It can help but it's not necessary. You will be more familiar with some of the characters. BG1 is a bit slower and has plenty of challenging stuff in a nice big world. BG2 is slightly more linear but has some QOL tweaks so you get into the action a bit faster.
The baldur's gate 2 remake with the higher resolution looked pretty fantastic. Peak 2D art before 3D started to really take off.
Did you play BG1?
I haven't played any of them. Should I start with 1?
It can help but it's not necessary. You will be more familiar with some of the characters. BG1 is a bit slower and has plenty of challenging stuff in a nice big world. BG2 is slightly more linear but has some QOL tweaks so you get into the action a bit faster.