Should I play the previous entries or am I fine?

[Carcino]

So Ive never played baldurs gate and wasn't sure if I should play the first and second game before I play three for the sake of story.

[ACS36]

Zero reason to play previous versions. They haven't aged well and BG3 has very few connections between them in terms of the story. You aren't going to get deeper insight into the story from playing BG1 or BG2. BG3 is in name only and the connections between the predecessors are superficial at best.

[Radegast]

BG I and II is far different experience and in EE is still worth playing.

[Chummy 8]

I think anyone who like crpgs should play Bg1 and 2

[Static-EN-]

I've played Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, even the sister game Icewind Dale, all on their Enhanced Editions. I love these games to bits but even I can very confidently say you do not need to play them. The city of Baldur's Gate returns in full HD and there are some returning characters for the fans, but like ACS36 said, you are not going to get much if playing BG3 is your end goal.

[titus]

You should play the first two because they are great games, but you won't miss anything related to bg3 if you don't

[WoodenSwordRyu]

I'd say you're definitely fine but if you want to play them then play them

[Fuzzyballs01 ꦙ]

Originally posted by Chummy 8:

I think anyone who like crpgs should play Bg1 and 2

once they do remakes, sure
but as they are now? too outdated

[Underprivileged White Male]

Originally posted by Carcino:

So Ive never played baldurs gate and wasn't sure if I should play the first and second game before I play three for the sake of story.

As someone who LOVED BG1/2... honestly... if you didn't tell me, and censored the location names.. I wouldn't know it was a BG game. I'd be like why is Minsc in DoS3?

[Jaggid Edje]

You're fine playing without having played the previous ones, the stories aren't connected, just the setting, and the rulesystem of the game has changed since then.

All that said, I agree with the above posters who said it's worth playing BG1 and BG2 at some point in your life if you like CRPG's. They may be old, but they are still good. Especially with the Enhanced Editions that came out much more recently.

[Static-EN-]

I do want to add, Baldur's Gate 3 follows the Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition ruleset, though it has quite a lot of homebrew Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 are based on a real time with pause modification of the 2nd edition (edit: you have to deal with Thac0 hehe) If you've played games like Pillars of Eternity or Pathfinder Kingmaker/Wrath of the Righteous, then getting into the old BG games won't be too bad if you can get past the old graphics. I still recommend it tho.