Baldur’s Gateis the quintessentialDungeons & DragonsRPG series, home to wonderful games with great depth and ambitious scope. Each one brings the players impressive new games with a heroic and epic story for the ages, usually with world-threatening stakes that task the player with the onerous quest of saving the world.
The narrative is driven by fun-to-play quests as well as a merry band of misfits with diverse personalities and personal arcs that help players feel more invested in their role in the game. All these ingredients help to make theBaldur’s Gateseries as good as it is, and as such crowning a winner can be a difficult decision.
An expansion pack for the Enhanced Edition of the originalBGgame,Siege of Dragonspeararrived to give players more of the game they loved, though maybe not to the high levels of success the main game achieved. Taking place between the events of the first and second game, it follows the heroes hunting down the remains of Sarekov’s forces in the days following his death. But soon they face a new threat in the form of Caelar Argent and her bloody crusade.
Siege of Dragonspearaltogether was a success inbringing a new and exciting storyin theBGseries but when compared to the rest of the excellent installments, it doesn’t completely measure up in quality. The story will please most fans of the series, but it is far from perfect. This is especially true in the modern day, where most gamers would balk at the idea of playing a game so antiquated, never mind investing in a DLC package.
Despite all the games sharing a name with one of the major cities in the Sword Coast,Dark Alliance 2is one of the few based predominantly in the city of Baldur’s Gate that sees players taking on all manners of threats, from marauding gangs of goblins to dragons, capturing the feeling of a tabletop game with its monsters and series of connecting quests. Featuring five playable characters, players are given some freedom in the role they play inDark Alliance 2.
With its action-packed real-timehack and slash combatand the wide range of characters, missions and weaponry,Dark Alliance 2keeps itself fresh and interesting with replayability if players choose to control a different character on their subsequent playthrough. However, it doesn’t differentiate itself from the original enough, and there are arguments that can be made that it fails to capture the magic of the original.
The first entry in theDark Allianceduo, this game separates itself into three acts all taking place in three different locations across Faerun. The player and their gathered party will face a different threat in each of the acts, from the beholder Xantam, the ice dragon Ciraxis and most notably, the big antagonist Eldrith the Betrayer, who was once a general for the army of Baldur’s Gate but now plans vengeance on the city she once served.
Dark Alliance was another successfulBaldur’s Gategame, rallying together a cleverly woven plot, an interesting range of characters, and a believable villain.Every character has depthand facets that let their personality shine through. Unfortunately the game would not hold up to today’s standards, hamstrung by the aging of the technology that birthed it and suffering from repetitiveness in terms of music and combat.
Tales of the Sword Coastwasanother expansion packdeveloped for the originalBaldur’s Gategame, bringing players an additional 20–30 hours of gameplay set in the universe they have come to know and love. It runs parallel to the events of the main game, following the player character known as Ward and his traveling companions traversing across the Sword Coast as they take on jobs befitting adventurers, from recovering magical artifacts to preventing werewolf attacks.
Tales of the Sword Coastproved to be a welcome addition to the base game, bringing in new tales and areas to explore, and some well-thought-out quests, though some encounters could be frustrating and there were only a very few enhancements made to the gameplay.
Baldur’s Gate 2was the much-loved sequel in theBaldur’s Gateseries, proving so popular among fans that it received DLC in the form ofThrone of Bhaal. Players were given the option to create a new custom character or import their existing character over from the main game, as this expansion takes place after the events ofBG2.
The city of Tethyr has broken out in war, and it is up to the player character and their companions to travel to various locations and defeat five legendary Bhaalspawn known as The Five. As the name suggests, this won’t be an easy task, and this adds up to an epic adventure for the players to embark on in they are hungry for moreBaldur’s Gate 2goodness. With its customization options, ambitious scope, and closure-providing ending,Throne of Bhaalis a must-play for fans of the series.
The success of theBaldur’s Gatefranchise is largely owed to the original game, one of the first massive titles to be based on Wizard’s of the Coast TTRPG. Set in the ever-popular Faerun setting ofD&D, the plot follows an orphaned ward of a mage who finds himself inexplicably ushered out of Candlekeep one night when they are hit by a siege, and thrust out into the Sword Coast.
The simple-seeming plot that sounds like a backstory devised at a local games shop table deepens as the story progresses, raising the stakes to the point war nearly breaks out between nations. Taking into consideration how old the first game is, this is truly an exemplary example of an RPG, with quite robust customization options that effect the gameplay such as class, and reputation.
After the success of the first game, a sequel was only a matter of time; thus,Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amnwas released two years later. Though named after the city of Baldur’s Gate,Shadows of Amntakes place primarily in the country of Amn, which is inhabited by many different factions such as the Shadow Thieves and Cowled Wizards.
As expected for asuccessful game sequel,BG2takes everything that made its predecessor so great and improves upon it, the gameplay, quests, and main plotline captivating and engrossing while not taking any huge risks diverting the direction of the series.
The latest entry in theBaldur’s Gateseries is also the greatest:Baldur’s Gate 3.Released over 20 years after the second entry, its development was handledby Larian Studios, and its unique approach to RPG games is felt inBG3. The game centers around the playable character, who can bea custom characteror one of the origin characters, being kidnapped by Mindflayers and infected with a tadpole that will morph them into one of the creatures.
The effort to remove the tadpole will take the player far and wide across Faerun, leading them to interesting places full of interesting people, and presenting them with choices that can affect the direction of the story and the companions in their camp. The limitless excellence of this title has caused players far and wide to fall in love, and it is clear to see why.BG3has set a new benchmark for RPGs, and future games will have a tough time measuring up.
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