A remake for PlayStation 2 and Wii was released in Japan by Sting Entertainment in 2007, and later overseas in 2008 from Atlus USA (North America) and Rising Star Games (Europe).

Baroque is set in a post-apocalyptic world where an experiment to understand the Absolute God caused devastating climate change, with surviving humans becoming physically twisted by manifestations of guilt.

All versions of the game feature dungeon-crawling through randomly-generated floors of the Neuro Tower, with deaths in the dungeon advancing the narrative.

Its dark tone, a reaction to Yonemitsu's previous work, was influenced by European cinema and film noir.

The remake featured new staff and several changes, including redone character designs from Kenjiro Suzuki and replacement music by in-house composer Shigeki Hayashi.

[1][4] The original version takes place using a first-person perspective using tank controls, navigating 3D environments while interacting with 2D sprites of characters and enemies.

Before entering the Neuro Tower, the player is presented with a gun called the Angelic Rifle with limited ammunition that kills enemies in one hit.

[6][7] Set after a world-altering cataclysm called the Blaze that took place on May 14, 2032, Baroque focuses on a nameless, mute, and amnesiac protagonist.

Early on, he finds himself tasked with purifying the Meta-Beings, once-human creatures that have lost themselves to the delusions inside them, and reaching the bottom floor of a tower to gain redemption for his forgotten sin.

Outside the tower, the protagonist encounters several characters: Collector, a young boy who stores items as a hobby;[11] Coffin Man, who maintains an underground training dungeon;[12] Baroquemonger, who possess the ability to read an Idea Sephirah;[13] the Horned Girl, who can voice the thoughts of anyone near her, and lost her identity to shield herself;[14][15] the Bagged One, who speaks the words of others instead of her own;[16] Longneck, who took part in research;[17] and the Sentry Angel, who guards the research facility.

[18] Within the tower, he finds other characters: Alice; Eliza, who seeks to create Consciousness Orbs by using the protagonist's Idea Sephirah and help heal the Absolute God;[19][20] Doctor Angelicus; Fist & Scythe; Neophyte; the Littles, who exist as the embodiment of pain; and the Archangel, who lies impaled on a Consciousness Orb at the tower's bottom floor, and implores the protagonist to purify the Absolute God.

Their purpose was to be used as bullets for the Angelic Rifle, so that the Archangel can purify the Absolute God and take its Idea Sephirath to make a new world.

[26] The Koriel, a group of high-ranking members within the Malkuth Order, tried to stop the Archangel; they decided to make direct contact with the God through fusion to hear its will.

The concept for Baroque was created by Sting Entertainment founder Kazunari Yonemitsu, who acted as the game's director, story writer and co-designer.

[38] For the design approach, Yonemitsu drew from Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon and found ways of innovating on the formula, including the game's tone and 3D graphics.

[40] There were multiple key words for the narrative including "healing", "imprisonment", "girl", "brain" and "instruments of punishment".

[41] Yonemitsu started out with the concept of a protagonist healing the world, but was influenced in his portrayal of that role following the Tokyo subway sarin attack by the cult Aleph.

[45] Kitō's main design inspiration was the work of Philip Dexsay on the 1992 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.

The use of angels and presence of the Absolute God were not intended to directly reference any religion, but came about due to Yonemitsu's interest in their imagery and roles.

[34] His last song was the staff roll "Hold Baroque Inside", which was a subdued piece based on the game's story themes.

[48] An official soundtrack album, which included all tracks from the game alongside remixes and the original opening, released by DigiCube on May 21, 1998.

Iwata eventually decided to re-release the music through Basiscape, a company he worked for at the time founded by frequent collaborator Hitoshi Sakimoto.

[40][50] The characters for the remake were designed by Kenjiro Suzuki, while the music was entirely redone by Yggdra Union composer Shigeki Hayashi.

The team had to go against their previous tactics of smoothing out apparent inconsistencies or out-of-place references in dialogue as those were a key part of the narrative delivery.

Iwata got together a small vocal group he dubbed Baroque Mode to perform the new theme, but had it playing in the game's new demo sequence as he disliked replacing his original opening track.

[36] A promotional prequel novella titled Baroquism: Syndrome was written by Mariko Shimizu, originally serialised in Sega Saturn Magazine.

[34][37][47] Another story joining the two narratives, Baroque Interludium, was likewise serialised in Sega Saturn Magazine, then later released through the game's website.

[74] A top-down shooter set in the game's universe called Baroque Shooting was released for Microsoft Windows on July 17, 2000.

[76] The remake was adapted into a first-person shooter format and retitled Baroque FPS, releasing for iOS on December 26, 2011.

Anderson praised the variety of items and weapons, and the "strong and compelling" story, but thought the unconventional, deliberately unclear method of storytelling and lack of an introduction made it difficult for the player to care about it.