Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition

It took me three tries to get into this game properly and I want to share some tips for new starters that I had to learn through trial and error.
First things first, for the love of God, if you have never played ADnD before do not play on core rules setting, or frankly even normal difficulty. Easy or story mode is the way to go. Easy provides enough challenge for the new player to sink their teeth into, story basically turns the combat into an automatic affair, which might seem boring but is absolutely preferable to being murdered constantly without really knowing why or what to do about it. I played my first playthrough on core rules thinking I would get the 'authentic' Baldur's Gate experience, and, frankly, I wish I had given myself the grace to lower it at some point in the process. This is true for every game, but it is especially true here; there is no shame in pushing that slider down to whatever level feels manageable.
Second, autopause is your friend. With exception of maybe damage I recommend turning basically all of them on at the start and then get rid of whatever ones annoy you most as time goes on.
Finally, remember this game is largely a slow and relatively low stakes adventure, especially in the mid section. Mess around, go exploring, find out what you like. Learning how to take your time is key to enjoying the experience. Listen to the birds, appreciate the environments, grow to love the sound of your characters' footsteps. Games that operate at the pace this one proceeds at are rare these days, so learning how to slow down is, I think, maybe the biggest hump to get over before you can really fully fall in love with it. Level ups, story info, new areas, everything comes slowly in this game. Breathe out and take your time, there's no rush.
Take these going forward and I think you'll start to understand what it was people fell in love with back in the day. As someone with an interest in gaming history and a love for modern CRPGs, I went back into this without a clear vision of what to expect and it took me a while to see the sparkle through all the esoteric mechanical elements. Work with these strange features and they'll do you wonders, though.

BG is a CRPG, which means: It has a niche.
This game is entirely different to the modern BG3. Don't come with the same expectations.
Why play this?
You want a complex game system (Magic, combat)
You like to experiment with character builds
The story is really good
You like DnD and have that scratch to play a DnD-like game (Check for more games in the CRPG tag, if this is a check for you)
Replayability. The variety of classes and companions make for an entertaining game to replay, where you can test your knowledge of the game, and making op builds, or meme builds
You like to roleplay in-game: The game makes you feel part of the story, it makes a good job to feel relevant to the plot
Why avoid this?
Too much information, it has a high learning curve on the combat system (all class' abilities, spells and system properties like THAC0, may be too much information)
You don't like turn-based ARPGs. Even though the game is real time, all events happen in rounds of 6 seconds, and the pause makes it still a turn-based game.
Art, I understand that as much as I may like the art and look & feel, it is outdated by today's standards and may not be popular.
You don't like dying. In this game you will quicksave often, because you will die often, it is nothing bad, as you will learn and develop ways to deal with situations, but if that stresses you, well... CRPGs may not be for you
Recommendation for a first run
Just choose a race that sounds cool or you want to roleplay as. Choose a class that sounds fun (Spellcasters like wizards or sorcerers may have a lot of information for a first timer if you want to play as a spellcaster. If you want to use magic, I'd recommend half casters like Clerics, it hits hard with melee, and will give you time to adapt to the magic system). Spin the stat die until you get 86+ stat points. SAVE YOUR CHARACTER (Or you will need to respin that die and waste your time). And once you start, just roleplay as your character, learn the system at your pace, it will take time, but if you have patience, you will find a really complex and interesting game, that will entertain you for 100+ hours. Save often (Quicksave with Q).
Any unoptimized build can beat the game on normal/core rules, so there is no need to feel pressured because you aren't min-maxing good enough (And if you feel the game is easy or hard, you can change the difficulty at any moment).

> Play Baldur's Gate for 4 hours
> Save game
> Party of 6 walks into a room
> Singular enemy Dwarf assassin ambushes us
> Watch for a minute as the party struggles to hit even once
> Dwarf lands one hit, instantly kills a party member
> Load quick save
> Repeat 15 times
> Quit
> Contemplate life choices
At least my quick save skills are improving. 10/10

I went into this game completely blind. The roleplay aspects are VERY fun and the setting and worldbuilding are incredibly impressive given that this is a 1998 release. Not to mention the fact that Sarevok is probably my favorite villain I've ever encountered in any game ever. I definitely consider this title to be one of my new favorites and wish I could have played it earlier in life

Fair warning, the game is so hard it sent me into some of the biggest gamer rages I've ever known. There isn't just a learning curve - the game straight up tosses you off a cliffside. I was playing on normal and I felt the difficulty was incredibly frustrating. The idea of playing a permadeath difficulty like Legacy of Bhaal sounds like straight up masochism and I extend my condolences to anyone who's crazy enough to actually attempt this.

I wanted to refund the game at first because I did not understand how the game worked. I could not refund it, so I decided I am going to beat the game. I looked up guides for how to play and suddenly the game opened up to me. Currently going through as a generalist wizard and having a blast. I understand why this game is considered a classic now, highly recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy rpgs and willing to learn.

I would say that Baldur's Gate has aged keenly through this version.
We tend to forget how clanky it used to work back in 1998, when the original game spanned 5 CD-ROMs. Loading screens ad nauseum, the unexplained un-pausing of the game whenever you went into the inventory screen, classic UI taking up about 40% of the screen, etc. Others coming from BG3 or just newer generations of RPGs have this habit of comparing apples to oranges without even understanding how and why they are doing it. When the aim of this game's world can easily be missed; it was designed as one that can be explored in a non-linear fashion. However, it will not coddle and bend the knee to the player at any place they might wander freely. The world is dangerous. NPCs can help explain the world at large to the player, or they may be caught up in their own lives to bother.
"This world is not meant for you. It has existed long before you arrived in it... it will continue to exist long after you leave it."
This is a mindset that I feel more new players should attempt to understand when picking this game up. And once this philosophy is kept in mind, I feel that more players can appreciate what the first Baldur's Gate adventure was. While there are vague investments to the stakes of current realm events, the fact remains (for most of this game) is that YOU are the adventurer who decides what to do next. Meaning that you must be conscious of when to continue down a path... or run and survive, adjusting your course for a time.
Not all dungeons have that 'convenient rear exit' (that would become a tradition for newer games to have). And some might have a shortcut exit taking you to an unknown place with potential dangers your party may not be prepared for. Sometimes, it is safer (and wiser) to just go back the way you came. With exploration, there is always risk. Hence why several NPCs (early game) will tell you to stick to the roads in your travels.
The heart of this game's story is (essentially) the formula of mystery. So the open-world aspect is there to give that player proper agency to discover (and actually adventure).
In short, I still feel that this game is fantastic. But it can be brutal for those who might be looking something paced more like Diablo.

One of if not the best RPG ever. I have ADD and I can count the number of games I have completed on my hands. I have completed Baldur's gate at least 10 times.