Baldur's Gate Original Saga with Tales of the Sword Coast Expansion Pack - PC

This game is so good that I once lent it to a friend and had to buy him a copy for his birthday to get him to return my copy to me.The original story line, interesting characters, and detailed gameplay led to an expansion, a sequel with two expansions of its own and the option to import your characters from the first game, and even a PS2 game good enough to merit its own sequel. You start the game as a teenager doing chores for people around the castle, with no significant skill at anything. By the end of the game, you and your companions are tearing down an international conspiracy, stopping a war, and can, with great difficulty, kill a dragon.The story is so good that I believe it was published as a novel--the events are considered canon in the Forgotten Realms setting in which it takes place. If you like roleplaying games or even just like tactical combat games with the option of either real-time or turn-based combat, you must experience this game at least once. If you say the right things to certain characters, you may even wind up with a girlfriend or boyfriend--and it is NOT easy to woo the drow!There are only two things about this game that are less than perfect, and one of those is that while you can import your characters into the sequel, the sequel has additional character creation options; if you want to make a character using those options, you can't use your imported character. My only other complaint is that all characters are assumed to be heterosexual. Yes, the game is THAT detailed! Also, while not an issue for me, there is only one character you can get as a boyfriend, while there are several potential girlfriends.

Let me repeat that this game is a classic. A word of caution here: not everyone likes classic, whether is a book (eg. Lord Jim), a movie (The 7 Samurai), a thing (The Chrysler Buiding), or in this case, an RPG game. I'm sure one can name endless example of a classic. To me, a classic is something that has stood against the test of time; it may be outdated and rusty, but something about it is still refreshing and appealing -- and that's where Baldur's Gate shines, hence the hefty price tag for an old game (the price at Amazon actually went UP since I bought it almost 2 years ago).Yes, the graphic is outdated. Yes, the ending is a downer; yes, there's too much of just walking around in the wilderness (think of it as exploration instead); yes, the game is hard (but only in the beginning - I know - patience is no longer a virtue - this game will certainly give you some practice, but not to the point where you'll go bonker. However, it may be tedious for beginner - the reason for 4 stars instead of 5 for fun factor); and yes, the sequel, Baldur's Gate 2, is better. But Baldur's Gate was the foundation of D&D RPG. To this day, the story still seems refreshing and the characters are still memorable, not to mention the game has more depth than a whole year's worth of Holywood screen writings nowaday.I won't go over too much detail because you probably already know it from the other reviews. I'll only add that if you are planning to get this game or are already playing it, you'll want to download to TUTU conversion (do a google search for more info), which make use of Baldur's Gate 2's graphic to play Baldur's Gate 1. It is a significant improvement (but certainly not enough for MTV eye candy junkies).Get this game if you are old school (remember Dagger Fall, Fallout 1 & 2, Arcanum, Planescape Torment, etc ?) Actually, if you are old school then you'd already have it no matter how much it cost. If you prefer eye candies instead, you may want to reconsider or look elsewhere because $39 is a hefty price.

Though BGII is superior in all aspects of this RPG, I remember BG being enjoyable when I played it years ago (my *** rating is for the game). However, be warned, the system requirements on this page claim to be designed for Windows XP but that is only for the Tales of the Sword Coast expansion, not for Baldur's Gate. Baldur's Gate is, I presume, only for Windows 95 or 98. The discs don't say for sure and there are no instructions inside the packaging-which by the way is completely different than the main picture shown. The back of the box says 'Windows 95/XP/Vista' so it looks like it's for all three systems but it isn't. I submitted the actual picture of the packaging on this page. PLUS, Baldur's Gate is a DVD-Rom game not a CD-rom like the expansion pack. I contacted the seller "GeeksWholesaler" about the discrepancies between the actual product and the product page and they said "Manufacturer doesn't make CD version anymore for cost down. You can return for refund." So much for that...

When i purchased this game i thought it would be fun to play a classic game such as Baldur's Gate, but when i got to play it, omg, it is so, so slow and the graphics are incredibly horrible. I couldn't beleive what I was seeing. It's horrible. The battles are the most awful thing, the characters are the ugliest thing, the gameplay just makes you want to hit your head with the CDs and the box of Baldur's Gate and throw up on it. IT'S THE WORST RPG I HAVE EVER PLAYED. It's a disgrace to the RPGs.I like the board game, but this, this is simply a bad, bad PC D&D game. Amazingly boring. Absolutely awful DO NOT BUY. I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY. I'm almost sure that you'll regret it.

This was a birthday gift for my son. He loved it! Got it as advertised. Think it's an older game from the 1990's. But again he loves it,and came in superb condition! :)

Buldur's gate is considered a classic for many people. However rating is for the shopping experience. Really wanted to add this to my pc game collection for the box art. However it arrived in reprinted DVD case only.