Oh wow, I can't believe that I never wrote a review for this game..

I've played Baldur's Gate ever since it's original release on CDs back in the 90s.. Every year or so I do another playthrough.
To me this is peak CRPG, very likely since I've got extreme nostalgic glasses when looking at my own experiences, but the game system does work well, it allows both for turn-based combat and (my personal favorite Real-Time with Pause).
A limitation lies in it's core ruleset complexity as it's based on D&D 2.5e and the THAC0 system definitely has it's flaws.

There are of course other core rules/mechanics that are debated as well but I won't get into the finer nuances
I find the complexity fun as it enables players to really find synergies and can get really nerdy about min-maxing builds should they want.
-But it is definitely not needed. As a young kid with no insight into the finer details other than realizing that -armor value is better I could still learn and navigate the game fine. The Enhanced Edition is, in my opinion, an upgrade over the original. Both with a lot of bug fixes and tweaks, but also the ease of use on modern systems and it's smooth multiplayer support.

The new content seem to be either a hit or miss for the most part in the community, for me it's a hit. New interesting characters with some new quest lines are rarely bad in my book and they're not terribly written or remove from the original story so they're absolutely fine for me.

I feel pretty much the same thing for the Enhanced Editions of Baldur's Gate II and Icewind Dale (A real shame the source material for IWD 2 is gone forever), so I will simply copy this portion of the review for those games as well.


When it comes to the Baldur's Gate 1 story (without spoiling anything) I think it's a very nice scaling D&D Adventure, has great pacing and I do enjoy an adventure without having players being super high leveled adventurers at least by the first few hours of gameplay.

The story itself is also a great way to pull someone into the Sword Coast lore and, of course, helps deepen the lore knowledge of any BG3 fan interested in seeing it's predecessors.

Felt just like i remember form when i was a teenager Love this game and anything wizards of the coast

One of the best isometric RPG's on the market +++

Good game, Gotta be into the roleplaying aspect tho otherwise it wont click.

I found a dog and brought it to a demon child. 10/10

love the old school d&d games

definitly was the game that made computer versions of dnd get populer.

yes

THE BEGINNING OF A WONDERFUL JOURNEY

Welcome to Baldur's Gateway drug.
As a standalone CRPG it's adequate, the only true letdown being that the leveling is capped at 8-10.
More importantly, however, is that it primes you both narratively and mechanically for the sequel. I wholeheartedly recommend this title for beginners looking for an intro to the CRPG genre or for folks who'd like a fuller experience before diving into the masterpiece that is Baldur's Gate 2.

P.S. for a "purist" experience: forego interacting with the characters Dorn, Neera, and Rasaad; as well as the Siege Of Dragonspear DLC. These are modern additions to the game, whose contrast may come across as unpleasantly evident.