Yes, this game came out 10 years ago. Yes, I’m just now playing it. But that only means that there must be other people out there thus far uninitiated into a truly landmark RPG. The strange thing about my experience is that I’ve already played Baldur’s Gate II, and that it’s one of my favorite games.

Baldur’s Gate uses Dungeons & Dragons 2nd Edition rules. I know little to nothing about good old D&D (I was instead raised on Diablo and Heroes of Might and Magic), but I do know that this makes the character creation and combat system incredibly complex. Some people may enjoy the depth allowed in creating their protagonist. I just lower my head and bull-rush my way through it.

The game’s storytelling is incredible. It drops you flawlessly into the role of a self-created character, and guides you through a free-form and intriguing plot. The ability to chose between good and evil has since become a staple of BioWare RPG’s but was quite original at the time of the game’s release. Unlike many other ethics-testing games, Baldur’s Gate does a consistently good job of posing questions with no clear right or wrong answer and with tempting incentives to take each of the many paths.

The game’s graphics have aged pretty well, all things considered. The sprites still look smart and diverse, the animations well done. Many backgrounds look hand-drawn, distinguishing the dungeons of Baldur’s Gate from the cut-and-paste tiled affairs of her contemporaries. BioWare was prescient enough to allow untested resolutions and 3-D graphics, and load times have thankfully and substantially increased over the years.

Although it’s a strange way of looking at it, Baldur’s Gate has the foundations for everything which made the sequel great. The characters, graphics, sound and interface all set the stage for the excellent climax and conclusion.