Game Information

Game Title: Baldur’s Gate 3

Platforms:

  • PC (Aug 3, 2023)
  • PlayStation 5 (Sep 6, 2023)

Trailers:

Developer: Larian Studios

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - -1 average - -1% recommended - 13 reviews

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Unscored

Video Review - Quote not available

Attack of the Fanboy - Noah Nelson - Unscored

Baldur’s Gate 3 shocks me with it’s high level of player freedom found in customization, decisions, and consequences, and the compelling stories, both micro and macro, mixed with the expansive gameplay possibilities.

Checkpoint Gaming - Edie W-K - Unscored

Although my time with the game hasn’t been enough to yet form a full critique, I can already tell that Baldur’s Gate 3 is a very impressive feather in Larian Studio’s cap.

GGRecon - Ava Thompson-Powell - Unscored

Larian Studios is on a heck of a hot streak, and Baldur’s Gate 3’s early signs suggest it could be the studio’s biggest success to date. With rich lore and ample customisation for how you approach the world alongside gorgeous visuals, it’s shaping up to be a title that I’ll remember for a long time - and I’m only in Act 1.

GamesRadar+ - Ali Jones - Unscored

For now, suffice to say that Baldur’s Gate 3 feels a little bit like Larian has accomplished the impossible. This is an entire, years-long pen-and-paper roleplaying campaign realized in beautiful fidelity, in a way that brings every tiny detail of your mind’s eye to life.

GamingTrend - David Flynn, Ron Burke - Unscored

They simply don’t make ‘em like this, and I can’t wait to experience all this game has to offer.

IGN - Leana Hafer - Unscored

On the whole, I really am loving Baldur’s Gate 3 so far.

PCGamesN - Paul Kelly - Unscored

Baldur’s Gate 3’s world is beautiful, layered and complex, and challenges you to attack it how you want. And though this is what makes it a little daunting, it’s also what makes me eager to dive back in and see where the adventure is going.

Screen Rant - Cody Gravelle - Unscored

Baldur’s Gate 3 is imposing in stature and its best moments are truly memorable, but some early issues with scale suggest an uneven experience.

Wccftech - Francesco De Meo - Unscored

As of now, however, I feel Larian Studios has done a tremendous job, creating one, if not the most engaging cRPG in a very long time.

We Got This Covered - Ash Martinez - 4.5 / 5

An excellent follow-up to its decades-old predecessor, ‘Baldur’s Gate III’ sets a new gold standard for RPGs in the modern age. Though it has its fair share of buggy problems, the vibrant world, intriguing storytelling, and captivating gameplay more than make up for its shortcomings.

ZTGD - Terrence Johnson - 9.5 / 10

The team at Larian Studios are to be commended, Baldur’s Gate 3 is nothing short of a masterpiece when it comes to RPG’s.

eXputer - Huzaifah Durrani - 5 / 5

Baldur’s Gate 3 is one of the greatest RPGs of all time, and a testament to the talent of developer Larian Studios.

Thanks to @simple@lemm.ee

  • Clown_Tempura@lemmy.worldEnglish
    641·
    1 year ago

    You know a game is going to be good when half the industry cries and shits its pants and begs not to be held to its standard.

  • legion@lemmy.worldEnglish
    503·
    1 year ago

    As someone that was a late teenager during the run of Infinity Engine games, and then witnessed the subsequent consolization and decline of CRPGs… seeing Baldur’s Gate as a CRPG again and having it be a marquee AAA-caliber release is kinda mind-blowing.

    The 2000s were a mistake, and so much of modern indie development is about undoing those mistakes. “Boomer” shooters, immersive sims, CRPGs, point and click adventures? All back on the menu, baby.

    • TommySalami@lemmy.worldEnglish
      81·
      1 year ago

      There’ve been fantastic CRPGs in the last handful of years. Off the top of my head: Divinity Original Sin 2 (2017), PoE/PoE2(2015/2018), Tyranny(2016), Torment: Tides of Numenera(2017), Pathfinder Kingmaker/WotR(2018/2021), and Disco Elysium1 (2019).

