BioWareWhen you think of the long history of role-playing video games, few developers factor in as heavily as BioWare. The legendary studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and Knights of the Old Republic has had an indelible effect on not just RPGs, but video games as a whole. There’s a good reason the term “BioWare formula” exists, and from Baldur’s Gate 3 to GreedFall, countless games wouldn’t exist without the company’s groundwork. And there’s a key inflection point where it all came together, a pivotal RPG that changed everything: Baldur’s Gate 2: Shadows of Amn.For those not well-versed in the genre, the BioWare formula is unofficial shorthand for a specific kind of role-playing experience. The BioWare touch revolves around heavy narrative variety with copious amounts of player choice, as well as complex party members that feed into those choices. There are other elements too, like party building playing a key role in combat, but the crux of what really makes a BioWare game is an emphasis on agency and a rich array of companions. Baldur’s Gate 2 has all of that in spades. Baldur’s Gate 2 takes place in Dungeons & Dragons’ Forgotten Realms setting, largely in the title country of Amn. It’s a direct follow-up to the first Baldur’s Gate, which was a fantastic RPG in its own right, but Shadows of Amn upped the ante in nearly every way.Playing as the first game’s hero, you wake up in a cage as a dastardly mage named Irenicus performs experiments on you and your Baldur’s Gate 1 companions in an attempt to unlock your untapped power. In a shocking turn of events, Irenicus even murders two of your allies, while another, your childhood friend Imoen, helps break you out. Long story short, Imoen then gets captured by a militaristic force called The Cowled Wizards, and a man named Gaelyn Bayle says he can help free her... for a price.Baldur’s Gate 2 is played from an isometric perspective, and its lavishly detailed environments still look great. | BioWareWhile there’s a lot of lore mumbo jumbo to sift through, Baldur’s Gate 2 does a fantastic job of clearly communicating its story while still maintaining a high fantasy feel. But where the game really succeeds is in its rich world and companions. This was a huge step up from the first game, and where BioWare really started to lean into companions being the main focus of its output.The companions you recruit can differ based on your moral alignment, but each has a complex personal story or trial that, more often than not, feeds into the main narrative. Imoen needs help coping with the trauma of her abduction, while Aerie is from a race of winged elves and must learn to live without her wings after slavers cut them off. Baldur’s Gate 2’s combat can feel rough by today’s standards, but it follows the D&D ruleset nicely. | BioWareBaldur’s Gate 2’s characters felt like living, breathing people with their own history and moral code, and even by modern standards, they’re still exceptionally well-written. Bonding with companions in Baldur’s Gate 2 isn’t just about dialogue, as the relationships you forge can often lead to interesting quests that take you to new parts of the world, or illuminate unexplored elements of the game’s lore. At the same time, your companions have their own morality, and if you’re starting to do things they don’t agree with, you might be faced with someone leaving the party, or even turning on you.That complex web of companions is essential to everything BioWare has done since, from Mass Effect’s beloved vigilante Garrus to Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s smooth-talking assassin, Lucanis. And looking beyond the developer, we wouldn’t have characters like Baldur’s Gate 3’s Astarion without the work of its predecessor.Freedom and choice are at the heart of Baldur’s Gate 2, both narratively and mechanically. | BioWarePast its narrative ambitions, Baldur’s Gate 2 is a complex RPG with loads of different mechanics, dozens upon dozens of class options for building your party, and plenty of traditional D&D dice rolls. Choice is at the heart of everything in Baldur’s Gate 2, and that idea would shape BioWare, as the studio’s ideology ever since has been about using a role-playing framework to give players as much freedom as possible. Some elements show their age, but it’s a testament to Baldur’s Gate 2’s storytelling that it still feels as engrossing as it did 25 years ago. It’s one of the most important RPGs of all time, and it can still stand proudly with the best of them today.Baldur’s Gate 2 - Enhanced Edition is available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS, and Android.