Baldur's Gate (1998)
Baldur's Gate is a 1998 role-playing (rpg) video game made by BioWare and BioWare Edmonton.
Baldur's Gate begins with a young orphan raised in the library-fortress of Candlekeep by the sage Gorion, killed on the road south by a mysterious armored figure. Cast into the Forgotten Realms with no answers and no destination, the player builds a party from strangers met at roadside inns and ambush sites and works south toward the city of Baldur's Gate. BioWare's Infinity Engine governs combat in real-time-with-pause, running on AD&D 2nd edition rules, and the party-building and dialogue systems give the world a density that few RPGs of its era matched.
Quick answers
What is Baldur's Gate about?
Baldur's Gate begins with a young orphan raised in the library-fortress of Candlekeep by the sage Gorion, killed on the road south by a mysterious armored figure. Cast into the Forgotten Realms with no answers and no destination, the player builds a party from strangers met at roadside inns and ambush sites and works south toward the city of Baldur's Gate. BioWare's Infinity Engine governs combat in real-time-with-pause, running on AD&D 2nd edition rules, and the party-building and dialogue systems give the world a density that few RPGs of its era matched.
When was Baldur's Gate released?
Baldur's Gate was released on 21 December 1998.
Who made Baldur's Gate?
Baldur's Gate was made by BioWare, BioWare Edmonton and Interplay Entertainment.
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Baldur's Gate in our writing
- Companion guide: The CRPG: The Complete Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games
- Companion guide: The Golden Age of the CRPG: 1981 to 1999
- Companion guide: Dungeons & Dragons on the PC: From the Gold Box to Baldur's Gate 3
- Companion guide: Interplay: By Gamers, For Gamers, and the Golden Age of the RPG
A few thoughts on Baldur's Gate
The Forgotten Realms setting has a long companion reading life. Volo's Guide to Baldur's Gate II takes an in-universe tour of the city itself, full of the lore the game only hints at. Dragon Age - Last Flight captures a similar gray-morality fantasy register in prose for readers drawn to BioWare's moral complexity in a different world.
Sprawling fantasy worlds where you lose hours to side quests
Baldur's Gate hands you a blank character sheet and the entire Sword Coast to explore, recruiting companions and burning hours on side roads long before you reach the title city. The Witcher 3, Skyrim, Elden Ring, Breath of the Wild and God of War chase that same pull, dense fantasy worlds built for wandering off the main road and getting lost in someone else's quest.
Doorstopper fantasy novels with the same sprawling world-building as the Forgotten Realms
Baldur's Gate drops players into the Forgotten Realms with centuries of established lore already humming in the background, gods, factions, and a history you only glimpse in dialogue. Oathbringer, Gardens of the Moon, Wizard and Glass, Brisingr and The Secret of the Nagas build that same kind of layered, epic fantasy world, the kind where footnotes could fill their own volume.
Fantasy shows that pull you as deep into their world as a D&D campaign
Baldur's Gate leans hard on Dungeons & Dragons rules you can feel in every dice-based combat round and character sheet full of stats. Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Re:ZERO, Mushoku Tensei and Hunter x Hunter build worlds with the same kind of internal logic, magic systems, bloodlines and hierarchies that reward paying close attention to how the world actually works.
Manga where a ragtag group treks through a dangerous fantasy world
Baldur's Gate turns its plot into a road trip, an odd party of strangers pushing south together through monster-infested countryside on the way to answers. Made in Abyss, Inuyasha, Saiyuki, Saint Seiya and Dororo follow the same shape, a small band crossing a hostile, myth-heavy world, picking up companions and scars along the way.