'Legendary' is a term much bandied about these days but this game is one than genuinely deserves the adjective. Many people consider this game to have single handily have saved the single-player RPG genre on the PC just when it looked dead. It represents a definite turning point in the history of gaming. This can be hard to appreciate today because even I'll concede that the graphics are dated. But the truth of the matter is that RPGs have never been about graphics anyway. What made Balder's Gate innovative it was the first RPG to actually use NPCs to advance the story in a mission critical way. It put their stories, their personalities, their goals on a footing that was equal to your own. What made it show-stopping was the nature of those personalities. They were all different, all unique, and they all didn't necessarily care about you. You had to not just manage combat but manage people if your little band was going to finish the game.

Yes, the combat can be unbalanced at times. There are a few bugs. But if you cannot laugh when Minsc shouts, "Go for the eyes, Boo" there is something wrong not with the game but with your life. If you want, you can break this game down and find all it's flaws; they exist. But if you don't cheer sitting in your chair when Minsc shouts, "Butt kicking for Goodness!" you have no heart. This isn't just so much a game as it is an experience. That, it seems to me, is what an RPG is all about. It's about creating experiences; it's about making memories. It's playing your role to the hilt and loving it. Baldur's Gate might not have been the best, some people argue the sequel is better, but it was the first to offer that immersion in a way no other game had up until that point in time. If you haven't played this game you should. Because this is where it all began.… Expand

This game demands a SERMON from the grot: Reverance for this game is NOT nostalgia. Aside from the fact that the graphics settings do not scale properly with modern monitors, this game still earns a healthy 9/10 in 2012 on the basis of brilliant design. This game has great writing, great art, great style, great writing, and FANTASTIC character development. How many modern gamers have even played dice and pencil D&D with a good Dungeon Master? Baldur's Gate brought the core experience into the digital age. It will soon be released again, in open sale competition with Diabolo 3 and Guild Wars 2. Enough said. Newer games do it different, but very few have done it better. The real mystery is how after 14 years no team has had the ability to better this game. Maybe someone will finally realise that it is a whole lot of fun to have a class system that allows about 30 completely different builds. Maybe they will also note that when each characters can be built in 30 ways and you have 6-8 characters in a party, that the possible combinations, will naturally be LIMITLESS. Those who would fly need an open sky. Designers all, heed this profound observation and learn from it. Diversity eliminates the possibility of boredom. Simplifiying games cannot make them better, because the human mind is a bright and curious thing, that demands higher challenges. It's not perfect. It's not the best D&D based computer game. Low level D&D is not always fun. So it scores 9?10 not 10. Despite that this game holds many secrets as to how much better games could be made if designers studied here. If they learned the secrets Of Baldur's Gate and improved on them. So we pray! So may it be!… Expand

Quite possibly on the list of the worst five role playing games I have ever played. Don't think that the fact that Black Isle, developers of Fallout and Fallout 2, is on the box means that it is up to that standard. Boring, cheesy storyline that is not even half up to par with any average Dungeons & Dragons group at your local card shop, slow, redundant gameplay, poor engine, and awful graphics combine to make one of the RPG genre's greatest settings into a disaster.… Collapse

A quality game which kept me engrossed for hours.

I love the atmosphere and the chance to go into old times like that. all the adventures. The decisions you can chose. The temple missions. The game is just outstanding. id give it a 20 if it were possible.

I haven't had this much challenge and fun in an rpg in forever, i'm finally glad an outstanding ad&d title has finally been released.

10 years later after it's release Baldur's Gate is still a fun and amazing RPG experience to play. When Bioware created this game, the created a enjoyable story with good graphic and sound effects and music. There is a good balance with what technology can do and how to make the game fun. The engine support tons of options to the player to interact with the world: talking to NPC, getting sidequest, customize equipment of the party and their progression with proficiency and spells to learn, finding and disarming traps, replenish missiles stock, use potion or not, weapon is destroyed... need to replace it, found a new magic item... need to identify them... the interaction and options goes on and on. The battles are the core of the experience and this is where I think BG shines the most. The player can choose different tactics to approach a situation: cast defensive spells, go spy, backstab, run and hide, cast healing spells, protect some member, boost a fighter, charm an enemy and make him attack its friends, find a inn to sleep... The game offer lot of challenges and has the complexity to keep the player always looking for his next move which create a sense of need and can be define with great addictiveness. The great story line and it's sidequest keeps the player involve in the progression of this marvelous game. I'm rediscover this classic with an enhanced and updated version thanks to Baldur's Gate TuTu. Worth to play and replay if you like epic game D&D game with an easy interface to control your party - which I found was missing in all the neverwinter nights games after.… Expand

This IS the best game ive ever played. Perfect atmosphere when you walk thru the wilderness. Beautiful sounds and nice graphic. Lots of quests, NPCs, locations.

