The video game we all imagined and hoped for as kids, one where you can truly do anything you want, has come.
For some reason, I was never really drawn towards Baldur's Gate 3. I had heard from everyone that it was amazing... I saw it win Game of the Year in 2023... I love RPG's... Yet, I never had any interest in playing it. I think at some stage I saw some gameplay of it and it just did not look like it was for me. I had never even heard of the series before. It came out of nowhere and I was pretty confused as to how it was becoming so successful. I also learnt it takes place in the Dungeons and Dragons universe and that its gameplay mechanics are derived from it. A tabletop game that I have absolutely zero experience with.
So, what was it that finally made me take the plunge and give the game a shot? Well I saw my wife fall in love with the game. She went through 3 playthroughs, clocking in over 400 hours. She'd hardly played any single player games beforehand, let alone a huge fantasy RPG like this one. So I was fairly shocked to see her massive commitment to the game. After her time with the game she tried convincing me to play the game on her PC. We made a deal. I'd play Baldur's Gate 3 if she tried out Red Dead Redemption 2! (Spoiler: She didn't like it...) And with that, my adventure in Faerûn began. An adventure that took me nearly half a year, on and off, to finish. One that had me in absolute shock and awe as it continously exceeded my highest of expectations when it comes to gaming. I would not argue with anybody who said this is the best video game ever made. It's generation defining and I believe many games will try to replicate it in the future.
I can't remember ever feeling so lost and confused starting a new game like I was with Baldur's Gate 3. During Act 1, it really felt like I was learning to play video games again. I usually enjoy playing games on higher difficulties but in this case, I knew I had a lot to learn, so I decided I'd play on normal mode. Even still, during my first 10-20 hours, I was debating with myself whether or not to leave my ego behind and fall back to beginnner mode. Even just moving my character and the camera around was a struggle as I hadn't played many games on keyboard and mouse before. Not to mention, it's not the usual WASD controls either. You move your characters around by pointing & clicking on points around the map which felt very unnatural to me. I also couldn't wrap my ahead around the rest system. I was so confused why my characters were essentially useless after 1 or 2 fights...
Then there was the combat, which at the beginning felt pretty overwhelming. Essentially, it's turn-based combat, but with a big emphasis on movement and positioning. For example, your characters can deal higher damage if they have the higher ground, or if you can sneak near an enemy by a cliff, you can push them into a chasym, killing them instantly ~ this I really liked. Spreading your party around the battlefield to deal with enemies strategically was a really fun time. Like Dungeons and Dragons, all your attacks and the amount of damage dealt depends on a score you recieve from rolling dice. So, while there is an element of luck to it all, you are able to increase your chance of a successful roll in many ways, such as drinking potions, playing stealthily and using buff enhancements... to name a few. The combat always has you thinking and there are so many different approaches you can take. Hit an oil barrell with a fire spell to blow up the area, use spell buffs to enlargen your party members and make them stronger, or place debuffs on enemies to make them skip their turn by enchanting them into a laughing frenzy... these are just some examples. I remember one moment, in some underground cavern, I hit an oil barrell, and the carnage that was unleashed was hilarious. The whole room exploded and it killed every single enemy. So, make sure you're always looking around the environment for ways to turn the tide in battle.
My only problem with the combat was the massive amount of abilities and skills you are given right away at level 1. I felt overwhelmed trying to figure out which spell or ability I should use next. Making the right move often felt like picking a needle from a haystack. Also, combat at times felt very very slow. Some battles you are fighting up to around 10-15 different enemies, and waiting for them to complete all their turns before yours can be very boring and frustrating. Sometimes, the battlefields are so large that you will make many turns that just result in running closer to your enemy and unless you have a lot of speed, you can't move very far. Unlike other typical turn-based JRPG games where you can be in and out of a fight very quickly, these fights can go for 20+ minutes at times. It's not a criticism, but it just meant that some of my play sessions consisted nearly entirely of combat, when instead I may of wanted to explore or advance the story. It requires patience.
