More Overview

The Rules of the Game that We Play

The Baldur's Gate franchise (along with the Infinity Engine spin-offs Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment) is based on the AD&D 2nd Edition license. Specifically, the setting is the Forgotten Realms, in the world of Faerun. This is easily AD&D's most popular setting and has plenty of room to develop stories as epic as the one in the Baldur's Gate games.

Humble, isn't he?

w00t upgrade time!

The game play is very similar to other PC RPGs. You have a fair bit of freedom, more than in the original BG, and dozens of unrelated sidequests to keep you occupied. These quests can range from simple find this or that, to complex investigations or wholesale assaults on monster encampments.

While you don't have to follow the story, after a while you run out of things to do in the current chapter and find yourself compelled to move on. It's a pretty good compromise between Daggerfall-like freedom and Final Fantasy linearity. Just as in Baldur's Gate, you can only access certain areas while in specific chapters, though this isn't as much of a problem as you might think. The areas in most chapters tend to be vast and extensive, chock full of things to do.

Bring it on, fat man!

Pretty stuff

Amn

As the title suggests, the game is based around the land of Amn. The Amnians, up until recently, were organized like ancient Greeks - in independent city-states. Through deceit and cunning, a "Shadow Council" managed to band the cities together into one nation, playing on the fears of foreign invasion. The Amnians have rather good reason to fear invasion; they are the richest people in the Sword Coast. As such, it also reflects in their character; the typical Amnian is greedy and haughty. The only way to earn respect is to amass money.

Where there is money, of course, there will be thieves. The Thieves' Guild in Athkatla (the principal city of Amn) is among the most powerful of its kind, sharing power with the Shadow Council, and the Cowled Wizards.

Downright vicious

Like the Crystal Lounge

The Cowled Wizards themselves are a faction of magicians who have gained power in the nation by playing upon the superstitions of the people. Amnians are very used to material possessions, and magic is not something they cope with well. The Cowled Wizards are a guild designed to regulate the use of magic - if you're not one of them or don't have a permit, you'd better not cast magic in public.

Summing it Up

This rather Byzantine political climate is where you find yourself after escaping from the mad mage. It makes for an excellent story backdrop. The Sword Coast is one of the least-developed areas of the Forgotten Realms. BioWare had a very free hand in what they could do here without impinging on others' works, and has done a fantastic job in making it seem alive.

Awesome art

Nighttime 'hood attack