Fallout 2 and Baldur's Gate: A Tale of Two CRPGs in 1998

In 1998, Interplay released two CRPGs with drastically different fates. Fallout 2, rushed into production with team members quitting, resulted in a game that, while improving on some minor aspects of its predecessor, lacked the thematic clarity and aesthetic vision of the original. In contrast, BioWare's Baldur's Gate, with its ingenious digital implementation of traditional D&D rules and its balanced approach to open-world exploration and main storyline, achieved massive commercial success, influencing subsequent D&D rule designs and CRPG development, becoming a landmark title in CRPG history.