Play the definitive edition of this classic RPG for free in July thanks to Amazon Prime

By Carli Velocci June 27, 2024

Your party fighting fire elementals in a bit in Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition. There's a dialogue box at the bottom and menus on both sides. — Beamdog

Baldur’s Gate 3 was the game of 2023 almost without question, but you can go back to where the video game series all began with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. And if you have Amazon Prime, you can do it for free.

Amazon announced its July offerings for Prime Gaming, which includes Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, the remastered version of the classic 1998 RPG. All you have to do to own the game for free is to log into your account and hit the claim button. The only downside is that you’ll have to use the Amazon Games launcher instead of something like Steam.

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While you can still play the original Baldur’s Gate (as long as you’re OK with installing a ton of mods), Enhanced Edition includes a number of modern improvements like a newer engine, cross-platform multiplayer, and an arena mode. It also comes with the main campaign and the Tales of the Sword Cost expansion, but with the addition of three new heroes to join your party. There’s even the Siege of Dragonspear DLC, if 100 hours in the base game just isn’t enough.

Other games coming to the service in July are Maneater, the open-world RPG where you play as a shark, the beat ’em up Midnight Fight Express, Cat Quest 2, Youtubers Life 2, and Masterplan Tycoon.

If you don’t mind streaming games instead of owning them, there are other games coming to Prime Gaming through Amazon Luna. The company is continuing its partnership with the Fallout franchise after bringing Fallout 76 to the platform for free. Now it’ll have Fallout New Vegas: Ultimate Edition and Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition. While Fortnite is available on just about every platform anyway, it will also be on Luna starting this month. Here’s the full list coming to Luna in July:

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Fallout New Vegas: Ultimate Edition
Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition
Fortnite
Fortnite Battle Royale
Fortnite Festival
Lego Fortnite
Rocket Racing
Trackmania
Spells & Secrets
Strayed Lights
A Little Golf Journey

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Contributor, Games

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

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EA Sports FC Tactical turns soccer into a free-to-play, turn-based RPG

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EA’s FIFA series is going through some changes. For one, it’s not FIFA at all anymore. The series has officially made its transition into the new EA Sports FC brand with its recently released 2024 installment. That’s not the biggest surprise on the horizon for soccer fans, though; The sport is getting a surprising new mobile game with a left-field tactics twist.

EA Sports FC Tactical is an upcoming free-to-play spinoff that turns football into Fire Emblem. Co-developed with KLab Inc, the studio behind anime sports title Captain Tsubasa: Dream Team, the mobile game distills all the action of FC 2024 into a turn-based RPG. Every play is its own little tactical battle that pits strikers against defenders.

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Is Baldur’s Gate 3 coming to Xbox?

A mage holding a flaming object.

After years in early access only on PC, Baldur's Gate 3 is finally here in its final state. This CRPG has the internet buzzing about just how long and varied the experience can be. What's even better is that it can be played in co-op, though with limited cross-platform features. Those looking at the game may notice that there is only ever mention of a PC and PlayStation 5 version, which obviously raises the question about Xbox consoles. Baldur's Gate 3 doesn't have any exclusivity deal with PlayStation, so why isn't it on Xbox, and will it ever be?
Will Baldur's Gate 3 come to Xbox?
https://twitter.com/Cromwelp/status/1685821620756021249?s=20

The latest update from Larian states that it will be able to release Baldur's Gate 3 on Series X and S sometime before the end of 2023, but with the S version not having split-screen coop.

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You can’t play Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox, but you can play these 6 Game Pass RPGs

A player conversation in Baldur's Gate 3.

Baldur's Gate 3 just launched on PC on August 3 and comes to PlayStation 5 shortly on September 6. Unfortunately, an Xbox Series X/S version of the RPG does not have any concrete release date. Developer Larian Studios explained in a community post that this is because it doesn't "want to compromise on quality and feel it would be a shame to downscale to 30 [frames per second, aka fps] or make other compromises to hit an arbitrary date." Still, it's disappointing that Xbox players can't get in on the fun anytime soon. Thankfully, there isn't a shortage of alternatives on Microsoft's gaming platforms.
Xbox Game Pass is home to dozens of RPGs, many of which share the same computer-RPG roots as Baldur's Gate 3. While Xbox players might not be able to enjoy Larian Studios' shockingly thorough and immensely enjoyable Dungeons & Dragons CRPG just yet, they can't go wrong playing these six titles right now.
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Where Baldur's Gate 3 may be the pinnacle of fantasy RPG games inspired by Dungeons & Dragons, Fallout: New Vegas is that for postapocalyptic RPGs. This game from Obsidian Entertainment and Bethesda Softworks -- both of which are now owned by Microsoft -- first released in 2010. Despite some in-game glitches that still persist, the Xbox 360 version of Fallout: New Vegas on Xbox Game Pass is just as enthralling of a role-playing experience as it was nearly 13 years ago. The Xbox 360 version can even be played at 60 fps on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, thanks to the FPS Boost feature.
Like Baldur's Gate 3, it's a faithful follow-up to some classic CRPGs that give players a massive amount of choice as they complete their adventure however they see fit. You can have endless fun exploring the world and creating experiences that feel personal to you while dealing with its eclectic cast of factions and characters. While it's a bit rough around the edges in certain aspects, New Vegas is still one of the best RPGs ever made. As such, it's worth replaying or trying first the first time if you want to play an RPG, but can't experience Baldur's Gate 3 right now.
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