Baldur's Gate 3 is essentially Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition, the computer game. Having learned DnD during the pandemic, this is a major selling point, and developers Larian have pulled off their first Triple-A game, with the resulting success placing them into the upper echelon of RPG developers, an impressive feat for a studio that was mainly known for the hardcore turn-based series Divinity: Original Sin. In fact, there really isn't anyone making an RPG of this scale and detail; sure, Starfield launches in a couple of days, but Bethesda titles are exploration first-person-shooters, not character driven role-playing games. Bioware is a shadow of its former self, and while CD Projekt Red is still making games like the Witcher and Cyberpunk, they've never made a hardcore, turn-based RPG. So Baldur's Gate 3 fills a void and will likely be one of the best-selling titles of the year.
So how is the game? Well, in short, it's really fucking good. Your character wakes up in a Nautiloid with a Mindflayer parasite in their head, and after an impressive opening featuring dimension hopping and dragon riders, you crash land in the first major hub area and are soon involved in a dispute between Tiefling refugees and druids. The latter's grove is under assault by goblins who are being led by three Chosen, big bosses who also possess a mindflayer parasite in their skulls. As you navigate the world, you'll find a memorable cast of characters, with my favorites being Karlach, a barbarian tiefling with an infernal engine in her chest, and Astarion, a posh vampire Rogue who's good at lockpicking and disappearing into the shadows. All characters have a detailed backstory and a personal quest, just like a vintage Bioware game, and you'll have the option of pursuing relationships with them. Gameplay proceeds just like a DnD session, with frequent skill checks in dialogue popping up, as well as during exploration. A twenty-sided dice appears on the screen, and you click it to roll, with your proficiency and any other bonuses being added after the fact. It's really cool and helps to sell the DnD fantasy. Combat is also very reminiscent of DnD, with initiative rolls to start off, and everything proceeding turn by turn. If you've played Divinity: Original Sin 2, Baldur's Gate 3 may seem like a high-budget 5e mod, which isn't a bad thing, since that game was also very good. The powerful DnD license is put to excellent use, with the full suite of classes available at the start (I picked a half-elf sorcerer with the storm sorcery subclass). The character creator is pretty powerful, and you'll probably spend a decent amount of time tinkering with it. Regarding exploration, so far I've explored a druid grove, a goblin-infested dungeon, the brilliant Underdark, and an evil swamp inhabited by a nasty hag, who'll give you one of your toughest fights.
As far as performance goes, Baldur's Gate 3 is pretty good so far, although the titular city is apparently pretty tough on the CPU (I'm nowhere close to the third act). DLSS upscaling is available, and with its Quality option toggled on and everything else at Ultra, my 3080 and 5800x based PC hits a steady 100 fps at 1440p. The game's graphics aren't state of the art, but they're very detailed for a large RPG, with the dialogue sections standing out with some detailed character work.
If you have any interest in RPGs or DnD, Baldur's Gate 3 is a must-by. Although I've played a lot of high quality games this year, I think Balder's Gate will likely take the top-spot, since Starfield looks like a typical Bethesda game, and Jedi Survivor is still a technical mess. Kudos to Larian for vaulting to the very top of the gaming world by making the exact game they wanted to make.
Screenshots below:
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