To be honest, starting off, I was damn confused on a lot of the mechanics. But, as time went on, like with anything, I slowly started learning. Everything began to click... my characters levelled up and became stronger. I started to understand the mechanics and how I could influence them. I felt more confident in combat and spent less time making my moves. During this game, you are constantly learning, and the pay off when you start understanding the game and its mechanics more clearly is really worth it. So my advice to any newcomers to the series and genre is to please stick with it.
The character creator is very great and that's even without the thousands of mods you can install to find the exact style you're looking for. There are up to around 11 different races you can pick from. My character's name was Ysha. A Tiefling (devil) Wizard with a bunch of charisma and piercing red eyes that helped her win any conversational warfare. She had a kind heart but could also be manipulative and frightening when she needed to get her way. That brings me to one of the best things BG3 has going for it. The role playing experience. It's well and truly the best you will find in all of gaming. Every story beat gives you many options to pick from, both in dialogue and actions, that you can align with your characters own made up background, ambitions and personality. I was unbelivably impressed by the amount of agency you have in this game. All your decisions matter and affect the story in drastic ways. The amount of paths the story can branch out into is nothing short of incredible. I'm so used to video games giving you options in dialogue but all the options feeling very similiar, as well as having no real impact on the story. Here, what you pick truly matters. It was also just really fun to put myself into my characters shoes and really think about what she would say or do in different scenarios.
Most actions and decisions that you make require you to roll a die successfully. So, for example, if a player wants to persuade a character into letting them into an enemies base, they might need to roll a minimum of 10, if they succeed, they're let in, if they fail, they're attacked. Or, if you want to lockpick a chest, you might need to land a perfect 20. Most of the time, even if you fail, you can re-roll as long as you have enough inspiration, which is essentially gained by completing side quests or finding new areas. However, if you fail multiple times, it can significantly change the direction of your playthough. A lot of people, like to "save-scum", which is basically constantly saving and re-loading to ensure your playthrough is perfect. I opted to try my best in accepting whatever happened without reloading. In one instance, this led to an entire allied village being wiped out. But I must admit, there were times even I felt the need to reload. Sometimes the results of my decisions didnt't really pan out the way I expected it would, so I went back. I'd suggest, trying to commit to either playstyle the best you can depending on the experience you want, but I'd wager every player has done a cheeky re-load.
The characters in this game are all so human. Each and every one of them is given a deep backstory and their own personal ambitions. All of them have their own unique flaws and problems they battle with throughout the game. You get to see them all grow as people and can influence the paths they take based on your own decisions or at times even let them decide for themselves. All characters have unique dynamics with each other, for example, my favourite would have to be that of Shadowheart and Laezel ~ they start off hating each other, firing off snarky remarks at each other as you explore. But as the game progresses you see them slowly begin to respect each other and even become friends. The whole main cast is truly amazing. The voice acting, dialogue, design and character growth are all simply superb and a huge part of the reason this game gets so much love. There is an appraisal score system that is built on characters approval or disapproval of your decisions and actions. Characters will treat you differently depending on your score. Not to mention, you can build a romance with nearly any of the party members too. The best main cast I've seen since Final Fantasy X.
A lot of the interactions with party members happens at your camp. Every area in the game has a dedicated camp set up you must teleport to after 1 or 2 battles to sleep and refresh your skills. It did a great job at slowing the game down and giving you a reprieve from all the action. It's also here that party members will have a marker on them to show they have a new available interaction that gives you more insight into who they are. Also, when you sleep, some events with your party members can trigger as well... one that stood out was a certain vampire that tried to suck my blood. There are also parties that take place here during big moments in the story that just make the world feel so alive.
