Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition

For a game that is over 25 years old to have a loyal and wide following whilst still picking up new players is testament to its strengths. It also makes clear that graphical performance is secondary to balanced gameplay and good design. Yes, it throws up huge challenges quite quickly but, at the same time, it is all doable. Reload? Yes, if it was a cakewalk it would likely have been forgotten about for being insubstantial. The Enhanced Edition irons out a lot of the wrinkles and is very playable today. Like RPGs and haven't played this? Then do it - you may be in the minority who don't like it but you probably won't be.

You can set this game to story and have no challenge, or you can set it to hair pulling, keyboard slam a puppy hard. Great game however you do it. It is a very old version of D&D though, so if you are coming from that, it might be a bit of a shock. Also, if you don't have Minsk in the party, you are doing it wrong. Right Boo?

Once you get used to the old school CRPG systems, you experience a cool adventure with a lot of party build options, decent combat, interesting world and charming dialogue

The game seems like your standard early rpg, but starting it is almost impossible. Instead of having it default to be full screen it is default to be its original pixels on your big modern screen and you have to navegate the itty bitty screen to find the button to make it big enough to see. That's a ridiculous design choice and someone should fix it.

Simply one of the best cRPGs and indeed one of the best computer games ever created. A plot that builds from the shattered innocence of the tutorial area to brush up against countless NPCs leading independent lives to expose a civilisation threatening plot driven by the spawn of the gods themselves. Argued by many to be better even than its successors, Baldur's Gate 2 and 3, the admittedly ageing sprites do not diminish the beauty of the unique and hand-crafted backdrops that stretech out like an oil painting across every map area as you wander aimlessly, discovering the adventures to be had in Faerun before returning to the central plot and entering Baldur's Gate itself. The game is expansive, with the widlerness being equalled in scale and exploration by the City of Baldur's Gate, as your enemies move on you towards the end of the game and threaten you with destruction. With its successors, this is a game I come back to again and again. Like the great RPGs of later yeras, Baldur's Gate offers a huge range of characters adn near total freedom in how you approach it and which direction you meander through the map and a diverse range of potential party members, some good, some neutral, others decidedly evil. Both good and evil are play are rewarded in different ways, so you are free to enjoy yourself in any way you prefer. A perfect place to test the cRPG genre that balances tactical combat with roleplaying and story driven adventure. And for RPG officionados and fans of The Forgotten Realms (now the default D&D 5e setting), revisiting the roots of the D&D genre is a must!