Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (2012, Windows) Review

THERE AND BACK AGAIN, AGAIN AND AGAIN

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The original Baldur's Gate, developed by Bioware, was released in 1998 after an extended drought of good, high-profile PC Role-Playing Games. The classic, long-running series' like Might & Magic, Wizardry and Ultima were running out of steam, and RPG fans were desperate for new worlds to discover. Seemingly out of nowhere came this behemoth and revitalized the entire genre with its inspiring exploration, beautiful scenery, rich NPC gallery and atmospheric storytelling.

It's one of those games that thrives in quantity, offering so many fine surprises, strategic challenges, party setups and a vast world to chart. You can replay it forever and run into entire new avenues to explore, both literally and figuratively. I have personally, for instance, never finished an "evil" playthrough (because I might be too soft-hearted), and have never seen some of the evil outcomes of certain quests. Ever since release, the heroes of the modding scene have extended its lifespan even further, adding more quests, tougher challenges and improved companion interactions.

Contrary to quite a few previous classics of the genre, the atmosphere felt welcoming and breezy, with a lot of humorous writing and eye candy. So much of the game takes place in the vast wilderness, in big cities and small settlements instead of cramped dungeons. The RTS-inspired control scheme also made the game feel more alive and organic than anything that came before. Baldur's Gate became an instant classic, and eventually established a new subgenre (the CRPG, or isometric RPG because of the viewpoint) and found its place among my favorite games of all time.

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (released by Beamdog), which I strangely enough haven't played until now, is a faithful modernization, ironing out a few wrinkles in game design. Although it's still hardcore, it rectifies a few issues with balancing, adds tons of interface improvements - including higher resolution support - and replaces the old engine with the updated one powering the sequel, Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000, also available as an Enhanced Edition.)

 

As I write this review, the ripples of the massive Baldur's Gate III-release (2023) are still felt all over the gaming sphere. For a curious newcomer backtracking to check out the series' roots, it's a no-brainer - the Enhanced Edition is the version to go for. The only reason I'm not introducing it into my Hall of Fame is because I'm saving that text for an upcoming replay of the original release (nowadays referred to as Baldur's Gate: The Original Saga).

For that reason, I'll keep this text shorter than it might deserve. I've got plenty more to say, but I'll tuck it away for a future Hall of Fame-entry. This playthrough and review will serve as the first stepping stone toward my first playthrough of Baldur's Gate III. I'll play or replay all the other entries, including the ambitious expansions Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear and Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal.

The Enhanced Edition doesn't add a lot of brand-new content; a trio of companions and a standalone, arena-style mini-campaign called The Black Pits is what we get. The new companions each have a sidequest arc and a romance subplot, but the one I chose to pursue - with the wild mage Neera - I found so dull that I hardly registered the fact that I flunked it. The Black Pits? Didn't play it. I've never enjoyed these kind of combat arenas in RPG:s anyway.

As for the rest, it's mostly familiar for veterans. Taking place in the Forgotten Realms - probably the most well-known Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) setting - Baldur's Gate has your party of adventurers exploring an area called the Sword Coast. In a long, serpentine plotline, full of twists and political intrigue, you go from humble beginnings as a level one pushover to a level 8-to-10 (depending on class choice) hero of the realms.

The story revolves around godhood and destiny, which is a genre trope, but also fits like hand in glove with the godlike isometric perspective. You control your characters by issuing commands, like a god, rather than steering them directly, and there's a sense that some invisible AI-dungeon master is doing the same with the enemy pieces on the board.

The adventure starts out in the small fortress of Candlekeep, home to a vast library of ancient lore. Being raised and sheltered there by the old sage Gorion as your stepfather, you know very little about the outside world and your real heritage. Your mother died giving birth to you, and your father's identity is unknown. Before the end of the campaign, those gaps will be filled.

Creating your character according to the AD&D 2nd Edition, you choose from a wide range of the familiar races, classes and subclasses, as well as alignment, character sex and a suitable portrait. Then you must roll and distribute attribute points to further emphasize your strengths. This can be a source of concern to beginners, who might fear creating a substandard character that'll make the game significantly harder.

On the normal/core rules difficulty, I've always found that every kind of character is viable. Certain equipment can tremendously boost your stats, and along the way you'll encounter boatloads of recuitable companions to fill every possible role you might need. You can have up to five fighting-fit bodyguards helping out at all times. The trick is to recruit the right people that'll fill up most needs. A tank, a physical damage-dealer, a healer and a spellslinger is the standard setup, and then you can experiment with a complimentary couple of specialized roles, like bards, rogues or archers (seriously overpowered in this game!), as well as well-rounded multiclasses. A minor complaint here, though: you can't see a companion's stats or class until you've already recruited them.

As the story begins, Gorion urges you to prepare for a long journey and meet him outside Candlekeep's library. He seems troubled, eager to get going, and soon the pair of you leave for the wilderness. But not long after setting foot outside the keep things go awry and you end up alone, cut off from your former home without much to go on. Allegedly, a couple of Gorion's acquaintances await you at the distant Friendly Arm Inn, so that might be a good place to go.