I've never been addicted to an rpg as i've with bg, the game can get impossibly hard but those are the best parts, where you have to think up the greatest strategies and the wackiest at that!

one of the best RP game ever. and for the record, the n00b who ended dead with kobolds must have been really a very awful player. I really don't see how that is actually possible.

I still go back to this game even now(2008). It's the only one that's always got a place on my hard drive. Plot driven, but not linear. Want to wander for a few hours looking for random encounters?Want to pile headlong into the best story in RPGs? Yes, I know it's over 10 years old and the graphics won't stand up against anything modern, but the gameplay simply has not been beaten yet.… Expand

In my view the Infinity Engine games will never be bettered for all-round quality. Baldur's Gate was the first PC game I ever played and it's still the first game I install on any new computer I buy. The good points are too many to mention and I don't want to write an essay, so suffice it to say that Baldur's Gate is, along with it's younger brother BG2 and perhaps Torment, simply the best game ever created.… Expand

One of the best RPG!!!!

A truly *epic* RPG game that has revolutionized what the gaming industry now sets as a standard for its games - this game can totally engross the player in its amazing, seemingly limitless world, fully catered with an excellent plot, amazing playability, and everything one could probably ever want in an RPG.

The best RPG of all time, for having created a perfect plot in a world you can travel about in for hours.

Amazing game- great graphics for the time, wondrful story and character development. Download Baldur's Gate TuTu and you can play BG using the BG2 game engine - more diverse weapon proficiencies etc. Can revitalize this game for people who have played it through 300+ times like me.

Complex, believable plot. Detailed, subtle world inhabited by meaningful characters with personality and back story. Beautiful, appropriate and effective score and art-direction.

Baldur's Gate is a revolutionary game and it changes how computer RPG could be played. The story in Baldur's Gate is epic. If comparing to modern games, it's quite similar to Dragon Age Origins. You can control up to 6 party members engaging in challenging battles and hard decisions. The quality of the writing and the customization is spot-on. The freedom in this game is also great which allows you to explore many inconsequential non-plot areas. I give it 9 out of 10, because Baldur's gate II surpassed it in so many ways… Expand

The classic RPG that had an immense influence on most RPGs that followed. It was the leader of its time, and is still one of the best RPGs ever made. I'm giving 1 a 9 and 2 a 10 since I feel Baldur's Gate 2 was simply a bit more enjoyable.

Superb game which spawned a superb sequel (a quite rare achievement in itself). People tend to prefer its successor but this game is actually better in some respects. No less than 25 joinable NPCs and many many areas to explore. The beginning can be quite tough but once you are over it the game is rewarding, suspenseful, amusing, intruiging and challenging. Travelling through wilderness areas always keeps you on your toes - am I going to meet some kobolds, a greater basilisk or just some madman who likes hearing the sound of his own voice? The diversity of weapons, armour, spells and enemies is necessarily limited by your low level but there are enough interesting items and encounters to keep you going throughout the game. One of the joys of this game is that almost any battle can be won by any group (or soloer) just by using the right tactics. Away from the combat, the NPCs have good interactions with each other and the PC and actually have minds of their own. The fact that all NPCs will say something out loud when you click on them is amazing in itself. The story also keeps you motivated and has some very good twists. Unbelievable replayabilty. Play as a thief with Imoen, Branwen, Kivan Xan and Shar-teel. Or maybe be a mage with Kagain, Coran, Safana, Tiax and Garrick. In 1998 this game wiped the floor with everything and it can only be judged on that. This made me a gamer and despite its age I would never hesitate to call it one of my all time favourites.… Expand

I must have had about 7 different computers since this game came out and this game has always been one of the first things that I've put on the hard drive of every single one of them. I 've also bought the whole series 3 times. Over 50,000 possible parties of 6, no two of which would play out the same. This says it all. An emphatic, nailed-on, incontrovertible, fantastic 10.

whether your talking about gameplay, storyline or hours of entertainment this game has it all, Along with the original 2 Fallout games this game is among the top 3 rpgs of all time.

