Baldur's Gate (1&2): Enhanced Edition - REVIEW: Why Get Them?

Since its initial release in 1998 (And 2000 for Baldur's Gate II), Baldur's Gate has been one of the best RPG experienced available. Recently the Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition and Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition released... but are they worth it? Is this game, now over a decade old, worth revisiting in this enhanced edition state? Find out in this review!

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Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition, Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition
Overhaul Games / Beamdog

[Nerozero]

Here me out I used to read the manuals until they stopped making them

[TheFartman]

I just finished the saga (TOB included). It was INCREDIBLE, I cant believe how much I ended up loving it. The graphics never annoyed me because they are pretty, you could say they simply make sense and blend nicely together.

Gameplay wise: It was like nothing I had ever played before. A marvelous experience.

And the story... by Boo, what an astonishingly good tale! Specially the second half! The characters are so well written. The amount of talent the writers possessed that made me feel so invested into all my companions (Specially Aerie <3) with only texts, a portrait and scarcely (but very damn good) voice acting is immeasurable.

Seriously, you cant even see the facial expressions and any kind of body language. It mind blows me the fact that they actually pulled it off so perfectly.  

What a great EVERYTHING this saga is. I fucking love you Bioware

[KingSam]

This is definitely the best rpg I've ever played in my entire life without any doubt. I know some people prefered Planescape torment, but in my opinion, any rpg fan should have played this game or play it now. Each year I find myself restarting all over again, this game has just a HUGE universe full of different stories and funny npcs, + the possible romance in the 2, many side quest, plus the main one which is really well written, and so many other things that it would take me hours to write ;), anyway sory for my bad English ad buy thi game !

[immortalgaiden]

i can still remember when BG 1 came out. My older brother and I were just enamored by the game. I was a youngester around 14 at the time. It was definitely different from what we were used to playing. that game was all about exploring and figuring it out, and we played it for hours. We were always discussing different NPCs and what a good player setup would be. literally we played it to death. then tales of the sword coast.
Then bg II came out. that game is amazing. in fact, i was just playing it 20 minutes ago. one of the best games of all time.

[krupaluke]

do not worry Haas... I have the same addiction even after 20+ years. Now I am 38 and when I played BG first time, I almost failed my high school exams because of that. Now I have wife and kids and I am still playing this butt-kicking awesome game... Of course I am playing other games as well (Starcraft, Witcher, Mass Effect, Assassin Creed, Civilization, Gothic, Divinity Original Sin and many other great series), but Baldur's Gate is my heart game.

That is why I anxiously wait for pathfinder - which should be done in similar tradition and respect to old-school RPGs...

[LimboJimbo]

BG was a great game, BG II for me is THE best RPG ever made until today (Planescape Torment is up there as well, but so special, that I think it should be in an own category for storytelling awesomeness).

Anybody who hasn't played it: I envy you, you still have an incredible experience to make. Play it, be it with the original version (+mods maybe) or the shown enhanced editions.

[benitojuanjuarez]

Somehow I missed these games when they first came out in my teenage years. I picked up both of the Enhanced Editions and played through them. It was an amazing gaming experience. After hundreds of hours through both games and their DLCs, I was blown away. Impressively, I did not experience any bugs in all that time. Beamdog did a great job on these editions. Siege at Dragonspear (essentially BG 1.5) is also an excellent addition to the Baldur's Gate story. Icewind Dale Enhanced Edition is well worth it too.

[Quiron]

when i was 10, i started this game and completed it over 5 times, since I was hooked quite hard to Baldur's gate II: SoA and ToB after that.
that nostalgia!

Minsc and Boo are ready to go!

[AmityvilleFan]

Funniest complaint ever:
"The game has a manual, and you have to read it."
New age gamers at their best XD

[belleisleguy]

The Baldur’s Gate series is honestly one of the best games I’ve ever played. The fact that we’re getting BG3 really excites me!

[asdasd-beww]

The game looks pretty good for being two decades old.

[michael-gruw]

I honestly don't find the games all to difficult.  The diary helps a lot and it's important to pay attention to conversations in the game.  

[rodrigopenaloza]

statistics and spells are poorly explained?? what are you talking about, ?? those abilities ARE very well described

[Memnon]

The hand drawn and rendered backgrounds along with the soundtrack more than make up for the graphics.. BG1 and 2 are masterpieces ... nuff said.
BTW: use all your quick slots bro... I really hope I'm not the only one who noticed that. I understand the pause system but dude...

[IrishAndroid]

I remember feeling so clever when I double-charmed Glacus back to being a good guy.

[friikinwt]

Get yourself an AD&D 2nd Edition Player Handbook. Everything you need to know about this game is in that book. I still use mine from high school.

[mesothorium]

For those interested, you can now play Pillars of eternity. It's basically a homage to these types of games. And a very very good one at that. I urge you all to give it a try.

[sarevk]

Best role playing game to date. 22th December 2019, goodbye.

[owneddiagonal]

Encounter first dragon for very first time with my monk
Use quivering palm on dragon and he instantly dies.
Next few dragons it never ever worked again.

I loved this fucking game.

[JERRYR]

I completed the whole Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale series many years ago. I just started playing Baldur's Gate 1 the original saga for a repeat. I have had the most success playing Fighter/Mage/Thief using a bow without ever dying. I always had one character run and have enemies give chase while the rest of the group drops arrows on them.