Summary
TheBaldur’s GateRPGs were some of the earliest examples of TTRPGs ported into video game form, and considering how that category of media blew up, it was a worthwhile investment. The games of the present day are still based onDungeons & Dragonsrules, as is tradition, and the latest entry made an impact that’s still reverberating in the gaming community.
The series began with the originalBaldur’s Gatein 1998 and continues with the most recent installment,Baldur’s Gate 3. The whole storyline ofBaldur’s Gateincludes several other games, some of which are DLCs or spin-offs, but still fit into the overall storyline of the most popular settings in theD&Duniverse. The saga of Faerun’s most popular city continues, with adventurers of every moral alignment crossing Wyrm’s Rest to meet their ultimate destiny.
Updated Jun 10, 2025, by Kristy Ambrose:The launch of the complete version of Baldur’s Gate 3 after years of development has brought CPRGs andD&D-based video gamesout of their niche and into the mainstream. Larian Studios was the developer that took on the IP after several years of total silence, and after almost a year of awards, accolades, and other forms of positive recognition, CEO Sven Vicke recently announced that they won’t be making any DLCs or sequels. After the success of the third, naturally, Hasbro has plans for a fourth, but anything else about their future game’s development is a mystery.
It all started in the late 1990s with this title,Baldur’s Gate. It wasn’t the first CRPG to combine elements like character building or a storyline tailored to a certain set of choices, but it was one of the earliest to useD&Drules. It brought new life into what was already an old gaming genre.
Baldur’s Gatetakes place along the Sword Coast, apart of the Forgotten Realmswhere many other TTRPG campaigns take place. The storyline, which eventually reveals the main character as a spawn of Bhaal, the god of murder, is known today as the Bhaalspawn Saga. Other recurring characters that are introduced in the first game include Jaheira, Minsc, and Imoen, along with several other possible companions who can join the party.
The epic tale starts in the in-game year of 1368 DR, and the Bhallspawn Saga continues for several centuries. In-game, this is called the Time of Troubles, andBG3follows the same plotline while also making several references to the previous games.
The first expansion pack for the originalBaldur’s Gateadded some new content, including new quests, new places to explore, andshiny new items. Being able to import a character or party if the previous game had been completed was a new option, and players who were interested in long-term progression were happy to port in their old characters.
The concept of an expansion wasn’t exactly new at this time, but this was the period in which they began to appear more frequently to pad existing games while fans waited for a sequel. More content is more fun and more money, and gamers could access it provided they had the first game.
The timeline and dates didn’t change, but the setting was expanded to include several other locations throughout Faerun, such as the town of Ulgoth’s Beard and Durlag’s Tower. The overall story of the Bhaalspawn doesn’t change in the expansion.
It might be some kind of record to release an expansion for a game 20 years later, butSiege of Dragonspearis intended for theEnhanced Version of Baldur’s Gatefrom 2012, as opposed to the original from 1998. The story picks up after the defeat and death of Saravok at the end of the first game, and the main character and their party are exploring the region and seeking out remnants of their old enemy’s cultists and army.
Sarevok appears again in later games, usually as an antagonist but sometimes as a playable character. In the climax of the story, which follows the titular event at Dragonspear Castle, the character is freed and reunited with their companions, but they are immediately ambushed again. The hooded perpetrator remains unknown until the opening of the second game.
A spin-off series that also takes place on the Sword Coast, this game doesn’t include any of the characters from the previousBaldur’s Gategames, but it shares the same date and setting. It’s a hack-and-slash game primarily, with the storytelling and character creation taking a back seat, giving the player some pre-generated characters for their adventure.
Dark Alliancedoesn’t have a lot of the frills or details of most RPGs, and it doesn’t offer much in the way of finer details, but the gritty design is supposed to be part of the job. The characters are preset, but the player can choose between threedifferent race and class combinations.
The first part of the story takes place in the familiar city of Baldur’s Gate but then moves into the Sunset Mountains and eventually the Marsh of Chelimber. For a smaller game that was always intended to be niche and doesn’t have much inthe way of character customization, it has some impressive locations to explore.
Dark Alliance 2is a response to the positive reception of the first game, which was more popular than the developers thought it would be. Ittakes what everyone liked about the original game and adds a few new classes to make it even more interesting. The characters are still pre-generated, but there are more classes to choose from, such as Barbarians, Necromancers, and Monks.