      There’s definitely been a comeback, I feel like I’ve been eating good on that side for a while now.

      1Play this game if you haven’t. It’s so fucking good

      • Wodge@lemmy.worldEnglish
        6·
        1 year ago

        Shooters that are just about shooting the baddies in a usually retro style, things like that Warhammer 40k Boltgun, as opposed to the more complex Darkide.

    • Molecular0079@lemmy.worldEnglish
      41·
      1 year ago

      While I love me some Doom and grew up with boomer shooters, I am not sure if FPS games moving on and expanding past them can be considered a mistake.

      I am digging the shit out of Baldur’s Gate 3 tho. This is RPG done right. I bought it during early access years back and I literally took PTO off work to play the final release on launch day.

  • 8ender@lemmy.worldEnglish
    332·
    1 year ago

    I’m kinda shocked we’re seeing a major game release where it actually works well day one. They don’t even have to write an apology letter.

    • hightrix@lemmy.worldEnglish
      21·
      1 year ago

      It works great day one. Multiplayer actually works and is easy to do. No shitty mobile game features. No shitty micro transactions. No shitty battle pass that keeps blinking in the corner reminding you that you haven’t bought it.

      No predatory user hostile features.

      See, every other video game company, it can still be done!

  • Beto@lemmy.studioEnglish
    301·
    1 year ago

    Has anyone played it on the Deck yet? What’s the experience like?

    • sharpiemarker@feddit.deEnglish
      221·
      1 year ago

      I have. One small caveat is that I was using the deck to stream it from my Desktop where I have much better hardware (and I’ve noticed that some games play differently locally on the Deck vs streaming, so YMMV).

      I played probably 2 hours so far. I wasn’t able to get the controls to work comfortably. I tried 2 of the top listed control configs without much success.

      There are a lot of camera controls, like camera rotation, elevation changes, etc and they just aren’t intuitive. One mapped camera rotation to L1 and R1, one mapped it to the back L and R keys (L4 and R4 I think).

      None of the configs seemed to support using the analog sticks or d-pad to navigate/make ui selections so instead you’re stuck using the right touchpad to control the mouse cursor and R2 for selecting/left click.

      For context, I enjoyed Divinity 2 massively on PC with an Xbox controller, and I feel like it was much more intuitive.

      If anyone has any suggestions, I’m itching to play it, but until I find a better solution keyboard and mouse might be the best way.

      • treefrog@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        1 year ago

        Thanks!

        I don’t have a steam deck but do have chronic neck issues so playing mouse and keyboard is no longer an option for me.

        If the controller support isn’t good I’m going to pass for now.

        • sharpiemarker@feddit.deEnglish
          3·
          1 year ago

          but do have chronic neck issues so playing mouse and keyboard is no longer an option for me.

          It’s like looking in a very hunched over mirror lol. Same neck issues, friend. It’s been a difficult transition to couch gaming but the steam deck helps bridge the gap. Can’t recommend it enough.

        • Bluefold@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          Controller support is pretty good. I’m playing with a PS5 controller and pretty much the whole interface has been redesigned to fit it. It feels like it was an experience designed to fit the systems of the game opposed to fit a controller onto the PC release of the game.

          Most annoying for me was End Turn was mapped to Y/Triangle and I kept pressing it. I swapped it to R2 and haven’t had any more slipups.

          There’s refinements and QoL changes to be made for sure, but I’ve been surprised at how well it plays so far.

          • treefrog@lemm.eeEnglish
            1·
            1 year ago

            Cool I use a ps controller too.

            I’ll have to check the game out once my cash flow improved.

        • KiofKi@feddit.deEnglish
          1·
          1 year ago

          I’m playing with controller and it works just fine. Only thing I could not yet figure out was how to make t gf e whole party sneak at once.

    • Usereric1@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      1 year ago

      I would see what digital foundry says before playing it on deck. They have been very good at settings recommendations and performance reviews for games.