A patchwork of exciting, small areas opens up on the world map, and you can explore most of them step-by-step from the start. A few of them are gated until you reach certain chapters in the main story. If you veer too far from the well-traveled Coast way - either to the west or the east - you'll find tougher enemies you probably shouldn't fight until you reach higher levels, or at least learn the right abilities to stop their insta-killing attacks. You'll know when you get there.

Each wilderness segment has its own set of enemies, caves and dungeons, as well as a fun side quest or two to pursue. As you first enter each location it's covered by a black fog of war, and one of the fun sports of the game is uncovering the map efficiently, by spreading your party formation to cover as much ground as possible. A great number of different animals and monsters roam the lands, and the approach you need to take in fighting the stronger ones requires good preparations and some knowledge of the intricate systems.

After so many hours spent in this game, I'm still no expert, but good enough to have learnt to love the real-time-with-pause combat mechanic. It's a compromise between real-time and turn-based strategy, one that gets more fun the better acquainted you are with it. Characters will attack and defend automatically, and act according to their customizable AI-script. I, for one, always turn it off and take full command of every squad member, which is a handful - hence the pause-button.

The well-distributed boss battles - each chapter ends in a particularly hard one - is a difficulty spike. Here, you must simply accept that you'll likely die a few times before winning. Since your party can consist of an endless mix of classes with different abilities, you should've learnt how to utilize each character to their full potential. Certain items, like wands and potions, are invaluable as short-lived boosts, and you shouldn't be afraid of wasting them. The game provides you with so many that you'll soon end up with full backpacks anyway.

Although the main road, running through the centre of the world map like a spine, is beset by bandits, it's the safest path to travel. Towns, villages and other settlements are evenly spaced out. This is where the fun congregates. You'll find plenty of non-player characters (NPC:s) and quests. These interludes are often funny, inconsequential and surprising. Most of them are open-ended and can be solved in a number of ways if you've a creative mind.

The soundtrack is one for the ages, and establishes a great sense of place. The rowdiness of a tavern, the tranquility of a meadow, the nagging feeling of being watched in the nighttime alleyways of a big city - the melodies give the world room to connect with the player. The game is also surprisingly colorful, with many beautiful outdoors settings full of woods, fields, deserts and mountains. Some caves lead to huge dungeons and mines, divided into many subterranean levels of tunnels, crypts and different lairs.

This is, unfortunately, where the game shows one of its few shortcomings. Because of the engine, navigating these underground places feels extremely slow and tedious. You need a rogue - or a mage with the right spells memorized - to scout ahead and look for traps and ambushes, micromanaging every step of the way, going from trap detection to sneaking and back again. An optional underground area called Firewine Bridge ruins is the most annoying section of the game, and is unfortunately replicated in one of the areas leading up to the final boss of the game.

Another flaw is the lacklustre companion interaction. Their character portaits are amazing, bringing forth their personalities through a first glance, but they don't develop much from there. They're essentially combat aid without much dialogue behind their stereotypical facades. The Enhanced Edition's new trio of companions do have added interactions, but the only one of them that I recruited, the quirky wild mage Neera, felt out of place, like she was lifted out of a JRPG. And she was a lousy spellcaster.

I'm also no fan of the Tales of the Sword Coast areas. This was the original expansion, released in 1999 - one year after the original game - and is now integrated into the main game. They consist of two brief questlines, and a longer, challenging dungeon romp through a place called Durlag's Tower. They feel out of place, partly because their visual design stick out like a sore thumb from the rest, but also because once I start pursuing them, I've already reached the level cap for most characters. They feel pointless, and their storylines add nothing to the overall experience.

These things - plus some bewildering tutorials in the starting area - are enough to lower the score from the maximum four stars. It also doesn't help that I know how great Baldur's Gate II is, and in how many ways it improved upon the original experience. Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition looks smooth, but a hands-on approach reveals that some wrinkles can still be felt. The original 1998 release might be a bit worse for wear, but is the one that truly deserves to be in a museum.

And here I go, yapping on about a game I meant to be brief about, because once I get going about Baldur's Gate, nothing can shut me up. The charm never dies and the music echoes eternally, evoking the visuals of sunny meadows and mountain peaks caught in deadly thunderstorms. The magics, armor and weaponry keep making me beam as they slide into my character slots and raise a stat or two by one point. And the story manages to surprise me still, with its devious twists and political scheming that never turn banale, no matter how old I get. It ages like fine wine.

A world of video games without Baldur's Gate, and the effects it's had, would be a nightmare. I would probably want no part of it. This game is a must-play for anyone eager to find out why every game and their grandmother has RPG elements in it. And as I close the book on yet another playthrough - maybe my fourth of fifth - I feel like there's another, quite different adventure in there for me still. I ain't done yet.