21st, 1998, role-playing video game Baldur's Gate, developed by BioWare and Black Isle Studios, was released^[1] for Windows by Interplay Entertainment (shown below, left). The game was followed by the releases of expansion Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast in 1999, with the sequel Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (shown below, right) released on September 21st, 2000. Expansion Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal was released in 2001, with spin-off hack-and-slash games Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and its sequel released for consoles in 2001 and 2004.

Other installations within the series include Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (2012), Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition (2013), Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear (2016). Baldur's Gate III: The Black Hound, the original third main installment in the series, was canceled in 2003.

On June 6th, 2019, Belgian game developer Larian Studios, known for its Divinity: Original Sin series, announced^[2] Baldur' Gate III during the Stadia Connect stream ahead of E3 2019 (presentation and trailer shown below).

On February 27th, 2020, Larian Studios revealed^[3] Baldur's Gate 3 opening cinematic and gameplay at PAX East 2020. On the same day, the videos were uploaded to YouTube^[4]^[5] where they received over 473,000 and 301,000 views in one day, respectively (shown below, left and right).

Gameplay

The gameplay of Baldur's Gate and its following installations is based on a modified version of the 2nd edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons tabletop games. In the Baldur's Gate games, the player assumes the role of a customized character, traveling through game locations, recruiting companions and taking on quests with the ultimate goal of completing the game's main story (gameplay videos shown below).

The games utilize a top-down isometric third-person perspective. While all installations within the series prior to Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear (2016) use a pausable real-time time passage system, in Baldur's Gate III the gameplay will be entirely turn-based.^[6]

Reception

Baldur's Gate and its sequel received widespread acclaim both among gaming press and gaming audiences. On Metacritic,^[7]^[8] Baldur's Gate maintains a 91 score with 16 critic reviews; Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn maintains a 95 score with 30 reviews. The games maintain 8.9 and 9.2 user score with over 710 and over 1350 user reviews, respectively.

Impact

Baldur's Gate and its sequel Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn are generally considered among the most impactful computer role-playing games of all time, with Baldur's Gate being credited for reinvigorating the CRPG market.^[9] In 2014, IGN^[10] ranked Baldur's Gate and Shadows of Amn number five and number one on the list of best Dungeon & Dragons games of all time.

Both games received multiple accolades,^[11]^[12] with Baldur's Gate being named the best computer role-playing game of 1998 by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, Computer Gaming World, IGN, PC Gamer Us, GameSpot and other outlets and organizations, also being named the Game of the Year by IGN, Computer Games and RPG Vault. Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn