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<\/a>If you\u2019re a fan of\u00a0RPGs<\/abbr>\u00a0in general, and\u00a0WRPGs<\/abbr>\u00a0in particular, you will have heard of\u00a0Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>. Even more than a decade after its release, this game is still considered a milestone for the genre, despite the dated graphics, the perfunctory voice acting and the staggeringly complex combat system. There\u2019s even an Enhanced Edition currently in the works.\u00a0Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>\u00a0was also responsible for propelling its developer, the Canadian studio BioWare, to fame, establishing it as one of the most successful WRPG creators for years to come. And while they\u2019ve recently suffered a massive decline in quality, this game was made back in their glory days.I won\u2019t lie: it takes some getting used to. It has quite a few flaws and kinks, some very annoying, some only mildly aggravating, and a modern-day player, used to shiny graphics, fully-voiced dialogue, speed and streamlined combat mechanics, might find it difficult to like. Still, if you can get past its shortcomings, there\u2019s also a lot of great stuff, particularly if you consider the saga as a whole. Kind of like a nut: you have to crack the shell first to get to the good part, but that good part is what you remember afterwards. The game is vast, detailed, involved and <\/a>not afraid to take its time (sometimes\u00a0e<\/em>xcessively). It features extensive dialogue, a very large cast of characters which includes some truly memorable individuals (something BioWare is renowned for and still does well) and a compelling storyline. It\u2019s biased towards male players, as all games used to be back in the day, but that\u2019s hardly a shocker and doesn\u2019t really prevent it from being enjoyable.<\/p>\nThe main difference between\u00a0JRPGs<\/abbr>\u00a0and WRPGs is the latter\u2019s emphasis on choice, which is abundantly present here. The protagonist is essentially a blank slate for you,\u00a0 PC games have this advantage over their console counterparts that they are much more open to player involvement. By that, I mean modding: various and sundry additions, written and implemented by players themselves. This can range from bug fixing, to restoring cut content, tweaking the combat system, adding customised weapons and armour, or even creating entirely new quests and characters. As luck would have it, the\u00a0Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>\u00a0modding community is still very active, even after all this time, and the game is thus blessed with an extensive array of goodies to pick from to improve your experience. Some of them\u2013specifically, the ones that fix bugs and rebalance the game\u2013are pretty much indispensable. Others are so well-written that I couldn\u2019t imagine playing the game without them. This isn\u2019t to disparage the original developers\u2019 efforts\u2013which, after all, have resulted in a game that people still want to play after more than ten years\u2013, but many dedicated modders have produced amazing things. In the end, this makes\u00a0Baldur\u2019s Gate\u00a0<\/em>an impressive collaborative venture: a game which is only further enriched by its audience. And that is an undeniable quality.<\/p>\n Detailed review available!<\/strong><\/span> Read more here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<\/a>the player, to customise to your heart\u2019s content, and, for someone used to JRPGs as I was, this kind of freedom is genuinely a breath of fresh air.\u00a0Baldur\u2019s Gate<\/em>\u00a0is as typical as WRPGs get, being based on a pre-existing high fantasy setting (i.e. a medieval environment, abundant borrowing from Tolkien\u2013elves, dwarves, halflings, the whole nine yards\u2013, and a pantheon of deities who actively influence the lives of their worshippers), the Forgotten Realms, which had previously been featured in tabletop\u00a0Dungeons & Dragons<\/em>\u00a0games and several books. While it creates some continuity issues with the latter, they are not necessary to understand the game\u2019s premise, and you can perfectly well head into it without ever having heard of the Realms before. The one big hurdle to leap is understanding the combat system, but you don\u2019t necessarily need to master all its intricacies to have a working grasp on things.<\/p>\n