Baldur's Gate 3 has finally come out after more than two decades since Baldur's Gate 2 came out back in 2000. But is this Dungeons and Dragons-style game worth buying? Read our review of the game to find out more about its gameplay, plot, and more!
Baldur's Gate 3 Review: Fantastical Fun in Faerûn
Dungeons and Dragons is a tabletop RPG game turned social phenomenon that’s been making its rounds in hobby shops and dining room tables around the world in recent years. With its emphasis on player choice and customizability, there’s no denying its allure among the countless people who’ve taken to its fantasy stylings. While adapting such a choice-driven game into a video game seemed like an impossible task, Larian Studios, the creators of the acclaimed Divinity series, rose to the challenge and delivered an unforgettable game.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is, without a doubt, the best Computer Role-Playing Game (CRPG) of the early 2020s. It exceeds all expectations with a massive story, an engrossing adventure, and dozens of hours of content. There are countless things to do and numerous characters to engage with. If you thought Disco Elysium was the best CRPG in recent years, think againx because Baldur’s Gate 3 has undoubtedly surpassed it.
Even if you’re not a CRPG fan, the sheer interactivity of BG3 makes it incredibly fun to play. There's something immensely satisfying about tossing an enemy down a ravine or defeating them with a wooden crate to the face, and that’s not even considering its immense min-maxing potential. If you’re planning to buy just one RPG this year, let it be this one, you surely won’t regret it.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Story and Overview
Baldur's Gate 3's story takes place over 120 years after the events of its predecessor, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn. Here, the main protagonist and several other unfortunate souls are captured by psionic monsters called mind flayers in their invasion of Faerûn. As part of their treatment under their captivity, the Mind Flayers implant Illithid tadpoles into them. These parasites can enthrall (in the subjugation sense) and transform those they infect into other mind flayers.
However, before the protagonist is transformed, the captor’s ship is attacked by Githyanki warriors and their red dragons. The mind flayers flee, leaving the captives free to steer the broken ship back to Faerûn where it crashes. Now, the protagonist must find a way to get rid of the parasite in their heads and take up arms against the invading mind flayers. Freeing themselves from these mind flayers is the only thing they should be worried about... right?
An Almost Perfect Translation of D&D Gameplay
In the precious few times I’ve played a Dungeons and Dragons campaign, the thing that I liked the most about it was how you had the opportunity to do absolutely anything. So long as you pray to the RNG gods and pass the Dungeon Master’s skill check with your dice roll, you can talk your way out of being arrested, outsmart the devil in their own contract, and even romance a fierce silver dragon. Those are all great adventures, but the really amazing thing is the fact that you have the freedom to attempt to do any of those things at all in the first place. As long as you can imagine it, then it could happen.
That’s what it was like playing Baldur’s Gate 3. You are faced with a myriad of situations and challenges, and you are offered many ways to solve them. Escaping a ship full of weird-looking aliens? Then it’s up to you whether you want to escape with a group of allies… or by yourself. Or let’s say a group of refugees is about to be kicked out of a druidic grove, putting them all at risk of getting killed by a goblin horde. You can decide to either kill the druid leader, defend the grove from the goblins, or help the goblins kill the refugees instead. Or maybe you found out that one of your teammates is a day-walking vampire. Let them live, banish them, or drive the wooden stake through their heart yourself. Nothing is stopping you from choosing anything and nothing encouraging you to go one way or the other. Just do what you want.
When it comes to combat, your success is determined by your stats and the dice rolls you get (just like in Dungeons and Dragons). Baldur’s Gate 3 properly captures the unpredictability of dice-based D&D combat. Successful hits and damage output are dependent on a number of things - whether you’re proficient with the weapon you’re using, whether the weapon has any effects, what kind of attributes and equipment you have, etc. But on top of that, of course, is whether your dice roll is successful or not. This makes every engagement feel unpredictable and dangerous no matter what level and how prepared you are.
While some older fans of the Baldur’s Gate series consider it controversial for the game to have shifted to a turn-based system instead of the real-time with pause
combat system, I think it was a good decision on Larian Studios’ part. Not only does it allow BG3 to follow traditional D&D more closely, but it also gives the player the mental space necessary to take advantage of all the features available to them during combat (something I’ll talk about in the next section). It’s not an exact 1-to-1 copy of the 5e rule set, but any concessions they’ve made do not take away from the experience at all. It’s unpredictable, it’s complex, and it’s fun as heck.
If you’re looking for a D&D campaign video game, Baldur’s Gate 3 is your best bet.
