Welcome to our review of Baldur’s Gate 1 & 2: Enhanced Editions, this PC classic is out now on Xbox One!
Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions
Forced to leave your home under mysterious circumstances, you find yourself drawn into a conflict that has the Sword Coast on the brink of war. Soon you discover there are other forces at work, far more sinister than you could ever imagine.
Can you resist the evil in your blood and forsake the dark destiny that awaits you? Or will you embrace your monstrous nature and ascend to godhood? Customize your hero, recruit a party of brave allies, and explore the Sword Coast in your search for adventure, profit, and your destiny.
Since the release of the first Baldur’s Gate in 1998, the series has set the standard for Dungeons & Dragons computer roleplaying games. “Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions” contains the entirety of Baldur’s Gate (including the Tales of the Sword Coast and Siege of Dragonspear expansions) and Baldur’s Gate II (including the Throne of Bhaal expansion).
Baldur’s Gate is quite possibly the worst game to review. It has a legendary status among gamers and it is considered the trendsetter in its genre. What can I still contribute to a game like this? I mostly agree with all the hype and glamour it was given 20 years ago and for its time, this was the best game in the genre out there. The games have been reviewed like no other and I do not intend to review them as a new game, but I will try to highlight some of my experiences and I will begin with the bad things I encountered!
As I played these enhanced editions on an Xbox One S, I was not expecting any lag but I did experience it. It did make me feel like last millennium again, though I feel like it should not be happening 20 years later. I had assumed they would be without glitches and yeah, that was a slight disappointment.
Another issue I had with the games, as they were originally PC games, the controller never felt natural to me. Moving a pointer’ish icon to the proper place and forming my commands, it just felt like more could have been done in this aspect, maybe even a full restyling of the controls to properly improve the commands to be more suited to current-day gaming mechanics.
I know I am nitpicking here, but some more clarity or improved mechanics overall would not hurt the game to lift it up to an even higher level. Maybe even slightly loosening the grip of the original Dungeons and Dragons mechanics. The game is famous for following the rules and though I do not consider this to be a bad thing, it could have opened up the game to an even bigger audience and even bigger reach!
Despite all my nitpicking and minor bitching about what is wrong, this all pales in comparison to how near-perfect this game really is. Even across 2 decades’ worth, it still remains the closest thing to a D&D session if you are unable to join up with friends. It is that true to its nature. Storywise and experiencewise, Baldur’s gate is a true gem of its genre and I do feel like it aged well.
For me personally, I do not think the perfect scores I often saw back in the days are still merited. There is a great story but I do not consider it perfect in current day standards. It was a near-perfect game when it came out and despite not aging that badly, the genre has expanded. Games have become so much prettier and bigger. It stands its grounds, but does it really compete with some of the biggest ones?
In conclusion, I nitpicked a lot but despite all that, I have one clear advice for anyone new to the title. If you are into D&D or the RPG genre, grab this game, really, just go out and buy it! This is the best that pre-2000 had and is still the standard in many cases today!