    • MimicJar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      7·
      1 year ago

      Played for the last few hours on my new Steam Deck (the one with the big disk). Game wouldn’t load and I had to select Experimental Proton or whatever it’s called.

      Once I did everything has been fine.

      Playing handheld and I’ve had no issues.

      The text is readable, but it is smaller than I’d like. I haven’t played with any settings so maybe I can fix that. But not an issue while playing.

      I’m sure some graphics aren’t optimized or something but the game plays and I’m happy.

    • Madiator2011@lm.madiator.cloudEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      Not tested version that came today but saying do not think it’s perfect game for deck as most actions relay on using mouse. Also game has some issues with Vulcan so for now I’m using Direct X

    • Bluefold@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      2·
      1 year ago

      I’m playing docked on the Deck. Animations and cut scenes play really well. If you can, I’d recommend using a Bluetooth controller as I’ve found the deck specific controls to not be the best. The controller UI takes a little getting used to but it is pretty good now I’ve been playing a few hours.

      The biggest negative is, naturally, the graphics. It’s smooth enough, but there is just a lot of blurriness and weird edging I can’t get rid of on any setting. In the close up cut scenes that pretty much goes away. That said, I’m still having a lot of fun and none of that was a deal breaker for me. It runs significantly better than it did in EA for me.

      The one ‘annoying’ thing that has happened is I’m the video cut scenes there is quite a significant audio delay. It is not there for the in-engine ones or during combat. I’ve only seen two of these though and they’re right at the start of the game. I just watched on YouTube to see them properly.

  • reversebananimals@lemmy.worldEnglish
    221·
    1 year ago

    I had to take today & tomorrow off because I hit my vacation cap at work and would lose my days if I didn’t.

    Opened the internet this morning & saw that the BG3 release date is today.

    Well. I now know what I’m doing with my next 4 days. Game is currently downloading on my PC.

    • jabeez@kbin.social
      141·
      1 year ago

      Well. I now know what I’m doing with my next 4 days. Game is currently downloading on my PC.

      Yeah, depending on your connection, will probably be done in 4 days :)

  • pikasaurX4@lemm.eeEnglish
    141·
    1 year ago

    I’m really interested in playing this on the Deck. I know they said that it would run on Deck performance-wise, but I just don’t see how the controls won’t be awful and the text way too small.

    Hoping for an official controller support patch and maybe some UI/text scaling options.

    I have no problem playing on Desktop, but this is a game I would love to bring over to a friend’s place and play in handheld or on the TV, but right now, I have my doubts that it’s not cumbersome as hell. I can try the trackpad and R2 mouse style, but I dont have high hopes

    • Rocket@lemmy.worldEnglish
      8·
      1 year ago

      I played through Divinity Original Sin EE on the deck with absolutely no issues when I was bed ridden due to an illness. Trackpads make the experience good.

  • TwystedKynd@lemmy.worldEnglish
    11·
    1 year ago

    I’m having a blast with a Bard character. So many dialogue options open up and I get like +7 on many dialogue rolls. This is the best D&D experience I’ve had in a video game.

    • hightrix@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      1 year ago

      This is the best D&D experience I’ve had in a video game.

      This is the exact quote I’ve been using to explain this game to anyone that asks. So much truth!

  • squirrelwithnut@lemmy.worldEnglish
    91·
    1 year ago

    I bought it this morning on Steam, but had to leave for the day for errands and appointments. I’m so ready to drive into this gem tonight and all weekend.

  • ScumbagSpruce@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    1 year ago

    Me and my two friends bought the game the day that EA launched because we loved DOS2 so much. Almost 3 years later and here we go! Last of the three of us gets off work in a hour and I hope he started his download remote!!

  • comedy@kbin.social
    72·
    1 year ago

    My graphics card is out on RMA 😭. Enjoy everyone. Hope I get my card back soon.

  • Tango@lemmy.mlEnglish
    4·
    1 year ago

    I’m definitely picking this up when I can afford it. Larian looks like they put an absurd amount of love, effort, and polish into this game.