NATURAL 20

Twenty-five years ago, BALDUR'S GATE II set videogame RPGs on the path to becoming the industry-defining genre they are today. Here's how

- By Robert Zak

In 1998, Baldur's Gate redefined what a computer RPG – and videogame interpretation of the D&D ruleset – could be. Just two years later, Baldur's Gate II expanded on it so much that development nearly ballooned out of control. This is the story of one of the most influential and ambitious RPGs ever made.

Many of the great RPGs are etched into the popular imagination by their beginnings, those tentative first steps in a new fantasy world that tease the vastness ahead, and the freedom to carve your own path through it. Think stepping out of the Census and Excise Office in Morrowind's Seyda Neen in and realising you can just march off in any direction, or riding through No Man's Land in Velen in The Witcher 3 where distant ruins and unknown wilderness call to you like sirens with deadly intent.

The first steps into Baldur's Gate II's world are one of those moments. After a tough opening sequence that sees you escaping captivity from the wizard Irenicus, you emerge into Waukeen's Promenade, the trading hub of Amn's central city of Athkatla. Surrounded by golden minarets, it's a bustling amphitheatre of traders and thieves, wealthy and poor – a filthy and vibrant snapshot of urban plenitude. Within this district alone you'll find a circus leading to a pocket dimension, a shop selling goods from different planes of the Forgotten Realms, and all manner of pedlars and big personalities. Then, once you leave the area you see that it's just one of seven districts in Athkatla, which itself is just one of several regions in the nation of Amn that you get to explore. Even 25 years on, that sense of opportunity is exhilarating.