Every single fantasy role-playing video game that exists, from 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:World of Warcraft to 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Witcher, started with tabletop RPGs. When RPGs first started, they borrowed the same rules and settings as tabletop games, with 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Dungeons & Dragons being the most popular.

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The 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate franchise was one of the earliest RPGs that most players experienced on the PC more than 20 years ago. It currently consists of several games that date back to 1998, when Bioware published the first Baldur's Gate video game for PCs. The series is still going strong, with a new installment, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Baldur's Gate 3, scheduled for a release in the near future.

10 The Forgotten Realms 🌳

via ForgottenRealmsWikia

Ever read any of the Dragonlance books or feel immersed in a tabletop campaign that wanted more exploration? The Baldur's Gate franchise offers that chance.

168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The Forgotten Realms is just one🐓 of many D&D campaign settings, but this one has a particular vintage charm. It dates all the way back to the very genesis of tabletop gaming, one of the fiꩵrst fantasy environments created by developer Ed Greenwood in 1967.

9 ⛦ ꦬ Badass Villians

Baldur's Ggate 3
via Hasbro
Baldur's Ggate 3

A scary villain is the best motivator any player can have, which is why a video game witho☂ut a convincing villain is always going to be a disappointment.

The actual Lord of Murder is the game's main antagonist, which is a pretty tall order in the first place, and who isn't afraid of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Mindflayers? Even Beholders stee🦩r clear of those things. It's the former that plays a big part in the most recent game and it's terrifying already.

8 A Continuing Storyline 💞

via: Wizards of the Coast

It's not just the history of the video game franchise that goes a lon🐎g way. The story that started in 1998 continues throughout the whole franchise in some form,✱ even the most recent installment.

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The games start the same way a typical D&D campaign would, with your character essentially starting at zero and building up their skills as the game pr♛ogresses. Early ch𒊎aracters can also be imported into later games so players don't always have to start from scratch.

7 🌞 The Combat Sysꦓtem

A player doesn't have to be familiar with D&D rules to understand the sophisticated, complex, yet intuitive combat system used by the fr🍎anchise.

There's a reason virtually every MMO and RPG uses a similar system. Even games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Elder Scrolls, which tend to use different systems also used with tabletop games, still borrow a lot from the classic D&D rules.

6 Available O🙈n Several Platforms

Viconia Baldur's Gate 2
via.Baldur'sGateWiki

It used to be that only PC gamers knew the joy of exploring Baldur's Gate, but today the game is available on a variety of platforms. The game has expanded from PCs and has been available on the PS4, Xbox, and the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Switch for a year now.

It is likely a marketing ploy to drum up enthusiasm for the Baldur's Gate 3, but a welcome change nonetheless. No matter what rig is in a player's gaming cave, the Baldur's Gate franchise can probably run on it.

5 It𓆉 Looks Gorgeous

Even the early names were noted for their stellar graphics, which was always superior to other games of the time. The most recent installment is being developed by Larian Studios, the same company that produced 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the Divinity games, another franchise that values be☂auty as much 🌼as substance.

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It's not just the graphics themselves, which are based on a proud tradition, but other important features that are new to the franchise, like cut scenes for moments of dialogue. The vintage games have been released in enhanced versions so they look even better than t🍸hey did back during their initial release.

4 💎 F﷽or The Nostalgia

For many RPG gamers who enjoyed early MMO games like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Knights of the Old Republic, the Baldur's Gate franchise would have bee𝐆n one of the earliest games they would exper🧸ience.

Younger gamers who are more familiar with recent titles like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Divinity: Original Sinwould also enjoy the franchise, which uses the same basic D&D rules. The game is old enough to bridge the gap💝 b🍒etween not only two generations but also two separate gaming formats, the RPG and the MMO.

3 Th🧔e BioWꦅare Legacy

BioWare might have been quiet in the past few years but they never went away. For a while, they faded from the fantasy RPG scene and turned to space opera instead. The Star wars MMOs that so m♐any players know and love were developed🐻 in part by a partnership between LucasArts and Bioware.

One of these games, Star Wars: The Old Republic, is one of the few MMOs that can hold it's own against the biggest juggernaut in MMO history, World of Warcraft.

2 🍌 There's An App For That

The PC that most gamers had in 1998 can fit into a𝓡 basic tablet in 2020, and all most all of those old games have been enhanced for use on tablets and phones. A play𒊎er doesn't exactly need a desktop with a compact disc reader anymore to play a complex RPG game.

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It's easy to find and download the apps, too, which are available on platforms like Steam or Googleꦉ Play. They often include t🌃roubleshooting programs too, so don't worry about tweaking the system manually like back in the old days.

1 𒈔 The Mod Commodity

As anyone who plays various 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:games on Steam can tell you, mods are great fun. They can breathe new life into a familia🐲r game ith features like random starting points o💎r pre-rolled characters.

The Baldur's Gate games have a staying power partly because of the potential for mod commodities. There are mods that alter gameplay, but there are also mods that fix bugs or protect saved files. Any gamer can understand how that can be♋ handy.

NEXT: 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:10 Best Isometric RPGs, Ranked