I'd like to mention the size of the game. It's un-believably big. There is so much to discover, with a lot of it being completely optional and missable if you don't look around. A place towards the end of Act 1 that blew me away was the Underdark. There are multiple ways to make it down there, but I managed to find it by activating some invisible door/entry in a cavern. I thought, okay, a cool little additional area to explore, and I'll come back out and continue the story. No. I was down there, for about a week or 2. It just kept expanding and expanding. Only to eventually find a boat that took me to another entirely different area with its own sub plot. There are so many more moments like this in the game. The levels and detail to the world is by far the best I have ever seen in any video game ever. I can say that easily. There were times I had to say out loud "holy shit"... I was just so impressed. There are also many satisfying moments when you're exploring a new area and at it's end it links with a previous area you've already been to, which gave a nice feeling off coming full circle. Dare I say, it's nearly too big. At times I felt extremely overwhelmed, and had to take large breaks playing the game, especially when I hit Act III and saw the massive amount of quests I had to do.
That brings me to the side quests, which I'm not sure you can really call side quests. Every single quest in the game is given so much attention and detail. There is absolutely no filler. The best thing about the side quests are that they all advance along with the main story. So each side quest slowly progresses and ultimately finishes in the last Act. For example, all of your party members each have their own side quest that evolves throughout the game. It's not something you can complete quickly off to the side like your typical RPG'S. This meant each side quest was given room to breathe. It also felt really rewarding when you finally slowly start finishing them all in Act III as everything begins to come to a close.
How about the story? I thought it was great. It has so many layers. It is all paced really smoothly. It all begins fairly grounded during Act I, we learn there is a parasite in our brains that will soon turn us into a mind flayer, killing us in the progress. So, we begin to learn more about our predicament and find ways to remove it. In Act II we make our way through the Shadow-Cursed Lands on our way to Moonrise Towers, where we are told one of the leaders of the absolute (a cult responsible for the tadpole) resides. In Act III, every story comes to a satisfying conclusion. I have zero complaints. And well, the story is yours to make based on your decisions. Not everybody's will be the same. So, if you are unhappy with your ending, you only have yourself to blame.
The music is fantastic. I didn't really notice it much during the early parts of the game, but it definitely becomes noticable as the game progresses. It's not music I would really ever see myself listening to outside of the game however. The main melody of the game, 'Down by the River', has many arrangements that advances progressively throughout the story ~ a very nice theme song. There is a lot of nice ambience as well. The camp music is also very relaxing. Just a really well polished soundtrack.
One of the only problems that I can think of is there are so many ways to break a playthrough if you're not careful. The order in which you do different main quests and even side quests can impact your adventure. You can also easily lock yourself out of certain quests. It can be very stressful navigating through your first playthrough. But, I can hardly call that a criticism, it's the beauty of playing a huge game like this. It just encourages more playthroughs in the future, when you are more accustomed to the quests and the best times to do them.
One other little nit pick I'd like to mention too. The inventory management was not good. You are given many many many items and I found it very hard to keep track of everything. I kept unloading stuff into the communal chest in camp but I still found myself constantly on the edge or over the weight limit that Ysha could carry. So, basically, I found it really hard to organise everything between party members. When I wanted to update my armour slots with new loot, it was a little annoying scrolling through a huge list of items, even when sorted by type. Maybe an item was in my chest at camp, or maybe it was in another one of my party members inventories who I was controlling at the time I recieved the loot. You also don't want to be putting all of your items in camp, a lot of them are needed in your inventory to fulfill quest objectives.
I also wish there were more outfits and weapons you can buy at stores. This can easily be fixed with mods... but I rarely found any good armour or even weapons to buy for my wizard during my playthrough. Most of my gear came from loot.
Picnic was right. The game is an absolute masterpiece, that I believe, every single gamer should give a go. It can be stressful and difficult at times but it's worth pushing through because there is so much to get out of this game. I hope more games incorporate this level of agency into their games. Because, that's the beauty of games and how it seperates itself from movies and books ~ you are the director, you are the author, you get to control what happens. And that's never been more true with BG3. Everybody will have a unique experience. I'm a bit tired from my 150+ hour playthrough, but I hope to return for another playthrough in a few years time.