[Quiet Man Cometh]

Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 - Bioware

The first game of it's type that I played, a third person, top view rpg that used the rules from Dungeons and Dragons 2nd edition and it set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. A lot of the game is recognizable to people who are familiar with the novels and the setting in general.

Baldur's Gate 2 is definitely considered the better of the two but both games feature a good story and lots of technical game play for people that like to be meticulous about battles and such. You create your main character (for BG2 you can import a character you made for BG1) and you pick up other game-created characters along the way until you have a party of 6.

I'm not sure what to say about it but Baldur's Gate can likely be credited as a frontrunner (edged out by the original Diablo) of the 3D, top down role play games like the Icewind Dales series and Neverwinter Nights that followed.

Tales of the Sword Coast is the only expansion I played and goes with BG1. In it's package it adds to the map a location called Durlag's Tower, which is essentially a massive dungeon crawl. Good loot, but harsh challenges. Never did get into the place.