Like my reviews? Go follow my Curator page.


Video games are very complex. They take elements of producing basically every other art form, and add in the extra layer of making it interactive and engaging for the player. This complexity opens up new, exciting ways to experience stories unlike any other medium. However, video games are not the most flexible way to tell stories. That honor goes to tabletop gaming, where your imagination is the limit. As such, marketing your game by saying it can replicate the experience of a TTRPG like Dungeons & Dragons is generally a setup for inevitable disappointment for such a lofty goal, that is unless the name of your game is Baldur's Gate 3, one of the best games I've ever had the pleasure to play.


I would not call BG3 a technical marvel in this category, but there's no denying that some aspects are absolutely remarkable, namely the game's seamless way of blending top-down gameplay and mocap technology to give the game a uniquely detailed look. Environments are diverse and gorgeous to look at, and I love the expressive character designs & animations. I do not have any significant complaints about this section.


For as much as the letters "RPG" are slapped onto game labels these days, Baldur's Gate 3 is a right and proper roleplaying game. The character creator is one of the best I've seen in a RPG; there's tons of depth and variety in character builds, with 29 different subraces and 36 subclasses in total, each with their own abilities. It's also well-balanced, even weaker builds are still viable in their own right, both in and out of combat. I also think the game did a great job of translating D&D to a video game format, especially in how it speeds up combat while also staying committed to its tabletop roots by automatically rolling during combat while letting the player roll the die for roleplay-based situations.

Make no mistake, this game is as wide as an ocean and it's deeper than it is wide. The many branching storylines are consistently well-written, and there's a mind-boggling number of secrets that can significantly alter your playthrough. The game is constantly able to predict and react to whatever insane ideas you have, and choices do matter, quite a lot. Combats can be entirely altered or skipped with a single choice, and your companions can permanently change, leave, or die. You are given several opportunities to gain new abilities and allies, and just as many opportunities to forsake those abilities or stab your allies in the back. However, the stress in picking the "right" decision is brilliantly circumvented through the inspiration system (which is taken from D&D, but if you're like any of my tables, is probably not one you use very often), which makes situations more interesting because the game incentivizes you to choose based on what your character would do first and foremost, rewarding you with the chance to reroll in future roleplay encounters. It makes daunting decisions feel a lot less overwhelming while stopping choices from forcing you into a simple good or bad path like a lot of RPGs do.

Of course, a game this ambitious is prone to a few issues. The first is that, despite the remarkable post-launch support, BG3 is rife with game-breaking bugs. I've been softlocked, randomly lost powerful gear, dealt with crashes, and more. I also believe that the third act does have a tendency to feel a little too railroaded at certain points. As an example, Speak with Dead felt largely useless during the act outside of specific segments where it was effectively considering the "intended" solution. I understand it needs to conclude the story, but it felt like a lot of the tricks I could pull in other acts weren't viable here for basically no reason. However, these are my only two major complaints with the entire game, and neither of them really tarnished my enjoyment of it considering how well it did everything else.


My personal favorite thing about BG3's story is not just that you're granted so much choice, it's that you aren't shamed for whatever choices you do make. It tailors the narrative to the player, and makes it feel more personal, satisfying, and replayable. Characters are incredibly malleable because of this, rewarding you for spending time with them without punishing you for choosing not to, and there's so many decisions those characters can make on their own that can completely alter your playthrough in interesting ways. They all feel very multilayered, interestingly flawed, and compelling in their own ways.

If you've read other reviews, you may have noted some critical comments about the game's rushed final act and ending. I would've agreed with these comments up until the most recent patch, which added an extra ending segment that tied everything together in a far more satisfying and fitting manner. I do still believe that the game's third act is a slight drop in storytelling interactivity and quality, as some of the bigger choices felt a little too binary, but the bulk of the act is still very compelling and not even remotely close to the nosedive of Divinity: Original Sin 2's finale.


Once again, this is another category where BG3 excels. The music is a standout, with the "Down by the River" leitmotif that's present across the entire soundtrack. The sound design is also top-notch, giving spells and other abilities a uniquely satisfying sense of weight. My favorite element, however, was just how incredible the voice acting is. There are tons of subtle mannerisms that make each character come alive in their own way, and play a major role in making them so compelling and endearing. While Neil Newbon as Astarion is the obvious highlight, the depth he brings is found in all of the main cast, as well as a majority of the characters.


If it isn't clear from my own playtime or the playtimes of everyone else that has reviewed this game, you are getting the whole package here. It's massive and overwhelming, but the sheer amount of flexibility and choice gives the game a unique allure in replayability and memorability, and I walked out of my ~70 hour playthrough satisfied, yet wondering what I'd do differently on another run, as opposed to feeling satisfied and exhausted like other massive RPGs.


Part of what drives me to review a game is if I believe I can offer a unique perspective on it, as opposed to simply parroting opinions to drive engagement. I hesitated to review BG3 because you've likely heard my opinions on this game from dozens of other outlets and players already. It's a masterclass in interactive storytelling that pushes limits by rivaling the unbridled flexibility that serves as the prime appeal of tabletop gaming, something that I thought was near-impossible for a medium like video games.

As such, I've realized that this review's purpose isn't to argue that the game is stellar, because you likely already know that. Instead, its purpose is to confirm that praise is entirely warranted, perhaps even somewhat understated for just how remarkable its feats are. No, it's not perfect, because no game ever is, but it surpasses even my loftiest expectations to such an incredible degree that calling it anything less than a must-play masterpiece feels criminal.

Graphics - 5/5
Gameplay - 5/5
Story - 5/5
Audio - 5/5
Content Value - 5/5

.:10/10:.
"Masterpiece"

**PERSONAL PICK**

+ Deep & engaging story
+ Endearing, fleshed-out main cast
+ Amazing voice acting
+ Inspiration system adds depth to roleplay
+ Beautiful visuals
+ Phenomenal character creator

- Act 3 is (slightly) less interactive & lower quality
- Rampant technical issues