Like the games that inspired it,Dark Alliance 2starts immediately after its predecessor in the DR timeline. It begins where the previous game left off, with the addition of a vampire antagonist and a hostile goblin army. A remaster of the game was released in 2022 and renewed interest in this more obscure and muchdarker part of the franchise.
The game is set only a year after the previous game ended, and for those paying attention to the timeline, a lot was going on in just those few months. It starts with the now-typical trope of the main character waking up in a cage in a mysterious location.
Whether or not the last entry a gamer played wasBalur’s Gate 1orSiege of Dragonspear, this opening scene will make sense. Most of the characters from the previous installments show up inShadows of Amn, but there are some new ones as well, and there are also a few that didn’t make it.
After reviving and reuniting with their previous companions, Jaheira and Minsc, and escaping from the prison of Jon Irenicus, the party emerges in the bustling metropolis of Athkatla. Imoen is captured by their jailor, and players and the party have to rescue her and defeat Irenicus and his minions at the same time.
The country of Amn is the new setting for this game even though it retains the same title. It’s alsolocated in Faerun, some distance from Baldur’s Gate. After getting into some deep elf lore, Irenicus is defeated after dragging the hero and their companions into the Nine Hells. Everyone is resurrected and lives happily ever after, at least until the next expansion.
Throne of Bhaal,as the name implies,concludes the story of the Bhaalspawn and puts a definitive end to the Time of Troubles. This time, the plot focuses on a war that has broken outagainst the remaining Bhaalspawn. As the story unfolds, the winner can either take the throne of the Lord of Murder or leave it empty.
As with everyD&Dadventure, the final choice is up to the player, but this was the first time aBGgame had given the player a similar choice. This was an indication of how future games in the same franchise would have more in-depth characters and a better literary narrative.
For quality of life improvements, it gives the player different options when it comes to creating a character and a party. They can start new characters or import the ones they built during their previous adventures, and there are several new locations they can visit to find valuable gear and extra experience points.
Less of a role-playing adventure and more of a peripheral side activity,Baldur’s Gate: The Black Pitsis about the party fighting their way to freedom through a series of gladiatorial matches. They have to fight progressivelymore difficult enemiesuntil they face their captor, Baeloth the Entertainer.
The story only has tenuous connections to the original narrative, with details like Sarevok being available as a companion, and doesn’t have a very exciting storyline. After Baeloth is defeated, the party is free, and so are all the other captives that he kept in the arena. One of these is a kind and grateful djinni Najim, formerly the Taskmaster, who opens a portal to transport the heroes out of the Black Pits.
This sequel is just a rehash of the original, featuring almost the same plot, and it picks up only minutes from where the last game left off. The portal that Najim conjured at the end of the last game leads into a tavern, wherea Bard recognizes the groupand tells their story.
It’s not all fun and games, however, as Najim appears again to tell the main character that they aren’t safe. They are ambushed again, this time by Dennaton, a Red Wizard of Thay, and taken to another arena.
The characters once again fight for the amusement of the crowd and eventually gain their freedom. Considering the next game in the franchise takes place more than a century later, it’s an anti-climatic end to the original series.
Baldur’s Gate 3is the latest addition toBaldur’s Gatevideo game library. Larian Studios worked with Wizards of the Coast to make the official third installment based onD&D5e rules. Recent news from Larian confirms that they won’t be working with the IP any further, but that leaves it open for another developer to explore its vast possibilities.
BG3changed the look of the game and brought it into the modern era. Its overwhelmingly positive reception fromboth critics and gamersis reviving the CRPG genre and stand-alone games in general. It swept the Game Awards and also won Game of the Year from both DICE and BAFTA.
This installment in the franchise takes place about 120 years afterBaldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amnand theBlack Pitsgames.Stories about the Lord of Murder and the Time of Troubles can still be found throughout the game in books, letters, and familiar locations. Gorion’s tomb isin the cemetery, along with the headstones and epitaphs of other characters who were in the first game a century previously.
The opening scene ofBG3involves a quick descent into the Nine Hells on the deck ofa crashing Nautiloid, so for those interested in some immediate backstory, there’s theDescent Into Avernustabletop adventure module. It’s not a video game, but it’s intended to be a prelude toBaldur’s Gate 3and takes place only a few months before Tav wakes up on the Nautiloid.
