Deal | Baldur’s Gate on Steam: a critically acclaimed CRPG gem for just under $4

Developed and published by BioWare in 1998, Baldur’s Gate is a CRPG, set in the Forgotten Realms, a very popular, high fantasy DND campaign setting, using a made-for-PC version of the 2nd Edition rules. It was the first of many popular games, made with the Infinity Engine, including Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment. 

The game is a top-down, third-person isometric experience where the player assumes the role of a player-made character who was “forced to leave your home under mysterious circumstances, you find yourself drawn into a conflict that has the Sword Coast on the brink of war”. Along with his trusty band of misfits, you travel the Sword Coast in search of adventure. The player and their party would take on quests, recruit more companions, and work towards finishing the game’s main storyline. The gameplay mimics a tabletop DND session and aims to bring the classic board game setting to a digital platform. 

With players being able to enjoy the story Solo or with friends in multiplayer, Baldur’s Gate offers over 75 hours of gameplay with the enhanced edition, including the original campaign, the Sword Coast expansion, “plus brand new challenges in the Black Pits arena!” New modes also allow players to focus on story and exploration rather than combat. Offering 11 playable classes, with dozens more subclasses, and an additional three new recruitable heroes in the enhanced edition, the game is heavily dependent on the choices players will make and how they shape their own story. 

Unlike Larian’s 2023 entry into the nearly 3-decade-old series, Baldur’s Gate doesn’t offer a turn-based experience; it originally came out with “Real-time-with-pause combat”. Featuring over 400 improvements to the game, like native support for high-resolution widescreen displays, “The 1998 Classic, enhanced for modern Windows, macOS, and Linux players!. 

Baldur’s Gate received critical acclaim and was credited with breathing new life into the RPG genre when it first released. It later saw the addition of DLC and a sequel about a decade later. Then, in 2023, the third installment, made by Larian Studios, was released to critical acclaim, credited with revitalizing the turn-based RPG category through its genre-defining title, Baldur’s Gate 3. It is ranked Very Positive with over 15,000 positive reviews on Steam, where it can be purchased for $3.99 (US storefront) with a whopping 80% discount, till the 5th of January.

Given that Baldur's Gate 4 may not be happening any time soon, it might be a good time to grab the title that eventually lead to the fleshed out BG3 universe that many like for less than the price of a cup of coffee to start 2026.

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