Baldur's Gate saved the Western computer RPG nearly 30 years ago

You must gather your party before venturing forth

A collection of Baldur's Gate portraits

It's 1996 and the traditional Western computer role-playing game is fading. The age of 3D graphics was pushing the genre toward first-person action, of solo journeys in immersive worlds light on narrative and role-playing alike. And at the numbers-heavy, party-based end the JPRG was ascendent. Wither the quests of …