If you like rpgs you like Baldurs gate.

Wanting to give BG2 a 20/10, this would at least be a 19/10... I liked the sequel better, it was bigger, flashier, prettier, funnier, just better in every sense of the word. But that does not mean that this isn't a game that should be on every gamers shelf. I still have the old 7-cd pack on my shelf, and every time i see it it stirs some fond memories. Even if I was only 12 when it came out, I understood enough to enjoy the game for what it was, even though I probably would have enjoyed it much more had I been older. I will agree with DantheMan, this game, as number 2 aswell, is legendary.… Expand

Evolutionary when it came out, the first offering in the Baldur's Gate series does not disappoint. From the moment you leave Candlekeep, you feel you're on a journey, and you are. Though this title hasn't held up to the test of time as well as Baldur's Gate II, it still packs a wallop with good quests, entertaining NPCs, plenty of adventuring and a surprise ending. You can't go wrong here in the golden age of CRPG. My suggestion? Get the 4 in 1 offering, and play this, the expansion Tales of the Sword Coast and the sequel with its expansion (Baldur's Gate: Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal). There are plenty of mods out there for all. See http://www.pocketplane.com and http://www.gibberlings3.com to make the gameplaying experience even more enjoyable.… Expand

Simply love this game. My first walkthrough was so great and so freaking difficult! You actually have to use tactics when you fight not like in Dragon Age where, when you have three mages and only one warrior you can kill pretty much everything even on hard mode. One think you can complain about in Baldur's Gate is relation with your team members. Well, they're not talkative ones but if you like you can use mods. NPC Project is really cool. You have romances, friendships and all this stuff. Imoen rocks! :P… Expand

This to me was my first epic rpg, and what I mean by that is that prior to this I had no idea what RPGs really should be a about: storyline. I guess it ended up being good that I ended up with this seeing as it is to this day one, if not thee best rpg story I have ever played. Control scheme is a bit dated today and the graphics as well, but the pre-rendered/painted backgrounds are none the less beautiful. The mechanics are a bit complicated being based on DnD 2nd Ed, this could have been a attraction in its day, but today no one cares about 2nd Ed. The game world itself is vast and open, and will cater for many many hours of gameplay! Did I like it? Oh I most CERTAINLY did!!… Expand

One of the best 2D Dungeons and Dragons RPGs ever made.

If you like the genre and you think you can overlook the slightly outdated 2D graphics (Just look at some screenshots or videos) than you should really give it a try. Its simply brilliant.

Bioware's debut to the world of cRPGs. It has strong points, like its story, which is the main reason why I gave the game a 5 instead of 2 or 3. It is a much weaker game than its sequel, for a lot of reasons. First, low level ad&d2 is really boring and lacking in variety. There isn't much to do besides equiping the bows and using the very few useful spells available. The party NPCs are lifeless and will almost never intervene during a conversation, being more or less mute for everything but their own side quest. Most of the side quests are weak in content and lack the depth you can find in BG2 where some of them won't even come to a true resolution until you literally stumble upon the "sequel" to that quest, like the one featuring the murderer of the Bridge District. The balance between exploration and access to content itself is lousy and there are too many nearly empty maps. And in the end, the only place worth talking about is the city of Baldur's Gate itself, the rest being terribly unmemorable, in contrast to Baldur's Gate 2 underdark, trademeet, athkatla (which is the main city hub and the starting point of the game, unlike BG-city in BG1 which you can only access later in the game), umar hills.. Mediocre but promising attempt at making a RPG, which ultimately led to the greater and much stronger sequel.… Expand

The Godfather of RPGs. Period.
Still pays to play it from time to time. Everything about this game was groundbreaking for the time, the graphics, the interface, the sound, the vastness, the storytelling.
Had some issues with pathfinding, but those were fixed in Baldur's Gate II.

I love RPGs. I liked playing this game at the beginning. Then I met the kobolds and my party got reloaded about 90 times until I got lucky enough to survive an impossible cave. Then Boo killed my party. Wow, that was rewarding. I had barely even started in the scope of that game, but had wasted 10 hours of my life. I quit and never looked back. Fallout was much better.

The best Exploring-RPG, that Black Isle ever had created. Only the Love Interests are missing. But that's not really a minus, because they are introduced/invented in the second part.