I’ve been playing Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for a while now, and I have to say, it’s a wonderful throwback to the heyday of PC RPGs from 10-15 years ago. There’s a lot to the game, and so much of it remains the same, it’s definitely a game for fans of “classic” RPGs to purchase, even if they have played through the original game (currently available through Good Old Games).
Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is not a remake, not a high definition port, and very much not a reinterpretation of the game. This is the same game, just… enhanced. Some might think this is a bad thing, especially when looking at screenshots and thing “This looks like an old game” and not enjoyable. That would be a mistake. Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition may look and largely play like an old game, but it’s been revived for a reason – it is still very fun to play.
Fun, yes, and tough. Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition isn’t exactly easy. Then again, it also might have to do with the type of character I chose to play as. There is a wealth of characters to chose from, but I picked the thief, unfortunately one with the lowest total of hit points. Despite gathering a number of great members for my party, I wound up dying a number of times. Eventually I decided to start over and pick a different character to play as.
Among the enhancements to the game is the expansion Tales Of The Sword Coast seamlessly included, extra playable characters, some higher resolution and the game screen fits modern computers (widescreen). Think of Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition more like that classic game, just with a several tweaks in concession to modern gaming.
What made Baldur’s Gate so good then makes it good today. Original developer BioWare cut their RPG teeth with Baldur’s Gate. And the storytelling is fantastic and holds up today because it is still engaging. There’s an evil warlord, an iron shortage, some mysterious past, and of course a number of other characters each with their own story to tell.
And I suggest going through the tutorial. Sure, you may have played the game when it was first released, but RPGs have changed a lot since then, and unless you’re regularly going through a roster of RPGs from Good Old Games, you might need to refamiliarize yourself with the isometric view and need for learning a lot of different commands. And that Advanced Dungeons & Dragons ruleset is different from the last 3 versions, so there’s another bit of memory that might need reawakening as well.
It would have been nice had a bunch of voice acting been recorded to punch up the game, but the text is still solid. I’m sure it would have been prohibitively expensive and driven the cost up significantly. It’s a shame though, because BioWare created a game that is both dramatic and humorous at the same time, helping to set a standard for role-playing games. The writing for the new characters matches that of the original game very well. Kudos to developer Overhaul Games in that regard.
While it isn’t the reason to purchase Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, there is a nice bonus in The Black Pits, a sort of “survival mode” for players to assemble a team and … survive. This is entirely combat focused, and allows players to also work on refining their skills managing a party. It’s a good addition and worth spending a few hours in.
If you played through the Mass Effect trilogy or the Dragon Age games, you know how good a story BioWare can weave. Take a look at this older game and aside from many of the mechanics, you can see many of the same things. Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is a tough game, but rewarding and enjoyable, and worth the money.