Player Choice And Customization Pushed To The Limits
I want to expand a bit on just how much you can get up to in Baldur’s Gate 3. Each situation in the game has multiple outcomes, and these outcomes can have very real consequences for the rest of your playthrough. If you do good deeds, new members may join your party, you might get help crossing into new areas, or get good items. But at the same time, your heroic antics might inspire others to take too many risks and get them killed or worse. If you’re evil, some teammates may leave, others may stay, and you might see more than a few people hunt you down for all the bad stuff you've done.
Anyone can die in this game, and the demise of major and even some minor characters will vastly affect the outcome of many quests, maybe even the main story itself. The most mind-blowing thing about it is that each one of these outcomes has its own unique cutscene, with recorded voice lines and everything. If it can realistically happen, chances are, there’s a cutscene for it, and it will probably affect the rest of the story somehow. The sheer number of possibilities really goes to show how much thought and effort Larian Studios put toward making this game.
The freedom of options extends to combat as well. Aside from melee attacks and spells, your characters all have a few abilities at their disposal that take advantage of my favorite part of BG3’s battles - the environment. Push enemies off cliffs so they can fall to their deaths, or jump behind them to put a sword into their back. Use a control switch to crush them with a piston that’s been conveniently placed above the battlefield. If you're desperate, throw a box, a barrel, or even a pair of shoes at your enemies. You can probably throw a bone at them too. There’s probably nothing more badass than killing an ogre with someone else’s skull.
Masterwork Soundtracks And Voice Acting
There are a hell of a lot of characters to talk to in Baldur’s Gate 3, and it’s a good thing they all have great voice actors. Neil Newbon as Astarion, Devora Wilde as Lae’zel, and Jennifer English as Shadowheart brought a great deal of quality to their performances, and the rest of the crew you’ll be gathering throughout your adventure are no slouches either. Gale is full of wisecracks and banter, while you can hear the slyness that Wyll channels whenever he’s trying to woo the ladies.
As for the music, I like how it always changes depending on how the battle is going. If the battle’s just started, it’s tense and thrilling, with horns and drums and ominous chanting. If you’ve killed a powerful enemy, you can feel the battle turning in your favor just by hearing the brighter, more triumphant tempo the battle music has taken.
The game’s music immerses you in the heat of battle, and the tracks it uses to do that range from standard fantasy lutes and drums to the truly epic piece that is BG3’s main menu theme. It perfectly captures the essence of a team of adventurers who may have not traveled with each other under normal circumstances, but will now have to work together to defeat an ancient evil. Good stuff.
Bugs And Autosave Issues Pose A Significant Threat To Immersion
Baldur’s Gate 3 has been in early access since 2020, and Larian Studios has worked with the wider BG3 community to polish the game and stamp out any potential bugs. Looking at how the release version got out, it’s safe to say that the game came out in the best form it could’ve possibly been in. Unfortunately, there are still a few bugs here and there. For example, certain scenarios may play out differently from what you expected just because you did something out of order. While things may happen unpredictably in BG3 as part of the story, these situations were just clearly due to the game misunderstanding your intentions.
Sometimes, the game can get stuck just before a cutscene plays. This happens especially when you get to your camp and a cutscene is supposed to happen. Your characters will simply stand there and do nothing until you reload your save. This also happens after certain cutscenes that are supposed to transition into battles. Your characters will just stand around, and the user interface won’t even show up. So, you’ll have to reload your save. There are also some areas I’ve explored where the frame rate suddenly drops for some reason.
Hopefully, by now, Larian Studios already has an idea of what issues to fix and will roll out a patch soon. Until then, all we can do is wait.
Relating to the previous point, sometimes cutscenes can bug out at the worst of times, like when you’ve made a good amount of progress in the game but you haven’t saved in quite a while. Baldur’s Gate 3’s autosave feature does not kick in nearly as much as it should, and you will have to remember to save early and often or else risk losing hours of progress just because the game crashed unexpectedly or a cutscene wouldn’t run.
So, What’s The Verdict?
The Greatest CRPG Since Disco Elysium, Possibly Ever
Hands down the best CRPG to have come out since Disco Elysium. By skillfully blending the essence of Dungeons and Dragons with modern CRPG elements, such as stunning graphics, captivating music, and immersive presentation, Baldur’s Gate 3 is perhaps the closest you can get to a D&D experience in video game form. With a game of this quality, Larian Studios has exceeded all expectations.
 Steam |
 PlayStation |
 Xbox |
||||||
| $59.99 | $69.99 | |||||||
Game8 Reviews
You may also like...
Baldur's Gate 3 Product Information
 |
|
| Title | BALDUR'S GATE 3 |
|---|---|
| Release Date | August 3, 2023 |
| Developer | Larian Studios |
| Publisher | Larian Studios |
| Supported Platforms | PC, PS5 |
| Genre | RPG, Adventure |
| Number of Players | 1-4 |
| ESRB Rating | Mature |
| Official Website | Baldur's Gate 3 Website |
